The latest news articles featuring BC Centre on Substance Use.
As legal weed looms, barriers to research still standing
April 09, 2017 | thestar.com
After punching a string of numbers into a bolted-down, fireproof, alarm-protected safe — the location of which can’t be divulged for security reasons — Steven Laviolette pulls out a tiny vial. Inside that vial is an even tinier dab of dark tar. The tar is purified THC, the mind-altering compou...
“They treated me like crap, and I know it was because I was Native”
April 09, 2017 | CBC Radio
A new report on the healthcare experiences of people living in Vancouver’s inner city concludes the health care system fails Indigenous people — particularly drug users. Lead author Ashley Goodman says the majority of participants in the study shared experiences that were negative, and often lea...
Retiring B.C. health minister, Terry Lake, contemplates his next chapter
April 07, 2017 | Vancouver Sun
Retiring B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake was interviewed at length when first appointed to the cabinet position four years ago and recently, the Kamloops MLA agreed to sit down for one last chat. He arrived at the Vancouver Sun and Province with a fitting book in his briefcase — Sixty: A Di...
B.C. mulls framework for expanded heroin-assisted treatment
April 07, 2017 | The Globe and Mail
Prescription heroin, a last-resort treatment for severe addiction currently restricted to only one clinic in all of North America, could one day be dispensed at pharmacies much as methadone is. The dispensation model is one of three proposed in a draft of B.C. guidelines for the expansion of supervi...
Authorities frustrated with long waits for results of fentanyl tests
April 06, 2017 | CTV News Kitchener
Staccato scenes play out in Jody McLennan’s mind on loop: her husband slumped in his chair, paramedics pumping his chest, his lifeless body splayed on their living room floor. Only four hours earlier, McLennan and Oghenovo Avwunufe had been munching on chips and drinking beer before she fell aslee...
