The latest news articles featuring BC Centre on Substance Use.
Provincewide alert warns of contaminated drugs
January 28, 2026 | Vancouver Sun
B.C. officials issued a rare provincewide alert over an increase in toxic drug poisonings, saying Monday that unregulated drugs contaminated with medetomidine are the most likely cause. During the week of Jan. 16 to 22, B.C. paramedics responded to over 1,100 drug-poisoning calls, including 256 call...
‘Missing safeguards’ compromising legal rights of B.C. involuntary care patients: report
January 27, 2026 | CityNews Vancouver
58 per cent of all patients receiving involuntary care in B.C. have access to key legal safeguards in the form of medical documentation on their detention, according to a new report by the province’s ombudsperson. But missing documents are compromising the legal rights of the remaining 42 per cent...
New single-day record for paramedic calls to B.C. drug poisonings, stats show
January 26, 2026 | CBC News
Health officials are warning that drug poisonings are on the rise across B.C., with a new single-day record for most drug poisonings attended by paramedics being set last week. The B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) has issued a province-wide drug alert, noting new substances in the unregulated...
End of B.C. drug decriminalization pilot marks a setback for drug policy reform in Canada, say advocates
January 18, 2026 | My Peace Region Now
Harm reduction advocates say British Columbia’s decision to end its decriminalization pilot marks a major setback for drug policy in Canada. Health Minister Josie Osborne said Wednesday the three-year pilot didn’t have the results the province hoped for. She said B.C. won’t ask Ottawa for an...
Critics weigh in on B.C. ending its experiment with drug decriminalization
January 16, 2026 | Global News Morning BC
Three years after it was launched, B.C. is pulling the plug on its drug decriminalization pilot project. Global News Morning speaks with Kora DeBeck, a Professor of Substance Use and Drug Policy in SFU’s School of Public Policy, about why the program failed to deliver the results the province had ...
