The latest news articles featuring BC Centre on Substance Use.
The State of Safe Supply
June 20, 2023 | The Tyee
Before Brian O’Donnell was prescribed the opioids hydromorphone and methadone by his doctor, he used cocaine, heroin and fentanyl to manage chronic pain from injuries he sustained earlier in life. “If I didn’t have access to tested, safe drugs I’d probably be dead, just like a lot of my frie...
B.C. becomes first province to provide universal coverage for opioid treatments
June 14, 2023 | Vancouver Sun
The British Columbia government is expanding access to opioid treatment medications such as methadone by providing universal coverage to help people with substance use disorders, making it the first province in Canada to do so. Health Minister Adrian Dix said in a news release Wednesday that full co...
Researchers, academics speak out against encampment evictions in Vancouver’s DTES
June 13, 2023 | The Ubyssey
Following the city of Vancouver’s evictions of homeless encampments in the Downtown Eastside, several UBC and non-UBC academics signed onto an open letter calling on the City of Vancouver to stop the evictions. Starting in April 2023, police and city staff forcibly removed tents and other makeshif...
Vancouver family that lost member to overdose donates $20M to recovery program
June 12, 2023 | CBC News
A Vancouver family known for its philanthropy is making a $20 million donation to a substance use treatment program in memory of a family member who died of an opioid overdose. Jill Diamond, executive director of Vancouver’s Diamond Foundation, says her brother Steven Diamond could still be ali...
More work needed on B.C.’s decriminalization plan, experts say
June 05, 2023 | CTV News Vancouver Island
In an attempt to combat stigmas and barriers associated with substance-use, the province has set out on a three-year project to decriminalize the personal use of drugs, allowing the small possession of certain illicit substances. But with a death toll that has now amassed over 11,000 in the last se...
