The latest news articles featuring BC Centre on Substance Use.
Dr. Paxton Bach: Our overburdened health-care system cannot meet the need for a safer drug supply
August 17, 2022 | The Province
When Canada’s premiers met last month, one overwhelming issue emerged — our health system is overburdened and overtaxed. There have been countless recent illustrations to this effect, including a poignant advertisement in a B.C. paper pleading for a referral to a family physician, putting a huma...
BC Drug Deaths Bring More Demands for Change
August 16, 2022 | The Tyee
More than 1,000 people have already been killed by toxic drugs in British Columbia in the first half of 2022, according to data from the BC Coroners Service released today. And after six months, the province is on track for the most deadly year in its history. The poisoned drug supply killed 146 peo...
With mental health calls on the rise, officials question whether Riverview Hospital should reopen
August 10, 2022 | Global News
With a rise in seemingly unprovoked assaults and attacks in Metro Vancouver where mental health is a contributing factor, some officials are now questioning if a shuttered facility should be reopened. In May, Sgt. Steve Addison with the Vancouver Police Department said violent crime in the city incr...
People’s “Purposeful, Rational” Reasons for Mixing Meth and Opioids
July 25, 2022 | Filter
People mixing stimulants and opioids is not a new phenomenon. Mixing heroin and cocaine, a “speedball,” was fairly common practice in the 1990s, for instance. More recently, mixing fentanyl and methamphetamine, in what’s known as a “goofball,” is a growing trend. But according to a new pa...
Teaching the science and humanity of addiction
July 20, 2022 | The Daily Scan
To graduate from medical school, you are required to have instruction across a wide range of care areas, but incredibly, you can graduate without any formal training to recognize and treat addiction. And yet, most physicians, regardless of their specialty, are likely to encounter patients dealing wi...
