The latest news articles featuring BC Centre on Substance Use.
Government of Canada supports first national guideline on high-risk drinking and alcohol use disorder
January 29, 2021 | Government of Canada
High-risk drinking and alcohol use disorder (AUD) can have significant health, social and economic consequences for individuals and communities. However, a lack of research, limited access to substance use specialists, and insufficient training resources mean that AUD can frequently go unrecognized ...
B.C. paramedics responded to overdoses about every 20 minutes in 2020: report
January 20, 2021 | CityNews (News 1130)
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — B.C. paramedics were kept incredibly busy last year responding to just over 27,000 overdoses — averaging 74 calls every day or one call every 20 minutes. According to B.C. Emergency Health Services, in 2020, paramedics responded to more overdose calls than ever before. An...
New UBC professorship to advance addiction medicine in B.C.
January 18, 2021 | UBC News
Dr. Nadia Fairbairn has been named the inaugural Philip Owen Professor in Addiction Medicine at UBC. The newly established professorship—the first of its kind in Canada—will help close the evidence-to-practice gap to strengthen the addiction treatment system in British Columbia. “During the CO...
OPINION: An empathy gap is fuelling the overdose crisis
January 14, 2021 | Vancouver Is Awesome
Last month, just before Christmas, the BC Coroners Service did what they’ve done every month now for nearly five years – they released their report on the number of drug overdose deaths in the province. For families, friends, and communities that lost a loved one, behind those numbers is a life ...
Pandemic Hits Harm Reduction Workers Hard—Particularly “Peers”
January 14, 2021 | Filter
A few weeks back, Soma Snakeoil, an artist and the founder of Los Angeles-based organization the Sidewalk Project, came across a man overdosing on a street corner. She asked his girlfriend what he had taken and administered naloxone, but he was still non-responsive. Working quickly, she created a co...
