The latest news articles featuring BC Centre on Substance Use.
Saskatchewan woman says use of cannabis to help her addiction not accepted
November 18, 2020 | The Star
REGINA – For Shelby Curtis, keeping away from hard drugs starts with quieting her thoughts. The 26-year-old got a prescription to use cannabis medicinally earlier this year while in recovery and living in Regina’s Raising Hope housing program for new mothers facing issues such as substance a...
Vancouver Projects Give Weed to Curb Overdoses. Police Just Raided One
November 17, 2020 | The Tyee
Neil Magnuson says he provides more than 200 people free high-potency cannabis edibles as an alternative to them using opioids. On Saturday, he says, Vancouver police raided his supply on wheels. Magnuson, founder of the unlicensed Cannabis Substitution Project, started the project out of the Vancou...
Can we reduce drug overdose deaths in the middle of a COVID pandemic?
November 14, 2020 | Vancouver Sun
Suspects going through withdrawal in Abbotsford jail cells are now offered an iPad to communicate by video with a doctor and can have pharmaceutical replacement drugs delivered to them while in custody, in an innovative effort to get them off deadly street drugs. The novel initiative was started thr...
How St. Paul’s Tackles the Overdose Crisis, One Patient at a Time
November 13, 2020 | The Tyee
As pandemic restrictions brought increased isolation for many people, one Vancouver woman was emerging from years of loneliness. Injured years ago, and living with chronic pain, she was dealing with debilitating side-effects from her opioid pain medications that made her anxious about leaving home. ...
Popular anti-anxiety medications need stronger warning labels, Health Canada says
October 30, 2020 | CBC News
Health Canada has asked pharmaceutical companies to put stronger safety labels on benzodiazepines and other sedative drugs prescribed for sleep and anxiety disorder to better reflect their serious risks. Doctors have long prescribed benzodiazepines such as lorazepam (brand name Ativan), alprazolam...
