The story of today’s prescription opioid overdose crisis didn’t start this year, or 10 years ago, or even 100 years ago. It starts with a plant-the opium poppy-that has been a part of human civilization for thousands of years. Papaver somniforum-literally, ‘sleep-bringing poppy’-is the scientific name for the type of poppy that produces opium, which […]
How North America Found Itself in the Grips of an Opioid Crisis Read More »
Surrey needs to cool the rhetoric and find a recovery-focused approach to its growing drug problem, addictions experts say. The city is home to a growing level of drug abuse, mounting overdoses and frequent deaths, causing many to call for safe injection sites. Last year, Surrey Fire Services responded to an average of 4.5 overdoses
Safe injection sites: Surrey at a crossroads Read More »
Former drug user, health centres speak in favour of safer sites Ray Harrison has seen people shoot up using water from toilets and puddles. He’s pulled friends who were overdosing in the street to a phone booth to call 911, so they wouldn’t be tracked by police. Now Harrison – a former drug user himself
Supervised injection site up for debate Monday at health board meeting Read More »
The House of Representatives will vote this week on more than a dozen bills to combat opioid addiction. On Wednesday, they passed a bipartisan bill to address pain management prescription practices, and there will still be votes on gathering data on infants affected by opioid abuse, and establishing federal grants to prevent and treat opioid
Analysis: Amid opioid abuse crisis, safe injection sites are a step forward Read More »
This week is Nursing Week and is an opportunity to highlight the many accomplishments being made in the field-and the remarkable people making advances and changes in such a dynamic profession.Pauline Voonis one of those remarkables: she applies her breadth of education and experience in nursing to research.
BC-CfE Director Dr. Julio Montaner shares his insight on the path forward to addressing the hepatitis C epidemic.
Talking Hep C with Dr. Montaner Read More »
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Dave Napio started doing heroin over four decades ago, at 11 years old. Like many addicts these days, he heads to Vancouver’s gritty Downtown Eastside neighborhood when he needs a fix. But instead of seeking out a dealer in a dark alley, Mr. Napio, 55, gets his three daily doses from
Vancouver Prescriptions for Addicts Gain Attention as Heroin and Opioid Use Rises Read More »
As more North American cities push for supervised injection sites to address soaring fatal overdose rates, they can find a dozen years of lessons in Vancouver, which has the only such facilities on the continent. Health officials in several Canadian cities – including Montreal, Victoria and, most recently, Toronto – are somewhere along the path
Vancouver’s injection sites a potential model for other cities: advocates Read More »
To deal with a rising rate of overdose deaths, three Toronto health clinics that already distribute hundreds of thousands of clean needles to drug users should be allowed to open “small-scale” supervised injection sites, the city’s medical officer of health says. While the idea remains controversial, reaction to the proposal from business associations near the
Toronto to consider three proposed supervised drug-injection sites Read More »
Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott has given a heartfelt stamp of approval to the work of Vancouver’s Insite supervised-injection site, a dramatic shift in tone from the previous Conservative government on harm reduction strategies that could have consequences across the country. The new Liberal Health Minister, a family doctor who founded a charity that has
Insite gets stamp of approval from Canada’s health minister Read More »
