Substance Use News provides a monthly collection of news and resources on the social, medical and political responses to the toxic drug supply crisis and harm reduction. To get the latest toxic drug safety alerts, visit Info for People Who Use Substances page from Toward the Heart. Subscribe to our newsletter for information weekly- scroll to the bottom of the page to sign up. You can also visit our Substance Use and Harm Reduction page for more resources.
In the News
Years after Insite ruling, BC drug policy landscape still in flux
In 2021, the Vancouver-based Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) approached Health Canada for permission to buy drugs on the dark web before having them tested for contaminants and selling them to users through its “compassion club and fulfilment centre.” Health Canada rejected the application for exemption from drug laws, but the group went ahead with it anyway, saying it would save lives. Lawyers for DULF are now waiting to hear if a judge will agree that Health Canada violated drug users’ Charter rights when it refused to grant the exemption, while DULF prepares a second Charter challenge as part of its defence of its two co-founders who were arrested and charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking. (July 22, 2024)
The possible future of supervised consumption sites?
This segment from The Current Supervised consumption sites have been around for decades in provinces across Canada. The sites give drug users a supervised space to consume drugs, get their supply tested and receive clean equipment. But Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has called on the federal government to shut down some of these programs, citing concerns that they attract drug dealing and other crime, making them part of the problem, not the solution. A harm reduction street outreach nurse and a PWLLE from No Thanks, I’m Good respond to Poilievre’s claims. Segment starts at 21:55. (July 22, 2024)
Concerns raised over Poilievre’s promise to close supervised consumption sites
Concerns are being raised about federal Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre’s promise to close supervised consumption sites should the party win the next election. Last week, Poilievre told reporters that a future Conservative government would shutter supervised consumption sites “next to schools, playgrounds, anywhere else that they endanger the public and take lives.” He also referred to the sites as “drug dens.” “It’s frightening for me to think that his leadership will actually close these sites and make our vulnerable population even more vulnerable,” Jennens said. (July 16, 2024)
BC helps more people access Indigenous-led addictions treatment
More people will soon have access to Indigenous-led mental-health and addictions treatment with construction under way at the new Tsa̲kwa̲’luta̲n Healing Centre on Quadra Island. The We Wai Kai Nation, with support from the Province, has begun converting its former Tsa̲kwa̲’luta̲n resort into a new healing centre dedicated to helping people struggling with addiction. The centre will offer cultural and medical healing services for as many as 40 people at a time. The centre is on track to have 20 adult treatment beds available by fall 2024. (July 16, 2024)
More addiction treatment services coming for people on the Sunshine Coast
Men living on the Sunshine Coast will soon have access to more addiction treatment options with 12 new supportive recovery beds in Powell River. “The City of Powell River is pleased to partner with Together We Can and Miklat Recovery to open a new facility that will provide additional treatment options for individuals who want to improve their health and wellness,” said Ron Woznow, mayor, Powell River. (July 15, 2024)
Indigenous-led supervised consumption site coming to Winnipeg: NDP
The Manitoba government has announced it will open the province’s first supervised consumption site in 2025 in an effort to save lives from mounting overdose deaths. It’s news harm reductionists – people who try to reduce levels of harm associated with risky activities – have been waiting for after years of lobbying the province for safer places for people to use drugs.The Manitoba government will provide $727,000 for the site and partner with the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre (AHWC), which has been providing healthcare services to the Indigenous community in Winnipeg for more 30 years, to lead it. It will be the first Indigenous-led supervised consumption site, or SCS, in Canada. (July 12, 2024)
BC premier says ‘zero per cent chance’ for no-prescription opioid suggestion
British Columbia Premier David Eby says there’s a “zero per cent chance” the province will implement recommendations by the provincial health officer that alternatives to opioids and other street drugs be made available without a prescription. Eby says he has “huge respect” for Dr. Bonnie Henry, who he said saved countless lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that it’s OK they occasionally have a difference of opinion. He told an unrelated news conference his position is “non-negotiable,” and BC will not be moving to a model where medical professionals are not “directly involved” if people use “harmful and toxic drugs.”(July 12, 2024)
BC should consider non-prescribed drug alternatives says Dr. Bonnie Henry, BC’s provincial health officer
‘We cannot prescribe our way out of this crisis,’ Dr. Bonnie Henry says in latest report on overdose crisis, Alternatives to Unregulated Drugs: Another Step in Saving Lives. Dr. Bonnie Henry says that efforts centred on drug prohibition have not only failed to control access to controlled substances, but have also created the toxic unregulated drug supply that has killed thousands since a health emergency was declared eight years ago. Her report echoes the findings from former chief coroner Lisa Lapointe, who said in January before leaving her post that prescribed safer-supply drugs would not solve the crisis, which has claimed more than 14,000 lives in B.C. since 2016. (July 11, 2024)
Advocacy, Education, and Research
Opioid and Stimulant-related Harms in Canada
On June 28, 2024, the co-chairs of the federal, provincial, and territorial Special Advisory Committee on Toxic Drug Poisonings—Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, and Dr. Yves Léger, New Brunswick’s Acting Chief Medical Officer of Health—issued the following statement on the release of the latest surveillance data on opioid and stimulant-related harms in Canada from January 2016 to December 2023. The latest national data show that the number of opioid-related deaths, hospitalizations and emergency service responses in 2023 were comparable to what we saw during the pandemic. Opioid-related deaths and harms rose dramatically in 2020, and have been high since then.
Toxic Drugs Have Created a Hidden Brain Injury Epidemic
The toxic drug crisis is Canada’s longest-standing public health emergency, but many are unaware of the brain injury epidemic that underlies it. June was brain injury awareness month, and as researchers investigating the intersections between brain injury, mental health and substance use, this article from The Tyee wants to shed light on one of the more under-recognized consequences of drug toxicity in Canada.
Crackdown podcast episode: The Bench
In Canada, alcohol is legal and we have a safe supply of booze. So why do some people drink mouthwash or rice wine? And why does the state over-police poor people for public drinking? In episode 46, we learn how Canada’s alcohol policies drive illicit drinking. And we hear from a group of drinkers who are fighting back with alcohol-based harm reduction.
Telemedicine decreases barriers to support people in treatment
Telemedicine referrals can be a more effective way than in-person emergency department visits to get people with opioid use disorder to start and stay with medication assisted treatment through an outpatient clinic, according to a new study. It is believed to be the first study comparing telemedicine referrals to treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) to referrals initiated at the emergency department.
‘Magic mushrooms’ work by scrambling key brain network
Advocates have long argued that, under the right conditions, psychedelic experiences can alleviate mental distress, and a smattering of scientific studies suggests they may be right. Understanding precisely how the drug affects the brain will help scientists and doctors harness its therapeutic potential. The new findings provide a neurobiological explanation for the drug’s mind-bending effects and lay some of the groundwork for the development of psilocybin-based therapies for mental illnesses such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Visit the BC Centre for Disease Control’s Unregulated Drug Poisoning Emergency Dashboard for provincial data from different sources.
Visit the BC Centre on Substance Use for information on evidence-based approaches to substance use care and harm reduction.
Visit the National Safer Supply Community of Practice (NSS-CoP), whose goal is to scale up safer supply programs across Canada.
Visit the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research site for research on aclohol and substance use.
Questions? Feedback? Get in touch. Janet Madsen, Capacity Building and Digital Communications Coordinator, [email protected]