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
BC Government’s Crackdown on Safe Supply Spreads Fear
British Columbia’s provincial government has ended its take-home safe supply program for new participants, with an intention to transition existing patients to witnessed ingestion too. Dr. Geoff Bardwell, associate professor of health sciences at the University of Waterloo, said the policy change will impact rural and remote drug users most of all. Bardwell’s research, looking at the small, rural cities of Duncan and Kamloops, has found that clients of clinics offering take-home hydromorphone are less likely to buy from the illicit drug supply at night when the clinics are closed. (February 21, 2025)
COVID led causes of lower life expectancy in BC women during pandemic. For men, it was toxic drugs: report
A new report from Statistics Canada, co-authored by several members of British Columbia’s Office of the Provincial Health Officer, shows that during the COVID-19 pandemic, life expectancy at birth decreased — a decline that was driven in large part by deaths caused by the toxic unregulated drug supply. For women, the number one cause for the decrease in life expectancy was COVID-19 infection, followed by unregulated drug toxicity deaths. For men, that was flipped, with drug deaths being the main factor. (February 20, 2025)
BC ends take-home safer supply for drug users to stop diversion
People who rely on prescription opioids such as hydromorphone must now take those safer supply drugs under the supervision of a pharmacist, in a major about-face by the provincial government announced Wednesday by B.C.’s health minister. “We’ve heard concerns about these medications being diverted and ending up in the wrong hands,” Josie Osborne said. This is the second major drug policy that’s been walked back by the NDP government following pressure from the Official Opposition. (February 19, 2025)
Police “Support” for Harm Reduction in Canada Soon Evaporated
Amid a policy shift away from harm reduction, senior police officials in Canada have been signalling their approval, though some of them ostensibly supported harm reduction and drug decriminalization before. Experts say not only are the police wrong to suggest that decriminalization or harm reduction don’t work, but that police actions have themselves undermined such initiatives. (February 18, 2025)
BC drug rehab facility faces closure over abuse, safety violation allegations
A prominent addiction recovery facility in Surrey is facing imminent closure after numerous allegations of safety violations and emotional abuse were levied against it by the very individuals it sought to help. (February 15, 2025)
Pierre Poilievre’s Pipe Dream: Imprison Drug Users for Life
What started as concern that current drug policy “lacked a path to a full recovery” devolved into Poilievre branding harm reduction as “wacko policy” and falsely blaming harm reduction for drug deaths in British Columbia. Under a new Poilievre plan, “anyone caught trafficking, producing, or exporting over 40 mg of fentanyl” would receive a mandatory life sentence in prison. This 40-milligram threshold is a mere 1.6 per cent of the 2.5 grams that someone can possess under British Columbia’s decriminalization pilot project. For context, 40 milligrams is less than half of a typical baby Aspirin tablet. (February 11, 2025)
Washington state is giving people gift cards to help get them off drugs
When William Lester Jr. decided to get into a 12-week program to tackle his drug use, he says he weighed just 68 pounds. He knew something had to change when he was admitted to hospital for kidney failure. He credits his case worker for putting him on the path of a contingency management program — which rewards abstinence from stimulant drugs, such as methamphetamine or cocaine, with gift cards. (February 10, 2025)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University instructors participate in research initiative to address Surrey drug crisis
In response to the ongoing unregulated toxic drug crisis that has gripped communities across B.C., the Surrey Union of Drug Users (SUDU) is leading a research initiative to address the challenges faced by people who use drugs in Surrey. Driven by individuals with lived experience, the project is a community-based effort to improve lives, advocate for policy changes, and raise awareness about the dire need for services in Surrey. Kwantlen Polytechnic University criminology instructors and researchers Tara Lyons and Micheal Ma are working with the SUDU to look into the disparities Surrey faces in regard to the toxic drug crisis. (February 6, 2025)
BC addictions doctor resigns after trying to set up overdose prevention site in Nanaimo
A Vancouver Island doctor involved in setting up unsanctioned overdose prevention sites has resigned from her positions with Island Health, claiming she was placed on leave as punishment for her public advocacy work. (February 6, 2025)
Want to get rid of fentanyl? Tackle money-laundering first, say experts
As the federal government says it will introduce new measures to fight organized crime in Canada, helping it stave off tariff threats from the US, experts say that Canada’s money-laundering problem has festered for far too long — and that the issue makes it easier for fentanyl-pushing cartels to gain a foothold in this country. (February 6, 2025)
BC Coroner’s Report on Unregulated Drug Deaths in 2024
In 2024, there was a 13% decrease in deaths from unregulated drugs compared to 2023. The rate of death in 2024 is 40 per 100,000 persons, which is less than the annual rates in any of the previous three years (2021-2023). In 2024, 70% of those dying were aged 30 to 59, and 74% were male. The rate of female deaths have steadily increased since the start of the public health emergency in 2016. In 2024, the rate of death among females (20 deaths per 100,000 population) is over 50% higher than the rate from 2020 (13 per 100,000). (February 5, 2025)
A post-pandemic spike in drug deaths continued in Newfoundland and Labrador last year. The biggest culprit? Cocaine
Opioids remain top of mind for harm reduction advocates and grab the majority of attention in the news, but Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Nash Denic said people should always be cognizant of cocaine’s risks. “Individuals have to know cocaine is still [the] most dangerous drug, and the reason being is that we don’t have an antidote,” Denic said. (January 30, 2025)
Resources, Education, and Research
Youth Harm Reduction 101: new online course
The Youth Harm Reduction team of Interior Health is pleased to announce the launch of Youth Harm Reduction 101, a short course that covers essential information on integrating harm reduction principles, approaches and services into your practice when working with youth. The site page also features a toolkit and both resources are available on the Interior Health website.
Alcohol-related deaths and hospitalizations spiked during the pandemic. Could policy have made a difference?
A new study from the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggests not only were more people consuming more alcohol — there were more hospitalizations and deaths because of it. Between April 2020 and December 2022, deaths fully attributable to alcohol were up about 18 per cent, while hospitalizations were up about eight per cent. The increases were highest in the first two years of the pandemic, with deaths up about 24 per cent, and hospitalizations about 14 per cent.
Person-centred perinatal substance use care
In this episode of the Addiction Practice Pod, David P. Ball and perinatal addiction medicine specialist Dr. Eric Cattoni discuss the unique challenges facing people who are pregnant and use substances and the importance of building therapeutic rapport and trust. This episode also features social worker Meenakshi Mannoe, and peer engagement lead Melissa Dreyer.
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]