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. Get weekly substance use news by subscribing to our newsletter: scroll to the bottom of the page to sign up. You can also visit our Substance Use and Harm Reduction page for more resources.
News and Research
DULF’s Constitutional Challenge to Compassion-Club Charges Begins
Jeremy Kalicum and Eris Nyx, co-founders of the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) are pursuing a constitutional challenge, claiming the recent charges (convicted in early November) violate Sections 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protect the right to life, liberty and security of the person, and guard against discrimination based on, among other things, disability.
BC Human Rights Commissioner Slams Overdose Inaction as human rights violation
Government inaction on the overdose crisis is a human rights violation, according to a recent position statement released by British Columbia’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner. It makes clear that the ongoing inaction and misdirection of policies aimed at handling the crisis are largely rooted in stigma, politics and systemic oppression—and run contrary to scientific evidence.
Visioning Towards a Decolonized, Indigenous-Centred Service Model for Drug Checking
As an Indigenous harm reduction service provider and academic, Sarah Littlechild explored the possibilities and challenges of drug checking within Indigenous contexts by utilizing the teachings embedded within a nêhiyaw grounded, wîhkaskwa ( sweetgrass ) methodological framework, in combination with concepts of existing Indigenous harm reduction literature, to narrate her own witnessed, experiential, and embodied autoethnographic reflections while working within an urban based drug checking pilot project (Substance Drug Checking).
Not just fentanyl: Understanding the complexities of the unregulated opioid supply through results from a drug checking service in British Columbia, Canada
This study examines illicit opioid samples submitted to a drug checking service in British Columbia. By employing a method capable of identifying and quantifying compounds at low concentrations, the analysis focused on identifying trends in notable compounds such as fentanyl, its analogues, and benzodiazepines. The study highlights the volatility in the supply and mentions the necessity for a safer opioid supply and robust drug checking methodologies to address the challenges posed by the heterogenous market.
“We need all the help we can get”: A Qualitative Examination of Service Provider Perspectives on the Barriers and Facilitators to the Implementation of The Emergency Risk Mitigation Guidelines
The Risk Mitigation Guidance (RMG) was an interim clinical guidance implemented to respond to both the public health emergency on COVID-19 and the overdose crisis through the provision of pharmaceutical alternatives to the illicit drug supply to facilitate isolation, social distancing, and reduce overdose risk. Published in 2023 by Jeremy Kalicum and available on the University of Victoria’s open access scholarship and learning repository, this study analyzed the perspectives from a broad range of service providers, whose work was impacted or related to the RMG, to elucidate a nuanced narrative regarding the perceived facilitators and barriers to RMG implementation.
Resources and Education
Lived and Living Experience Employment Grant
The Lived and Living Experience Employment Grant, led by Community Action Initiative with funding from the Vancouver Foundation, is an opportunity for community-based organizations (CBOs) in British Columbia to create meaningful employment opportunities for people with lived and living experience (PWLLE) of mental illness and/or substance use. Applications close Friday, January 16, 2026.
Beyond the Headlines Series
BC’s Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender hosted a series of conversations with leaders and change makers about key issues facing people in British Columbia. Each conversation focused on a key human rights issue facing the province right now, drawing from the Commissioner’s 2024 Rights in focus: Lived realities in BC report, including the most recent conversation was with Jonny Morris and Lisa Lapointe on the toxic drug crisis. You can now access a recording of that conversation, along with the full Beyond the Headlines Series.
Co/Lab Resources
The Collaborative Community Laboratory on Substance Use and Harm Reduction (Co/Lab) is a collaborative network for research and knowledge exchange to promote health and health equity for people with lived and living experience of substance use (including alcohol, other licit, and illicit substances). Check out their work and resources, including plain-language evidence, methodological, and practice briefs.
Youth Harm Reduction: Get to Know More About Drugs
The Interior Health Youth Harm Reduction and Legal Substances teams are excited to share their new youth-focused webpage. This page provides accurate, honest, and non-judgmental information about various substances. It covers topics such as the benefits of abstinence and delaying use, the effects and risks of substances, strategies to reduce harm, and how to access support services, including treatment.
BC Peer Worker Training
Toward the Heart offers the BC Peer Worker Training, with curriculum designed to deliver uniform educational resources that are accessible across the province, evidence-based, and informed by the lived and living experiences of people who use substances.
The training modules centre the voices and experiences of peer workers and have been developed for and by peer workers in British Columbia. Peer workers are individuals with past or present substance use experience who use that lived/ living experience to inform their professional work.
2025 Global State of Harm Reduction
Harm Reduction International has shared their full briefing on the Global State of Harm Reduction for 2025. This update presents a stark paradox: while more countries than ever recognize harm reduction in national policy, the sudden withdrawal of US funding in January 2025 has created the most severe threat to global harm reduction services in decades.
2025 International Overdose Awareness Day Partner’s Report
This year’s International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) Partner’s Report captures the impact and scale of what was achieved by the global community that showed up as one big family, driven by hope. Inside the report, you’ll see how involvement in the campaign helped drive real change, amplify evidence-based overdose prevention, and shift conversations worldwide.
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? Please get in touch. Emily Taylor-Lariviere, [email protected]