Community researchers discuss the impact of brain injury at BC Consensus Day at the University of Victoria. As many as 600,000 overdose-related brain injuries have occurred in Canada during the toxic drug crisis.
(Mauricio A. Garcia-Barrera)
The toxic drug crisis is not only about fatalities. A much larger number of people survive overdoses, and are left with brain injuries. A national strategy to support and treat them is crucial.
Premier David Eby, joined by Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth, announce that the B.C. government is banning the use of hard drugs in public places, part of the province’s ongoing decriminalization pilot project, at a press conference in Victoria on Oct. 5, 2023.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Decriminalizing drugs is not intended as a solution to drug problems. Rather, it is a critical first step that’s necessary, but not sufficient, for replacing prohibition with a public health approach.
Actress Marisa Abela and actor Eddie Marsan film a scene for the Amy Winehouse biopic ‘Back to Black’ in London.
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Nitazenes were developed as a powerful class of painkiller in the 1950s, but they were abandoned – until now.
People march to remember those who died during the drug poisoning crisis on International Overdose Awareness Day, in Vancouver, on Aug. 31, 2021.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
A police policy of not making arrests for simple possession is a way to essentially decriminalize personal drug use. However, confiscating drugs — even without arrests — can be harmful in many ways.
The US has seen a huge rise in drug deaths in the past decade involving a stimulant and a depressant.
Drug checking is a harm reduction practice that provides chemical analysis of substances. Fentanyl test strips help drug users ensure that substances are free of dangerous fentanyl.
(AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)
Most consumables in Canada have quality controls that inform purchasing and consumption decisions. People who use illicit drugs deserve the same. Drug checking provides that harm-reduction service.
Resistance to policies like safe supply still create barriers for vulnerable people, despite evidence that harm reduction saves lives.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Harm reduction is grounded in evidence. But policies, stigma and ignorance about substance use still create barriers in battling Canada’s drug poisoning crisis.
Opioid neurotransmitters are located in many areas of the body, including the brain, spine and gut.
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Unlike opioid drugs like morphine and fentanyl that travel throughout the body, the opioids your body produces are released in small quantities to specific locations.
Millions around the world use acetaminophen every day, but relatively few people are aware of the dangers of overdose.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Xylazine, or tranq, is increasingly being mixed with drugs like fentanyl or heroin and can be difficult to detect. Most people who use drugs are unable to tell if they have been exposed to it.
Poisons are often not so clearly labeled.
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More than 50 overdoses happen in bathrooms every month in British Columbia. Public bathrooms can be made safer for everyone, including people who use substances.
Australians bought more than 65 million packs of paracetamol pain relief last year. TGA efforts to reduce its potential harms will need to take those who use it to manage pain into consideration.
Only a small amount of fentanyl is enough to be lethal.
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
Fentanyl’s wide availability in the drug supply has led to an increase in unintentional overdoses. While prevention strategies are available, limited availability stymies their use.
We researched how much difference opioids like codeine, oxycodone or morphine make to osteoarthritis pain. We found they helped about as much as paracetamol. Yet they are far more dangerous.
People around the world mourned loved ones on International Overdose Awareness Day on Aug. 31, 2021.
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