Menu Fermer

Articles sur Substance use

Ensemble des articles

Substance use during pregnancy can lead to a broad array of harmful effects. Liudmila Chernetska/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Hundreds of thousands of US infants every year pay the consequences of prenatal exposure to drugs, a growing crisis particularly in rural America

Many people wrongly assume that cannabis use during pregnancy is safe. Research is increasingly documenting a host of serious health harms from prenatal exposure to cannabis and other substances.
A tent on the sidewalk in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Cash transfers can help people find suitable accommodations and save governments money. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

We gave $7,500 to people experiencing homelessness — here’s what happened next

Researchers found that most homeless people spent the money they received on rent, food and other living costs.
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

Decriminalization: How police drug seizure, even without arrest, can create harms

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.
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)

Scaling up community drug-checking services in B.C. could help respond to the overdose crisis

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

Let evidence, not opinion, guide harm reduction policy and practice in Canada’s drug poisoning crisis

Harm reduction is grounded in evidence. But policies, stigma and ignorance about substance use still create barriers in battling Canada’s drug poisoning crisis.
Income inequality is the gap between the highest and lowest earners in a given area. It can contribute to people’s risk of poor health, and specifically mental health. (Shutterstock)

Deaths of despair: How income inequality puts Canadian youth at risk

Higher levels of income inequality in youth are associated with increased ‘deaths of despair’ in young Canadians.
A man waits to enter a supervised consumption site at a health centre in Calgary, Alta., in August 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

In B.C., Alberta and around the world, forcing drug users into treatment is a violent policy

Instead of forcing people into substance use treatment, provinces should work with municipalities and health boards to expand life-saving safe use sites and tackle the housing crisis.
A man runs past shoes hung on the Burrard Bridge in Vancouver in remembrance of victims of illicit drug overdoses on International Overdose Awareness Day in August 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Decriminalizing hard drugs in B.C. will help reduce the stigma of substance abuse

Decriminalization helps recharacterize drug addiction as a chronic health condition instead of a criminal activity, reduces the stigma associated with drug use and improves treatment options.
A wall at a supervised consumption site in Ottawa is decorated with notes written in chalk. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Supervised consumption sites reduce drug overdoses and disease transmission — and deserve government support

Supervised consumption sites provide essential community connections and services for those who use them. By closing them, governments are risking the welfare of people who use drugs.
Canada’s previous low-risk drinking guidelines were much more generous, allowing significantly more drinks per week. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Canada’s low-risk alcohol use guidelines have been slashed to 6 drinks per week. Here’s why.

Canada’s new alcohol guidelines cut the number of drinks per week in the ‘low-risk’ category by almost half for women, and by more than half for men. Here’s how researchers came to these conclusions.

Les contributeurs les plus fréquents

Plus