Having witnesses or recording devices during procedures requiring anesthesia could help prevent opportunities for sexual assault.
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Sedative-hypnotic drugs can distort a patient’s perception of reality. Some patients wake up from a procedure believing they have been sexually assaulted.
A supervised consumption site in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, in 2021. B.C. has decriminalized simple possession of drugs, including methamphetamines and opioids.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
As British Columbia begins a new era in drug policy, the drug poisoning crisis continues without an end in sight.
Methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine distributed by the Drug User Liberation Front, a grassroots organization proving a safe supply of illicit drugs, in Vancouver, in April 2021.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
People are dying from using a toxic drug supply. Safer supply and other approaches that listen to the needs of people who use drugs are critical to saving lives and addressing the opioid crisis.
Naloxone can prevent deaths from opioid overdose, but there is no way to reverse the effects of benzodiazepine overdose without risk.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)
Fentanyl adulteration led to the replacement of heroin in the unregulated drug supply of British Columbia. Now that benzodiazepines are present in many opioids, are we headed towards a ‘new normal?’
Xanax, sold generically as alprazolam, is a popular drug to treat anxiety – and to sell on the street.
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Benzodiazepines, or benzos, are some of the most widely prescribed drugs in the US. They are meant to be used only short-term, but thousands use them long-term. That’s a big worry.
There are many pharmacological options available for insomnia. But they will mostly make you reliant upon them for sleep.
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Opiates have emerged as a significant threat to public health in the UK.
Long-term use is not recommended because of the known side effects. But it took two decades, after its release in the 1960s, to recognise this.
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Benzodiazepines, like alcohol, are depressant drugs, sometimes referred to as “downers” as they make people feel relaxed, sleepy, less coordinated and generally slowed down.
This class of drug poses significant risks of misuse and dependence, paradoxical reactions, disinhibition, amnesia and intoxication.
Jacek Becela
The body responsible for regulating drugs in Australia, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), is poised to decide whether to restrict access to benzodiazepines, such as Xanax, Valium and Normison…