The latest news articles featuring BC Centre on Substance Use.
The man who helped decriminalize hard drugs in Portugal has some advice for Canada and B.C.
June 11, 2022 | Toronto Star
VANCOUVER—Portugal was in the throes of a drug crisis more than two decades ago when Dr. João Goulão was tasked with helping to do something about it. One of the central measures taken was to decriminalize certain amounts of hard drugs. At the time, the country had an estimated 100,000 heroin us...
Is there fentanyl in my drugs? How ‘take-home’ testing could be a game changer
June 08, 2022 | Vancouver Is Awesome
People who use drugs in Vancouver can use take-home strips to detect fentanyl in their supply. But how accurate are the results from self-administered tests? And, perhaps more importantly, what is the likelihood that someone who uses drugs will use them? A B.C. study finds that people who use drugs...
Why harm reduction experts are calling for a safe supply of illegal drugs
June 08, 2022 | CBC Ottawa Morning with Robyn Bresnahan
Public policy professor Kora DeBeck explains how British Columbia’s new drug decriminalization policies will affect drug users, and what the next steps could be in solving Canada’s opioid crisis....
Why I Think Federal Prohibition Fails Young People
June 06, 2022 | Rolling Stone
The United States has been painstakingly slow to embrace federal cannabis reform. Despite 18 states now having legal, non-medical cannabis access, there are still Americans in jail on cannabis-related charges. According to findings from Pew Charitable Trusts, one in three of the possession-related...
B.C. will decriminalize up to 2.5 grams of hard drugs. Drug users say that threshold won’t decriminalize them
June 03, 2022 | CBC News
British Columbia is set to become the first province to decriminalize possession of small amounts of illicit drugs — but drug users, advocates, and the province’s chief coroner warn the threshold of 2.5 grams set by the federal government ignores the hard realities of how people buy and use...
