Cannabis use could help people stay on treatment for opioid addiction
September 20, 2018
Daily use of cannabis could help patients stay on treatment for opioid use disorder, according to new research from the BC Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU) and University of British Columbia (UBC). Researchers interviewed 820 people initiating opioid agonist treatment (OAT) over a 20-year period between December 1996 and March 2016. They found that ...
More specialized harm reduction services needed for women who use drugs
September 13, 2018
Overdose prevention strategies must consider the unique experiences of women who use drugs to reduce risk of overdose and exposure to gender-based violence, say researchers from the BC Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU) and University of British Columbia (UBC). Supervised consumption sites (SCS) and overdose prevention sites (OPS) have been central to...
Research sheds light on how to improve diagnosis and treatment of severe alcohol withdrawal syndrome
August 28, 2018
The treatment of alcohol withdrawal urgently needs to be modernized in order to improve patient outcomes and safety and reduce health care cost, according to new research from the BC Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU). The study, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, involved a multi-year systematic review involving more ...
Tenant-led overdose response in Vancouver SROs proves to be effective at reaching socially isolated
August 2, 2018
With the majority of fatal opioid overdoses occurring alone and inside the home, tenant-led interventions in single room occupancy (SRO) hotels are urgently needed, according to new research from the BC Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU) and University of British Columbia (UBC). In 2017, 88% of illicit drug overdose deaths in British Columbia occurred...
Lessons from the HIV pandemic could help identify gaps in accessing treatment for opioid use disorder
July 31, 2018
New research from the BC Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU) suggests applying successful strategies to fight HIV/AIDS in response to overdose crisis. In a study published in the August issue of the peer-reviewed journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, BCCSU researchers used data from approximately 10 years of interviews from people with opioid use disord...
