Sandra Ka Hon Chu and Corey Ranger. Care, Connection, and Access: Legal and policy measures to scale up safe supply at supervised consumption services. HIV Legal Network. 

Youth Unregulated Drug Toxicity Deaths in British Columbia, Jan 1, 2019-Dec 31, 2023. BC Coroners Service. 

 Confronting Pregnancy Criminalization: A practical guide for healthcare providers, lawyers, medical examiners, child welfare workers, and policymakers

The Beyond Do No Harm Discussion Guide: 13 Principles for Health Care Providers, Staff, Public Health Workers, and Researchers to Interrupt Criminalization

Cafe Scientifique: Substance use and the toxic drug crisis in rural Canada - Summary Report and Webinar

Health Standing Committee on the Opioid Epidemic and Toxic Drug Crisis in Canada

Briefs (click on ‘Briefs’)

Meetings (Evidence = transcript)

June 3rd: Prof. Benjamin Perrin, Dr. Julian Somers, Dr. Bohdan Nosyk (Evidence not yet available), Video
 

May 30th: Dr. Bonnie Henry, Dr. Paxton Bach, Dr. Carole Morissette, Dr. Mylène Drouin, Earl Thiessen (Evidence not yet available), Video

May 9th: Dr. Eugenia Oviedo-Joekes, Sarah Lovegrove, Martin Pagé, Elenore Sturko, Evidence, Video

May 6th: Dr. Bernadette Paully, Dr. Sharon Koivu, Chief Pauline Frost, Carol Hopkins, Evidence, Video

April 29th: Dr. Nickie Mathew, Dr. Alexander Caudarella, Petra Shulz, Dr. Marie-Eve Morin, Evidence, Video

April 15th: Nathaniel Day, D/Commr Dwayne McDonald, A/Cmmr Will Ng, Rachel Huggins, Deputy Chief Fiona Wilson, Evidence, Video

Feb 29: Dr. Bohdan Nosyk, Dr. Elaine Hyshka, Dr. Meldon Kahan, Dr. Marie-Ève Goyer, Evidence, Video

Feb 26: Dr. Rob Tanguay, Louis Letellier de St-Just, Maria Hudspith, Dr. Andrea Sereda, Evidence, Video

Feb 1: Hon. Ya’ara Saks, Eric Costen, Jennifer Saxe, Dr. Stephen Lucas, Dr. Samuel Weiss, Nancy Hamzawi, Dr. Theresa Tam, Evidence, Video

Dec 11: Dr. Keith Humphreys, Dr. Dan Werb, Evidence, Video

Dec 4: Carol Anne Chénard, Jennifer Saxe, Kelly Robinson, Samuel Weiss, Shannon Hurley, Marie-Hélène Lévesque, Jennifer Novak, Evidence, Video

Podcasts

Crackdown Podcast: Episode 45 - Recriminalization

Toronto Star’s It’s Political: How do we solve the opioid crisis?

The Backbench: Flip-flopping on decriminalization

Nature: Fentanyl addiction: the brain pathways behind the opioid crisis  
 

Min, JE, et al. (2024). Opioid coprescription through risk mitigation guidance and opioid agonist treatment receipt JAMA.

Objective: To examine whether prescription of hydromorphone tablets or sustained-release oral morphine (opioid RMG) and OAT coprescription compared with OAT alone is associated with subsequent OAT receipt.

Design: This population-based, retrospective cohort study was conducted from March 27, 2020, to August 31, 2021, included individuals from 10 linked health administrative databases from British Columbia, Canada. Individuals who were receiving OAT at opioid RMG initiation and individuals who were receiving OAT and eligible but unexposed to opioid RMG were propensity score matched at opioid RMG initiation on sociodemographic and clinical variables. Data were analyzed between January 2023 and February 2024.

Main outcome measures: The main outcome was OAT receipt, defined as at least 1 dispensed dose of OAT in the subsequent week. A marginal structural modeling approach was used to control for potential time-varying confounding.

Results: A total of 4636 individuals were receiving OAT at the time of first opioid RMG dispensation. Opioid RMG receipt of 1 to 3 days in a given week increased the probability of OAT receipt by 27% in the subsequent week, whereas receipt of opioid RMG for 4 days or more resulted in a 46% increase in the probability of OAT receipt in the subsequent week compared with those not receiving opioid RMG. The biological gradient was robust to different exposure classifications, and the association was stronger among those initiating opioid RMG and OAT concurrently.

Conclusions: This cohort study, which acknowledged the intermittent use of both medications, demonstrated that individuals who were coprescribed opioid RMG had higher adjusted probability of continued OAT receipt or reengagement compared with those not receiving opioid RMG.

Henderson, N., Marris, J., and Woodend, K. (2024). “And this is the life jacket, the lifeline they’ve been wanting”: Participant perspectives on navigation and successes of prescribed safer supply. PLOS ONE. 

Nosyk, B., Slaunwhite, A; and Urbanoski, K. (2024). Examining Safer Opioid Supply Policies. JAMA Network. (Response to Nguyen, et al. JAMA article)

Pauly, B., et al. (2024). Implementation of pharmaceutical alternatives to a toxic drug supply in BC: A mixed methods study. Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment. 

Ivsins, A. et al. (2024). A qualitative study on perception among experiences of overdose among people who smoke drugs in Vancouver, BC. Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

Suen, LW., et al. (2024). Methadone’s resurgence in bridging the treatment gap in the overdose crisis: Position statement of AMERSA. Substance Use and Addiction Journal. 

Webb, P., et al. (2024). Patterns of drug use among people who inject drugs: a global systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Drug Policy. 

Michaud, L., et al. (2024). “The Law is to grey”: Liminal legality and moral injury in encounters with drug law enforcement. Social and Legal Studies. 

Moran, L., et al. (2024). How do we understand the value of drug checking as a component of harm reduction services? A qualitative exploration of client and provider perspectives. Harm Reduction Journal. 

Fleming, T., et al. (2024). Using drugs alone in single room occupancy housing: Understanding environmental drivers of overdose risk. International Journal of Drug Policy. 

VanSteelandt, A., et al. (2024). Accidental substance-related acute toxicity deaths among youth in Canada: a descriptive analysis of a national chart review study of coroner and medical examiner data. Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention. 

Erinoso, O., et al. (2024). Safety strategies and harm reduction for methamphetamine users in the era of fentanyl contamination: a qualitative analysis. International Journal of Drug Policy. 

Holland, A., et al. (2024). Nitazenes - Heralding a second wave for the UK drug-related death crisis? The Lancet Public Health. 

Clay, S., et al. (2024) The reflections of health service providers on implementing contingency management for methamphetamine use disorder in Australia. Drug and Alcohol Review.

Beaugard, C., et al. (2024). “Everything is kind of the same except my mind is with me”: exploring cannabis substitution in a sample of adults in early recovery from an opioid or stimulant addiction. Harm Reduction Journal. 

Lau, J. et al. (2024). Association between opioid use disorder and palliative care: a cohort study using linked health administrative data in Ontario, Canada CMAJ.

Bedard, M., et al. (2024). Xylazine is an agonist at kappa opioid receptors and exhibits sex-specific responses to opioid antagonism. Addiction Neuroscience. 

Selfridge, M., et al. (2024). “I just never wanted them to feel uncomfortable”: Barriers to pharmacy-based identification and treatment of hepatitis C in Victoria, Canada. Canadian Liver Journal. 

Gahrton, C. et al. (2024). Changes in hepatitis C virus prevalence and incidence among people who inject drugs in the direct acting anti-viral era. International Journal of Drug Policy. 

Tran, K and MacDougall. (2024). Ketamine for Adults with Substance Use Disorder. Canadian Journal of Health Technologies. 

Broady, TR, et al. (2024). Factors associated with experiencing stigma, discrimination, and negative health care treatment among people who inject drugs. International Journal of Drug Policy. 

Ellis, JD. et al. (2024). Harm reduction for opioid use disorder: Strategies and outcome metrics. American Journal of Psychiatry. 

International, National, and General News

Despite all the shouting, the opioid crisis continues to defy simple answers

Poilievre blames B.C. decriminalization, drug policy for record deaths

Smoking drugs linked to half of overdose deaths: experts

Xylazine causes 900% Surge in Blood Infections.  

Clinicians often use stigmatizing language for patients with OUD

How well do Canada’s alcohol policies support public health? 

‘A complete 180’: how a trial treatment in Sydney for heroin addiction is changing lives

Contrary to ‘war on drugs’ rhetoric, harm reductions programs are essential

Harm reduction overshadowed

Lessons from the frontlines of Canada’s fentanyl crisis

Homeless encampments are a “human rights crisis,” the federal housing advocate warns. Urgent action is needed

In a decade of drug overdoses, more than 320,000 American children lost a parent

Alarming study finds 99% of fake painkillers tested contain fentanyl (US)

Withdrawal worse when fentanyl paired with animal tranquilizer

Culturally supportive housing rooted in land-based harm reduction

Please stop calling them overdoses - they are poisonings

Benefits and risks of treating opioid use disorder with ketamine

BC

Federal addictions minister says B.C. public decriminalization reversal under review

What now for BC’s decriminalization test? 

Why BC trades workers are demanding nasal naloxone on construction sites

We should embrace the lessons from BC’s decriminalization pilot

Focus on homelessness, not drug decriminalization, former health officer says

With decriminalization in trouble, conservatives are declaring a new war on drugs

How the politics of decriminalization played out in BC

BC drug user advocates warn that decriminalization changes may cause more deaths

BC recriminalizes drug sues in public spaces

Making sense of Eby’s step back on decriminalization

Consider evidence and experience in the war on drugs

The Far-right’s newest scapegoat: ‘drug users and unhoused people’

Overdoses in BC harder to treat with rise of benzodiazepines in toxic drugs

Federal Tory leader Poilievre targets illicit drugs in BC hospitals

Stop tying applications for disability income assistance to doctors

How a BC student died after overdosing in a Victoria dorm - and the major mistakes her parents say were made that night

Backtracking on drug decriminalization is politically cowardly - and illogical

Fears of exposure to illicit drugs in public places based on politics, not facts

Filmmaker takes toxic drug crisis documentary to BC MLAs

What would you rather do? Squire naloxone up a victim’s nose or inject a needle? 

Reality check: Pierre Poilievre says Justin Trudeau legalized hard drugs in British Columbia. Is that true? 

Detox beds in BC routinely site empty because of staff shortages

AB

2023 a record-breaking year for drug-poisoning deaths in Alberta

How opioid deaths are impacting the Kainai Nation in Alberta

Kainai Nation and its fight against the opioid crisis

Lethbridge sees record number of overdose deaths in 2023

SK

Prairie Harm Reduction sees increase in fentanyl use in Saskatoon

Sask. harm reduction workers feeling the effects of ‘recovery-based’ strategy

Sask, government firm on drug decriminalization, safe supply stance

‘There’s nowhere to go’: Saskatoon addiction service cuts hurt the most vulnerable

‘Our communities are in grief’: Sask. First Nations battle ongoing opioid crisis

Regina harm reduction site warns users as drug overdoses have increased recently

MB

Drug testing machines touted by Manitoba government as a way to combat toxic drug crisis

Sioux Valley issues warning after fentanyl found 

ON

Chronic opioid users die decades younger than the average: study

A ‘shockingly high’ opioid death rate in London amid division over treatment

Opioid deaths in Toronto up sharply over pre-pandemic numbers

‘A public health crisis’: experts weigh in on preventative measures amid record-breaking number of opioid deaths in Toronto

Ford calls on Ottawa to end approvals for safe drug supply sites

Doug Ford wants a moratorium on new safe supply sites. Ok. Then what?

When Toronto asked to decriminalize drugs, Health Canada had questions. More than a year later, it's still waiting for answers

Chow says debate over drug decriminalization misses a more urgent part of the problem: housing

Toronto’s top doctor doubles down on plan to decriminalize drugs for personal use

Ontario warns Toronto to drop decriminalization request

Federal government rejects Toronto’s simple drug decriminalization request

Ontario has a new supervised consumption site. Funding leaves its future in limbo

Advocates urge Ontario to boost support for supervised drug sites

Police chief wants increased police presence as opioid crisis worsens (Barrie)

Crime Stoppers cracking down on Fentanyl and Fentanyl traffickers in Haldimand-Norfolk

In just over 2 years, 91 people died while unhoused in Hamilton, researchers find

Distribution of fentanyl testing strips part of drug strategy action plan in Brantford-Brant

Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy event highlights need for rural harm reduction

Businesses feeling impact of opioid crisis

Harm reduction is about science, compassion, Nurses Assoc. Says

QC

Drogue et itinérance dans la métro de Montréal : on suit des équipes d’intervention

Quebec teachers to train students how to intervene during an opioid overdose 

YK/NWT/NVT

Use wastewater monitoring as a weapon to stop opioid deaths

Harm Reduction expert Zoe Dodd on the Whitehorse shelter inquest, and what comes next

Atlantic

Animal tranquillizer found in 10% of tested fentanyl says N.B. harm reduction group

Proposed bylaw looks to ban harm reduction tools in specific locations of Charlottetown

PEERS Alliance vows to pursue harm reduction plans as drug overdose cases rise on PEI