#dtes #bcpoli I hate hydromorphone as "safe supply". I hate the idea of anything dependent upon an individualized prescription thats meant to be a public health intervention for a drug poisoning crisis.

Pierre Poilievre has launched a major campaign attacking Safer Supply drug programs & pushing Trudeau to scrap them & redirect funds to detox/rehab. He says there's now hard proof Safer Supply doesn't work – a National Post article by Adam Zivo. Let's look at that article. 1/x

With more than 12,000 people having died in B.C. from the toxic drug supply since 2016, the chief coroner is pushing back against safer supply criticisms. "I think it’s reprehensible that this is a medical crisis that people are trying to politicize." vancouver.citynews.ca/2023/05/18/bc-…

A few thoughts from Jason Altenberg and me on the toxic drug poisoning crisis in 🇨🇦.

I wrote my master’s thesis on the scummy, predatory, unregulated — but burgeoning — “recovery home”industry in Vancouver’s suburbs, esp Surrey. Little has changed. Successive govts have looked the other way, even courted it. It’s gross & should be put out of business.

Vancouver family who lost son to overdose donates $20 million to recovery centre | Vancouver Sun vancouversun.com/news/local-new…

“The goal is a seamless transition between all stages of one’s recovery journey – from the Rapid Access Addiction Clinic through withdrawal management, in-patient recovery-focused beds, transitional housing, outpatient treatment and more.” theglobeandmail.com/canada/british…

What a sharp contrast to the stalled federal overdose response.

#UCP waited until the week of the Canada Day long weekend to release data showing a record-breaking number of Albertans dying from unregulated drugs They're hoping people don't see the coverage or read the commentary that keeps rolling in.

🚨Our July 19 TI Best Evidence webinar explores the interaction between SSRI #antidepressants and substance misuse 💊🍸 🎙️Speaker: Dr David Menkes david menkes 📝Register: ti.ubc.ca/ssri-alcohol #MedEd #CME #SSRIs #SubstanceMisuse #prescribing #deprescribing

Canada gets new guidelines to recognize and treat high-risk drinking by Amina Zafar for CBC News The new guidelines published in this week's CMAJ can be found here: ➡️cmaj.ca/content/195/40… cbc.ca/news/health/al…

The generosity of our donors help support life-changing addiction care and outreach efforts for Road to Recovery at St. Paul's Hospital. Today, we are celebrating West Pender Property Group for their recent $500,000 commitment towards R2R. Learn more at: bit.ly/40x95nP

An excellent deep dive on the controversy over the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF), which has been buying drugs off the dark web, testing them and labelling their contents, + re-selling them at cost to ppl who would otherwise purchase street drugs. vancouversun.com/health/local-h…

A Christmas miracle for an OPS participant thanks to @ashtrey5. Our guy was discharged from North Van Hospital - he wanted to stay, so Trey picked him up and brought him to St Paul's and they gave him a bed until he gets admitted to detox. David Eby Niki Sharma John Coupar

“The ‘inflexibility’ of abstinence-only ‘costs a lot of lives,’ Volkow said...‘[T]o basically impose that as a reality for everyone—who have very different backgrounds and opportunities—I think it’s sort of like a magical thought and not practical.’” bit.ly/47n8jf6

How I got a prescription for Ozempic, even though I shouldn’t have qualified. The rise of for-profit telehealth companies has led to bad medicine. #StarInvestigation by Morgan Sevareid-Bocknek: thestar.com/news/investiga…

🧵 Numerous B.C. pharmacies are accused of offering prohibited cash kickbacks to vulnerable patients for their prescriptions in an effort to maximize the amounts the pharmacies can bill the province’s publicly funded drug plan theglobeandmail.com/canada/article…

I am so hurt. Disheartened. 🧵 Yesterday I received an email informing me that I’m no longer welcome at the National Recovery Capital Conference, organized by Last Door Rehab, taking place this week in Calgary. My registration has been cancelled and I will not be permitted to attend.

Drug #decriminalization is not to blame for all of our social woes. We need to tackle the #ToxicDrugCrisis on multiple fronts, by André Picard theglobeandmail.com/opinion/articl… via Globe Opinion