Drugs

Moms Stop the Harm advocates and supporters march to the Ministry of Health building where pictures of loved ones hang on display during the sixth anniversary to mark the public health emergency on opioid-related overdose across the province in Victoria, April 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

179 people died from B.C.’s poisoned drug supply in October

October’s numbers bring 2022’s total to 1,827 lives lost

Moms Stop the Harm advocates and supporters march to the Ministry of Health building where pictures of loved ones hang on display during the sixth anniversary to mark the public health emergency on opioid-related overdose across the province in Victoria, April 14, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Statue of Lady Justice at Vancouver law courts. (File photo)

Convicted Surrey drug dealer whose sister was murdered loses court appeal for leniency

Man sentenced to 9 months jail and 6 months probation for selling cocaine and oxycodone to undercover Surrey Mounties on four occasions

Statue of Lady Justice at Vancouver law courts. (File photo)
FILE -Dean Anderson holds up a sign before a march on the first National Day of Action to draw attention to the opioid overdose epidemic, in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday, February 21, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C.’s overdose crisis: drugs, death and denial on the job

A recent survey of construction workers in B.C. found 1 in 3 self-reported problematic substance use

  • Nov 16, 2022
FILE -Dean Anderson holds up a sign before a march on the first National Day of Action to draw attention to the opioid overdose epidemic, in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, B.C., on Tuesday, February 21, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
FILE - Rabbi Ben Gorelick, measures out a precise amount Sacrament, psilocybin mushrooms, during Sacred Tribe Sacrament ceremony at the Synagogue, his home, on Nov. 6, 2021, in Denver. Colorado voters are deciding whether theirs will be the second state, after Oregon, to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms for those 21 and older. A ballot measure would create state-regulated “healing centers” for patients to experience the drug. (Andy Cross/The Denver Post via AP, File)

Colorado votes on decriminalizing ‘magic mushrooms’

Legislation would create state-regulated ‘healing centres’ with licensed psilocybin ‘facilitators’

FILE - Rabbi Ben Gorelick, measures out a precise amount Sacrament, psilocybin mushrooms, during Sacred Tribe Sacrament ceremony at the Synagogue, his home, on Nov. 6, 2021, in Denver. Colorado voters are deciding whether theirs will be the second state, after Oregon, to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms for those 21 and older. A ballot measure would create state-regulated “healing centers” for patients to experience the drug. (Andy Cross/The Denver Post via AP, File)
A person holds a syringe and an orange while learning how to administer Naloxone to an overdose victim, during an International Overdose Awareness Day gathering in Surrey, B.C., on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Dozens of recommendations in overdose and drug toxicity report by B.C. MLAs

Report calls for fewer barriers to safe supply, expanded take-home naloxone program

A person holds a syringe and an orange while learning how to administer Naloxone to an overdose victim, during an International Overdose Awareness Day gathering in Surrey, B.C., on Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
File Photo. Deputy Rick Bray watches surveillance monitors from the control room at the Clallam County Jail on Wednesday in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)

B.C. sheriff points to staff shortages, guard apathy for drugs in prisons

Sheriff speaks on anonymity as to how drugs get into prisons

File Photo. Deputy Rick Bray watches surveillance monitors from the control room at the Clallam County Jail on Wednesday in Port Angeles. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
(Black Press Media Creative)

B.C. pharmacists welcome new prescription powers, but eye administrative burden

Starting Oct. 14, B.C. pharmacists will be able to administer more vaccines and renew prescriptions

(Black Press Media Creative)
Paramedics respond to a call as Vancouver city councillor Jean Swanson attends a march on International Overdose Awareness Day, in Vancouver, on August 31, 2021. In August 2022, the BC Coroner Service says 169 British Columbians died to the toxic drug supply. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

169 British Columbians killed from toxic drug supply in August: Coroner

Number a small decrease from 192 deaths in July

Paramedics respond to a call as Vancouver city councillor Jean Swanson attends a march on International Overdose Awareness Day, in Vancouver, on August 31, 2021. In August 2022, the BC Coroner Service says 169 British Columbians died to the toxic drug supply. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
FILE — The Biogen Inc., headquarters is shown March 11, 2020, in Cambridge, Mass. Shares of Biogen and other drugmakers researching Alzheimer’s disease soared early Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, after Japan’s Eisai Co. said its potential treatment appeared to slow the fatal disease’s progress in a late-stage study. Eisai announced results late Tuesday from a global study of nearly 1,800 people with early-stage Alzheimer’s (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

VIDEO: Alzheimer’s drug shows promise in early results of study

Patient decline reduced by 27% in initial study

FILE — The Biogen Inc., headquarters is shown March 11, 2020, in Cambridge, Mass. Shares of Biogen and other drugmakers researching Alzheimer’s disease soared early Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, after Japan’s Eisai Co. said its potential treatment appeared to slow the fatal disease’s progress in a late-stage study. Eisai announced results late Tuesday from a global study of nearly 1,800 people with early-stage Alzheimer’s (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
A month-long initiative by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit in the Okanagan led to the seizure of illicit drugs, weapons, firearms, and cash while working to disrupt and lessen opportunities for gang violence (Brittany Webster - Capital News)

Estimated 29,000 lethal fentanyl doses taken off Okanagan streets

CFSEU-BC completed the initiative in partnership with RCMP detachments throughout the Okanagan

  • Sep 21, 2022
A month-long initiative by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit in the Okanagan led to the seizure of illicit drugs, weapons, firearms, and cash while working to disrupt and lessen opportunities for gang violence (Brittany Webster - Capital News)
People hold banners during a march to remember those who died during the overdose crisis and to call for a safe supply of illicit drugs on International Overdose Awareness Day, in Vancouver in 2021. British Columbia’s chief coroner says at least 1,095 people died from suspected illicit drug overdoses from January to June in 2022, the highest death toll recorded in the first six months of a calendar year during the province’s overdose crisis. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

Thousands in B.C. will continue to die until there is a safe drug supply, say advocates

Aug. 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day

People hold banners during a march to remember those who died during the overdose crisis and to call for a safe supply of illicit drugs on International Overdose Awareness Day, in Vancouver in 2021. British Columbia’s chief coroner says at least 1,095 people died from suspected illicit drug overdoses from January to June in 2022, the highest death toll recorded in the first six months of a calendar year during the province’s overdose crisis. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)
Overdose Awareness Manitoba is asking people across Canada and beyond to draw attention to those lost to the toxic drug supply by displaying an empty purple chair. Aug. 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day. (Overdose Awareness Manitoba/Twitter)

Why you may see purple chairs popping up on International Overdose Awareness Day

Empty purple chairs represent those lost to the toxic drug supply

Overdose Awareness Manitoba is asking people across Canada and beyond to draw attention to those lost to the toxic drug supply by displaying an empty purple chair. Aug. 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day. (Overdose Awareness Manitoba/Twitter)
(Jacqueline Gelineau/Capital News)

‘I don’t want to die’: Kelowna’s ‘tent city’ Mama calls for drug reform as 6 lives lost per day in B.C.

In all the years she has been an addict, Mama Kjaer has never seen anything like the toxic drug crisis

(Jacqueline Gelineau/Capital News)
Harish Sharma, owner of the Medicine Shoppe Pharamcy on Jacklin Road in Langford, said he was lucky to get a small supply of Wellbutrin XL in for his patients. (Bailey Moreton/News Staff)

Shortage of common anti-depressant leaves Greater Victoria pharmacies scrambling

Langford pharmacist Harish Sharma recently saw limited supply sell out in hours

Harish Sharma, owner of the Medicine Shoppe Pharamcy on Jacklin Road in Langford, said he was lucky to get a small supply of Wellbutrin XL in for his patients. (Bailey Moreton/News Staff)
Carolyn Bennett rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, June 10, 2022. Canada’s minister of mental health and addictions says more doctors across the country should be willing to prescribe a safer supply of drugs instead of fearing they will be investigated by their regulatory colleges.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

More doctors across Canada should prescribe safer drugs to reduce overdoses: minister

Physicians who prescribe pharmaceutical-grade alternatives could better support patients: college

Carolyn Bennett rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, June 10, 2022. Canada’s minister of mental health and addictions says more doctors across the country should be willing to prescribe a safer supply of drugs instead of fearing they will be investigated by their regulatory colleges.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
British Columbia’s overdose Mobile Response Team has provided critical incident support and training to more than 6000 individuals who are working on the front lines combating the province’s overdose crisis. (Black Press files)

195 toxic drug deaths recorded in May, highest ever for that month in B.C.

The latest figure is a 13 per cent increase over the 172 deaths recorded in May 2021

British Columbia’s overdose Mobile Response Team has provided critical incident support and training to more than 6000 individuals who are working on the front lines combating the province’s overdose crisis. (Black Press files)
Matsqui Institution in Abbotsford (Abbotsford News file photo)

Over $280K in contraband seized at Matsqui Institution in Abbotsford

Package located on July 5 contained drugs, drug paraphernalia and ‘communication devices’

Matsqui Institution in Abbotsford (Abbotsford News file photo)
Shannon McKenney, shown in a handout photo, has been having severe migraines consecutively for about 1,500 days. Her story is one of several noted in an application submitted in court on behalf of more than 100 health-care professionals from across the country. They are challenging the federal minister of health’s decision to reject their applications to use restricted psychedelic drugs as part of training in psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Shannon McKenney **MANDATORY CREDIT**

More than 100 health-care professionals challenge rejection of psilocybin access

Health Canada did not immediately provide comment on the request for a judicial review

Shannon McKenney, shown in a handout photo, has been having severe migraines consecutively for about 1,500 days. Her story is one of several noted in an application submitted in court on behalf of more than 100 health-care professionals from across the country. They are challenging the federal minister of health’s decision to reject their applications to use restricted psychedelic drugs as part of training in psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Shannon McKenney **MANDATORY CREDIT**
Stonewall RCMP seized a drone at the Stony Mountain Institution July 3, that is believed to have been used to drop off drugs at the prison. (Courtesy Stonewall RCMP)

Metro Vancouver men charged after drone used to fly drugs into Manitoba prison

Dropped package contained methamphetamine and suspected fentanyl

Stonewall RCMP seized a drone at the Stony Mountain Institution July 3, that is believed to have been used to drop off drugs at the prison. (Courtesy Stonewall RCMP)
B.C. Attorney General David Eby and Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson announced a $150 million settlement with Purdue Pharma Canada on June 29. (Jane Skrypnek/Black Press Media)

B.C.-led lawsuit against Purdue Pharma results in $150M settlement

Money to be distributed throughout Canada for health care costs incurred from opioid damage

B.C. Attorney General David Eby and Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson announced a $150 million settlement with Purdue Pharma Canada on June 29. (Jane Skrypnek/Black Press Media)