If you are in Nova Scotia and are over 50, the health authority mails you a free test every two years. But fewer than half the people who receive the kits return them. It's a great program. Just do the test and mail it back.
Decriminalization worked. B.C. killed it anyway
The province’s drug decriminalization experiment lowered arrests and reduced harm—but it failed a different political test
breachmedia.ca/decriminaliz...
www.timescolonist.com/local-news/d...
It sure wasn’t, nor by the people most affected.
The First Nations Health Authority, a health system partner to the B.C. government, said it is disappointed that it was "not engaged in a decision that will disproportionately impact First Nations people, communities and families."
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
The HRNA stands with the UBCIC and echoes the serious concerns they have raised about BC’s decision to end the decriminalization pilot.
We are grateful for UBCIC’s leadership in naming the harms of returning to punitive approaches amidst this ongoing public health emergency.
#bcpoli #cdnpoli
"Dr Wieman also expressed frustration at what she said was the hijacking of the narrative over B.C.'s pilot to decriminalize simple drug possession
noting that it was introduced, in part, to address the overrepresentation of First Nations people in the justice system as a result of systemic racism"
this is an important statement & it cuts to the heart of the policy failure
BCs decriminalization pilot didn't fail b/c it was a bad idea, the BC NDP and david eby were not willing to defend it
First Nations peoples in BC died at ~7x the rate of the rest of the population in 2024
Article
I regret B.C.’s decision to end its decriminalization pilot and am disappointed the province has not released an independent evaluation. When governments change course on life-and-death issues, Canadians deserve to see the evidence. See more 👇
Its really essential that people read the full statement and reflect on it
And think honestly & bravely on what our emergency is
each of us and all of us are involved in this, we are all the public
Its oue emergency
There’s no Them
Just us
~
we are responsible to each other
Please read this
"By ending the decriminalization pilot, the Province is failing to treat addiction as a public-health issue, not a criminal one, and is doubling down on policies that have already caused immense harm to First Nations." Grand Chief Stewart Phillip
www.ubcic.bc.ca/ubcic_deeply...
📣 New Report: Unpaid family caregivers are doing essential and often invisible work. Our new community report 🧪shares what caregiving looks like for families supporting people who use drugs in rural Western Canada.
Read more: static1.squarespace.com/static/5ac64...
Kylie's amazing #DisHist #histmed book Jim Crow in the Asylum is out today.
Its also open access, so sharing the link for anyone interested in the histories of race and disability, systemic racism in medicine, histories of madness and asylums, histories of the US South, and more
Just arrived last night!
Postmedia, which recently seized full control of print media in NS (happened in AB decades ago), is driving these wedges into communities that have traditionally been highly sympathetic to poverty.
This will manifest as fearful news stories that create danger out of thin air. Like the story above.
“Limitations in the evidence — such as incomplete outcome reporting, small sample sizes, lack of formal certainty assessments, and limited generalizability to health care systems in Canada — should be considered when making decisions.”
canjhealthtechnol.ca/index.php/cj...
“Policy-makers may consider models of care that incorporate unsupervised or take-home iOAT to expand access to clinically effective and cost-effective care.” 4/
“An economic evaluation from Australia found that a model prioritizing unsupervised iOAT with a smaller proportion of patients receiving supervised iOAT may be cost-effective. Scenarios focused more heavily on supervised iOAT were not cost-effective in that context.” 3/
“Injectable hydromorphone administered under medical supervision showed a good safety profile, with only mild adverse events reported and no significant differences compared to placebo.” 2/
“Injectable opioid agonist therapy (iOAT; IV diamorphine or hydromorphone)… may be more effective than oral OAT alone… in improving treatment retention, reducing illicit opioid and cocaine use, and decreasing interactions with the criminal justice system” 1/
canjhealthtechnol.ca/index.php/cj...
“Both diacetylmorphine and injectable hydromorphone supplemented with methadone showed favourable retention [for opioid use disorder treatment] compared to methadone and buprenorphine”
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
“Heroin-assisted treatment was introduced in Switzerland in 1994 and comprises the prescription of diacetylmorphine (heroin) for patients with severe opioid use disorder. Provision … is limited to specialised treatment centres, 22 of which operate today.”
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
“…we suggest there was a major disruption in the illicit fentanyl trade, possibly tied to Chinese government actions, that translated into sharp reductions in overdose mortality beginning in mid- or late-2023 and continued into 2024 across both the US and Canada.”
www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1...
SCOOP 🧵
The DORS app was supposed to keep people safe while using drugs at home. But in 4 years, it has activated just 51 ambulances.
The app isn't used 41% of days.
Meanwhile, the AB govt is dismantling the option that works: supervised consumption. 1/
drugdatadecoded.ca/overdose-app...
In this @bmj.com opinion piece, we propose that infrastructural support, mundane process improvements, and better use of available capacity could deliver more value than some of the headline-grabbing "solutions." We propose a learning system model to help. www.bmj.com/content/392/...
Good insight here on why the decision to close SCS in Alberta is bad policy. edmontonjournal.com/news/local-n...
So *what is* a public health approach to substance use? Our latest 🧪 paper provides a systematic review of academic and grey literature and outlines a conceptual framework to guide practitioners.
link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-025-25402-4
