Here's a collection of our coverage of addiction-related issues, including Vancouver and B.C.'s opioid and overdose crisis, mental-health issues, various forms of addiction (including smoking, alcohol, sex, and gambling), harm reduction, treatment and therapies, and more.

For further coverage about mental-health issues, visit this webpage.

Straight Talk

Vancouver's rate of drug-overdose deaths now ranks among highest in North America

A new B.C. Coroners Service report makes clear the province’s unprecedented epidemic of drug-overdose deaths continues with no end in sight.

Straight Talk

Mothers across North America unite for #ListenToMom campaign calling for an end to the war on drugs

A group of mothers is working together across Canada, the United States, and Mexico, to change how all three nations respond to addiction.

Straight Talk

Liberal party members overwhelmingly vote for decriminalizing drugs while Trudeau repeats opposition

The Liberal Party of Canada has voted in favour of removing criminal penalties for the personal possession of drugs.

Straight Talk

B.C. ayahuasca researcher Sebastian Woodroffe lynched in Peru following murder of Indigenous shaman

He was in the South American country to learn how plant medicine could be used in addictions counselling.

Health Notes

Dr. Mark Tyndall tells TEDMED audience that harm reduction is the first step out of North America's opioid epidemic

The epidemiologist presents Vancouver's experience with injection sites and similar measures as required to save lives across the continent.

Straight Talk

Ahead of party convention, petition urges federal Liberals to vote in favour of drug decriminalization

Ahead of the federal Liberal's party convention in Halifax this week, a petition is building online in support of its members adopting a policy in favour of decriminalizing drugs.

Straight Talk

Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson repeats call for Canada to drop criminal penalties for drug possession

The mayor of Vancouver has issued another call for the Canadian government to eliminate criminal penalties for the personal possession of illegal narcotics.

Straight Talk

Coroners Service says B.C. must "support safer use" as the opioid epidemic kills another 100 people in February

The B.C. Coroners Service has made three broad recommendations for how the province and health authorities should respond to the opioid epidemic.

Straight Talk

B.C. allows nurses to prescribe opioid substitutes, lowering barriers to treatment and clean alternative to street drugs

Nurse practitioners can now offer patients hydromorphone, an opioid similar to heroin that can help people addicted to drugs who failed with more traditional treatments.

News Features

Opioid refugees: How the fentanyl crisis led to a backlash against doctors that's leaving people in pain

A perception that prescription opioids have played a large role in B.C.'s overdose epidemic is not accurate, officials say, and as a result of the confusion, patients are falling through the cracks.

Straight Talk

Vancouver issues call for Canada to "immediately" drop criminal penalties for the personal possession of drugs

In response to the opioid crisis, the city officially recommends that the federal government decriminalize all illicit narcotics, including cocaine and heroin.

Straight Talk

Stop the Violence B.C. could be revived to push for drug legalization in response to the fentanyl crisis

There’s talk about getting Stop the Violence back together, this time to advocate for the legalization and regulation of all drugs.