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.

Health Features

B.C. drug-user group says the province must allow "heroin buyers clubs" to reduce overdose deaths

The cooperatives would function similar to buyers clubs of the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s, letting members procure pharmaceutical opioids as safer alternatives to illegal drugs found the street.

Health Notes

Judy Darcy: B.C. Place and the Vancouver Convention Centre will be cast in purple light this weekend

Mental Health and Addictions Minister Judy Darcy issued the following statement to mark International Overdose Awareness Day:

Health Features

International Overdose Awareness Day 2019 will see B.C. events take a political but subdued tone, activists say

Five years into Vancouver's opioid epidemic, some groups say they're simply too burned out to put in the work that major advocacy campaigns require.

Health Notes

Man with sex addiction banned from yoga studio, gets his discrimination complaint dismissed

Tribunal says it is likely that the yoga studio could prove that the man was harassing its staff.

Health Features

B.C. takes steps to improve recovery homes for those seeking help with substance use and mental health

Measures include higher income assistance for residents and improved regulations to enhance public confidence.

Health Features

More overdoses are happening in public washrooms and Vancouver wants businesses to know they can help

In 2018 there were 23 fatal overdoses in B.C. public bathrooms, a freedom-of-information request reveals—deaths health authorities maintain were entirely preventable.

Health Notes

2019's decline in fatal overdoses continues but B.C. officials know there's still no reason to celebrate

The first six months of 2019 saw nearly one-third fewer overdose deaths than the first six months of 2018.

Music Features

Shambhala Music Festival makes harm reduction a priority

Drug use at festivals like Shambhala isn’t going anywhere—they’re simply trying to make the practice safer.

Health Features

Thousands of B.C. nurses call for the province to save lives by decriminalizing drugs

Ending the war on drugs will reduce stigma and help address overdose deaths, reads a declaration issued by the Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of B.C. and the Harm Reduction Nurses Association.

Health Features

The next phase of B.C.'s crisis: fewer deaths but more overdoses than ever before

Officials are cautiously optimistic about a 2019 dip in fatal overdoses but other indicators suggest B.C.'s health emergency continues with no end in sight.

LGBT

LGBT peer-support veterans Kenn Quayle and Brian Mackenzie bring harm reduction to Sunshine Coast

The couple were well-known for harm reduction in Vancouver’s underground rave scene of the 1990s.

Health Notes

One-third of organs donated in B.C. in 2018 came from people who died of a drug overdose

As the province celebrates its 5,000th British Columbian alive today thanks to a transplant, there's one group of people—a group that's often harshly stigmatized—who deserve special recognition for the milestone.