Addiction

Finding community, compassion and purpose as a smoking cessation advocate

I tried to quit smoking several times over the span of four decades, until in January 2009 I finally decided I was stronger. It worked. Now I have become a smoking cessation advocate trying to support Canadians, particularly in rural communities, in their efforts to quit smoking.

Physician Service Agreement yet again leaves the most vulnerable in the shadows

Somewhere along the line, we’ve managed to create barriers to health care that have caused us to deviate from the vision of Tommy Douglas.

Group pushes for ‘compassion club model’ to address surge of deaths from toxic drug supply

Six years after the B.C. government declared the overdose epidemic a public health emergency, policies have failed to slow the scourge.

Medical benefits from cannabis? Still waiting for proof

Today may be April 20, a renowned cannabis counterculture holiday, but four years into legalization we still don't have reliable data about the medical benefits of marijuana.

Episode 35 – Preventative Health: Smoking Cessation and Olive Oil

Making the case for drug reform: Zwarenstein’s On Opium

The movement for reform in this country of non-medical use of drugs seems unstoppable. There are many drivers of change and a major one is the opioid crisis.

Fund vital mental health interventions, not more policing

Mental health crises have been inextricably linked to policing and criminal justice. But a mental health crisis is exactly that – a health issue, not a criminal one.

‘A heroic effort that went unrecognized’: Harm reduction workers facing their own burnout

Unlike mainstream health-care providers, harm reduction workers do not have benefits like danger pay or strong unions to support them. With jobs characterized by low wages, stigma and political red-tape, overworked harm reduction professionals are seeing burnout on the front lines.

Safer supply prescribing not enough to end devastating opioid epidemic, experts say

Safer Opioid Supply is an attention-grabbing, controversial approach to combatting the opioid crisis. But for all the debate, both its proponents and critics in addictions medicine tend to agree that there is much more to addressing the opioid epidemic.

‘Benzo-dope’ wave complicating fight against opioid epidemic

A wave of benzodiazepines is adulterating Toronto’s illegal opioid market, raising risks for users, complicating the fight against the opioid crisis, and imposing extra burdens on a COVID-stretched emergency response system.

London’s supervised consumption site to fill ‘a desperate need in the community’

Drug users in London, Ontario, suffer from addiction-related health problems, like infectious disease, at a higher rate than the provincial average. But a permanent supervised consumption site, expected to open in mid-March 2022, could help.

B.C. expansion to safe supply a start but ‘still too little too late’

British Columbia is expanding a program that prescribes alternatives to illicit drugs to people with substance use disorders. But critics warn that there are too many barriers built into the program, making it "too little, too late."

Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome: How good intentions can go wrong

Chemotherapy-induced vomiting is a serious complication for cancer patients. Some cannabinoids treat vomiting, but can also cause a rare, dangerous vomiting disorder. What happens when a treatment exacerbates the problem it aims to fix?

Please, Health Canada, do not make vapers return to tobacco!

The federal government's planned ban on flavoured vapes is a terrible idea that could push many ex-smokers who vape back to smoking cigarettes, resulting in a large increase in disease, disability, and death.

COVID-19 testing, vaccination rollout failing my patients with addiction 

As COVID-19 continues to devastate the most vulnerable, like my patients with addiction, the testing and vaccination system in Ontario is set up to further disempower them.

Fighting fire with fire: Managed Alcohol Programs need to be widely implemented

I park my car but before I get out of the parking lot I need to check on the man and woman under their cardboard box to ensure they are still breathing.

Cannabis edibles pose serious risks to our kids

Is the pandemic turning me into a problem drinker?

Lost in the Weeds

Pilot project or surrender? Calgary hospital creates smoking area on its grounds