Addiction

Online sports betting: Governments’ risky gamble is a looming public-health crisis

Billboards, social media, televised sports – no matter where you look, the onslaught of online sports betting ads has become inescapable. But is it worth exposing an especially vulnerable portion of the population to the harms of gambling in order to increase government revenue?

B.C.’s ‘necessary step forward’ in drug decriminalization

B.C. is Canada’s first jurisdiction to be granted a federal exemption to decriminalize personal drug possession up to 2.5 grams. Other provinces may soon follow suit.

We all know about anorexia, but can we talk a bit about Binge Eating Disorder?

Binge Eating Disorder, or BED, is at least as common – though probably more common – than any other eating disorder but it often goes under-reported and under-recognized. People living with BED deserve a compassionate representation, along with appropriate, accessible and trauma-informed treatment and support.

The Cannabis Act is being reviewed: Expect battles

The Cannabis Act is under review. Many problems will be addressed. But there will be a faceoff between public-health advocates and industry representatives on a number of fronts.

Move to generic methadone raises concerns

Ontario’s move away from brand name Methadose has sparked concerns the switch could negatively impact those who rely on the drug, prompting calls for more buy-in from methadone users ahead of these changes.

The urgent need for mental health-care supports

By age 40, half of all Canadians will experience mental health issues. Implementing the “quality mental health care framework” would go a long way to providing much-needed care.

‘Nowhere to go’: Homelessness and mental illness create a ‘revolving door’ of admissions

Homelessness at discharge in psychiatric settings comes with significant cost to our health-care system and, more importantly, to those with lived experience. Without a provincial strategy for discharging people experiencing homelessness from hospitals and shelter beds at capacity, many are left with no where to go.

In ‘Heroin,’ author lays bare the injustice and systemic racism behind Canada’s drug laws

For International Overdose Awareness Day (Aug. 31), Healthy Debate sat down with Dr. Susan Boyd to discuss her latest book, Heroin: An Illustrated History.

It’s time to revise Canada’s low-risk alcohol drinking guidelines

Canadians' alcohol use has increased significantly over the past decade. It's time to update low-risk drinking guidelines set in 2011.

Episode 45 – Preventative Medicine: the Mediterranean Diet and the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorder

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.