addictions

Paramedics work to revive a person from an apparent drug overdose in Chilliwack. (Black Press Media file photo)

Mapping where overdoses are more likely to kill in B.C.

Fatality rates far higher in rural areas than urban ones

  • Dec 6, 2022
Paramedics work to revive a person from an apparent drug overdose in Chilliwack. (Black Press Media file photo)
Mental Health and Addictions Minister Sheila Malcolmson was among the nearly three dozen participants at Saturday’s (Nov. 26) Walk With Me event in Courtenay. Photo by Terry Farrell

Minister of mental health and addictions among participants at Walk With Me event

Comox Valley-Strathcona-North Island Medical Health Officer Dr. Charmaine Enns also participated

Mental Health and Addictions Minister Sheila Malcolmson was among the nearly three dozen participants at Saturday’s (Nov. 26) Walk With Me event in Courtenay. Photo by Terry Farrell
David Screech said he has been forced to seriously consider moving Greggs Furniture and Upholstery somewhere else in Greater Victoria due to an increasing number of concerning incidents at its current Government Street location. (Justin Samanski-Langille/News Staff)

Home since ‘55, Greggs Furniture and Upholstery pondering move out of Victoria

David Screech said an increasing amount of concerning incidents driving possible move

David Screech said he has been forced to seriously consider moving Greggs Furniture and Upholstery somewhere else in Greater Victoria due to an increasing number of concerning incidents at its current Government Street location. (Justin Samanski-Langille/News Staff)
FILE - Matthew Perry arrives at the premiere of “The Invention of Lying” in Los Angeles on Sept. 21, 2009. Perry turns 52 on Aug. 19. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)

Near-fatal ODs and love faxes to Julia Roberts: What Matthew Perry’s memoir reveals

‘I was Chandler’: Friends star’s book details a constant battle with addictions

FILE - Matthew Perry arrives at the premiere of “The Invention of Lying” in Los Angeles on Sept. 21, 2009. Perry turns 52 on Aug. 19. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
The Tiny Home Village in Victoria’s North Park neighbourhood welcomed 30 residents in May 2021. (Black Press Media file photo)

Tiny home villages as solution to homelessness? 3 B.C. mayors say yes

Sites up and running in Victoria and Duncan, Port Alberni on its way to do the same

The Tiny Home Village in Victoria’s North Park neighbourhood welcomed 30 residents in May 2021. (Black Press Media file photo)
File photo.

Campbell River councillors gobsmacked by cost of policing one downtown location

Overdose Prevention Site/Sobering Assessment Centre cost almost $300,000 over two years: RCMP

File photo.
B.C. Mental Health and Addictions Minister Sheila Malcolmson announces new complex care services coming to Nanaimo. (Greg Sakaki/News Bulletin)

Complex care announced for some of Nanaimo’s most hard-to-house individuals

Additional mental-health and substance-use care to be offered to those at risk of homelessness

B.C. Mental Health and Addictions Minister Sheila Malcolmson announces new complex care services coming to Nanaimo. (Greg Sakaki/News Bulletin)
Stefanie Hendrickson is the coordinator for the Campbell River and District Coalition to End Homelessness. Photo by Marc Kitteringham, Campbell River Mirror

Coming together to tackle homelessness could make Campbell River a ‘trailblazer’

‘But make no mistake, it will be messy’ - CRDCEH coordinator

Stefanie Hendrickson is the coordinator for the Campbell River and District Coalition to End Homelessness. Photo by Marc Kitteringham, Campbell River Mirror
Community safety officer Ron Litzenberger, left, watches as Wally Taylor, Nanaimo bylaws officer, talks with people who have camped along a sidewalk on Victoria Road early Monday, Aug. 15, and asks them to take down the campsite. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

Community safety officers set out to build relationships, respect in Nanaimo’s downtown

CSOs now training with program to be fully implemented next month

Community safety officer Ron Litzenberger, left, watches as Wally Taylor, Nanaimo bylaws officer, talks with people who have camped along a sidewalk on Victoria Road early Monday, Aug. 15, and asks them to take down the campsite. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
CPA President Tom Stamatakis. (Tom Stamatakis/Twitter)

Police association president supports decriminalization but says it won’t curb crime in B.C.

CPA president says B.C. minister misrepresented police decriminalization stance

CPA President Tom Stamatakis. (Tom Stamatakis/Twitter)
B.C. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson announces new addictions recovery services at a press conference outside Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on Thursday, May 26. (Greg Sakaki/News Bulletin)

Promised new sobering and stabilization beds now operational in Nanaimo

Addictions services provided via Island Health and operating partners

B.C. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson announces new addictions recovery services at a press conference outside Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on Thursday, May 26. (Greg Sakaki/News Bulletin)
Cait Marco (from left), Kacie Stirrett and Jasmine Campbell, staff with the Threshold Housing Society, stand outside the organization’s recently opened home for people aged 15 to 21 who are at risk of homelessness or overdose. Programming at the house aims to fill a gap in available opioid recovery services in Victoria. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)

New Victoria recovery housing for young opioid users aims to reduce overdoses

Addiction recovery sessions, counselling available for residents, who will stay up to four months

Cait Marco (from left), Kacie Stirrett and Jasmine Campbell, staff with the Threshold Housing Society, stand outside the organization’s recently opened home for people aged 15 to 21 who are at risk of homelessness or overdose. Programming at the house aims to fill a gap in available opioid recovery services in Victoria. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)
A construction worker works on the roof line of apartments under construction in the 1600 block of E. Marine View Drive on Friday, April 24, 2020 in Everett, Wa. (Andy Bronson / The Herald)

B.C. pledges $1M for harm reduction to prevent overdose deaths among construction workers

Funding will expand Tailgate Toolkit program, which has already been operating on Vancouver Island

A construction worker works on the roof line of apartments under construction in the 1600 block of E. Marine View Drive on Friday, April 24, 2020 in Everett, Wa. (Andy Bronson / The Herald)
A shoulder patch on a correctional officer is shown at the Collins Bay Institution in Kingston, Ont., on Tuesday, May 10, 2016. The Correctional Service of Canada said it is working to provide timely access to addiction treatment after settling a human rights complaint launched in 2018. THE CANADIAN/Lars Hagberg

Correctional Service settles human rights case for prisoners addicted to opioids

Settlement agreement was reached last month

A shoulder patch on a correctional officer is shown at the Collins Bay Institution in Kingston, Ont., on Tuesday, May 10, 2016. The Correctional Service of Canada said it is working to provide timely access to addiction treatment after settling a human rights complaint launched in 2018. THE CANADIAN/Lars Hagberg
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price blocks a shot during the second period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup semifinal playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Habs goalie Carey Price says ‘substance use’ led him to NHL’s assistance program

‘Over the last few years I have let myself get to a very dark place and I didn’t have the tools to cope’

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price blocks a shot during the second period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup semifinal playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Sheila Malcolmson, B.C. minister of mental health and addictions, speaks at a recent federal election campaign event in Nanaimo. (News Bulletin file photo)

New substance-use recovery beds coming to Vancouver Island

B.C. government announces addictions treatment supports in Nanaimo, Oceanside, Tofino-Ucluelet

Sheila Malcolmson, B.C. minister of mental health and addictions, speaks at a recent federal election campaign event in Nanaimo. (News Bulletin file photo)
A sheriff’s car sits out front of the Capitol Theatre on Argyle Street in Port Alberni, where a coroner’s inquest into the 2016 death of 18-year-old Jocelyn George is taking place. (June 23, 2021) (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Coroner’s inquest suggests creation of wellness centre in Port Alberni

Recommendation one of 24 made after B.C. teen’s death in 2016

A sheriff’s car sits out front of the Capitol Theatre on Argyle Street in Port Alberni, where a coroner’s inquest into the 2016 death of 18-year-old Jocelyn George is taking place. (June 23, 2021) (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
A sheriff’s car sits out front of the Capitol Theatre on Argyle Street in Port Alberni, where a coroner’s inquest into the 2016 death of 18-year-old Jocelyn George is taking place. (June 23, 2021) (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Coroner’s inquest suggests creation of wellness centre in Port Alberni

Recommendation one of 24 made after B.C. teen’s death in 2016

A sheriff’s car sits out front of the Capitol Theatre on Argyle Street in Port Alberni, where a coroner’s inquest into the 2016 death of 18-year-old Jocelyn George is taking place. (June 23, 2021) (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)
Janice Coady, left, Aimee Chalifoux and Linda Milford at a vigil for Amy Watts on Wednesday, June 16, outside Nanaimo city hall. (Greg Sakaki/News Bulletin)

‘We need to do better,’ says mother of woman killed in Nanaimo

Vigil held for former outreach worker Amy Watts, whose body was found downtown June 3

Janice Coady, left, Aimee Chalifoux and Linda Milford at a vigil for Amy Watts on Wednesday, June 16, outside Nanaimo city hall. (Greg Sakaki/News Bulletin)
Nathan Watts, a member of the Tseshaht First Nation near Port Alberni, shares his story of substance use, a perspective he said isn’t seen enough. (Photo courtesy of Nathan Watts)

Public shaming, hate perpetuates further substance use: UVic researcher

Longtime addict Nathan Watts offers a user’s perspective on substance use

Nathan Watts, a member of the Tseshaht First Nation near Port Alberni, shares his story of substance use, a perspective he said isn’t seen enough. (Photo courtesy of Nathan Watts)