Swinging the blunt hammer of law enforcement on the heads of drug addicts is no solution to a major drug problem, and it's one of the most worrying elements of the federal Conservative government's crime policy. The Tories are planning a meeting with the United States' federal "drug czar," John Walters, sometime in the new year, to co-ordinate policy between our countries. His visit to Canada is now supposed to follow legislation for a crackdown on drug producers and sellers. [continues 489 words]
Force's Research Criticizes The Lauded Safe-Injection Site And Asserts That The Program Increases Drug Use VANCOUVER -- The RCMP is under heavy fire for its criticism of Vancouver's pioneering supervised injection site for heroin users, a project that has won positive reviews from more than a dozen rigorous research studies. In a critical, three-page report on the site, Staff-Sergeant Chuck Doucette questioned findings of the numerous peer-reviewed studies, while pointing to "considerable evidence" that making drug use safer increases the number of users. [continues 700 words]
The federal government's decision to cancel the Medical Marijuana Research Program (MMRP) sends a strong message that clinical research into the risks and benefits of herbal cannabis -- the kind distributed by Ottawa under Supreme Court order -- is not a priority. The discontinuation also signals Canada is no longer interested in being a leader in cannabinoid research despite its unique position as the only country with a federally controlled marijuana grow-op to supply registered users. The federal government has "suddenly taken away the research, or the possibility to do additional research, to inform not only the physicians but patients about safety and efficacy," says Dr. Mark Ware, the sole researcher to receive MMRP funding. [continues 796 words]
The latest study on Vancouver's Insite safe injection site has proven once again what we already know. That a safe injection site saves lives. In the report published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers show how the site has led to an increased incidence of drug users getting help for their addiction while slowing down the spread of HIV and other communicable and preventable diseases. The evidence from this study, proves beyond any doubt, that these sites are critical to solving our drug problems and reducing harm. And while the success of the site is not in question, it is important to recognize that a safe-injection site is only one part of a comprehensive harm reduction strategy. [continues 302 words]
Vancouver is renowned for many things, a truly cosmopolitan city, voted by The Economist magazine as the most livable city in the world in 2005. But Vancouver also has another side to it, a more notorious side. Vancouver is the heroin capital of North America. This past week, the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) released a summary of findings related to Vancouver's Insite, North America's first supervised injection site. Insite is a place where heroin addicts and other injection drug users can go to inject under clean, safe, and supervised conditions. The report, led by British Columbia epidemiologist Mark Wood, found that the site generated "a large number of health and community benefits, [while] there have been no indications of community or health-related harms." [continues 1405 words]
A new study conducted in seven Canadian cities reveals that prescription painkillers known as opioids are becoming Canada's leading street drugs. The findings raise questions about the current focus of Canada's drug control policy and treatment programs. A team led by Dr. Benedikt Fischer, a researcher with the Centre for Addictions Research (CARBC) at the University of Victoria, published its findings in the Nov. 21 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). [continues 261 words]
OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government cut off federal funding for Vancouver's controversial supervised injection site for drug addicts because it wants a "diversity" of opinions before deciding on the facility's future, Health Minister Tony Clement said yesterday. Clement was responding to a report in the latest edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal that summarized various research, indicating mostly positive outcomes, since the pilot project was initiated three years ago. The article said studies have shown a large reduction in public drug use, fewer incidents of addicts sharing syringes and discarding them in public places, and increased use of detoxification services in Vancouver. There has been no increase in drug-dealing around the facility in the city's Downtown Eastside. [continues 104 words]
OTTAWA -- The federal government is using flimsy evidence to justify its opposition to Canada's only safe injection site for drug addicts, according to a report to be published today. And if Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government eventually closes the site, scientific evidence suggests "a high potential for negative impacts on health and the community," according to the report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The Harper government, voicing doubts about the project's utility, announced Sept. 1 that it would only extend the facility's permission to legally operate until Dec. 31, 2007. [continues 451 words]
TABLE OF CONTENTS: * This Just In http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/2006/ds06.n476.html#sec1 (1) Dealer Sentenced In Drug Overdose (2) Crisis In Colombia Shakes Colombia (3) Cannabis Is Linked To Rising Child Crime And Harder Drugs (4) Editorial: Addicted To Failure * Weekly News in Review http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/2006/ds06.n476.html#sec2 Drug Policy (5) OPED: Take Another Crack At That Out-Of-Whack Cocaine Law (6) Editorial: Crack Cocaine Sentencing Guidelines Need Changes (7) Column: Just Say No To The Expensive And Ineffectual War On Drugs (8) Editorial: Drugheads (9) School Board Rejects Drug Test Grant [continues 282 words]
Correspondence to: Dr. Mark A. Wainberg, McGill University AIDS Centre, Jewish General Hospital, 3755 chemin de la Cote Ste-Catherine, Montreal QC H3T 1E2; mark.wainberg@mcgill.ca In this issue of the CMAJ, 2 important articles shed light on policies that Canada should adopt to stem the spread of HIV infection among users of illicit drugs. In the first article, Evan Wood and colleagues of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS provide a summary of the findings from the evaluation of the supervised safer injecting facility established in Vancouver in September 2003 (page 1399).1 Individuals who use this site inject pre-obtained illicit drugs under medical supervision in conditions that assure safer use of clean needles and syringes than might otherwise be expected. [continues 1360 words]
Correspondence to: Dr. Benedikt Fischer, Centre for Addictions Research of BC, University of Victoria, Rm. 124, Technology Enterprise Facility, PO Box 1700 Stn CSC, Victoria BC V8W 2Y2; fax 250 472-5321; bfischer@uvic.ca For almost a century, heroin addiction has been a core element of the illicit drug use problem in Canada.1,2 According to recent data, there are an estimated 125 000 injection drug users in Canada, most of whom use heroin and cocaine.3 Heroin addiction is associated with a variety of harms, including death, morbidity and crime. There are many examples of these harms: the number of overdose-related deaths in British Columbia rose dramatically from 39 to 331 between 1988 and 1993;4 the majority of new cases of hepatitis C in Canada are related to illicit drug use;5 and most heroin addicts are involved in regular criminal activity.6 Considerable public resources are expended on heroin addiction. Canadian law enforcement agencies direct substantial expenditures to prevent heroin importation and distribution -- albeit with limited success.7,8 On the health care side, the number of people receiving methadone maintenance treatment (the primary treatment response for heroin addiction) has increased 5 times since the mid-1990s, to about 25 000 spaces across Canada.9-11 Furthermore, alternative treatment options are in development, including buprenorphine maintenance and medical heroin treatment.3,12,13 In the past several years, there have been isolated reports of substantially increased levels of prescription opioid abuse in Canada, the United States and other jurisdictions.14-16 However, until now, its impact on usage patterns among street drug users in Canada has been unclear and not systematically documented. [continues 2047 words]
Opportunistic infections that were the hallmark of the early days of the AIDS epidemic in Canada -- PCP, MAC, CMV and meningitis -- are conditions that nurse Doreen Littlejohn sees regularly at the Vancouver Native Health Society. These infections -- Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, Mycobacterium avium complex and cytomegalovirus -- are rarely seen now among, for example, male homosexuals who still make up the majority of Canadians living with HIV, observes Mark Tyndall, an HIV/AIDS researcher at the British Columbia Centre of Excellence in HIV/AIDS. [continues 477 words]
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS FROM THE EVALUATION OF A PILOT MEDICALLY SUPERVISED SAFER INJECTING FACILITY Correspondence to: Dr. Evan Wood, Division of Epidemiology and Population Health, BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, 608-1081 Burrard St., Vancouver BC V6Z 1Y6; fax 604 806-9044; ewood@cfenet.ubc.ca In many cities, infectious disease and overdose epidemics are occurring among illicit injection drug users (IDUs). To reduce these concerns, Vancouver opened a supervised safer injecting facility in September 2003. Within the facility, people inject pre-obtained illicit drugs under the supervision of medical staff. The program was granted a legal exemption by the Canadian government on the condition that a 3-year scientific evaluation of its impacts be conducted. In this review, we summarize the findings from evaluations in those 3 years, including characteristics of IDUs at the facility, public injection drug use and publicly discarded syringes, HIV risk behaviour, use of addiction treatment services and other community resources, and drug-related crime rates. Vancouver's safer injecting facility has been associated with an array of community and public health benefits without evidence of adverse impacts. These findings should be useful to other cities considering supervised injecting facilities and to governments considering regulating their use. [continues 4757 words]
Heroin is losing ground among Niagara's drug users who are turning to prescription narcotics to get their fix, police and addiction experts say. OxyContin, morphine, Percodan and other legal drugs are being trafficked in increasing quantities in the region, said Staff Sgt. George Ravenek of the NRP intelligence unit. "Heroin has to be brought into the country illegally and distributed, but something like OxyContin is much easier to get hold of," he said. Norma Medulun, director of the Niagara Health System's addictions services program, says addicts hooked on these drugs are showing up in growing numbers. [continues 419 words]
THE Conservative government has long cast a suspicious eye on Vancouver's safe injection site. When you're busy talking tough on crime, on the surface, it doesn't look good to go promoting ways for addicts to shoot up. These sentiments were undoubtedly considered when the feds announced in September they would only extend the site's permission to operate until December 2007 - even though Health Canada officials were in favour of extending that until 2009. In denying the longer timetable, Health Minister Tony Clement's office said "research" had "raised questions" about the effectiveness of the site. [continues 156 words]
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government cut off federal funding for Vancouver's controversial supervised injection site for drug addicts because it wants a "diversity" of opinions before deciding on the facility's future, Health Minister Tony Clement said Tuesday. Clement was responding to a report in the latest edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal which summarized various research, indicating mostly positive outcomes, since the pilot project was initiated three years ago. The article said studies have shown a large reduction in public drug use, fewer incidents of addicts sharing syringes and discarding them in public places, and increased use of detoxification services in Vancouver. There has been no increase in drug-dealing around the facility in the city's Downtown Eastside. [continues 59 words]
An effective strategy to fight drug addiction is vitally important for B.C., not only in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, but for the community as a whole, which suffers from drug-related crime and other social ills. One of the four pillars of the current approach led to the setting up three years ago of the country's first safe-injection site, where addicts consume their illegal drugs under supervision. This week, the Canadian Medical Association Journal published a summary of research into the pilot project suggesting it has been a success. [continues 167 words]
Heroin is on its way out of fashion on Canadian streets. Addicts are turning to doctors and pharmacists rather than to dealers. This could be good news if governments react to the trend intelligently and quickly. In the latest issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, a group of researchers tracks changes in illicit use of opioids -- drugs such as morphine, codeine and heroin -- between 2001 and 2005. The sample of 585 users came from several Canadian cities. Most were white men, with an average age of 35. Half were "not stably housed." [continues 409 words]
Study Discovers Systematic Shift Away From Heroin Forget heroin. Legal prescription drugs readily available in pharmacies are now the major source of illicit opioid drug abuse in several major Canadian cities, which raises questions about drug control in the country, a new study released today reveals. Although heroin addiction has been one of the most significant drug problems in Canada for years, research shows users are turning to opioids, or prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin, Percocet and morphine, at an increasing rate. [continues 354 words]
Study Findings 'Quite Shocking' TORONTO -- Heroin is no longer the opiate of choice among many substance abusers -- prescription narcotics such as morphine and OxyContin are taking its place, says a study of street users in seven cities across the country. Researchers found that heroin remains the No. 1 illicit opiate only in Vancouver and Montreal. In the five other cities -- Edmonton, Toronto, Quebec City, Fredericton and Saint John, N.B. -- more often than not, getting high means grinding up and injecting prescription opioids like Percodan. [continues 266 words]
Overtaking Heroin In Some Cities TORONTO -- Heroin is no longer the drug of choice among many substance abusers in Canada, with prescription narcotics such as morphine and OxyContin now taking its place, says a study of street users in seven cities across the country. Researchers found that heroin remains the No. 1 illicit drug only in Vancouver and Montreal. In the five other cities -- Edmonton, Toronto, Quebec City, Fredericton and Saint John, N.B. -- more often than not, getting high means grinding up and injecting prescription opioids. [continues 480 words]
Forget heroin. Legal prescription drugs readily available in pharmacies are now the major source of illicit opioid drug abuse in several major Canadian cities, which raises questions about drug control in the country, a new study released today reveals. Research shows users are turning to opioids, or prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin, Percocet and morphine, at an increasing rate. Heroin addiction has been one of the most significant drug problems in Canada for years. "The intensity of the shift surprised me quite a bit," said Dr. Benedikt Fischer, study author and addictions researcher at the Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia. "This study, for the first time, shows that systematically, and I would not have assumed, this is such a dramatic shift." [continues 160 words]
OTTAWA -- Forget heroin. Legal prescription drugs readily available in pharmacies are now the major source of illicit opioid drug abuse in several major Canadian cities, which raises questions about drug control in the country, a new study released today reveals. Although heroin addiction has been one of the most significant drug problems in Canada for years, research shows users are turning to opioids, or prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin, Percocet and morphine, at an increasing rate. "The intensity of the shift surprised me quite a bit," said Dr. Benedikt Fischer, study author and addictions researcher at the Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia. [continues 464 words]
The results of Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan's informal web poll shouldn't surprise anyone. But some of the mayor's proposed responses should be surprising, since they'll do little to alleviate the problem identified. The problem, in a nutshell, is public disorder. Of the 2,469 people who answered the poll's questions, 84 per cent believe public disorder problems in Vancouver have become worse over the past five years, 82 per cent are very concerned that Vancouver is losing its international reputation and 67 per cent believe city council must take immediate action. [continues 596 words]
Addicts Switching From Heroin To Painkillers Forget heroin. Legal prescription drugs readily available in pharmacies are now the major source of illicit opioid drug abuse in several major Canadian cities, a new study published today reveals. Although heroin addiction has been one of the most significant drug problems in Canada for years, research shows users are turning to opioids, or prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin, Percocet and morphine, at an increasing rate. "The intensity of the shift surprised me quite a bit," said Benedikt Fischer, study author and addictions researcher at the Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia. "This study, for the first time, shows that systematically ... this is such a dramatic shift." [continues 348 words]
OTTAWA -- Forget heroin. Legal prescription drugs readily available in pharmacies are now the major source of illicit opioid drug abuse in several major Canadian cities, which raises questions about drug control in the country, a new study released today reveals. Although heroin addiction has been one of the most significant drug problems in Canada for years, research shows users are turning to opioids, or prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin, Percocet and morphine, at an increasing rate. "The intensity of the shift surprised me quite a bit," said Dr. Benedikt Fischer, study author and addictions researcher at the University of Victoria's Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia. "This study, for the first time, shows that systematically, and I would not have assumed, this is such a dramatic shift." [continues 417 words]
Heroin Use Waning In Most Cities Studied OTTAWA - Forget heroin. Legal prescription drugs readily available in pharmacies are now the major source of illicit opioid drug abuse in several major Canadian cities, a new study released today reveals. That raises questions about drug control in the country, it says. Although heroin addiction has been one of the most significant drug problems in Canada for years, research shows users are turning at an increasing rate to opioids, or prescription painkillers, such as Oxycontin, Percocet and morphine. [continues 436 words]
Study Shows Trend In Several Cities; Raises Questions About Opioid Control Forget heroin. Legal prescription drugs readily available in pharmacies are now the major source of illicit opioid drug abuse in several major Canadian cities, which raises questions about drug control in the country, a new study released yesterday reveals. Although heroin addiction has been one of the most significant drug problems in Canada for years, research shows users are turning to opioids, or prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin, Percocet and morphine, at an increasing rate. [continues 442 words]
Users Turning To Prescription Painkillers At Increasing Rate OTTAWA -- Forget heroin. Legal prescription drugs readily available in pharmacies are now the major source of illicit opioid drug abuse in several major Canadian cities, which raises questions about drug control in the country, a new study released today reveals. Although heroin addiction has been one of the most significant drug problems in Canada for years, research shows users are turning to opioids, or prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin, Percocet and morphine, at an increasing rate. [continues 491 words]
Health Minister Wants 'Diversity' Of Opinions Before Funding Decision OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, which cut off federal research funding in September for Vancouver's controversial supervised injection site for drug addicts, is seeking new research because it wants a "diversity" of opinions before deciding on the facility's future, Health Minister Tony Clement says. Clement made the comment while responding to a report Tuesday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, which summarized various research indicating mostly positive outcomes since the pilot project began three years ago. [continues 478 words]
Journal Cites Mostly Positive Outcomes Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government cut off federal funding for Vancouver's controversial supervised injection site for drug addicts because it wants a "diversity" of opinions before deciding on the facility's future, Health Minister Tony Clement said yesterday. Clement was responding to a report in the latest edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, which summarized various research, indicating mostly positive outcomes, since the pilot project was initiated three years ago. The article said studies have shown a large reduction in public drug use, fewer incidents of addicts sharing syringes and discarding them in public places, and increased use of detoxification services in Vancouver. [continues 420 words]
Report Says Controversial Health Centre Has Prompted Users to Seek Treatment VANCOUVER -- The establishment of Canada's only supervised drug injection site has not increased crime or prompted more drug use in Vancouver's skid row despite detractors' fears, according to a new summary of the publicly funded health centre. Instead, the controversial health centre, where addicts can shoot up in a sterilized, supervised setting, has reduced the risk of overdoses and it has also encouraged more users to seek treatment for their drug dependence, says a report written by four medical researchers who tracked users of the supervised injection site, which opened in 2003. [continues 456 words]
The federal government is using flimsy evidence to justify its opposition to Canada's only safe-injection site for drug addicts, according to a new report being published today. If Prime Minister Stephen Harper eventually shuts the site in Vancouver, scientific evidence suggests "a high potential for negative impacts on health and the community," according to the report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The government, voicing doubts about the project's usefulness, announced in September it would only extend the facility's permission to legally operate until Dec. 31 next year. Health Canada officials, as well as the B.C. government, supported its extension until 2009. [continues 290 words]
As summer ran its course in Vancouver, a 3-year experiment to provide heroin addicts with a medically supervised injection site neared its scheduled Sept. 12 expiration. Canada's former Liberal government had granted the facility, InSite, a permit exempting it from federal drug laws. To remain open, InSite required a new permit from the Conservative government -- some of whose members argued it's morally wrong to aid illegal drug addiction. InSite is in the Downtown Eastside, Vancouver's impoverished neighbourhood of concentrated HIV and hepatitis sufferers, drug addicts and dealers, sex-trade workers and criminals. North America's first and only such site, it daily serves about 600 addicts who bring in illegal street drugs and then inject themselves with syringes dispensed by InSite, under the watch of health professionals. Nurses and doctors intervene if users overdose and offer general health care, while counselors are present to offer addiction treatment. [continues 444 words]
Full marks to Victoria police for the biggest cocaine seizure in their history. But don't expect it to make a bit of difference in illegal drug use or crime in the city. Police suggested the seizure, worth about $600,000, could reduce the supply on the street. The best evidence suggests it will have no effect. Back in 2000 police grabbed 99 kilograms in Vancouver and 57 kilos in Toronto -- about six million doses. Police said the seizure would put a serious dent in supplies. [continues 147 words]
Supporters of Vancouver's Insite supervised injection site were left guessing about its future Thursday while the federal government kept its silence on the facility, which will close in less than two weeks if it doesn't get federal backing. Closing the site would send as many as 800 drug addicts a day back to the streets to inject heroin and cocaine, increasing the chances of overdose deaths and of spreading HIV/AIDS though shared needles. Support for the site in downtown Vancouver appears solid, with everyone from Downtown Eastside groups to City Hall, the regional health authority and the provincial government saying it should stay open [continues 658 words]
Stephen Harper's Conservative government has to decide whether it wants to adopt the war-on-drugs mentality of the United States or the more pragmatic, harm-reduction approach of Canada. Insite, a safe-injection site in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, provides sterile needles and a nurse to attend to over-doses. It's a modest attempt to reduce some of the harm caused by illegal drug use. Its three-year-old legal exemption under federal drug law expires on Sept. 12. [continues 376 words]
The Harper government is clearly being tested on its drug policy leadership. Harper is well-known for his boot-camp mentality in the war on drugs but now his government is challenged with the future of Insite, North America's only legal supervised injection facility where addicts can inject drugs in the care of health professionals and benefit from addiction services. Last spring the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority applied to Health Canada for a renewal of Insite's three-year exemption under Section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The exemption allows the health authority in partnership with the PHS Community Services Society to operate Insite as a scientific research pilot project. The exemption issued in 2003 came with $500,000/year to support the project. The B.C. Ministry of Health provided $1.2 million toward operating costs and renovation of the facility in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. [continues 483 words]
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- A safe injection site for drug addicts to shoot up under medical supervision has not brought more crime or attracted drug dealers or users from other jurisdictions, according to a police-commissioned study. The report by Irwin M. Cohen, a criminologist commissioned to examine the site for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, is expected to be considered by Prime Minister Stephen Harper before he decides whether to renew a legal exemption for Insite from a section of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. [continues 359 words]
Gary Occhipinti is playing tour guide for the day. Leading a group of international visitors through the streets of Vancouver, he stops to point out buildings and explains the history behind them like any other guide. Except the men and women following him aren't tourists-they're social workers, researchers and nurses from the 17th International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm, and they're touring the Downtown Eastside to see how Vancouver is dealing with its drug problem. [continues 3152 words]
In the next few months, the federal government will decide whether to continue supporting Insite, Vancouver's supervised injection facility. For the sake of everyone in the Lower Mainland, the Conservatives should throw their support behind, not just continuing, but expanding the program. Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other Conservatives have expressed reservations about Insite, but the feds maintain that they will look at the evidence before making any decision. If they do, they will find that it resoundingly supports continuation of the facility. [continues 671 words]
Marijuana is often mixed with tobacco when smoked, and there is increasing evidence that its use by non-tobacco-smoking people may be a gateway to tobacco smoking.1 Using data from the 2004 Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey,2 we determined whether rates of marijuana use were similar among tobacco smokers and nonsmokers 15 years and older. Of the respondents, 9% (2.4 million) reported using marijuana in the 12 months before the survey. In relation to tobacco smoking, 5% of those who never smoked cigarettes reported smoking marijuana in the 12-month period (Fig. 1). Those who identified themselves as current cigarette smokers had a substantially higher rate of marijuana use (25%). The rates among current tobacco smokers were higher than the national average across all age groups, even in the oldest group. Of the respondents who were former cigarette smokers, 6% reported using marijuana; the highest rates of use in this group were among those aged 15--24. This finding is important, since marijuana use by former smokers may increase their risk of smoking relapse. [continues 91 words]
To the editor: The Vancouver-supervised injection site, known as Insite, is being evaluated by scientists from the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. All findings from the evaluation have been subjected to external peer-review and publication in the medical literature before sharing them with the public. MLA Lorne Mayencourt's suggestion that the evidence coming out of Insite's evaluation is "spotty at best" (Sullivan to discuss drugs with Harper," April 18) illustrates his limited understanding of the results of the Insite evaluation to this date. In fact, the findings of the Insite evaluation have been published in some of the most prestigious international medical journals, and what follows is a portion of the published findings from Insite's evaluation: [continues 266 words]
A recent article in the journal, Psychopharmacology, states that "No evidence was found for long-term deficits in working memory and selective attention in frequent cannabis users after one week of abstinence." It also states that "cannabis users did not differ from controls in terms of overall patterns of brain activity in the region involved in the cognitive functions." Previous reports of other clinical trials have reported similar results (Psychological Medicine, 2004; International Neuropsychological Society, 2003; and Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2002.) [continues 152 words]
Although increases in the nonmedical use of OxyContin (oxycodone) in the United States have been reported recently,1,2 few data are available to assess whether such use has diffused into general populations in Canada. In a school survey of 7726 Ontario students in grades 7 to 12,3 1.3% of the students (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.9% to 1.7%) reported lifetime use of OxyContin, and 1.0% (95% CI 0.7% to 1.5%) reported use in the past year. Similar to the situation for other illegal drugs,3 the majority (69%) of past-year users had used the drug only once or twice. Reported use did not vary significantly by sex or grade but did vary by region, with the highest past-year use occurring among students in Northern Ontario (3.3%; 95% CI 1.8% to 6.1%). [continues 380 words]
Fired Cmaj Editor Dr. John Hoey and Deputy Editor Anne Marie Todkill Spoke at Mcmaster's Degroote Centre Yesterday. Yet Hoey Doesn't Believe Fight Over Independence Was Reason An editor fired by the Canadian Medical Association Journal says he doesn't believe it was due to his public fight with owners over editorial independence. "I don't think it was any specific issue that might have led to the termination," said Dr. John Hoey, one of two editors fired last month. [continues 698 words]
On February 20, 2006, when Dr. John Hoey, editor-in-chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, returned to the Ottawa headquarters of the Canadian Medical Association after a vacation, his journal was in excellent shape. It ranked as the fifth leading general medical journal in the world, and it received more than 100 original research papers per month, allowing the editors to be highly selective in what they published. It had nearly 70,000 subscribers -- representing the more than 85 per cent of Canadian doctors who are CMA members. Yet Dr. Hoey's decade as editor would end abruptly that afternoon when the journal's publisher fired him and his senior deputy editor, Anne Marie Todkill. [continues 1718 words]
On February 20, 2006, when Dr. John Hoey, editor-in-chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, returned to the Ottawa headquarters of the Canadian Medical Association after a vacation, his journal was in excellent shape. It ranked as the fifth leading general medical journal in the world, and it received more than 100 original research papers per month, allowing the editors to be highly selective in what they published. It had nearly 70,000 subscribers -- representing the more than 85 per cent of Canadian doctors who are CMA members. Yet Dr. Hoey's decade as editor would end abruptly that afternoon when the journal's publisher fired him and his senior deputy editor, Anne Marie Todkill. [continues 1780 words]
Harper's Hardline Approach To Drugs Threatens To Kill Safe-Injection Site In Vancouver Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe is still talking bravely about a safe-injection site for the region's addicts, but even optimists must be losing hope. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose government's co-operation would be necessary, isn't at all keen about the idea, and might even put Vancouver's pioneering facility, Insite, out of business. Ottawa has been funding Insite since September 2003 as a three-year pilot project. It's the first government-sanctioned shooting gallery in North America, and has detractors both in Canada and especially in the U.S., where drug-enforcement authorities see it as a threat to the American way of life. [continues 761 words]
Waiting Times Drop, And More Addicts Seek Treatment In City Programs VANCOUVER -- Six years ago, Vancouver drug addicts who decided to break the habit had a six-week wait to enter a withdrawal program. By the time services were available, many of them gave up. Today, the wait is at most two days, and enrolment in so-called detox facilities is growing. Experts say long waiting times for detox were gradually eliminated because the local Coastal Health Authority streamlined admissions with a central registry in 2000. [continues 708 words]
