Editor, The News: Spring is about rebirth. About new beginnings. And this year, it couldn't come too soon because as a society, we really need to let go of some of our old ways and start over, especially when it comes to gathering and interpreting information about drugs. Not only is a great deal of misinformation being touted as fact these days but the focus of both policy and media attention seems to be on the wrong substances and issues altogether. [continues 545 words]
Spring is about rebirth. About new beginnings. And this year, it couldn't come too soon because as a society, we really need to let go of some of our old ways and start over, especially when it comes to gathering and interpreting information about drugs. Not only is a great deal of misinformation being touted as fact these days but the focus of both policy and media attention seems to be on the wrong substances and issues altogether. Part of the problem is simply bad habits. It's a habit, for example, for most people to talk about "drugs and alcohol," a term that falsely implies that alcohol is different from a drug. [continues 581 words]
In this contest-crazy world, you would think Canadians would be jumping for joy at being ranked number one at anything, even pot-smoking. But when the news broke that we top the list of cannabis-using countries in the developed world, not everyone giggled and sparked a spliff in celebration. Some people -- notably parents -- let out a different kind of laugh. The nervous kind. The kind that masks deep-seated concerns about the world in which our kids are growing up. [continues 614 words]
Editor, The Times: A recent study of young injection drug users in Vancouver reveals some startling statistics about women who shoot up. It also raises some serious questions about the rest of us--the general public, and the researchers, policy makers and practitioners who are working to solve the city's addiction issues. According to the study, which was conducted by the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and published in Harm Reduction Journal, young women who use injection drugs are more than 50 times more likely to die prematurely than women who don't inject drugs. You'd expect the primary cause of death to be drug-related--a fatal overdose or a health problem--but it isn't. It's murder. Women under 30 who inject drugs are more likely to die from homicide than the illicit drugs they use. [continues 587 words]
