Crack cocaine and crystal methamphetamine have emerged as Vancouver's drugs of choice, according to a report released yesterday. Drug Situation in Vancouver, a report prepared over a 10-year period, found about 90 per cent of the 2,000 surveyed injection-drug users and less than 70 per cent of street kids can score crack in 10 minutes or less. "It's not just Vancouver where crack has exploded," said study co-author Dr. Evan Wood. " It's a national phenomenon and it's a huge, huge problem." [continues 95 words]
Allegations of marijuana being sold and smoked at Vancouver hookah bars have one operator in a huff. The allegations come as Vancouver councillors are poised to make a decision about how to enforce the city's indoor-smoking ban. According to an official report on hookah bars and cigar lounges, "it would appear that what may be happening is that customers are adding their own tobacco or other herbs or leaves" to a tobacco-free herbal mix sold to be smoked in water pipes. [continues 197 words]
A recovering heroin addict shared his story of dependence and recuperation in hopes of shaping future drug policy in B.C. Robert Weppler, 37, joined more than 170 addiction experts and community leaders at Keeping The Door Open, a forum on drug use that wrapped up yesterday. Weppler, an Onsite detox client who is prescribed a maintenance dose of methadone, said barriers toenrolment, especially a seemingly endless paper trail, should be removed. "My suggestion for effective treatment is to meet us where we're at when we're ready for treatment," he said. [continues 85 words]
Age-old debates over drug addiction are taking a different shape thanks to a cast wielding political influence now entering the conversation. Gillian Maxwell, chair of Keeping the Door Open, said spectators on the sidelines may not notice the important change. "The people in the room have significantly changed," she said. "There were people in the room . who were very politically influential and leading the discussion as well." Health Minister George Abbott, Project Civil City commissioner Geoff Plant and Mayor Sam Sullivan attended the forum. "It's not over of course but we are making headway," she said. [end]
The federal government's attitude towards harm-reduction programs for drug users revolves around partisan politics rather than evidence-based results, according to a quartet of critics gathered at SFU Harbourfront yesterday. Former Vancouver mayor Philip Owen told an audience, together for a forum on Canada's drug policy, supervised injection programs such as Insite shouldn't be judged from arm's length in Ottawa. "The issue is on the streets with the human destruction and the human decay," he said. [continues 148 words]
A small town near Penticton is the site for a new long-term treatment centre for youth and young adults suffering from addiction. The Ministry of Health-sponsored program calls for patients between 14 and 24 years of age recovering from alcohol or drug dependencies to stay at the 58-acre property in Keremeos for up to a year, depending on their needs. "Research shows that the longer a young person stays in treatment, the greater the likelihood they will remain drug and alcohol free," Health Minister George Abbott said. [continues 92 words]
Could be a sketchy weekend for junkies after Vancouver police rounded up 34 dealers in a two-day sweep through the Hastings corridor this week. In all, 89 charges were laid against 63 people in the 10-day operation, dubbed TYKE 2, which kicked off July 3. More than 20 drug squad officers went undercover and bought small amounts of narcotics from low-level pushers. Police then obtained warrants for the dealers' arrests and executed them over a 20-hour blitz wrapping up yesterday. [continues 61 words]
