“i wouldn’t be alive without it,” christopher, 40, said of the rapid access addiction centre , while sitting in its withdrawal management room. “it gives hope. it’s like a beacon of light in an otherwise dark world.”
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as covid-19 vaccinations rise and new infections decrease, the provincial government and health authorities are racing to re-engage drug users with the treatment system, to try to reduce those devastating overdoses, which right now are killing an average of six people a day in b.c.
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in 2017, the b.c. centre on substance use released new opioid use disorder guidelines which “really revolutionized substance use care,” said dr. rupinder brar, an addictions consultant at st. paul’s hospital and a canada addiction medicine research fellow.
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postmedia, though, spoke with a half dozen experts with diverse experience with either opioid use or helping those with addictions, and most argue that while opioid agonist therapy plays an important role in the drug treatment system, so does detox. they say the province must invest in more, not fewer, detox services if lives are to be saved during the overdose crisis.
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• asked if the government would eliminate the restrictive requirement to have pharmacists witness daily opioid agonist therapy doses, she said the ministry is looking at removing barriers so more people can access this type of care.
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brar, a longtime addictions doctor, said that in almost a decade of practising in the downtown eastside, she has seen “an incredible shift” in the illicit drug supply. the heroin that dominated the street scene a decade ago has been supplanted by synthetic drugs like fentanyl, and more recently the introduction of benzodiazepines, which have further complicated responding to overdoses.
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the good news, compton added, is the province has given health authorities money to fill some of those gaps, by expanding programs for alcohol and stimulant addictions, creating more long-term recovery support, and building a new detox facility planned for east vancouver.
“ (this) made our jobs way more complex, and i think it also then requires us to rethink almost everything that we do, because
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