MDMA

Advocates for drug users are raising concerns about British Columbia's request for Health Canada to empower police to step in when they see illicit drug use in public spaces, saying it may be a step backward in the fight against the deadly opioid crisis.

Festival attendees are braving the elements as climate change accelerates, sometimes with grave consequences.

A recent court injunction against a law to restrict public drug use in British Columbia denies police a much-anticipated enforcement tool, says a top law enforcement official.

Decriminalization of people with small amounts of illegal drugs for their own use has become a reality in British Columbia, but substance users and researchers say the change is expected to make little immediate difference because of a toxic drug supply.

The only people who seem to oppose this long-overdue change in drug strategy are the ones who keep talking about how much they love freedom and liberty.

A former federal health minister who championed decriminalization in Canada says a three-year model approved for British Columbia may not provide ample evidence to ensure the success of a policy that should have been implemented across the country.

Uruguay, Portugal, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and the state of Oregon all have introduced some form of decriminalization in an effort to curb overdose deaths.

A doctor and a psychologist say Health Canada’s move to allow physicians to request restricted psychedelic drugs for patients as part of their psychotherapy is a positive step toward transforming mental-health care.