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Addictions and Drugs

Finding innovative solutions to reduce substance use costs on health care

Substance use is quietly adding significant stress to the currently strained health-care system in Canada.  Health-care costs related to substance use account for nearly 30 per cent ($13.4 billion) of the overall costs of substance use. Over two hundred people in Canada die every day...

Canadians give governments an ‘F’ in meeting their mental health and substance use health needs

Federal and provincial governments are getting a resounding ‘F’ from Canadians when it comes to providing mental health and substance use health care services, according to the second annual National Report Card survey from the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH).  Finding...

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Few patients receive opioid agonist therapy after opioid overdose, despite benefits

In the week following any hospital visit for an overdose, only one in 18...

Predictors of opioid overdose after prescription for chronic pain

A large study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) identified 10 predictors of...

Treating high-risk drinking, alcohol use disorder: new Canadian guideline

“High-risk drinking and alcohol use disorder frequently go unrecognized and untreated in our health...

Study to examine impact of pandemic’s public health measures on opioid users and their supporters

By Kristi Lalonde A new Canadian Institutes of Health Research study will seek to understand...

Overdose crisis: Harm reduction programs are supporting those at risk

By Adam Miller Canada is facing a devastating overdose crisis that has been severely exacerbated...

A Pharmacy Resident’s experience during the COVID-19 pandemic

By Christopher Chiu If you asked me a year ago what I would be doing...

Understanding drug shortages during a pandemic

By Christina Adams For many years, hospital pharmacists and pharmacy technicians have been managing significant...

Words matter: Taking action to end the stigma around substance use

Ryan knew he had a problem. As a teen he had experimented with drugs....

Rapid access to addiction treatment

By Donna Danyluk Ron hated his life. When he opened his eyes in the morning...

The war against nicotine

  By David T. Sweanor J.D. It has become a common coffee shop experience to get...

“Second Heart” could mean second chance for IV drug users

By Calyn Pettit For some people in our city, a proposed new project called “Second...

Hospital program brings rapid-access addiction medicine to clinics across Ontario

By Jen Brailsford In 2017, more than 1,200 opioid-related deaths were reported in Ontario—up from...

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