I am psychology student hoping to get the chance to work with people. The field that I would like pursue is addiction counselling and foster care. I am an indigenous person and my family comes from Haida Gwaii. I grew up in Whistler from the ages 1 to 7 then moved to Panama City where I lived there until I was 13. In Panama I got to experience a new culture and learn Spanish, my second language. After that I moved to California and then moved to Bowen Island. A tight community where I have made many life long friendships. In my free time I enjoy skateboarding, hiking and journaling almost everyday. Growing up playing soccer and watching sports has made me keen on athletics. In addition being around my friends is always a great time, my friends are like family.
Paper 1 Personal Narrative
Last Breath to Life!
Have you ever wanted something so bad that it might just cost you your life? One high just might be the last time you see your friends or family members. The slippery slope of addiction is the path of so many people living in Bowen Island/Vancouver and BC. The premise of this paper is to understand addiction in the context of how it has affected me, my friends, and my community. Drugs and alcohol were my drugs of choice and I feel this is a core problem of many in my micro community and greater community (Bowen Island and Vancouver). The smell of people staying asleep, on “their last high,” is prevalent in many communities. There has been an alarming increase in deaths year over year, in both June and July 2022 there was an increase of 31% over those months in the previous year, representing about 6.2 deaths a day. I too was an addict and almost a statistic!
I was 12 when I started drinking and I was 13 when I started using nicotine and weed. My family environment and social dynamic gave me access to everything. Over time I became addicted to the use of alcohol, weed, and nicotine. I watched people that were close to me use substances as a way to have “fun”, it seemed. When I had my first drink, I loved the sensation of feeling happy and light. That was something I was missing in my life that I could not get while sober. Stealing alcohol and keeping secrets from my friends, family, and loved ones became a way of life. For about four years alcohol was my best friend. Nothing mattered in my life when I had alcohol. I was 16 when I knew I was very ill, when I had stroke-like symptoms and seizures. It was at around that age that I eventually quit drinking. (But I still think of alcohol to this day). After quitting drinking, I completely turned to weed. My marijuana consummation became pathetic. By pathetic I mean that it was uncontrollable, I was smoking every hour of the day, I went into a delusional psychosis, and ultimately checked myself into the Hope Centre at Carlisle. I also had my first grand mal seizure when I was 17, and I was diagnosed with epilepsy. My diagnosis marked a wake-up call in a way, but it was not enough for me to get the help I needed. I do wonder if my drinking and smoking had something to do with it. I have felt guilty and ashamed thinking that I might have changed my path in life had I not been an addict. I believe the reason for my dependence on alcohol and marijuana was dealing with stress, struggling with depression, anxiety, and ultimately the trauma of my parents’ divorce. I realized they took away my pain and stress. Like many in my community I needed to be drunk and high most of the time, to function and to cope with being me.
Addiction is a long path and if you are willing to take steps towards recovery you can be productive and healthy. There are people and organizations which can help you through your journey. I was able to access organizations and resources such as The Foundry, psychiatrists, counselors, and medical practitioners. The Foundry is a free service that helps people from the age 12 –24 which offers many rehabilitation strategies. The Foundry gave me the will to look at recovery – I have been with The Foundry now for over four years. In addition to The Foundry, I have sessions with counselors and psychiatrists to construct a way of life so that I can recover from my addictions. In the end, it is you alone who must wake up and access the many centers, professional individuals, medications, or whatever other routes that may help exorcise your demons and deal with dependencies.
I was fortunate enough to be able to interview Susie Newman via email, an addictions counselor from the Orchard Recovery Centre on Bowen Island. In the interview Susie talks about the nuances of addiction, and protocols which one can use to achieve recovery. “Yes, I think there is a major problem with addiction, on Bowen and in Greater Vancouver,” Ms. Newman told me (S. Newman, personal communication, September 17, 2022):
Society used to view addiction as a weakness, something to be hidden and not talked about. Today, however, that view merely displays ignorance, as there is so much medical and scientific evidence to prove that addiction is an illness, a mental disorder and can be treated in a number of ways.
As Ms. Newman confirmed, addiction is a major problem in my community. But addition is not a “blight on society:” it is a “true illness” which encompasses physical, mental, and health issues:
The medical definition describes it best, as a biological, psychological and social disease. A disease of more, to fill an inner void, as Carl Jung described it, a spiritual bankruptcy, and a lack of connection.
Ms. Newman’s take on addiction makes a lot of sense. As I described above, my own issues, with my addiction, the inability to feel complete, whole, corresponds to my lack of connection with own mental state.
Ms. Newman went on to tell me “that recovery is possible, achievable and attainable. Addiction is a mental health issue, not a criminal issue.” Ms. Newman implies a critical perspective; they, we, and I are not criminals but people that are struggling that need help being understood and integrated back into society. My last question to Mrs. Newman was whether, in her opinion, there are certain programs, medical remedies, or methods which work to address addiction. “Absolutely,” she told me, “too many to list: Therapy, medication, 12 step programs, Smart recovery, in and outpatient treatment, etc.” Recovery is possible to anyone, given the right treatments. In my case, it was my psychiatrist, The Foundry, Carlisle, medical practitioners, and family members who all supported me throughout my recovery.
Addiction, as destructive as it is, can be controlled, and conquered, when one has the ability to learn, and cope in a healthy manner. Accessible treatment will make this journey a lot easier. We need to fully understand the circumstances that drive people to become addicts – this will change lives. We cannot keep losing the ones we love to this misunderstood illness. My recovery from addiction has compelled me to go to school to become an addictions counselor. My community and professionals in my community are striving to make changes to reduce the daily death counts due to drugs and alcohol; it is like taking a last breath and filling it with new life.
Credited Work Section
Service, Coroners. “Illicit Drug Toxicity Deaths in BC – Gov.” www2.Gov.bc.ca, 12 Jan. 2012, https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/birth-adoption-death-marriage-and-divorce/deaths/coroners-service/statistical/illicit-drug.pdf.
Paper 2 Media Analysis
Compare and Contrast “Fentanyl” Articles from the USA and Canada
The fentanyl crisis in both United States and Canada is catastrophic for both societies. The number of people dying annually is increasing at alarming rates. For communities it is debilitating tragedy and many believe it is a never-ending problem. My paper is based on two newspaper articles that illustrate two different perspectives, one representing a somewhat liberal egalitarian Canadian perspective and the other a conservative right wing Republican approach from the United States. The first article is from a Canadian journalist Stephanie Nolen entitled “Fentanyl From the Government? A Vancouver Experiment Aims to Stop Overdoses”published in the New York Times in which Nolen describes the fentanyl dilemma and lays out resolutions. Nolen’s article is informative, and addresses the issues in a sympathetic and humane manner. The second article “The fentanyl flood into the US: Why can’t we make it stop?” by Diane Dimond for Minot Daily News (North Dakota). Dimond offers solutions that appeal to a sprawling and seemly American-style conservative ideology.
The journalists Diane Dimond and Stephanie Nolen are both very experienced and accomplished journeymen. Dimond has been an investigative reporter/journalist for a multitude of famous publications, Michael Jackson molestation story, to news programs with Geraldo Ravera and anchor stints with CNBC, Fox and CTV to name a few. Stephanie Nolen is also a very accomplished journalist having being a correspondent in over 80 countries, global health reporter for the New York Times and recipient of countless newspaper awards in and Canada and for Amnesty international.
Nolen begins by introducing Chris, a fentanyl addict who is arriving at a recovery center at the “Cross Town Clinic” in Vancouver B.C., Chris uses fentanyl 4 times a day under the supervision of the Clinic. The author crafts her story in a humanistic way so the reader begins to see Chris and his situation with an empathetic mind frame. The pictures illustrate this individual, portrays a person who is challenged almost forlorn. His situation impacts the reader immediately, and makes one want to read on. “The best thing about this is the guarantee: I can come in here four times a day and get it,” Chris said. He no longer spends all of his waking hours in a frantic scrabble of panhandling and “other stuff” to scrape up the cash to pay a dealer.” (Nolen) The Cross-Town fentanyl dispensary is legal, under the guidance of BC’s public health system which finances the clinic and the product. According to the author and representatives of the health care sites such as Cross Town reduces overall overdoses and chaos in society. “Dr. Christy Sutherland, a board-certified addiction medicine specialist who set up the program, said its goal was, first, to keep people from dying, and, second, to help bring stability to their lives so that they may think about what they might want to change” (Nolen). Nolen expertly lays down the beginnings of her argument, appealing to her readers’ sympathies, and that by extension it is society’s responsibility to find solutions to the fentanyl pandemic.
Nolen compares Canada’s approach to the current systems within the United States where their methodology is as yet not one of tolerance. Apparently, President Biden and his Drug administration team have been in contact with and observing the Canadian approaches such as Cross Town. “Harm reduction, even in basic forms such as the distribution of clean needles, remains deeply controversial in the United States, although the concept has been gaining fitful support as overdoses rise, including from the Biden administration” (Nolen) The author here does a comparison which by her words leaves you to believe the U.S. is far behind, it’s not that she is predisposition but she has shaped the idea in your mind that Canada is way ahead in its thinking on this very real grave issue by the way she presents this in the article.
Nolen then provides a variety of statistics 2,200 deaths by overdoes in British Columbia last year and totals of over 115,000 fatalities in North America overall. She lists the drugs in circulations which are laced with a fentanyl such as Codeine, Xanax, Cocaine etc., showing the extraordinary proliferation of this drug. Nolen then connects us to the cost of this tragedy; we the taxpayer must absorb the expense. Here she is laying more the ground work for her argument. She writes fluently and descriptively of the disastrous affects this drug fentanyl is propagating, hence the audience is emotionally ready for alternative solutions. Nolen suggests that this program and ones like it, although new, may and should divert capital from existing and proven practices:
“A clinical trial in Vancouver found that providing injectable heroin to patients who had not responded to other forms of treatment helped them reduce their use, stay tied to health care and improve their quality of life, compared with users who were given methadone. Another found a similar benefit from prescribed hydromorphone. Research on the fentanyl program has just begun but will track whether it shows a similar benefit, which could justify expanding it.” (Nolen)
The quote here confirms her conviction to the program and in doing so shapes the audiences thinking. The author directs the audience by language in her recital to a conclusion that she expressly wants the reader to think of and ultimately believe.
Diane Dimond the author of the second paper “The Fentanyl Flood into the US”: “Why can’t we make it stop?” (Minot Daily News) immediately floods the reader with terrifying statistics. “About 11 times every hour, about 250 times a day, an American citizen dies of a drug overdose. The most frequent culprit is fentanyl.” (Dimond) The tone of this article instantly makes you feel she and everyone should be very angry with the state of affairs in the United States.
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports overdose deaths skyrocketed to a mind-boggling 93,000 last year, a 29% increase over the previous year. The death rate is now so frightening a bipartisan group, called Families Against Fentanyl, asked the president to declare the synthetic opioid an official weapon of mass destruction.” (Dimond)
Weapons of Mass destruction paints a picture in your mind that the end is near. Dimond’s speech is explosive forcing the reader to face the seriousness of the situation. The reader is in a heightened, fear-based state, manipulated by our own imagination almost to read on.
Dimond begins to explore where all this fentanyl is coming from and from her knowledge it’s coming from three particular rivals of the U.S. China, Mexico and recently India,
“China is only a cog, albeit the largest one, in a far-flung supply network that seems impossible to disrupt. Laboratories in China produce fentanyl and ship the man-made poison to the United States via international mail”, “Now, according to a declassified government report, India is getting in on this most profitable business. Labs there produce fentanyl and ship it directly to both China and Mexico.” (Dimond)
Dimond accuses the culprits China and Mexico with certainty. Her message becomes more prejudiced as she continues to write and reveal her solution:
“So, wondering what can be done to stop the ever-increasing overdose death rate caused by fentanyl? The answers seem clear. First, clamp down on China with more trade sanctions. And, how about a strict embargo on all mail and packages from China (or Hong Kong) coming into the United States. That maneuver would cripple the Chinese economy and surely make Xi more cooperative in the fentanyl fight.” (Dimond)
Here at last is her argument: a radical right-wing Republican solution which punishes the convenient political adversary the provider China and not the user. This would be in keeping with a traditional Republican view, it’s not us the USA its them who we are to find fault with. Dimond’s language is so strong here that is seems nothing short of a trade war, or worse, is the solution. The rhetoric gets stronger when she addresses the Cholo nemesis to the South:
“Next, seal our borders, especially the southern border with Mexico. Finish the damn wall or recruit legions more Border Patrol agents. It is only logical that if drug mules cannot get into the U.S., then neither can their lethal cargo. Something must be done because the status quo is killing our children. It is not acceptable” (Dimond)
Dimond seals her right-wing ideology as she extends fault to the accomplice Mexico and the porous nature of border and really emulates a strong republican rhetoric which we all have heard many times from the X President Trump era. Yes, the situation is tragic and drug is terrifying, and it is meaningful to find a positive solution if one exists, but Dimond’s rhetoric would be at home most at a Trump rally; she has found her choir and she is preaching to it and making a call to arms. The speech, the accusations, the tone of rage and the viewpoint tap deeply into the American psyche and take the audience to a feeling of “Where do I sign up to help stomp this out?”
Looking at both of these articles it is apparent that there are two different biases reflected in the articles dealing with the fentanyl crisis. The Canadian approach provides a whole host of practical solutions, legalization, clinics, support workers, and alternative medical treatments. In affect Nolen has explained and pointed the audience to a very coordinated pragmatic solution. We the audience are enticed to commit to her purpose, exactly what she intended us to feel. Dimond also guides us to a strong calculated political response. Dimond is radical: build the wall, destroy the Chinese economy, erase the providers of this drug. Dimond has us almost in a frenzy with to do something, we are engaged. The author wants us to blame the world outside of the USA for its ills. Dimond’s argument is skillfully shaped, with strong language and quotes that are deeply resonant and emotional, but which are without substance, or lies, if you like.
One can see how if you read Dimond’s articles, and nothing else, you may be radicalized, meaning your view point is heavily based on untrue statements, impossible solutions and rhetoric which could inflame those susceptible to this right-wing propaganda. Nolen leaves you with the question of how can we as a society deal with this staggering calamity on our doorstep. This reader sensed truth in her words and the pictures in the article capture what she articulates. As suggested in the beginning Nolen’s article provides reality to an insidious destructive disease by informing us shaping a realistic reality.
Work Cited
Dimond, Diane. “dianedimond.” www.dianedimond.com, 5 Jun. 2019, www.dianedimond.com/?s=when+wedsite+was+made+.
Dimond, Diane. “The fentanyl flood into the US: Why can’t we make it stop?” Minot Daily News, 18 Oct. 2022, www.minotdailynews.com/opinion/national-columnists/2022/10/the-fentanyl-flood-into-the-us-why-cant-we-make-it-stop/.
Nolen, Stephanie. “Fentanyl From the Government? A Vancouver Experiment Aims to Stop Overdoses.” New York Times, 26 Jul. 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/07/26/health/fentanyl-vancouver-drugs.html.
Nolen, Stephanie. “stephanienolen.” www.stephanienolen.com, 7 Sept. 2018, www.stephanienolen.com/.
Paper 3 The Research Essay
Radical Ideas
Vancouver is plagued with Opioid and Fentanyl, two of the deadliest combinations of pharmaceutical and non-medicinal drugs now permitting humanity. Our society is struggling to identify positive methods of dealing with this heartbreaking epidemic. The solution is a combination of progressive legislation, full legalization of all drugs, capturing the vast resources (Pharma) at large and educating our culture on the benefits of use of current drugs and alternatives. This is paramount to orchestrate now because the current efforts, programs, lawful remedies, when pitted against the limitlessness criminal capacity, we the public, the society and our communities are been swallowed up by this disease.
The opioid addiction and death rate is catastrophic reaching a frightening critical level in many parts of the world. In BC and my community, Vancouver is at the epicenter of the Canadian crisis. “The number of illicit drug toxicity deaths in Vancouver in September 2022 equates to about 5.7 deaths per day with average of over 450 deaths per month” (“British Columbia Coronary Services”). Compounded with the hard-core street drugs and these overwhelming statistics, we have the blight of the general public usage and the gateway drugs such as OxyContin.
Medical prescriptions for opioids started to increase sharply in the mid-to late 1990s (NIDA, 2014). Shortly thereafter, nonmedical opioid use also started to increase markedly, reaching a peak of 2.7 million new users in 2002 (Kolodny et al., 2015). The annual number of new nonmedical users slowly declined to about 1.8 million in 2012 (SAMHSA, 2013b), but the overall pool of people continuing to use nonmedically is very large. (National Academy Press)
This defines the problem in its entirety not only is it the street use of opioids and fentanyl on the rise but big Pharma is the gateway to millions of people who eventually rely on drugs for medical reasons but ultimately become closet drug addicts.
According to the National Safety Council, people are more likely to die from an opioid overdose than a motor vehicle accident for the first time in U.S. history. This sobering statistic demonstrates the growing threat posed by the opioid epidemic. Although myriad socioeconomic factors contribute to the prevalence of addiction, big pharma played a large role in facilitating this ongoing crisis through its unethical, aggressive marketing of opioids to physicians and consumers alike. While the opioid epidemic and sway of big pharma are most notable in the United States, this is an increasingly international phenomenon, with nations ranging from India to Australia feeling the effects.
The Center for Responsive Politics — a non-partisan research group tracking money in politics — found that pharmaceutical companies spent over $900 million on lobbying between 1998 and 2005, which was significantly more than any other industry. During this same period, big pharma donated $89.9 million to political parties and federal candidates to push their agenda. This spending excludes the vast quantities spent on advertising, marketing, and incentives for both pharmaceutical sales representatives and physicians”. (Keene)
Canada is very proactive in its approach to the problem and the solutions, but it is obvious that we are missing a resolution which treats and prevents the existing pandemic we are facing in a diverse sector of society. The Canadian resolutions are multi-faceted using existing methods and ever exploring new techniques. It’s necessary to understand there are many varied approaches which can be employed such as purge the supply, decriminalize the use of drugs, manage the victims of drug abuse, provide like or alternative treatment drugs to wean victims of the clandestine supply, condemn the medical system and force pharmaceutical corporations to realize the cost of the tragedy it facilitates. Just to mention the major defenses against the proliferation of this blight.
As indicated Canada is a leader in this field and has a myriad of agencies which tackle the issue. The acronyms for some of these organizations are as follows SNAP, MOUD, DAA, VANDU, Lifering and CA to name a few. All these organizations and many more from Government, private and medical contribute to a vast array of treatments alternatives to the rehabilitation and preventions of drug use.
This article highlights the experiences of a peer-run group, SALOME/NAOMI Association of Patients (SNAP), that meets weekly in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. SNAP is a unique independent peer- run drug user group that formed in 2011 following Canada’s first heroin-assisted treatment trial (HAT), North America Opiate Medication Initiative (NAOMI). SNAP’s members are now made up of former research participants who participated in two heroin-assisted trials in Vancouver. This article highlights SNAP members’ experiences as research subjects in Canada’s second clinical trial conducted in Vancouver, Study to Assess Longer-term Opioid Medication Effectiveness (SALOME), that began recruitment of research participants in 2011. (MacPherson 1)
There is no magic wand solution to the drug problem. Instead, it’s a combined radical approach which must be accelerated in my opinion and implemented with alternatives that will impact society momentously. Full decriminalization of all illicit drug use now and bring alternative drugs to the forefront administered and directed through governmental and private distribution produced in oversight facilities. This entails enacting laws from the Municipal, Provincial and National levels of government starting with our MP.s here. In tandem enact Big Pharma through legislation to provide extensive capital to fund the investment required for much of these programs squarely putting the responsibility for a great deal of the “Opioid” problem on them as by the numbers they are the gateway for much of the issues. (A percentage of profits from them now and enlist their facilities). Decriminalization legalization erodes the illegal use and destroys the market for the felonious suppliers. The third is educate society and highlight the benefit products such as psilocybin which by all accounts can and could be the road to help solving addiction, depression and alienation of individuals which in itself could be a cataclysmic change in society. We must change the way we think of drugs and combined with Big Pharma, private and governmental research facilities must deliver appropriate meaningful enrichment of individual lives with substantively improved medically sound alternative products.
Society as a whole will find full decriminalization impalpable however emphasis must be drawn to criminalize illicit drugs from the illegitimate confines of the underworld (suppliers) and a sustained effort must be made to provide an abundance of comparable legal drugs of the same but controlled quality. Big Pharma will war against its implicit role in the detriments of their philosophy and attempt to distance itself from the responsibility of being culpable. We must entice them with the concepts of providing remedies, agendas and marketing principles which in effect will provide a nurturing to society and solutions for addictions of all kinds. We are not penalizing them we are using their vast resources and knowledge to provide incredible remedies to the drug problems. Education and awareness are already somewhat widespread, but we are always educating against drugs and those against radical change will be in conflict. Legislating and introducing new alternatives to the addiction crisis such as psilocybin is essential. (The norm of today is not working) I use this example of alternative being psilocybin as I have a personal experience with a friend close of my age who may have found her way by treatments of this kind. My point is we have massive companies that can and will tackle solutions in an entirely different perspective. We can change the way we think about addition and drugs.
Actionable, quantitative and alternative plans have already begun in many parts of the world. Countries such as the Check Republic, Germany and Italy have decriminalized all illicit drugs meaning that there are fines and confiscation but no internment of the individual. In fact, over 35 countries today have some form of legalization of all drugs.
People in the Czech Republic are the only group in Eastern Europe to now have reduced punishments in connection with drug use. When the Communist regime collapsed, it was no longer a criminal offense to possess drugs, but there were and are some rules surrounding them. It is still illegal to produce and sell drugs in the Czech Republic. And you cannot possess large amounts of drugs. People who are caught with small amounts of drugs for personal use are charged with a misdemeanor and a fine of up to 15,000 Czech koruna which is about US$612.
One major issue in the Czech Republic has been trying to establish in courts what constitutes a small amount of drugs and what is too much. (Singh)
Legislation in Canada and BC has been forthcoming for certain sectors such as marijuana and other illicit use. The real legislative change is to legalize all personal use of any form of any drug. This is radical step but could eliminate some contraband and bite into the enormous profits of the illegal criminal element of the trade. The combination of pharmaceutical companies utilizing well thought out alternative products such as psilocybin and using their vast resources in capital and corporate facilities must be legislated now as well. These firms must reduce gateway drugs and focus on alternative progressive drugs which enhance human health. “The Sacklers Made More Than $12 Billion In Profit From OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma, New Report Says” (Sandler) The family owning Purdue Pharma the Sacklers declared bankruptcy and the consequences of their actions were reprimanded in court. The award was over 6 billion in damages to those affected, however to this day there has been no accounting just what was actually paid out of Purdue Pharma. The actual family, the Sackler’s could be responsible for 3 billion. The irony of this is they made 12 billion and no one went to jail for what was blatant criminal behavior in itself. They knew OxyContin was extremely addictive. This is a landmark decision and really the first time big Pharm a has been brought to accountability. The problem is its will not assist those now, who are in need or desperate to change their lives.
Our thesis is a radical new approach, involving big Pharma into the cure not the enemy, tax more when profits are high, and direct this capital directly into existing and new treatment companies not government coffers. Introduce a total decriminalization legislation for personal use of drugs and regulate new responsible drugs (psilocybin), control the production, profits and make them a partner in the solution. The organizations currently involved must be supported as its their dedication and message which must be exposed to mass news in a positive way. This again is a wholesale change in thinking of drug use, the affects will be rapid, suppliers will disappear, cost of policing will fall dramatical, an influx of new industry created along with Pharma to proliferate other remedies and education will enhance what is beneficial rather than what is detrimental. In short it will be a monumental change in the way we address all drugs and employ the billions of dollars to exercise what is necessary and right.
Work Cited
Boyd, Susan, et al. “Telling our stories: heroin-assisted treatment and SNAP activism in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.” Harm Reduction Journal, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-017-0152-3.
Gaille, Louise. “16 Decriminalization of Drugs Pros and Cons.” ittana personal finance Blog, 30 Jan. 2019, vittana.org/16-decriminalization-of-drugs-pros-and-cons.
Keene, Donovan . “Big Pharma: The International Reach of the Opioid Crisis.” Harvard Politcal Review, 4 May 2020, harvardpolitics.com/big-pharma/.
National Academies of Sciences. “Trends in Opioid Use, Harms, and Treatment.” National Library of Medicine, 13 Jul. 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK458661/.
REPORT , ANNUAL. “Opioid Overdose Crisis.” College of Pharmacists of British Columbia, 1 Jun. 2020, annualreport.bcpharmacists.org/ar2021/year-in-review/opioid-overdose-crisis.
RIEDER, TRAVIS . “Solving the Opioid Crisis Isn’t Just a Public Health Challenge—It’s a Bioethics Challenge.” HASTINGS CENTER REPORT, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1002/hast.1169.
Sadek, Joseph, and Saunders, Joseph. “Treatment retention in opioid agonist therapy: comparison of methadone versus buprenorphine/naloxone by analysis of daily-witnessed dispensed medication in a Canadian Province.” BMC Psychiatry, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-04175-9.
Sandler, Rachel . “The Sacklers Made More Than $12 Billion In Profit From OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma, New Report Says.” Forbes, 4 Oct. 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2019/10/04/the-sacklers-made-12-to-13-billion-in-profit-from-oxycontin-maker-purdue-pharma-new-report-says/?sh=50a31fdf477d.
Service , Cornoners . “Illicit Drug Toxicity Deaths in BC.” Cornoners Service, 1 Jan. 2012, www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/birth-adoption-death-marriage-and-divorce/deaths/coroners-service/statistical/illicit-drug.pdf 5. http://.
Shepert, Elana . “16 Decriminalization of Drugs Pros and Cons.” ittana personal finance Blog, 14 Jul. 2020, www.vancouverisawesome.com/local-news/free-heroin-cocaine-and-meth-handed-out-outside-of-the-vancouver-police-department-3956140.
Singh, Namrata . “Countries That Have Decriminalized Drugs.” International Centre for education and training, 22 Dec. 2021, icetonline.com/countries-that-have-decriminalized-drugs/.