addictions

Jennifer Montgomery, left, and Chantelle Ruley are two of the most recent graduates of the Island Crisis Care Society’s Project Rise program. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

Nanaimo program helping workers overcome barriers to better their lives

Island Crisis Care Society’s Project Rise graduates share their experiences

 

More than 200 people turned out to Diana Krall Plaza Thursday, April 27, to demand action on social disorder. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

Hundreds gather in Nanaimo to demand action against crime and social disorder

Rally was one of seven held across B.C. to send message that ‘enough is enough’

 

City of Campbell River City Hall. Campbell River Mirror Photo

City of Campbell River takes another stab at ban on public drug consumption

Legal challenge, jurisdictional issues quashed first attempt so city proposing a new bylaw

 

Alex Delongchamp and Gurman Tatla take part in a mass group naloxone training seminar during International Overdose Awareness Day at Centennial Square in Victoria, B.C., on Saturday August 31, 2019. Youth in B.C. soon will have easier access to mental health and addiction services with new Foundry centres being expanded to more communities. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

A dozen more addiction centres coming for youth in B.C.

Locations of the 12 new Foundry BC centres have yet to be identified

Alex Delongchamp and Gurman Tatla take part in a mass group naloxone training seminar during International Overdose Awareness Day at Centennial Square in Victoria, B.C., on Saturday August 31, 2019. Youth in B.C. soon will have easier access to mental health and addiction services with new Foundry centres being expanded to more communities. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Robin Norbury pictured last year before his motorbike trip to the Arctic Circle. File photo

Roadblock on the road back: Islander talks about his path back from addiction

Former Vancouver Island drug user says checkered past makes it tough to find work

Robin Norbury pictured last year before his motorbike trip to the Arctic Circle. File photo
Guy Felicella spent years battling addiction. He now advocates for easier access to treatment and harm reduction strategies. (Courtesy of Guy Felicella)

Victoria addiction treatment and recovery options are limited, creating gaps in care

Recovery advocate Guy Felicella says access to treatment needs to be easier to save more lives

Guy Felicella spent years battling addiction. He now advocates for easier access to treatment and harm reduction strategies. (Courtesy of Guy Felicella)
People gather at Centennial Square marking the sixth anniversary of B.C. declaring overdose deaths a public health emergency in Victoria, Thursday, April 14, 2022. A First Nation on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island has declared a state of emergency over what its leadership describes as the “unrelating impact of drugs and alcohol” on its members, particularly children and youth.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Island First Nation declares emergency over drug and alcohol crisis

The Ehattesaht First Nation in Zeballos says six young people have died

People gather at Centennial Square marking the sixth anniversary of B.C. declaring overdose deaths a public health emergency in Victoria, Thursday, April 14, 2022. A First Nation on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island has declared a state of emergency over what its leadership describes as the “unrelating impact of drugs and alcohol” on its members, particularly children and youth.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Moms Stop the Harm advocates and supporters march from Centennial Square to the Ministry of Health building in Victoria on April 14, 2022, the sixth anniversary of B.C. declaring the opioid crisis a public health emergency. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Chief coroner prescribes ‘urgency’ as B.C. records 2,272 toxic drug deaths in 2022

Experts call for holistic action, call response so far a failure

Moms Stop the Harm advocates and supporters march from Centennial Square to the Ministry of Health building in Victoria on April 14, 2022, the sixth anniversary of B.C. declaring the opioid crisis a public health emergency. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Dave Laboucane was on suboxone when becoming clean earlier this year but returned to Kelowna’s Tent City and suffered severe burns in a fire attempting to keep his tent warm in the cold weather. (Jacqueline Gelineau/Capital News)

“There is help out there”: Kelowna burn victim identified as man with 22-year troubled past

Another example of Kelowna’s homeless population and the province’s ongoing drug crisis

Dave Laboucane was on suboxone when becoming clean earlier this year but returned to Kelowna’s Tent City and suffered severe burns in a fire attempting to keep his tent warm in the cold weather. (Jacqueline Gelineau/Capital News)
The Recovery Cafe in East Vancouver is the first of its kind in Canada. It offers a supportive space for people recovering from substance use, mental health challenges and homelessness. (Credit: Sean McGuire)

Vancouver’s Recovery Cafe is an ‘oasis in the desert’

The first of its kind in Canada, the cafe offers a physical space for support and growth

  • Dec 11, 2022
The Recovery Cafe in East Vancouver is the first of its kind in Canada. It offers a supportive space for people recovering from substance use, mental health challenges and homelessness. (Credit: Sean McGuire)
Anthony Thomas, 27, has been convicted in the death of a 51-year-old pedestrian, killed in Central Saanich. (Black Press File Photo)

Family in tears as driver sentenced in ‘heartbreaking’ Central Saanich crash

Anthony Thomas killed one woman in a crash that also left her sister with life-altering injuries

Anthony Thomas, 27, has been convicted in the death of a 51-year-old pedestrian, killed in Central Saanich. (Black Press File Photo)
Paramedics work to revive a person from an apparent drug overdose in Chilliwack. (Black Press Media file photo)

Mapping where overdoses are more likely to kill in B.C.

Fatality rates far higher in rural areas than urban ones

  • Dec 6, 2022
Paramedics work to revive a person from an apparent drug overdose in Chilliwack. (Black Press Media file photo)
Mental Health and Addictions Minister Sheila Malcolmson was among the nearly three dozen participants at Saturday’s (Nov. 26) Walk With Me event in Courtenay. Photo by Terry Farrell

Minister of mental health and addictions among participants at Walk With Me event

Comox Valley-Strathcona-North Island Medical Health Officer Dr. Charmaine Enns also participated

Mental Health and Addictions Minister Sheila Malcolmson was among the nearly three dozen participants at Saturday’s (Nov. 26) Walk With Me event in Courtenay. Photo by Terry Farrell
David Screech said he has been forced to seriously consider moving Greggs Furniture and Upholstery somewhere else in Greater Victoria due to an increasing number of concerning incidents at its current Government Street location. (Justin Samanski-Langille/News Staff)

Home since ‘55, Greggs Furniture and Upholstery pondering move out of Victoria

David Screech said an increasing amount of concerning incidents driving possible move

David Screech said he has been forced to seriously consider moving Greggs Furniture and Upholstery somewhere else in Greater Victoria due to an increasing number of concerning incidents at its current Government Street location. (Justin Samanski-Langille/News Staff)
FILE - Matthew Perry arrives at the premiere of “The Invention of Lying” in Los Angeles on Sept. 21, 2009. Perry turns 52 on Aug. 19. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)

Near-fatal ODs and love faxes to Julia Roberts: What Matthew Perry’s memoir reveals

‘I was Chandler’: Friends star’s book details a constant battle with addictions

FILE - Matthew Perry arrives at the premiere of “The Invention of Lying” in Los Angeles on Sept. 21, 2009. Perry turns 52 on Aug. 19. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
The Tiny Home Village in Victoria’s North Park neighbourhood welcomed 30 residents in May 2021. (Black Press Media file photo)

Tiny home villages as solution to homelessness? 3 B.C. mayors say yes

Sites up and running in Victoria and Duncan, Port Alberni on its way to do the same

The Tiny Home Village in Victoria’s North Park neighbourhood welcomed 30 residents in May 2021. (Black Press Media file photo)
File photo.

Campbell River councillors gobsmacked by cost of policing one downtown location

Overdose Prevention Site/Sobering Assessment Centre cost almost $300,000 over two years: RCMP

File photo.
B.C. Mental Health and Addictions Minister Sheila Malcolmson announces new complex care services coming to Nanaimo. (Greg Sakaki/News Bulletin)

Complex care announced for some of Nanaimo’s most hard-to-house individuals

Additional mental-health and substance-use care to be offered to those at risk of homelessness

B.C. Mental Health and Addictions Minister Sheila Malcolmson announces new complex care services coming to Nanaimo. (Greg Sakaki/News Bulletin)
Stefanie Hendrickson is the coordinator for the Campbell River and District Coalition to End Homelessness. Photo by Marc Kitteringham, Campbell River Mirror

Coming together to tackle homelessness could make Campbell River a ‘trailblazer’

‘But make no mistake, it will be messy’ - CRDCEH coordinator

Stefanie Hendrickson is the coordinator for the Campbell River and District Coalition to End Homelessness. Photo by Marc Kitteringham, Campbell River Mirror
Community safety officer Ron Litzenberger, left, watches as Wally Taylor, Nanaimo bylaws officer, talks with people who have camped along a sidewalk on Victoria Road early Monday, Aug. 15, and asks them to take down the campsite. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

Community safety officers set out to build relationships, respect in Nanaimo’s downtown

CSOs now training with program to be fully implemented next month

Community safety officer Ron Litzenberger, left, watches as Wally Taylor, Nanaimo bylaws officer, talks with people who have camped along a sidewalk on Victoria Road early Monday, Aug. 15, and asks them to take down the campsite. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)