addictions

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

 

Guy Felicella spent years battling addiction. He now advocates for easier access to treatment and harm reduction strategies. (Courtesy of Guy Felicella)

Limited addiction treatment and recovery options create care gaps in B.C. communities

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

 

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

B.C. First Nation declares emergency over drug and alcohol crisis

Ehattesaht First Nation on Vancouver Island says six young people have died

 

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
Khristina (last name withheld), seen here at Salish Park on Jan. 18, 2023, from Saskatchewan comes to Chilliwack twice a year to find her son who is living on the streets, and to hand out supplies to homeless people. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)

Saskatchewan cattle rancher visits Fraser Valley twice a year to find her homeless son

‘I spent time with him, and that has to be enough’

Khristina (last name withheld), seen here at Salish Park on Jan. 18, 2023, from Saskatchewan comes to Chilliwack twice a year to find her son who is living on the streets, and to hand out supplies to homeless people. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress)
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’ 2018 Island crash

Anthony Thomas gets 3 1/2 year in crash that killed woman, left 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
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)
CPA President Tom Stamatakis. (Tom Stamatakis/Twitter)

Police association president supports decriminalization but says it won’t curb crime in B.C.

CPA president says B.C. minister misrepresented police decriminalization stance

CPA President Tom Stamatakis. (Tom Stamatakis/Twitter)
B.C. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson announces new addictions recovery services at a press conference outside Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on Thursday, May 26. (Greg Sakaki/News Bulletin)

Promised new sobering and stabilization beds now operational in Nanaimo

Addictions services provided via Island Health and operating partners

B.C. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson announces new addictions recovery services at a press conference outside Nanaimo Regional General Hospital on Thursday, May 26. (Greg Sakaki/News Bulletin)
Recovering addict Mike Kappeler just released the first episode in his TV series called Recovery Life which focuses on the positive side of recovery in an addict’s or alcoholic’s life. He is seen here in downtown Chilliwack on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress file)

Former B.C. addict releases first ‘Recovery Life’ TV episode

TV series shares ‘amazing and uplifting stories’ of recovery, says Mike Kappeler

Recovering addict Mike Kappeler just released the first episode in his TV series called Recovery Life which focuses on the positive side of recovery in an addict’s or alcoholic’s life. He is seen here in downtown Chilliwack on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress file)
A construction worker works on the roof line of apartments under construction in the 1600 block of E. Marine View Drive on Friday, April 24, 2020 in Everett, Wa. (Andy Bronson / The Herald)

B.C. pledges $1M for harm reduction to prevent overdose deaths among construction workers

Funding will expand Tailgate Toolkit program, which has already been operating on Vancouver Island

A construction worker works on the roof line of apartments under construction in the 1600 block of E. Marine View Drive on Friday, April 24, 2020 in Everett, Wa. (Andy Bronson / The Herald)
A shoulder patch on a correctional officer is shown at the Collins Bay Institution in Kingston, Ont., on Tuesday, May 10, 2016. The Correctional Service of Canada said it is working to provide timely access to addiction treatment after settling a human rights complaint launched in 2018. THE CANADIAN/Lars Hagberg

Correctional Service settles human rights case for prisoners addicted to opioids

Settlement agreement was reached last month

A shoulder patch on a correctional officer is shown at the Collins Bay Institution in Kingston, Ont., on Tuesday, May 10, 2016. The Correctional Service of Canada said it is working to provide timely access to addiction treatment after settling a human rights complaint launched in 2018. THE CANADIAN/Lars Hagberg
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price blocks a shot during the second period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup semifinal playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Habs goalie Carey Price says ‘substance use’ led him to NHL’s assistance program

‘Over the last few years I have let myself get to a very dark place and I didn’t have the tools to cope’

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price blocks a shot during the second period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup semifinal playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Courtenay-Alberni NDP MP Gord Johns in the House of Commons. File photo

Courtenay-Alberni MP Gord Johns appointed mental health and addictions critic

Johns calls for reforms in face of opioid overdose crisis

Courtenay-Alberni NDP MP Gord Johns in the House of Commons. File photo
Sheila Malcolmson, B.C. minister of mental health and addictions, speaks at a recent federal election campaign event in Nanaimo. (News Bulletin file photo)

New substance-use recovery beds coming to Vancouver Island

B.C. government announces addictions treatment supports in Nanaimo, Oceanside, Tofino-Ucluelet

Sheila Malcolmson, B.C. minister of mental health and addictions, speaks at a recent federal election campaign event in Nanaimo. (News Bulletin file photo)