A recent webinar presented by the labour, employment and human rights law publisher Lancaster House examined substance use in the workplace, as well as the outcomes of arbitration cases. According to the webinar speakers, “good-faith efforts” are essential in creating return-to-work plans for employees after treatment of drug and/or alcohol disorders. According to Aminah Hanif, … Continued

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An Edmonton harm reduction group is hoping to fill a service gap on city streets as ambulance crews respond to opioid-related calls in unparalleled numbers. In recent months, emergency medical services in Edmonton have witnessed an unprecedented growth in opioid-related emergency calls. Specifically, between July 26 and Aug. 1, Edmonton EMS responded to 162 opioid-related … Continued

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Earlier in August, Saskatchewan’s two safe supervised consumption sites received rapid testing kits from the provincial government in order to detect the presence of potentially dangerous adulterants. With the new equipment and training, the staff at the consumption sites will be able to test drug samples for fentanyl and benzodiazepines in about five minutes. Fentanyl … Continued

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Over the last year, there have been numerous reports of benzodiazepine-adulterated opioids (also referred to as “benzo-dope”) in Canada’s illicit drug supply. According to new reports, benzodiazepines have been detected in as many as 60% of overdose deaths in British Columbia. The benzodiazepines detected in illicit opioids in Canada are not pharmaceutical drugs, such as … Continued

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Earlier in July, Nova Scotia Health released an alert on social media notifying the public that a life-threatening substance has been circulating in the local drug supply. In his interview with CBC News, Matt Bonn, the program coordinator for the Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs, and the co-founder of HaliFIX Overdose Prevention Society, … Continued

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In a recent interview with CBC News, Dr. Dan Werb, an epidemiologist and executive director of the Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation in Toronto discussed a new portable drug-testing device called DoseCheck that could serve as an overdose prevention tool. Together with Dr. Drew Hall, a colleague from the University of San Diego, Dr. Werb … Continued

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In July of this year, the board of directors of the BC Construction Safety Alliance (BCCSA) approved a project to examine the impact of alcohol and other drugs (AOD) on the organization’s members across British Columbia. According to the executive director Mike McKenna, BCCSA will provide funding and fiduciary oversight for the initiative, in addition … Continued

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The ongoing growing opioid crisis has been declared a public health emergency in Canada. Due to increasing toxicity of the illegal drug supply, there have been higher rates of overdoses since the onset of COVID-19. In addition, it has been demonstrated that most drug overdoses are accidental and occur when the dose, quality, and composition … Continued

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In recent months, powerful synthetic opioids have been discovered in Toronto’s street drug supply, resulting in a spike in overdose deaths. According to the results of the investigation carried out by the Toronto Star and Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB), the presence of the new synthetic opioids, some of which are far more powerful than fentanyl, … Continued

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On June 25, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that employers cannot subject all warehouse employees to random drug testing by designating them as having safety-sensitive jobs. The court ruled that instead of simply considering the employees’ workplace, companies must also consider the specific duties of each employee when designing safety-based drug testing programs. In the … Continued

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