HLTH 323 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Vancouver Coastal Health, Supervised Injection Site, Portland Hotel

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Health Studies
• Course: HLTH 323
• Professor: Stevenson Fergus

Document Summary

Prohibition: us style war on drugs", realistic, limited efficacy. Legalization: na ve, explicity condoning, increasing use, appropriate for all drugs, full legalization of marijuana. Soon in canada: decrimination of marijuana: netherlands, many us cities and states, some european countries, some australian states. Medication: of marijuana- canada, most us states, other. Approach: value neutral views of drug use and user, focus is on ameliorating harm, health promotion may be boadly focused, recognizes varying stages of change/ irrelevance of abstinence to some. Strategies: supervised injection sites, needle exchanges, methadone maintenance, heroin prescription, distribution of crack stems, managed alcohol programs. Vancouver dte (139 e hastings st)- poorest postal code: home to about 1/3 of the citys approx 12,000 injection drug users, idu: 30-40% hiv positive, >90% hcv+ Granted 3 year exemption under controlled drugs and substances act. Operated by vancouver coastal health and portland hotel society. Evaluation by bc centre for excellence in hiv/aids.