Latest news with #drugtreatment
CBC
29-05-2025
- General
- CBC
B.C.'s Official Opposition calls for changes to supportive housing following CBC investigation into death
British Columbia's Official Opposition is calling for widespread changes to supportive housing in the province following a CBC News investigation that revealed an 11-day delay in finding the body of a tenant. Claire Rattée, the B.C. Conservative critic for mental health and addictions, said the story reveals the province's current approach amounts to "warehousing addiction," and reveals greater access to drug treatment and sober living facilities is urgently needed. Diane Chandler was living in Surrey's Foxglove supportive housing building, and died of an overdose in her room on April 20, 2024. In the days that followed, staff at the facility signed off on multiple wellness checks saying Chandler was alive. Chandler's body wasn't found until May 1, 2024. Critical incident reports sent to B.C. Housing — then obtained by CBC News through freedom of information — reveal that staff had mixed up another resident for Chandler. When they eventually discovered Chandler deceased in her room, they then found the other tenant dead of an overdose in their room, as well. Chandler's children, Tyler and Carley Gibbs, were never contacted by B.C. Housing. They eventually learned of the delay in finding their mother's body through the cremation service that assisted in her funeral, and later through the coroner's report into her death. Speaking at the legislature, Tyler Gibbs said his mother was "failed" by the province, and that her addiction worsened after moving into her room at Foxglove. "B.C. Housing never contacted me or my family, and I think that's a disgrace. I want answers and I want change. My mum deserved better," he said. B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said in the legislature on Wednesday that in response to Chandler's death, the province implemented changes that require wellness checks every 24 hours in every supportive housing facility across the province. The province implemented changes to allow for more frequent wellness checks in January 2024, four months prior to Chandler's death. Rattée said the issue of accessing tenants' rooms does not address the issue of people dying behind closed doors in provincially-funded housing. "There's a deeper issue here and I don't think it's around wellness checks," she said. "It's about encouraging open drug use in supportive housing facilities and warehousing addiction," she said. Not an isolated incident CBC News later revealed a similar story from years earlier, and promises one mother said were broken. Cyndie Richards' son Shawn died at the Princess Rooms, a RainCity Housing facility in Vancouver, in 2017. His body was not found by staff for three days. Richards said after Shawn's death, a RainCity manager promised her that as a result of the mistake, wellness checks on tenants in the facility would be performed more frequently. She told CBC News that Chandler's death seven years later proves not enough has been done. Rattée said the stories reveal the province must urgently expand treatment and mental services. "We need to have supportive housing that is completely sober," she said. "If they want to have a mixed model, we need to make sure we encourage treatment in these facilities. We need to make sure people have an option between the two. We need to make sure those coming out of treatment aren't being put wet facilities."
BreakingNews.ie
28-05-2025
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Cocaine problem drug in almost two fifths of cases needing treatment
Cocaine was the main drug in almost 40 per cent of cases of treatment for problem drug use, according to a new report. There was a record figure of 13,295 cases treated for problem drug use in 2024. Advertisement The data published on Wednesday in the National Drug Treatment Reporting System (NDTRS) by the Health Research Board (HRB) shows an upward trend in treatment cases, up 50 per cent since the National Drugs Strategy began in 2017. The data shows that the demand for drug treatment is across all regions of the country, all age groups, men and women, people with and without children, and those who are unemployed as well those with jobs. There was an increase of 7.4 per cent in the number of cases where cocaine was the main drug, now accounting for 39.8 per cent of all cases. There was also an increase of 21 per cent in the number of cases where benzodiazepines were the main drug, up to 13.4 per cent of all cases. Advertisement Ireland Ireland projected to miss 2030 target of reducing... Read More There was an increase of 4.1 per cent in polydrug use, up to 60 per cent of all cases. There was also a decrease in the number of cases where opioids were the main drug, down to 25 per cent of all cases. The Minister for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Jennifer Murnane O'Connor, said 'This report provides clear evidence of the importance of a health-led approach to drug use. 'We have to face up to the wide prevalence of problem drug use across society and provide appropriate services to meet the health and social needs of the diverse population groups who use drugs.'
CNN
12-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Gov. Gavin Newsom urges California cities and counties to ban homeless encampments
PovertyFacebookTweetLink Follow Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday urged California's local governments to clear homeless encampments, escalating the state's efforts to ban the growing number of makeshift camps on sidewalks and in parks that are the most visible signs of the crisis of people living on the streets. The announcement of a new model ordinance for counties, cities and towns is coupled with the release of $3.3 billion in voter-approved funds the state will make available to communities to expand housing and treatment options for homeless residents, the governor's office said in a news release. The goal is to help municipalities set 'rules around encampments and establish effective enforcement procedures' prioritizing shelter and services. 'Encampments pose a serious public safety risk, and expose the people in encampments to increased risk of sexual violence, criminal activity, property damage and break-ins, and unsanitary conditions,' the news release said. In 2024, voters approved a measure imposing strict requirements on counties to spend on housing and drug treatment programs to tackle the homelessness crisis. It was a signature proposal for Newsom, who campaigned for the measure's passage. Under the measure, counties are required to spend about two-thirds of the money from a voter-approved tax enacted in 2004 on millionaires for mental health services on housing and programs for homeless people with serious mental illnesses or substance abuse problems. The key provisions of the model ordinance announced Monday include prohibitions on 'persistent camping' in one location, a ban on encampments blocking sidewalks and a requirement local officials provide notice and make every reasonable effort to identify and offer shelter prior to clearing an encampment. The state accounts for nearly a third of the homeless population in the United States. More than 187,000 Californians are in need of housing. With tents lining streets and disrupting businesses in cities and towns across the state, homelessness has become one of the most intractable issues in California and one sure to dog Newsom if he runs for national office. The governor has also pushed for laws to make it easier to force people with behavioral health issues into treatment. A state audit in 2024 found California spent $24 billion to tackle homelessness over the previous five years but did not consistently track whether the huge outlay of public money actually improved the situation. Despite the roughly billions of dollars spent on more than 30 homeless and housing programs during the 2018-2023 fiscal years, California does not have reliable data needed to fully understand why the problem didn't improve in many cities, according to a state auditor's report.
The Guardian
12-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Newsom calls on California cities to ban homeless encampments ‘without delay'
Gavin Newsom has called on California cities and counties to clear and effectively ban encampments 'without delay' as the governor intensifies a crackdown on homelessness in the state. Newsom on Monday announced a new model ordinance to address 'persistent' camps, in hopes of reducing the most visible signs of a worsening crisis, as well as $3.3bn in voter-approved funding to increase housing and drug treatment programs. 'There's nothing compassionate about letting people die on the streets. Local leaders asked for resources – we delivered the largest state investment in history. They asked for legal clarity – the courts delivered,' Newsom said in a statement. 'Now, we're giving them a model they can put to work immediately, with urgency and with humanity, to resolve encampments and connect people to shelter, housing, and care. The time for inaction is over. There are no more excuses.' California has the largest population of unsheltered people in the US with more than 180,000 people in the state experiencing homelessness, including 123,000 people living outside, according to a 2023 count. The state – and local governments across California – have begun enacting harsher anti-camping policies following a US supreme court's ruling last year that cities can criminalize unhoused people for sleeping outside – even if there are no available shelter spaces. Newsom has escalated efforts to force local governments into action since the 2024 supreme court decision, warning counties that he could withhold state support if they did not do more sweeps. In February, he told cities and counties they could lose out on hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding if they do not make progress in eradicating encampments and reducing homelessness. In a statement this week the governor's office pointed to its own approach that it said had cleared more than 16,000 encampments and is 'effective and scalable'. The model ordinance introduced by the office includes provisions it said can be modified to suit local needs, including a ban on persistent camping in one location, a ban on encampments blocking sidewalks and a requirement for local officials to provide notice and offer shelter before clearing an encampment. The governor is seeking to help municipalities set 'rules around encampments and establish effective enforcement procedures that prioritize notice, shelter and services', according to the statement. 'Encampments pose a serious public safety risk, and expose the people in encampments to increased risk of sexual violence, criminal activity, property damage and break-ins, and unsanitary conditions,' the news release said.
Sky News
12-05-2025
- Sky News
'More people should be given this chance': The probation centres transforming offenders' lives
The combination of full prisons and tight public finances has forced the government to urgently rethink its approach. Top of the agenda for an overhaul are short sentences, which look set to give way to more community rehabilitation. The cost argument is clear - prison is expensive. It's around £60,000 per person per year compared to community sentences at roughly £4,500 a year. But it's not just saving money that is driving the change. Research shows short custodial terms, especially for first-time offenders, can do more harm than good, compounding criminal behaviour rather than acting as a deterrent. This is certainly the case for Charlie, who describes herself as a former "junkie, shoplifter from Leeds" and spoke to Sky News at Preston probation centre. She was first sent down as a teenager and has been in and out of prison ever since. She says her experience behind bars exacerbated her drug use. "In prison, I would never get clean. It's easy, to be honest, I used to take them in myself," she says. "I was just in a cycle of getting released, homeless, and going straight back into trap houses, drug houses, and that cycle needs to be broken." Eventually, she turned her life around after a court offered her drug treatment at a rehab facility. She says that after decades of addiction and criminality, one judge's decision was the turning point. "That was the moment that changed my life and I just want more judges to give more people that chance." Also at Preston probation centre, but on the other side of the process, is probation officer Bex, who is also sceptical about short sentences. "They disrupt people's lives," she says. "So, people might lose housing because they've gone to prison… they come out homeless and may return to drug use and reoffending." Bex has seen first-hand the value of alternative routes out of crime. "A lot of the people we work with have had really disjointed lives. It takes a long time for them to trust someone, and there's some really brilliant work that goes on every single day here that changes lives." It's people like Bex and Charlie, and places like Preston probation centre, that are at the heart of the government's change in direction.
