In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction takes a panoramic yet highly intimate look at the widespread and perplexing human ailment of addiction
Mark McLaughlin and his campaign against meth
June 2nd, 2014 | Posted by in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Mark McLaughlin and his campaign against meth)
It has been described as a ‘hideously destructive substance’…and ‘the most addictive drug in the world’. Methamphetamine is a drug with high potential for widespread abuse—due to the portability of its manufacture. Canada’s meth problem is worst in British Columbia and a recent survey suggests that one in five B.C. students know of someone who has used it. Mark McLaughlin and the B.C. Crystal Meth Society have worked tirelessly since 2005 to provide prevention education to thousands of pupils across the province. (more…)
Society offers successful temporary housing
February 5th, 2014 | Posted by in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Society offers successful temporary housing)
On our February 6, 2014 People First Radio broadcast, we will be talking about the Victoria Human Exchange Society and their two houses in Nanaimo. Mary Gordon House was just opened in December of 2013. The name of the society is taken from a quote by Thomas Merton: “Every meeting of persons is an exchange of life’s gifts”.
Both houses in Nanaimo offer a temporary home for men recovering from addiction or other difficult periods in their lives. Residents must have 3 months clean and sober before moving into the house and attend sobriety meetings while in residence. Originally started in Victoria, the Society now has houses for men or for women in Victoria, Nanaimo, Saltspring Island and other locations on Vancouver Island.
We spoke with Debbie Scott, a Victoria Human Exchange Society volunteer during this weeks People First Radio broadcast.
Image: Richard Carlton, left, chops up vegetables for dinner while fellow Mary Gordon House resident Mitch checks messages on his smart phone. (CHRIS BUSH/The News Bulletin)
Testing housing first for chronic alcoholics
January 22nd, 2014 | Posted by in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Testing housing first for chronic alcoholics)A new study shows that non-abstinence based housing does not enable alcohol use, but actually decreases it.
A controversial project using a housing-first approach with chronically alcoholic homeless people in Seattle has been shown to decrease overall alcohol consumption levels.
The program, which is funded by the City of Seattle, allows homeless shelter residents to continue to use alcohol, with an overall goal to reduce both alcohol use and alcohol-related problems.
Now a study has found that the approach results in “across-the-board decreases in alcohol consumption and problems”, according to lead researcher Susan Collins. We speak with Susan Collins, a research assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at University of Washington in a rebroadcast from February 17, 2012.
Nanaimo housing society battles labels
November 15th, 2013 | Posted by in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Nanaimo housing society battles labels)Negative connotations surrounding projects can make things difficult, says Nanaimo Affordable Housing Society executive director Jim Spinelli
Jim Spinelli doesn’t like the term ‘low-barrier housing,’ despite his 17-year involvement with finding affordable housing for local residents.
In his work with the Nanaimo Affordable Housing Society it’s sometimes a struggle to get public acceptance for the housing projects he has been involved with. Part of the problem, he said, is the negative connotation of such terminology.
No rental housing will refuse people on the basis of their drug or alcohol use, so the term is somewhat misleading, said Spinelli. Read the rest of this story at Nanaimo Daily News…
Scandals involving politicos may point to a wider problem
November 14th, 2013 | Posted by in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Scandals involving politicos may point to a wider problem)Columnist Mitchell Anderson writes that along with Rob Ford, Canada’s political leadership has hit rock bottom while ‘dumbing down democracy’
Fresh from the reality TV spectacle of the Senate scandals, Canadians have been offered a new series, the Rob Ford crack cocaine video saga. But there haven’t been resignations in shame or hasty retreats to “spend more time” with one’s family. The response seems to be ‘nothing to see here…move on.’ Rob Ford, for example, has said, “I have no reason to resign.” His popularity, meanwhile, seems to actually have increased. (more…)
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