Health committee  I'd like to see universal funding for opiate-agonist therapy and I'll draw to your attention to the analogy of HIV anti-retroviral therapy in B.C. and the lowered incidences of HIV from good care and open access to medications. I would also like to see industry incentives for peo

Health committee  That's a very difficult question for me to answer, because I'm not sure what the whole approach entails. I'll give you a generic version of what I think we should be doing. Number one, I think there needs to be a firewall between pharma and doctors. In other words, pharma contr

Health committee  I think that's a matter for further discussion around here, but you need a panel of people who can speak to, for example, the language used in addiction, which is massively important. On the terminology you use, the best analogy I can give you in terms of the stigma and the way w

Health committee  There's a huge street market for OxyContin and other opiates and benzodiazepines, and it comes from everywhere. It comes from over the border. You'd have to ask the RCMP, but it's out there. It's manufactured. We have pharmacy break-ins in British Columbia all the time. We have d

Health committee  I'm going to say that I live on the north shore of Vancouver, which is a middle- to upper-class area, and my impression from speaking to family doctors in that area is that there is a problem. I've had family doctors tell me that women, especially, will order their medication onl

Health committee  How much time is left?

Health committee  I'm going to be very brief. I'm Dr. Durnin and I work in addiction throughout this city, including with Lorinda. I'm going to ask the committee, based on previous comments that you've heard, for four actions. Number one, you have to have a public campaign to address the stigmat

Health committee  Yes we can. Can you hear us?