FEDS PROVIDE $15 MILLION FOR SAFER INITIATIVES IN B.C.

Four pilot projects in Vancouver and Victoria have received $15 million in federal funding to provide safer drugs for people at risk of dying from overdose. Mental Health and Addictions Minister Sheila Malcolmson joined Dr. Patricia Daly, chief medical health officer for Vancouver Coastal Health, and MP Hedy Fry to announce the funding. New programs will be implemented at Vancouver Coastal

Health, AIDS Vancouver Island Health and Community Services, the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and the Urban Indigenous Health and Healing Cooperative. Daly says Vancouver Coastal's share of $5 million will be used to expand peer support for those who will be permitted to take prescription alternatives home rather than consuming them at clinics.