SUBSTANCE USE HEALTH
Substance Use Health
Campus Wellness and Education tackles complex issues including alcohol, smoking, and substance use. We team up with other campus groups to educate and converse with students about topics such as harm reduction and safe partying. We run regularly scheduled harm reduction programs throughout the year and offer different workshops and opportunity for students to engage with this topic.
Programs
1. Naloxone Training
Every Thursday from 6-8pm in the Residence Wellness Hub (NCH 251)
Every Monday from 11am-1pm in Picnic (UNC 122b)
- Naloxone is a free, publicly available medication that can reverse a drug poisoning. When someone receives naloxone, it reverses the effects of opioids and can safe their life! Training is very simple, and only takes about 10 minutes.
2. Get Your Drugs Checked
Every Thursday from 6-8pm in Picnic (UNC 122b)
- Bring your drugs to the Harm Reduction Team (HaRT) for free and confidential drug checking services. They can tell you the top ingredients in your drugs, give them back and provide other information about what is in your substances. Naloxone training will also be available during this time.
3. Priority Substance Use Topics
Smoke-free Campus: Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in BC, Canada and Globally. Campus Wellness has worked hard to provide free quit-smoking resources on campus such as Nicotine Replacement Therapy, as well as counselling through Health & Wellness and peer support through the Peer Support Network. Join us as we work to support people on their journey to quit and aim to become one of almost 100 other universities across Canada that have gone smoke-free!
Vaping: Vaping devices heat a liquid into an aerosol so that it may be inhaled into your lungs. Vape fluids and their bi-products can include nicotine, ultrafine particles, diacetyl (flavouring chemicals that cause serious lung injury), volatile organic compounds, heavy metals and other carcinogenic, cancer-causing chemicals. Campus Wellness is committed to understanding why people vape, disseminating information about lower risk vape use and its dangers, and helping people quit. Join our team to contribute to this exciting project.
Cannabis on Campus: The federal Cannabis Act was passed in 2018 and it defines which forms of cannabis are legal, how it may be sold and how much a person may possess. With cannabis now legal in Canada we have an opportunity to address the effects of cannabis and how to use cannabis in a lower-risk way on our campus. Join us as we spread education on our campus and seek community input on their relationship with cannabis.
Illicit Drugs & Harm Reduction: In April 2016, the Public Health Officer of BC declared a state of emergency in response to the increasing rate of drug overdoses. Sadly, 2020 was BC’s deadliest year for illicit drug toxicity deaths; there was a total of 1,716 overdose deaths in 2020 (4.7 deaths/day), a 74% increase from 2019. Join Campus Wellness Harm Reduction Team (HaRT) to educate our campus and communities on lower-risk use, overdose prevention, drug-checking, and recovery support options.
Information and Resources
Harm Reduction Team (HaRT)
Information about Vaping and Smoking
Naloxone Training
Designated Smoking Areas
How We Got Here
Information coming soon