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1 2 | V A N C O U V E R F O U N D A T I O N | 1 9 4 3 - 2 0 1 8 You can help support causes like this by contacting Kristin at 604.629.5186 or visiting vancouverfoundation.ca/give " 95 percent of the substance using population consists of people in the middle: working professionals with careers and families. " —Marshall Smith, Senior Advisor, BCCSU Specically, the BCCSU hired three people to engage with three groups: peers and patients (people who use drugs); families and caregivers a•ected by addiction; and the recovery community. Smith is one of those leads. A former B.C. government bureaucrat, Smith became addicted to cocaine, eventually leaving him unemployed and living in a shipping container. Following recovery, he built a career in the addiction treatment eld and engaged provincial and federal governments on addiction issues. Another lead is Dean Wilson, a former substance user who became a high-prole street-level harm reduction activist. The third lead is Leslie McBain, who in 2014 lost her only child, Jordan Miller, when he was just 25 years old, to an accidental opioid overdose. McBain joined with a group of similarly bereaved mothers to work for harm reduction changes to drug policies at all levels of government. Under the BCCSU banner, these three leads have met with provincial o'cials to identify priorities and develop recommendations to address gaps in the addiction system of care. "Previously, people with addiction haven't been well represented at the policy table, but we rmly believe a big part of the solution lies in listening to people who use drugs and their families," says Dr. Wood. Fortunately, the BCCSU's e•orts are starting to pay o• big time. Dr. Wood says, "Just recently we released a guideline for treatment of opioid addiction. We've nally come up with a blueprint that will have national ramications in the way the medical community responds to this problem." Key recommendations in the guideline include avoiding practices such as rapid withdrawal, "because this results in an 80 percent chance of relapse, along with an increased tolerance for the drug that compels the patient to consume even higher levels," explains Dr. Wood. The guidelines also call for the use of buprenorphine-naloxone as the preferred rst-line treatment over methadone, in part because it comes with a lower risk of overdose and milder side e•ects. The BCCSU has also made considerable headway training health-care providers in addiction medicine, including leading the largest addiction medicine fellowship program in the country. "About 180 medical students annually go through our program," says Dr. Wood. "However, we view this only as a good start – there's still a huge amount of work ahead, plus we need much more investment in addiction recovery facilities." Nonetheless, the trajectory is upward, and the three knowledge holder groups will also be releasing reports with their recommendations. "We will soon initiate signicant conversations about systems change," Smith concludes. "We're optimistic that this time out, policy- makers will listen." THE CHALLENGES OF TODAY V ancouver Foundation takes its role in identifying urgent community needs very seriously and, as a community foundation, has a responsibility to take action. Since 2014, our foundation has granted nearly $2 million to assist with the opioid crisis. Our financial support has landed in five main areas including: public engagement, knowledge exchange, drug checking services, clinical trials, and assisting frontline agencies. Through our community granting programs, we've provided funding to major public health institutions including St. Paul's Hospital and the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use. We've directed support to leading charities including the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) BC Division, Public Health Association of BC, and the Community Action Initiative. We've also provided funding to major academic institutions including the University of Victoria's Centre for Addictions Research. None of this work would be possible without the generous support of our donors, several of whom have also made significant grants (through their Donor Advised Funds) in support of this important issue.

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