By: Maya Barillas Mohan, Staff Writer The Thomus Donaghy overdose prevention site (OPS) has experienced a series of relocations since its opening in 2021. Most recently, its planned reopening on June 1 was cancelled by the City Council. The OPS, which was named after an OPS peer worker who was tragically killed, is a supervised space that allows drug consumption without risk of criminal persecution, instead focused on providing drug testing or other support services if necessary. According to the Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) website, OPSs “help save lives by responding to overdoses quickly,” “prevent the transmission of infectious diseases,”…
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By: Zainab Salam, Staff Writer and Hannah Fraser, News Editor Healthcare workers and patrons in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) are voicing concerns that the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) is “deterring access to harm reduction sites.” Harm reduction is an “evidence-based…
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By: Olivia Sherman, News Writer On November 1, the director and founder of Get Your Drugs Tested, Dana Larsen, was arrested after a search warrant from the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) was executed. The VPD raided Larsen’s three Medicinal Mushroom…
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In February, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Vancouver chapter petitioned to have the police removed from the Vancouver Pride Parade. Their rationale is that doing so would be a “‘symbolic gesture’ and actual sign of support for [people of colour]…
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Due to the overwhelming interest in SFU’s latest course, CRIM 449: Major Crime and Forensic Analysis for Law Enforcement, the School of Criminology will be expanding its offerings even further this year. Ryan Prox, a special constable with VPD and…
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