As British Columbia throws in the towel on its experiment of decriminalizing hard drugs, admitting defeat in liberalizing its drug laws, the country’s largest city has had its desire to ignore B.C.s evidence and move down the same path quashed by the federal government.

St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Belleville, Ont., is just a short walk from where a spate of Feb. 6-7 drug overdoses provoked Mayor Neil Ellis to issue a state of emergency for the small town in Eastern Ontario.

A new respite centre to be run by the St. Felix Centre in downtown Toronto is facing strong opposition from community stakeholders.

Benedict Labre House, a Montreal non-profit that was once a Catholic “house of hospitality,” is at the centre of controversy over plans to operate a novel form of supervised injection site (SIS) at its new centre meters from a day-care and elementary school.

Plenty of ink has been spilled recently about Canada’s “safe” drug supply, with thousands of inches of newsprint debating the merits of the program — both pro and con.

British Columbia is several months into the first experiment of its kind in Canada: decriminalizing the personal possession of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and ecstasy — 2.5 grams in total — as one way of addressing the province’s worsening drug crisis.

VATICAN – Everyone must help in the fight against drugs, particularly governments which are called to confront the "traffickers of death" who produce, distribute or sell addictive substances, Pope Francis said.

All things considered, when the initial haze of marijuana smoke clears on Oct. 17 things are expected to be just as they were the day before in schools around Canada. But that doesn’t mean educators will be complacent.

Coming to a location near you: OCS, the Ontario government’s latest retail venture, set to open its doors later this year.

MANCHESTER, England – In a U-turn of proposed policy, Britain's pharmacy regulator has declared that Catholic pharmacists should not be forced to dispense lethal drugs against their consciences.

With opioids now killing two people per day in Ontario, some school boards are preparing to equip staff with the overdose antidote Naloxone.

The request was simple: “I’m going south for a week, could you give me a ride to the airport and pick me up on my way back?”

OTTAWA – A public agency has recommended that Canada’s taxpayers foot the bill for the abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol.

VATICAN CITY – Drug addiction is a contemporary form of slavery, Pope Francis lamented Thursday, emphasizing that a rehabilitation which restores victims' joy and dignity is much needed.

MANILA, Philippines – As the body count rises in the Philippines' war on drugs, a Catholic priest is trying to create a space where healing takes precedence over killing.