Mining executives Randy Smallwood and Chuck Jeannes in the Downtown Eastside. Photo: Martin Dee
Glancing out their office windows near Burrard and Dunsmuir streets in downtown Vancouver, mining executives Chuck Jeannes and Randy Smallwood are keenly aware of the problems a few blocks away in the Downtown Eastside – homelessness, hepatitis and HIV, mental illness and drug addiction.
To help address these problems, their companies – Goldcorp Inc. and Silver Wheaton Corp. – are investing in research to test new treatment options for chronic heroin addiction.
The companies are lead donors to the InnerChange Foundation, which partnered with the Faculty of Medicine and provided $998,077 for the Study to Assess Longer Term Opioid Medication Effectiveness (SALOME) led by Michael Krausz, the UBC-Providence Health Care BC Leadership Chair in Addiction Research, and Eugenia Oviedo-Joekes, Assistant Professor in the School of Population and Public Health.
“Our company’s investments in addiction and mental illness reflect our vision to create a legacy of positive, lasting contributions in the communities where we do business,” says Jeannes, President and Chief Executive Officer of Goldcorp and board member of the InnerChange Foundation, a community organization helping people suffering from mental health challenges and addiction.
The only clinical trial of its kind in North America, SALOME is testing whether the licensed pain medication hydromorphone (known by its commercial name, Dilaudid) can be used to wean long-term street heroin users from their dependency on illicit drugs, and increase the chances that they will enroll in treatment programs. Methadone, the most widely used drug to treat heroin addiction, does not work for some severely addicted people.
“We are committed to supporting our community’s most vulnerable citizens,” says Smallwood, President and Chief Executive Officer of Silver Wheaton. “The SALOME trial provides hope for a better future to those struggling with addiction, and we are extremely pleased to have the capacity to help, and honoured to have the opportunity.”
To support mental health and addictions research, please contact Fatima Hassam at 604.822.8079.