Note from the Editor
As was mentioned in the previous two issues of the Journal, we're making some
changes that will allow us to continue to provide you with the information you want
in an appealing format. Following a readership survey sent out with the January/February
issue, we reviewed the mandate of the Journal and decided to implement some changes
to reflect what readers find most useful. As such, this is the first quarterly issue,
with more pages, which will allow more in-depth stories on topics that interest you.
To more fully reflect the knowledge transfer mandate of the Centre for Addiction
and Mental Health, the Journal's publisher, we are refocusing our target audience
to emphasize professionals, frontline workers and other allied professionals, particularly
those in community-based agencies, among whom there is a need to be better served
and informed through publications.
The Journal will also have a new name, expected to be launched with the Winter
2002 issue, to more clearly reflect the Journal's mandate -- to emphasize a focus
on both addiction and mental health issues.
The Journal remains committed to providing accurate, informative coverage of issues
relevant to the mental health and addiction community. I encourage you to send copies
of the Journal to your professional colleagues, encouraging them to subscribe.
In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this issue of the Journal, which focuses on
ethical concerns in the mental health and addiction fields. Balancing the values,
beliefs, needs and concerns of clients, their families, mental health and addiction
professionals and the community can create complex, intricate moral conundrums. While
the law affords some guidance and protection, it does not always resolve the issues.
Tamsen Tillson and Hema Zbogar's story about clinical
trials with vulnerable populations discusses the tension that exists between
furthering science and protecting individual rights and well-being. Astrid van den
Broek discusses the conflict that addiction clinicians face in providing treatment
while following impaired driving reporting laws. The move by psychiatric institutions
to protect inpatient rights is the focus of Vicki O'Brien's story. And Lisa Schmidt
discusses the ethical dilemma of providing adequate
care for older adults with psychiatric and addiction issues in a system where
resources are limited.
The Last Word piece about ethical and legal issues regarding
safe injection facilities in Canada is timely. Recently, the Canadian HIV/AIDS
Legal Network released a report entitled Establishing Safe Injection Facilities
in Canada: Legal and Ethical Issues, which concludes that Canada has a legal
and moral obligation to allow for and fund trials of safe injection facilities as
part of an overall strategy to more effectively respond to harms related to drug
use.
We always welcome your input to the magazine. It is your feedback that helps us
evolve. Let us know how we are doing. Or
write a letter to the editor expressing
your thoughts on our stories.
Hema Zbogar
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(416) 595-6714 
