Addictions
B.C. officials push back against safe supply critics and their ‘polarizing rhetoric’
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry looks on as chief coroner Lisa Lapointe discusses details about the province’s application for decriminalization in the next step to reduce toxic drug deaths during a news conference in the press gallery at the legislature in Victoria, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Victoria
British Columbia officials have sought to rebut claims that drugs prescribed through the province’s safe supply program aimed at curbing overdoses are being re-sold to young people, helping fuel the deadly drug toxicity crisis.
B.C.’s representative for children and youth, Jennifer Charlesworth, said her office reviews injury and death reports involving young people and she hasn’t seen any sign that youth are either using drugs “diverted” from the safe supply program, or that they are suffering overdoses from such drugs.
Instead, she said “polarizing rhetoric” on the issue was causing harm.
“Safe supply is an alternative to the poison that is available on the street, and I’ll repeat, for emphasis, what I said earlier: there’s no indication from our data that diverted safe supply is causing overdoses for children and youth,” she said.
“Is it possible that diversion will be an issue in the future? Anything is possible within this highly complex and fast-evolving crisis we are all in.”
Her remarks came after Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre recently told the House of Commons that federal and B.C. government policies are worsening the overdose crisis because prescription hydromorphone “gets sold to kids” by those taking part in the program, with the profits used to buy stronger substances, such as fentanyl.
B.C.’s chief coroner, Lisa Lapointe — who joined Charlesworth and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry at a news conference on Monday — said toxicology tests show hydromorphone hasn’t been present in any significant number of deaths.
Officials are “closely monitoring, continually, for any and all trends that may impact public safety” as a result of the safe supply program, she said.
Henry said monitoring has not detected an increase in opioid overdoses involving children, or new diagnoses of opioid use disorder.
She said the amount of hydromorphone being prescribed through the safe supply program is very small, and the drug has been available in large quantities through other routes for a long time.
Even if all of the hydromorphone prescribed as safe supply made its way to the street, “it would be a very, very tiny percentage of what is out there,” she said.
Asked to comment, a spokesman for Poilievre shared links to recent media stories, saying they “directly challenge” the “allegations” made by the B.C. officials.
The three officials expressed concern over the “polarization” of safe supply and other harm-reduction measures.
Charlesworth told the news conference they were “standing together, saying fear-based, polarizing rhetoric that is not evidence-informed is causing harm.”
Lapointe said it was not a response to any one person or media report, but they’ve been concerned about “increasingly polarized rhetoric that is not informed by evidence.”
She said recent “divisive” language and rhetoric surrounding people who use drugs drives them further underground, and that includes children and youth.
“If they’re using drugs, they will not come forward, or your relatives or your neighbours, and that is the most harmful thing we can do,” she said.
Asked about safeguards to ensure prescribed drugs are not being resold, Lapointe said drug trafficking remains a crime.
Officials are “dealing with a lot of anecdotal information and allegations,” she said.
Henry said officials can’t change policies based on “individual stories or anecdotes.”
“We need to have the data behind it.”
Still, Henry said she wanted the public to know that officials take concerning reports from clinicians, media and others seriously, and they investigate accordingly.
“We are not just doing this without having robust monitoring and evaluation.”
Henry said it may be time to re-evaluate the safe supply program to ensure it’s meeting people’s needs as the province emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has contributed to increases in drug toxicity and overdose deaths.
She said she’s heard from some clinicians that hydromorphone isn’t always meeting patients’ needs, and may be used to acquire other substances.
“What we’re also hearing from people who use drugs is that sometimes they use (hydromorphone) as a commodity for friends, for others, who don’t have access.”
Officials will review early evidence from the program to consider any adjustments over the coming weeks and months, Henry said.
More than 12,400 people have died from overdoses since the B.C. government declared a health emergency in 2016.
Lapointe said it’s estimated that more than 100,000 people in B.C. have an opioid use disorder, a number that does not include people who use illicit opioids occasionally, or those who regularly or irregularly use stimulants.
“All of those tens of thousands of people are currently at risk of death or serious harm. A substantial, co-ordinated, comprehensive response is required.”
— By Brenna Owen in Vancouver
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2023.
Addictions
British Columbia to re-criminalize hard drug use in public after massive policy failure
From LifeSiteNews
British Columbia premier David Eby announced that his province plans to re-criminalize hard drug use in public spaces after its decriminalization last year led to widespread social disorder.
British Columbia is asking the Trudeau government to roll back its drug decriminalization program after increased violence and continued overdoses.
On April 26, New Democratic Party (NDP) premier of British Columbia David Eby announced that he is working with Prime Minster Justin Trudeau’s federal government to re-criminalize drug use in public spaces, including inside hospitals, on transit, and in parks. British Columbia, under permission from the Trudeau government, had decriminalized such behavior in 2023.
“Keeping people safe is our highest priority,” Eby explained in a press release. “While we are caring and compassionate for those struggling with addiction, we do not accept street disorder that makes communities feel unsafe.”
“We’re taking action to make sure police have the tools they need to ensure safe and comfortable communities for everyone as we expand treatment options so people can stay alive and get better,” he continued.
Under the new regulations, police would be given the power to prevent drug use in all public places, including hospitals, restaurants, transit, parks and beaches.
However, drug use would remain legal at “a private residence or place where someone is legally sheltering, or at overdose prevention sites and drug checking locations.”
Eby’s concerns over drug use were echoed by Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth who said, “Our communities are facing big challenges. People are dying from deadly street drugs, and we see the issues with public use and disorder on our streets.”
“As we continue to go after the gangs and organized criminals who are making and trafficking toxic drugs, we’re taking action now to make it illegal to use drugs in public spaces, and to expand access to treatment to help people who need it most,” he promised.
Beginning in early 2023, Trudeau’s federal policy, in effect, decriminalized hard drugs on a trial-run basis in British Columbia.
Under the policy, the federal government began allowing people within the province to possess up to 2.5 grams of hard drugs without criminal penalty, but selling drugs remained a crime.
While British Columbia has not yet indicated it plans to re-criminalize possession, its decision to clamp down on public drug use presents a major departure from its previous tactics of continually liberalizing its attitude toward narcotic use.
Since being implemented, the province’s drug policy has been widely criticized, especially after it was found that the province broke three different drug-related overdose records in the first month the new law was in effect.
The effects of decriminalizing hard drugs in various parts of Canada has been exposed in Aaron Gunn’s recent documentary, Canada is Dying, and in U.K. Telegraph journalist Steven Edginton’s mini-documentary, Canada’s Woke Nightmare: A Warning to the West.
Gunn says he documents the “general societal chaos and explosion of drug use in every major Canadian city.”
“Overdose deaths are up 1,000 percent in the last 10 years,” he said in his film, adding that “[e]very day in Vancouver four people are randomly attacked.”
Addictions
Must Watch: Addiction worker estimates 90% of “safer supply” drugs resold on black market
“It’s just… it’s created more addicts,” says David McEvoy, an Ottawa-based outreach worker who specializes in overdose prevention.
|
|
“Safer supply” refers to the practice of prescribing free recreational drugs as an alternative to potentially-tainted street substances. While advocates claim that this practice saves lives, David McEvoy, an Ottawa-based addiction outreach worker, says that approximately 90% of clients are reselling their taxpayer-funded drugs on the street, leading to new addictions and relapses.
His testimony is consistent with the testimony of dozens of addiction experts, former drug users, and youth. You can read a summary of his interview in the National Post here.
Our content is always free – but if you want to help us commission more high-quality journalism, consider getting a voluntary paid subscription.
-
Education23 hours ago
Support a young reader through the Tim Hortons Smile Cookie campaign
-
Alberta2 days ago
Alberta’s vision for passenger rail
-
RCMP2 days ago
Red Deer RCMP arrest two individuals following ramming of police vehicle
-
John Stossel2 days ago
Why Biden’s Just Wrong: NO ONE “Knows How to Make Government Work.”
-
Education2 days ago
Rebels earn Jim Donlevy Memorial Trophy as WHL Scholastic Team of the Year
-
Alberta2 days ago
Three Calgary massage parlours linked to human trafficking investigation
-
COVID-192 days ago
States move to oppose WHO’s ‘pandemic treaty,’ assert states’ rights
-
Business24 hours ago
WEF panelist suggests COVID response accustomed people to the idea of CBDCs