Reckless: British Columbia’s “safe supply” fentanyl tablet experiment

From the MacDonald Laurier Institute

By Adam Zivo

While safer supply sounds nice in theory, addiction experts have found that drug users are reselling (“diverting”) a significant portion of their free hydromorphone on the black market to purchase harder substances. This has fuelled new addictions while generating handsome profits for organized crime.

Adam Zivo reviews the latest drug protocols adopted by the BC government and reports on their alarming lack of evidence and accountability.

British Columbia’s new drug protocols allow doctors throughout the province to prescribe “safer supply” drugs in a reckless manner.

In a new report titled Reckless: British Columbia’s “safe supply” fentanyl tablet experiment, Adam Zivo reviews the newest drug protocols adopted by the BC government, documenting the evolution of “safe supply” opioid programs in Canada since 2020. Zivo reports on the concerning lack of evidence behind the protocols, how they undermine recovery, drive diversion to the black market, and ruin the lives of young Canadians.

The new protocols not only avoid any requirement for drug users to first try evidence-based recovery programs before receiving high-potency opioids, but also allow minors to receive them, with no reference to the rights and roles of parents or even a minimum age for safer supply clients.

Of deep concern is also the BC government’s approach of continually increasing access to “safe” opioids despite openly admitting that there is no evidence of proven benefits or safety. The protocols also require that clients be told that their access to free fentanyl and sufentanil will almost certainly be cut off if they are hospitalized, or if they attend withdrawal management or substance use treatment facilities.

Zivo explains: “The prospect of free fentanyl and sufentanil creates powerful incentives to sign away one’s rights to evidence based treatment, so the province is essentially exploiting clients’ addictions so that it can experiment on them without taking legal responsibility for potential harms.”

Zivo adds that “one can reasonably expect that a significant portion of the fentanyl tablets being distributed by the BC government will end up being traded or resold on the black market,” explaining how mass diversion is already a major issue for weaker “safer supply” opioids like hydromorphone.

While addiction experts have been overwhelmingly critical of unsupervised safer supply, Zivo notes that many believe that the solution is not to abolish but to reform the program so that drugs can be provided more responsibly. By receiving safer supply as a temporary intervention, addicted users can transition to recovery-oriented treatments such as opioid agonist therapy (OAT.)

“It would not take much to reshape BC’s safer supply fentanyl and sufentanil programs into something more responsible and genuinely safe,” concludes Zivo. “There is nothing preventing the province from redesigning safer supply as a recovery-oriented intervention.”

To learn more, read the full paper here:

PDF of paper

Executive Summary

This past August, British Columbia’s government quietly launched new protocols that allow doctors to prescribe “safer supply” fentanyl tablets and liquid sufentanil. Fentanyl is at least 10 times stronger than hydromorphone and sufentanil, which is derived from fentanyl, is a further 5 to 10 times more potent than its parent drug. While in theory these drugs could save lives if provisioned cautiously, the way the province has chosen to distribute these dangerous opioids is nothing short of reckless.

There is evidence to support the use of opioid agonist therapy (“OAT”) medications, such as methadone, buprenorphine, and slow release oral morphine in addiction treatment, but the government’s new protocols extrapolate OAT-related evidence to support “safer supply” fentanyl even though the two therapies have little in common. In fact, the government’s protocols stress that providing safer supply fentanyl or sufentanil is “not a treatment for opioid use disorder” and that “there is no evidence available supporting this intervention, safety data, or established best practices for when and how to provide it.” It is deeply concerning that the BC government has, over the past several years, significantly increased access to “safe” fentanyl and sufentanil despite openly admitting that there is no evidence showing that these interventions provide any benefits and can be implemented safely.

“Safer supply” programs claim to reduce overdoses and deaths by providing free pharmaceutical-grade drugs as alternatives to potentially tainted illicit substances. While safer supply sounds nice in theory, addiction experts have found that drug users are reselling (“diverting”) a significant portion of their free hydromorphone on the black market to purchase harder substances. This has fuelled new addictions while generating handsome profits for organized crime. Some patients have even been coerced into securing safer supply they didn’t need. Pimps and abusive partners pressure vulnerable women into securing as much hydromorphone as possible for black market resale. Other vulnerable patients, such as the geriatric and disabled, have been robbed of their safer supply outside of pharmacies.

There are other issues with the protocols, too. They require that clients be told that their access to free fentanyl and sufentanil will almost certainly be cut off if they are hospitalized, or if they attend withdrawal management or substance use treatment facilities. This creates powerful disincentives for drug users to seek life-saving health care. Further, none of the safer supply protocols by the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU) discuss the rights and roles of the parents of minors struggling with addiction. It appears that health care providers can give fentanyl and sufentanil to minors regardless of whether parents are aware of, or consent to, this intervention. The protocols do not specify a minimum age for safer supply clients.

It would not take much to reshape BC’s safer supply fentanyl and sufentanil programs into something more responsible and genuinely safe. There is nothing preventing the province from redesigning safer supply as a recovery-oriented intervention. Experts argue that safer supply could be helpful if used as a temporary intervention that helps severely-addicted users make the transition to recovery-oriented treatments, such as OAT.

There is also nothing stopping the province from fixing many of the issues with the safer supply program – including lax safeguards for youth. Any safer supply model must require supervised consumption. It is the absence of this supervision that has enabled the mass diversion of safer supply drugs onto the black market.

Governments have a duty to provide evidence-based treatment to vulnerable citizens and consider collateral harms to others. Rather than fulfil this duty, the BC government is committing to risky and highly experimental interventions that lack an appropriate evidence base.

Adam Zivo is a freelance writer and political analyst best known for his weekly columns in the National Post. He holds a Master of Public Policy from the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and recently founded the Centre for Responsible Drug Policy, a nonprofit advocacy organization.

Up Next

B.C. government sends patients to U.S. while fighting private options in B.C.

Don't Miss

Trudeau gov’t spent $323 million on COVID jab factory that never produced a single dose

Todayville

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

Lawmakers press investigation into DEI agenda at the Pentagon

Economy / 11 hours ago

Canadians experiencing second-longest and third steepest decline in living standards in last 40 years

Great Reset / 12 hours ago

Biden Administration Eager to Sign WHO Pandemic Treaty

Addictions

Poilievre attacks decriminalization of hard drugs with Safe Hospitals Act

Published on May 18, 2024

Todayville

New release from the Conservative Party

The Hon. Pierre Poilievre, Leader of Canada’s Common Sense Conservatives, announced his plan today to ban dangerous weapons and drugs and punish those who harm doctors and nurses.

The Problem:

After nine years, Justin Trudeau’s radical experiment of decriminalizing hard drugs has failed. Since Trudeau formed government, over 42,000 Canadians have died from drug overdoses. Nanaimo, for example, has seen a nearly 400 percent increase in drug overdose deaths in the last four years alone, yet Trudeau decided to allow opioids, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine to be used in public places like hospitals and parks anyway.

The results of this experiment have been catastrophic. Chaos and disorder have reigned free in public spaces across British Columbia. Our once-safe hospitals are being destroyed by criminals and hard drugs, with the B.C. Nurses Union ringing the alarm bell, saying that patients and staff have been exposed to harmful, illegal drugs. The BC Nurses Union also reported that meth was being smoked in a unit just hours after the birth of a newborn baby. In northern British Columbia, the public health agency put out a memo telling hospital staff to allow patients to bring knives and other weapons into hospitals.

Life became so miserable that BC’s radical NDP Premier asked Justin Trudeau to walk back parts of his wacko decriminalization policy. But the Liberals haven’t learnt from their mistakes.

The Cause:

Two years ago, the Liberal Government granted the BC NDP Government’s request to allow hard drugs across the province, including in public spaces. In the first year of this reckless experiment, 2,500 Canadians died from drug overdoses. Meanwhile, community spaces like soccer fields, hospitals and city squares have been devastated by crime and disorder.

But Justin Trudeau refuses to rule out the requests from Toronto Public Health and the City of Montreal to allow hard drugs in Canada’s two largest cities. He also won’t say whether hard drugs should be allowed in children’s parks, hospitals and public transit. On top of this, the Liberal Minister of Mental Health refuses to acknowledge that their dangerous experiment was a failure.

The Solution:

Common Sense Conservatives will not allow this devastating experiment to play out in other Canadian communities. Canadians deserve a government that will keep hard drugs out of hospitals and will protect staff and patients. We will:

Create an aggravating factor for the purposes of sentencing if a criminal has a weapon in a hospital.
End the Health Minister’s power to grant exemptions under s.56 of the Controlled Drug and Substances Act if the exemption would allow people to use dangerous illicit drugs like fentanyl and meth in hospitals. This means that even if Trudeau grants Toronto and Montreal’s request to decriminalize hard drugs, our hospitals will be protected.
Immediately pass Common Sense Conservative MP Todd Doherty’s Bill C-321, which will create an aggravating factor for assault committed against healthcare workers or first responders.

To be clear, the ban would not apply to any drugs prescribed by medical practitioners like doctors and nurses.

The Safe Hospitals Act will stop some of the insanity that Justin Trudeau and the NDP have unleashed on Canadians with their plan to decriminalize the public use of hard drugs everywhere in Canada. A Poilievre government will ban hard drugs, stop giving out taxpayer-funded opioids, and reinvest that money in treatment and recovery so we can bring home our loved ones drug-free.

Poilievre said:

“Justin Trudeau’s decriminalization experiment has failed. It has resulted in death, misery and destruction across British Columbia, while our hard-working nurses live in fear of inhaling dangerous drugs or being attacked by criminals.

“Instead of learning from this catastrophic mistake, Trudeau has doubled down. He’s refusing to reject Toronto and Montreal’s request to allow hard drugs like fentanyl and heroin to be used in Canada’s two biggest cities.

“Common Sense Conservatives will keep doctors, nurses and patients safe, even if Justin Trudeau won’t. The Liberals and NDP must vote for this common sense Bill until we can form a government that ends this deadly hard drug decriminalization experiment for good.”

Addictions

Liberals shut down motion to disclose pharma payments for Trudeau’s ‘safe supply’ drug program

Published on May 18, 2024

Todayville

Liberal MP Majid Jowhari

From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

The motion comes as RCMP testified in April that Trudeau’s taxpayer funded ‘safer supply’ drugs are being diverted to the black market.

Liberal Members of Parliament (MPs) resisted a motion to disclose payments made to pharmaceutical companies for “safe supply” opioids.

During a May 15 session in the House of Commons, Liberal MPs blocked a vote on a motion by Conservative MP Garnett Genuis to publish the contacts between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government and pharmaceutical companies for “safe supply” opioids.

“Allow the public to see the contracts,” Genuis told the Commons government operations committee, questioning, “What do you have to be afraid of?”

“There are contracts involving this government and big pharmaceutical companies involved in producing and selling dangerous hard drugs which then end up on our streets,” he argued.

“Big pharmaceutical companies are involved in supplying hard drugs that are used as part of the government’s so-called ‘safe supply’ program,” Genuis continued. “These programs are a failure. We oppose them. In any event, we believe the public has a right to see the contracts.”

However, a committee vote on his motion was quickly blocked by Liberal MPs.

“I don’t think this is a motion we should move forward with,” Liberal MP Majid Jowhari said.

“I think we should go back and look at it and say our objective is to get an understanding of the source of safe supply and how it is being procured, which is different than going and saying, ‘Give us all the contracts,’” he continued.

Similarly, Liberal MP Irek Kusmierczyk claimed the request was a political tactic, saying, “They are against safe supply and safe consumption sites. That is clearly spelled out by my Conservative colleagues.”

“Organized crime groups are trafficking not only illicit substances but any prescription drugs they can get their hands on,” Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, commander of the RCMP in British Columbia, testified.

Genuis put forward a motion asking that the committee “order the production of all contracts, agreements or memoranda of understanding to which the Government of Canada is a party signed since January 1, 2016” concerning the purchase of opioids.

Liberals’ refusal to release the contracts comes as the Trudeau government recently rejected a proposal from the Alberta government to add a “unique chemical identifier” to drugs offered to users under “safe-supply” programs so that authorities could track its street sales.

Indeed, the Trudeau government seems determined to pretend their “safe-supply” programs are a success despite the rising deaths and crime in cities that have adopted their policy.

However, the program proved such a disaster in British Columbia that the province recently requested Trudeau recriminalize drugs in public spaces. Nearly two weeks later, the Trudeau government announced it would “immediately” end the province’s drug program.

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.

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.”