Global Courant
Health leaders in British Columbia will review the province’s safe supply program, saying the assessment will be based on data, not divisive politics.
The announcement came at a press conference on Monday that included county health officer Bonnie Henry, chief coroner Lisa LaPointe, Kelsey Louie of the First Nations Health Authority and Jennifer Charlesworth, BC’s representative for children and youth.
The four presented a united front in support of a safe supply of drugs and their determination to debunk what they called polarizing rhetoric about who has access to it and its impact on BC communities.
“Facts must take precedence over partisanship,” LaPointe said.
Two weeks ago, Conservative leader Pierre Polievre introduced a motion in the House of Commons calling on Liberals to end safe supply programs and redirect funding to treatment instead.
“Crime and mayhem, drugs and disorder rage on our streets. Nowhere is this worse than in the opioid overdose crisis that has escalated so dramatically in recent years,” Polievre told the House of Commons on May 18.
Advocates and supporters of Moms Stop the Harm will gather in Victoria on Thursday 14 April 2022 to mark the sixth anniversary of the public health emergency. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press)
That motion was voted down a week later, with Federal Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Carolyn Bennett saying Polievre’s criticisms were not based on evidence and that Health Canada is unaware of safe drugs “flooding the streets” , as the opposition politician had suggested.
Polievre has said BC’s safe supply policy exacerbates the overdose crisis because prescription hydromorphone is “sold to children” by those participating in the program, whose profits are used to buy fentanyl.
LaPointe said Monday’s event was not in response to a single person, but rather to focus on saving lives and reducing damage and that officials are “continuing to watch closely for any trends that could impact on public safety”.
BC’s representative for children and youth, Jennifer Charlesworth, says her office has not seen any indications of youth using drugs “derived” from the safe supply program. Charlesworth said Monday she stood with health officials to say that “polarizing” rhetoric is dangerous.
“When public policy is driven by fear, by polarized opinion, by anecdotes, it actually causes harm,” she said.
Henry says monitoring has not detected an increase in childhood opioid overdoses, though it may be time to reevaluate the program to ensure safe supplies meet people’s needs as the county emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic comes.
More than 12,000 people have died in the province from illegal toxic drugs since a public health emergency was declared in April 2016, according to the BC Coroners Service.
On average, six people still die every day, and it is the leading cause of death for British Columbians between the ages of 10 and 59. Despite pervasive stereotypes, Lapointe said only 14 percent of deaths occurred in Vancouver’s poorest zip code last year. .
“The Downtown Eastside is not the face of this crisis,” LaPointe said.
