A call by B.C.'s provincial health officer to expand access to "non-prescribed alternatives to unregulated drugs" is getting mixed reactions.
Such a system would essentially involve the public providing people who use drugs with products of known quality as an alternative to the illegal market. While B.C. already has a limited system of prescribed 'safe supply,' Bonnie Henry's recommendation would expand government's role in making alternatives available. Her recommendation rests in part on the argument that unregulated drugs currently available through the illegal market have become increasingly unsafe and potent.
"We can work to put in place a safeguard and an alternative option to help separate people from this toxic, unregulated drug supply and I envision a future in which people who use drugs are not at the mercy of an unregulated supply and system that puts their lives at significant risk," Henry said. "This requires an urgent shift toward enabling sufficient access to alternatives to meaningfully reduce drug poisonings and deaths."
Henry, who detailed her ideas in a report presented Thursday, also blamed prohibition for limiting measures to control the quality of drugs, noting that poisoned drugs have claimed more than 14,000 lives since 2016. She stressed her recommendation is not "about just handing out free drugs" but rather part and parcel of a larger strategy to deal with the toxic drug crisis.
Elenore Sturko, Conservative Party of B.C. MLA for Surrey-South said Henry's report confirms one of her own fears.
"This is a push toward legalization of illicit substances," Sturko said. "This is also something she (Henry) has talked about since last year, about seeing these types of hard and dangerous drugs put in stores like cannabis."
Henry's report did not spell out a specific delivery model, but has in the past pointed to the evolution of cannabis from a prohibited substance to a regulated substance.
When asked Thursday about the possibility that alternatives could be sold through government or private stores, Henry said that is a "way down the line question" without ruling out the possibility.
"So that's not what we are talking about necessarily in this report," Henry said. "But we can look at cannabis, legalizing, regulating. It's highly regulated, so that minimizes harms."
Sturko does not buy Henry's answer.
"'Down the road' means pushing to have it eventually," Sturko said.
B.C. Green Leader Sonia Furstenau, MLA for Cowichan Valley, welcomes Henry's recommendation.
“The loss of six lives a day underscores the failure of our current strategy," Furstenau said. "Ignoring expert advice in favour of sensational headlines and political narratives is dangerously irresponsible."
Furstenau was in part referring to criticisms from other opposition parties, specifically the provincial Conservatives, who have promised to fire Henry, but also to statements from B.C.'s Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jennifer Whiteside.
Whiteside's official statement to Henry's report echoed government's familiar acknowledgement of Henry's expertise while disagreeing with the substance of her argument.
"Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is an important independent voice on public-health issues in this province and we respect her advice," Whiteside said. "However, this is a topic we do not agree on. (B.C.) will not go in the direction of compassion clubs and other non-medical models of distributing medications."
Whiteside added that her government is determined to save lives and get people connected to the health care they need by expanding access to treatment and mental-health and addictions care. Government is also cracking down on what Whiteside called "predatory drug dealers who are trafficking and dealing these toxic drugs."
Sturko, meanwhile, is not buying Whiteside's disavowal, which echoes previous statements from Premier David Eby.
"Yes, we have heard from David Eby, Jennifer Whiteside...that they are not going to do this, but they have known for more than a year because of what Bonnie Henry actually said last summer in a press conference with (former chief coroner) Lisa Lapointe."
Government did not stop Henry from pursuing this research, which has cost millions of dollars, Sturko added.
"What else could we have been pursuing in terms of looking for solutions?" Sturko said. "So they (government) have absolutely supported this. Yes, the public health officer is independent, but she is employed by the government. Public officers are generally selected through health ministers and through governments. They have known what her intentions are."
Sturko said government is trying to distance itself from Henry with this fall's looming election, but predicts a change in tone after the election.
"Absolutely," she said. "I have very little doubt that government intends to follow through on some of these recommendations."
