People who trust prescribed opioids such as Hydromorphone now must take those safe supply medications under the supervision of a pharmacist, in a large face by the provincial government announced Wednesday by BC Minister of Health.
“People who trust prescribed opioids such as Hydromorphone now must take those safe supply medications under the supervision of a pharmacist,” said Josie Osborne.
The change will happen immediately.
It is something that the conservative of BC MLA Elenore Sturbo says that it should have happened a long time ago, as a measure to avoid the diversion of prescription opioids that have ended in the hands of organized criminals and have been used as a form of currency in the street.
Sturbo said that Osborne’s announcement made her excite It has begun on its way to the addiction of the safe supply. “
Last year, the families of two teenagers sued the provincial government, claiming that the free hydromorphone pills supplied by the government fed their children’s addictions and led to the use of hard drugs.
When asked why the government did not act before, Osborne said that it is important to act on evidence and not an “instinctive reaction.”
This is the second important drug policy that the PND government has returned after the pressure of the official opposition. In April, Prime Minister David Eby announced that the Province would delay its pilot project of decriminalization by recriminating the use of drugs in public spaces, including parks, public transport and hospitals.
Osborne said that the “significant” change to end the model to carry would be difficult for some, but that it is not important to guarantee the safer supply program in the province.
Earlier this month, BC conservatives published on the slides of the Ministry of Health filtered, which showed that government officials and the application of the law were aware that a significant part of the prescription opioids did not go to those that the They needed, but were being trafficked nationally and internationally.
Look | BC’s safer supply drug program under investigation:
The safer supply drug program in the province is under more scrutiny after the BC Ministry of Health confirmed that the Government is in the middle of a large -scale investigation into the program. The new revelations remain months of accusations about the diversion of safe supplies in the streets. Correction: an earlier version of this video included file images from inside a drug in London, which incorrectly connected London’s drugs with this problem.
The slides also contained accusations that at least 60 pharmacies offer incentives to doctors and housing suppliers to attract customers to obtain their safer supply medications from them.
Pharmacies receive money from the government through the Pharmacare program based on the number of recipes they pose, so some resorted to bribes to attract customers with safer supply recipes.
Osborne also announced on Wednesday that the government is actively investigating these 60 pharmacies.
“This is a very small number of bad actors pharmacies,” said Osborne.
However, Sturbo said: “The true bad actors are those who ignored two years of evidence that this (deviation) was causing damage, mixing, denying it to the detriment of our province, feeding the addiction, feeding the fentanyl trade and putting money in the hands of criminals. “
The BC prescription opioid program was introduced by the provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry in 2020 during the pandemic, as a way of separating people from toxic and mortal street drugs.
Henry was not informed of the policy change, said Osborne.
In the past, Henry acknowledged that the deviation was happening, but said it was not enough concern to change course in the safe supply program. In fact, he encouraged to expand the program to a non -presable model, which would have allowed people to obtain regulated opioids from compassion clubs or retail stores.
The former BC Chief Forensic, Lisa Lapointe, said the change ignores Henry’s recommendations.
“The safest supply is based on evidence,” Lapointe said. “We know that reducing the dependence of people in the illicit black market will save lives … These are evidence -based recommendations. It is very worrying when the government is doing policies that are not based on evidence.”
The praise decision of the police chiefs, the Greens call it “disappointing”
Meanwhile, the BC police chief association welcomed Wednesday’s announcement.
The association said in a statement that, although damage reduction efforts are important, “it is equally essential that these programs are structured in a way that avoids unwanted consequences, including illegal redistribution of prescribed substances.”
Jeremy Valeriote, interim leader of BC Greens and MLA for West Vancouver-sea to Sky, said he was disappointed by the transfer to a “model of consumption witnessed.”
“For people trying to maintain employment, care for their families or simply living their lives, the requirement to visit a pharmacy several times a day is unsustainable,” he said in a statement.
“Instead of maintaining access to medications to save lives, this change runs the risk of bringing people to the illicit supply chain, increasing overdose risks and worsening the crisis that the BC NDP is trying to address.”
