British ColumbiaB次元官网网址檚 former chief coroner says sheB次元官网网址檚 disappointed by the provinceB次元官网网址檚 overhaul of its program that provides prescription alternatives to toxic street drugs, a shift she says B次元官网网址渇eels like a really impulsive political decision.B次元官网网址�

Lisa Lapointe said the move to a B次元官网网址渨itnessed-onlyB次元官网网址� model in which people are supervised while consuming their prescription drugs appeared to ignore scientific evidence.

B次元官网网址�(Driving) people away from the illicit black market by providing them access to a regulated supply of the drug that theyB次元官网网址檙e dependent on keeps people safe,B次元官网网址� said Lapointe, who retired from the chief coronerB次元官网网址檚 post in February 2024.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 really disturbing that our politicians who we rely on to keep us safe are more likely to respond to ideological arguments than science.B次元官网网址�

Health Minister Josie Osborne announced the change on Wednesday, saying it was aimed at preventing the diversion of take-home prescription opioids onto the street.

The issue of opioid diversion from the prescribed alternatives program, also known as safer supply, has dogged the NDP government of Premier David Eby.

Last March, both the RCMPB次元官网网址檚 commanding officer in B.C. and then-solicitor general Mike Farnworth said there was no evidence of B次元官网网址渨idespreadB次元官网网址� diversion.

But this month, a leaked Health Ministry briefing for police said a B次元官网网址渟ignificant portionB次元官网网址� of opioids prescribed in B.C. were being diverted.

Opposition leader John Rustad of the B.C. Conservatives portrayed the policy shift as a B次元官网网址渕ajor policy victoryB次元官网网址� for his party.

B次元官网网址淓byB次元官网网址檚 NDP has caved on one of EbyB次元官网网址檚 signature policy proposals and made a major about-face on their failed radical left-wing safe supply policy,B次元官网网址� he said on social media.

Lapointe said she had B次元官网网址渟o many questionsB次元官网网址� about the information on which B.C. officials based their decision to overhaul the program.

B次元官网网址淲hat harms have we seen? If diversion is happening on the scale that allegedly it has been, why? You know, whoB次元官网网址檚 looking at the pharmacy and the pharmacists and thatB次元官网网址檚 the job of the College of Pharmacists,B次元官网网址� she said in an interview.

B次元官网网址淚f widespread diversion is happening, is it because people arenB次元官网网址檛 getting the drug they need, and are these actually diverted prescribed medications? Or is this Dilaudid thatB次元官网网址檚 been manufactured by organized crime to look like prescribed medications?B次元官网网址� she said, referring to the brand name for hydromorphone, a commonly prescribed safer-supply drug.

Lapointe B次元官网网址� who sometimes clashed with the government over drug policy and presented a report in 2023 that recommended expanding safer supply to people without prescriptions B次元官网网址� said the province should share the evidence behind the witnessed-consumption-only strategy.

B次元官网网址淚f they feel confident in their finding, then release the data.B次元官网网址�

Lapointe said the change would curtail access to prescription alternatives, making it B次元官网网址渞eally onerous,B次元官网网址� especially for those who require multiple doses each day.

DJ Larkin, executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition based at Simon Fraser University, agreed and said people cannot go to a health providerB次元官网网址檚 office potentially multiple times each day in order to access prescription alternatives.

B次元官网网址淭aken at face value, if this program is now to require people to attend every dose, it means the program will effectively disappear,B次元官网网址� Larkin said in an interview Thursday.

B次元官网网址淚f you live in the Northern Health Region, the idea of travelling for daily dispensing and witness dispensing is impossible.B次元官网网址�

Larkin said the new policy was B次元官网网址渂ased on politics and not on evidence.B次元官网网址�

Leslie McBain with the advocacy group Moms Stop the Harm said she was B次元官网网址渂lindsidedB次元官网网址� by what she also called a political move.

She said people who have stabilized their lives by participating in the program were being B次元官网网址減ut in an ugly position.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚nstead of going to the pharmacy four times a day or three times a day to be witnessed, they will just go back to the black market, which is much easier, and then there will be more toxic overdoses and more fatalities,B次元官网网址� she said.

B.C.B次元官网网址檚 new policy reflects recent recommendations by Addiction Medicine Canada, a group of addictions clinicians, who urged the province to adopt a supervised model.

Group member Dr. Robert Cooper, an addictions doctor and family physician in Toronto, said last month that B次元官网网址渨idespreadB次元官网网址� anecdotal reports alleging inappropriate use of prescribed opiates required such a policy shift.

B次元官网网址淭he concern here is where the programs are giving medications to patients who B次元官网网址� are either using them inappropriately, so injecting or crushing and snorting and/or selling (them) or giving them to others, and using the proceeds to buy fentanyl.B次元官网网址�

But Larkin said diversion has been happening for as long as prescriptions have existed, and itB次元官网网址檚 important to look at why it may be occurring in B.C.

B次元官网网址淥ne answer is the drug supply is really scary for people right now, and so diversion to friends and family can be a way to keep loved ones safe by sharing your prescription with someone else,B次元官网网址� Larkin said.

Dr. Ryan Herriot, an addictions medicine doctor and family physician on Vancouver Island, said he worried about politicization of care for those with substance-use disorders.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 not saying this government would do that, but I worry that they are, maybe unbeknownst themselves, theyB次元官网网址檙e actually making it easier for someone else in the future to further politicize other areas of medicine,B次元官网网址� said Herriot, who is a member of the group Doctors for Safer Drug Policy.

Angie Gaddy, spokeswoman for the BC Pharmacy Association, said in an email the group was waiting for more details but B次元官网网址渨e do support the governmentB次元官网网址檚 decision as an element in addressing the diversion of prescribed alternatives.B次元官网网址�

More than 16,000 people have died in B.C. since the toxic drug crisis was declared a public health emergency in April 2016.

B次元官网网址� With files from Darryl Greer in Vancouver

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press