Toxic drug policy hampered by limited pathways to solutions
Governments are limiting their scopes while active efforts against helping those in need continue forward
Art by Rachel De Freitas
A grim record was broken in 2023 as toxic drugs claimed the lives of 2,511 British Columbians, more people than the previous high of 2,383 in 2022.
Provincial statistics report that 13,794 British Columbians have died since the public health emergency was declared in 2016. Vancouver, Surrey, and Greater Victoria were the communities with the most unregulated drug deaths last year, of which 80 per cent occur indoors, with 47 per cent being private residences and 33 per cent in other housing types.
Vancouver Coastal Health and Northern Health Authority had the highest rates of deaths per 100,000 people. Only one death happened in an overdose prevention site and prescribed safer supply has been ruled out as a contributor.
This health crisis has taken away the lives of thousands and impacted countless more. The provincial government is obligated to step up its efforts to curb the issue. But first, we need to know what the current efforts are and what could be improved.
On Jan. 31, 2022 , B.C. decriminalized the possession of 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine, and ecstasy intended for personal use. During this announcement, Mental Health and Addictions Minister Jennifer Whiteside said ending the program would do nothing to stop the overdose crisis as the stigma surrounding addiction is a barrier against seeking help and the uptick in illicit drugs has been a nation-wide phenomena, not just a B.C. problem.
At this time, Nicole Luongo with the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition expressed the belief that partisan rhetoric has muddied the issue and resulted in the program neither going far enough nor working to address the underlying issues that lead to drug consumption.
Experts and advocates, including the soon-to-retire Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe, have urged governments to expand the safe supply of drugs to lower the number of deaths caused by unregulated, toxic street drugs. The provincial government has indicated they will currently do no such thing.
As these events have shown, the provincial and federal government are looking for solutions, but they’re not pursuing the matter to the extent that experts and advocates deem necessary. It is very likely that political and social attitudes towards drugs are hampering more extensive solutions from taking hold.
Conservative Party leader Pierre Polievre has shown he is no fan of the safe supply model, and a vote on a study to establish a safe consumption site, not to build one right away, by Richmond City Council was met with chaotic backlash from citizens claiming that such a site would only worsen the state of the city.
Ironically, their calls for educational measures would actually be helpful — if only it were not in lieu of practical solutions in conjunction with education. One track thinking leaves no room to avoid careening into even worse conditions.
What’s driving this is the plain and simple fact that there are a series of interconnected root causes — poverty, mental health, and so on — pushing people into despair. Solving the toxic drug and overdose crisis in B.C. requires multi-faceted plans and courses of action.
The problem right now, it seems, is those with the power to accomplish such priorities are limiting themselves to only a few roads, all the while a very vocal number of people insist even these limited solutions are going too far and promote “criminality” and “social degradation.”
In effect, they’re advocating for no solutions except for those which have not worked before and will very likely only exacerbate the crisis by punishing users and keeping the criminal market viable.
