B.C.’s top doctor says the province’s two public health emergencies — the overdose crisis and COVID-19 pandemic — continue to intersect in ways that are proving increasingly deadly.
In an interview with Global News, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry called for better access to a safe supply of drugs as the closure of international borders due to COVID-19 has led to an illicit drug supply that is increasingly toxic.
“The toxicity that we’re seeing… we could not have imagined,” she said.
On Sept. 16, Henry signed an order that gave more health professionals the ability to prescribe safer pharmaceutical alternatives.
Physical-distancing measures due to the pandemic have contributed to a higher frequency of people using drugs alone at home, Henry added.
To date, more than 1,000 people in B.C. have died of an overdose in 2020. The total number of illicit drug deaths in the first eight months of this year has surpassed the total for all of 2019, B.C.’s coroners service said last week.
Last year, Henry wrote a report advocating for the decriminalization of drugs, saying it can reduce the stigma around drug use, which often prevents users from seeking help.
Canada’s police chiefs in July called for the decriminalization of simple possession of illicit drugs. Last month, Canada’s chief health officer suggested decriminalizing hard drugs should be discussed to address a spike in opioid overdose deaths.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has resisted calls to decriminalize personal possession of hard drugs, saying it’s not “a silver bullet.”
Henry said it’s important to make the distinction between legalization, which would end the prohibition on drugs, and decriminalization, which means possession of illegal drugs for personal use would not lead to incarceration or a criminal record.
“It’s about not putting people who use drugs into the criminal justice system because we know that a lot of the stigma and shame around drug use that keeps people from talking to their family and friends is their fear of being charged criminally, losing their job, losing their families,” she said. “Those are things that keep people hiding: the stigma and the shame.”
Criminalizing drug users can have spillover effects, Henry said, such as the potential for separating mothers from their children, who are then at higher risk of dropping out of school and potentially entering the criminal justice system as well.
Henry said she envisions a model similar to one used in Portugal, which decriminalized drug possession in 2001. In Portugal, those found with a small amount of drugs with no evidence of trafficking can be referred to a treatment program rather than face jail time.
Henry said British Columbians can no longer turn a blind eye to the opioid crisis.
“This is not just ‘those people,’ it is people in every community that are being affected,” she said.
“It is so prevalent and we’ve come to realize that it is our family, our community members, our aunts and uncles and brothers and sisters that are being affected across this province.”
In June, Henry fought back tears during a press briefing as she responded to a large spike in overdoses.
“We need to put as much time and effort and kindness and compassion into caring for people who use drugs as we have been successful in doing in responding to the COVID-19 crisis,” she said.
Henry said she has been deeply moved by stories of families affected by the opioid crisis.
“It’s personal to me because I have met with families who’ve had loved ones who’ve died,” she said.
“I’ve met with people who use drugs, who’ve lost friends, who’ve lost their community, who see this crisis playing out in their lives in ways that really touched me. And I do believe we have ways of working with people and supporting people and that we can make a difference in people’s lives.”
— With files from Sophie Lui, Amy Judd, Richard Zussman and The Canadian Press
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