As B.C. decriminalizes hard drugs, users still face months-long waits for treatment
As B.C. decriminalizes hard drugs, users still face months-long waits for treatment
As the provincial and federal addiction ministers outline more details about B.C.’s imminent decriminalization of illicit drugs, observers say there simply aren’t enough treatment resources for those looking for them.
The criticism comes amid a lack of basic information kept by the province, which has no idea how long people are waiting to access those recovery beds. Many of the beds also come with fees that are user-pay.
In a number she has often reiterated, Jennifer Whiteside told journalists that there are 3,200 treatment beds in the province, 360 of which were added by the NDP government after it took power in 2017.
“We'll be connecting people to all the resources that are available in that particular region,” said the provincial minister, referring to drug users encountered by law enforcement under the new regime. “Whether that's a detox bed, whether that’s a counselling service, they'll have access to the full range of supports.”
Those supports can come with a cost to patients. Fraser Health, for example, tells drug users looking for in-patient, live-in treatment of substance use disorder that the province subsidizes the care and that there is a “daily fee to clients, which may be covered in part by income assistance, employment insurance or other funding assistance programs, if the person qualifies.”
NO TRACKING OF WAIT TIMES
Waits for treatment are an ongoing complaint from those looking to recover from substance use disorder and there have been stories of people dying from toxic drugs while on a waitlist.
Drug policy analyst Karen Ward points out the province doesn’t actually track the waits between referral to a treatment centre and access to recovery services.
In the Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction’s service plan published in February of 2022, it notes that data is not available for last year, and for the 2022/2023 fiscal year the target is to “establish data collection/measurement” with targets for subsequent years to be determined.
“How is it OK for the government that funds these services not to know this?” asked Ward.
— karen "the street lawyer" ward is emergencied out (@kwardvancouver) January 27, 2023
When CTV News raised the issue with BC Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau, she remarked, “I have a friend who used to say 'How you do one thing is how you do everything,' and this government is very data-shy.”
CRITICS SLAM ‘PIECEMEAL’ APPROACH
The decriminalization of hard drugs has been under heavy criticism by some, but it was the New Democrats’ scattershot approach and insufficient treatment capacity that had them in the crosshairs of opposition parties.
“We have hundreds of people on waiting lists looking for treatment,” said Liberal shadow minister of mental health and addictions, Elenore Sturko.
Both in her recent past as a Surrey RCMP officer and in her current role as MLA, Sturko described deep frustration with accessing services, particularly in the wake of crises when people were willing to sign up for recovery programs.
“Yes, it's important to focus on lessening stigmatization so that people feel they can reach out for help, but it doesn't do any good to reach out for help if it's not available to you ,” she said.
Furstenau agreed, adding that what she describes as a “piecemeal approach” without a clear plan continues to see an average of six people a day dying from toxic drugs, and supports vary widely across the province with mental health and drug treatment centres unregulated in the province.
“Whenever I try to help a constituent, I'm told the waitlist is weeks or months or sometimes years long or that there's nothing available for me and if you're a youth it's even worse,” she said. “What used to be a social safety net is now a social safety high wire – you fall off and there's nothing there to catch you.”
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
A newly released survey finds nearly all Canadian adults had antibodies against COVID-19 for about half of 2022, with most acquiring them through a previous infection.
Gwyneth Paltrow's highly publicized ski collision trial is shining a spotlight on the unspoken rules that govern behaviour on the slopes. Testimony over the last six days has repeatedly touched on skier's etiquette -- especially sharing contact information after a collision, and ski turn radiuses -- in what experts have said is the most high-profile ski collision trial in recent history.
Another American community is reeling after a shooter killed three 9-year-olds and three adults at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville. These are the three children and three adults whose lives were taken by the shooter.
Nashville police have released security camera footage of a suspected shooter entering the private Christian elementary school. The shooting claimed the lives of three children, all aged nine, and three adults.
The mother of a five-year-old girl said her daughter was allegedly bullied so badly she was left with a partially amputated finger from an incident in the washroom.
A Quebec provincial police officer was fatally stabbed Monday night while performing an arrest in Louiseville, west of Trois-Rivieres, Que. The Surete du Quebec (SQ) has confirmed the identity of the officer, Sgt. Maureen Breau, who had been on the force for over 20 years. She was assigned to the post of the MRC de Maskinonge. Another officer was injured during the incident, but their life is not in danger.
A Victoria landlord and property management company must pay more than $30,000 in damages and rental reduction to a tenant who complained of exposure to asbestos and excessive noise while their apartment building was renovated.
British Columbia's health minister says he's pushing through a regulatory change to limit the sale of the diabetes drug Ozempic to non-Canadian residents as celebrities promote its weight loss side-effects.
Rima Rifai thought her furnace had exploded Monday when the house across the street burst into a ball of fire, sending 10 people to hospital with serious injuries.
A high-tech farm near Cochrane, west of Calgary, is producing thousands of heads of lettuce, and other vegetables every week, even in the darkest and coldest days of winter.
Alberta's police watchdog has released more information about an incident at a Red Deer Walmart in which a man who had been reported missing in Calgary was shot by police.
Family and friends of two police officers who were shot and killed while responding to a family dispute gathered in downtown Edmonton Monday to say goodbye to their loved ones.
The 22-year-old accused of fatally stabbing a teenager at a Toronto subway station Saturday night has been wanted in Newfoundland for almost two years, CTV News Toronto has learned.
The mother of a five-year-old girl said her daughter was allegedly bullied so badly she was left with a partially amputated finger from an incident in the washroom.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
Montreal police say they have identified two more victims found in the rubble of a fire in Old Montreal 12 days ago. Charlie Lacroix and Walid Belkahla, both 18, are the sixth and seventh victims of the fire.
A Quebec provincial police officer was fatally stabbed Monday night while performing an arrest in Louiseville, west of Trois-Rivieres, Que. The Surete du Quebec (SQ) has confirmed the identity of the officer, Sgt. Maureen Breau, who had been on the force for over 20 years. She was assigned to the post of the MRC de Maskinonge. Another officer was injured during the incident, but their life is not in danger.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
Regina Mayor Sandra Masters said the city will more than likely continue to follow Health Canada guidelines when it comes to asbestos cement pipes (ACP) that carry drinking water to residents’ homes.
The Saskatchewan government is hoping to bolster critical mineral exploration after announcing a strategy Monday that aims to attract investment and double production by 2030.
Almost three years after a man disguised as a Mountie started murdering people in Portapique, N.S., on the night of April 18, 2020, the senior RCMP officers and staff involved in the tragic case have all either retired or moved into new jobs.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
New Brunswickers suffering from a mystery neurological disorder are calling for an investigation into potential environmental causes of the health problems they've been living with for more than two years.
A London toddler is fortunate to have avoided serious injury after a giant cinderblock came through her bedroom window in the middle of the night. Around 4 a.m. on March 26, Riiver was sleeping with her head right under the front window of her home on Emerson Avenue.
London fire crews are currently tackling a ‘large grass fire and working barn fire’ in the southeast section of the city Tuesday afternoon and are asking the public to avoid the area.
Drivers north east of London may run into some traffic problems on Tuesday. A single-vehicle collision resulted in a truck ending up on its side in a ditch in the area of Valley View Road and Thorndale Road.
The driver of a pickup truck, a 47-year-old woman, has died after a crash with a tanker on MR55 in the Greater Sudbury community of Lively on Tuesday morning, police say.
Nashville police have released security camera footage of a suspected shooter entering the private Christian elementary school. The shooting claimed the lives of three children, all aged nine, and three adults.
The mother of a five-year-old girl said her daughter was allegedly bullied so badly she was left with a partially amputated finger from an incident in the washroom.
