B.C. premier defends drug decriminalization as controversy grows, feds scrutinize program
The premier of British Columbia is continuing to defend the three-year pilot program underway in his province that’s decriminalized personal possession of hard drugs, even as the federal government sends its minister responsible to discuss growing concerns and controversies.
David Eby is facing growing public frustration around open drug use and hospital safety, as critics of all stripes question his government’s planning for and response to complications from decriminalization.
CTV News pointed out that Eby is dealing with the fallout from the policy, which was championed and ushered in by his predecessor, John Horgan, and asked how long he’d uphold a measure that wasn’t particularly well-planned and he’s now stuck with.
“It's an incredibly challenging issue. We're trying to keep people alive, get them intro treatment. We've opened hundreds of new treatment beds this year alone,” Eby replied. “We have attempted to put in place a system that recognizes some of the impacts we've seen of the ongoing toxic drug crisis that we're in, including public drug use by some individuals and we're not going to let it go.”
Minister downplays federal scrutiny
CTV News asked B.C.'s Mental Health and Addiction Minister, Jennifer Whiteside, about a meeting Eby revealed would be happening with her federal counterpart, which she downplayed.
“I understand that (the federal mininster) is coming through town next week,” Whiteside said, suggesting there is nothing unusual in next week’s discussions.
The office of federal Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya’ara Saks confirmed that she will be coming to B.C. to speak with her provincial counterpart and police representatives.
“We have indicated from the outset that the B.C. exemption (to federal drug laws) would be rigorously monitored and evaluated” making special note of safety concerns for health-care workers exposed during in-hospital drug consumption.
The full context behind VPD testimony
Saks’ trip to the West Coast will come on the heels of much-discussed testimony by some of British Columbia’s top police officials at a parliamentary committee looking at “decrim,” as it’s often called.
The official opposition and opponents of the program have seized on Deputy Chief Fiona Wilson’s testimony that half of the hydromorphone pills Vancouver police encounter are safe supply prescribed to drug users and diverted to street-level drug dealers. https://bc.ctvnews.ca/safe-supply-vancouver-police-deputy-chief-says-large-amounts-of-opioids-being-diverted-1.6850520
While that fact has drawn considerable attention, particularly in the wake of the solicitor general’s insistence that there is no evidence of widespread diversion, Wilson repeatedly told parliamentarians that is not her primary concern.
“(People) aren’t dying from diverted prescription medication, they're dying from fentanyl, coke, meth,” said the veteran officer, who’s also the president of the BC Chiefs of Police. “Diversion's an important issue, it's something we're watching very closely but we know from coroner's data that that's not what's killing people in British Columbia.”
Wilson went on to explain that counterfeit pills that can be produced in massive quantities and look like pharmaceutical-grade prescription drugs pose a large-scale, life-threatening issue – so that’s where her officers are focussing their attention.
“(Diversion) pales in comparison to what organized crime are doing in terms of fentanyl production, importation, exportation,” she said, also testifying that planning for decriminalization has been insufficient and “all the concerns we had have been realized.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Robert Pickton stabbed with toothbrush and broken broom handle: victim's family
The family of one of Robert Pickton's victims says the convicted serial killer suffered an incredibly violent death at the hands of another inmate.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Oilers beat Stars, one win away from Stanley Cup berth
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored two power-play goals as Edmonton smothered the Dallas Stars 3-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the NHL's Western Conference final on Friday.
Ex-husband charged with murder in death of Lumby, B.C., woman
The ex-husband of Tatjana Stefanski – the woman whose disappearance and death set the small town of Lumby, B.C., on edge last month – has been charged with her murder.
Republicans join Trump's attacks on justice system and campaign of vengeance after guilty verdict
Embracing Donald Trump's strategy of blaming the U.S. justice system after his historic guilty verdict, Republicans in Congress are fervently enlisting themselves in his campaign of vengeance and political retribution in the GOP bid to reclaim the White House.
Is carbon pricing a politically feasible climate policy? Research says maybe not
Research suggests the Liberals may be fighting a losing battle, and some experts are urging policymakers to look for alternative policies to lower emissions, warning the threat of climate change is too dire to delay action.
U.K. ambassador to Mexico out after video allegedly shows him pointing a rifle at a colleague
The U.K.’s ambassador to Mexico has left his post after a video was posted on social media that purportedly shows him pointing an assault rifle at an embassy employee.
Baby dead after being delivered via emergency C-section to woman who was in police custody
A newborn is dead after being delivered via emergency C-section to a woman in police custody.
The ANC party that freed South Africa from apartheid loses its 30-year majority
The African National Congress party lost its parliamentary majority in a historic election result Saturday that puts South Africa on a new political path for the first time since the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule 30 years ago.