Enough is enough, that’s what Vancouver Island residents and businesses are saying to the provincial government about the safer supply program in BC.
The Nanaimo Area Public Safety Association (NAPSA) says they were the first organization in the province to show the program was being abused, with prescription opioids being redirected in large quantities to criminal organizations and even sold to children in schools.
NAPSA president Collen Middleton reenforces his claims that the ‘safe supply’ program is largely geared to support the government’s own pre-determined bias.
“The so-called ‘evidence based’ claims that have been used by the province and drug user groups have been made-up through their own trumped-up and bias determinations,” he says. “It’s all to promote a culture that has caused more people to get hooked on even harder drugs, die and cause even greater chaos in our society.”
Middleton says the only people benefiting from the current safe supply program are criminals who abuse it.
“There are no winners in this diversion of taxpayer-funded drugs, except for the profiteers and gangsters,” he says.
On Feb. 19 the province issued a statement saying they’re taking action to prevent the diversion of prescribed opioids and hold those responsible accountable for putting communities at risk.
They say they’ve launched a new Prescribed Alternatives Program which they say will help save lives by separating people at the highest risk of overdose from toxic street drugs and predatory drug dealers.
Minister of Health Josie Osborne says the vast amount of BC pharmacists are upstanding, but all it takes is a few bad apples to break or bend the law.
“The overwhelming majority of pharmacies and prescribers follow the rules, but it’s unacceptable that bad actors are exploiting the health-care system and putting communities at risk,” she says.
She adds the government is doing as much as it can do to end, or deter bad actors, but it will take time.
“We’re working with law enforcement to stop illegal activity and ensure pharmacies operate in the best interest of patients and public safety,” she says.
According to the province, over 10,500 people have died from unregulated drugs in communities in the province in 2024 an increase over 2023 and 2022.
