Harm reduction & Safe supply

The analysis found the cohort who were prescribed pharmaceutical-grade opioids had a 61 per cent lower risk of death from any cause the following week, and was 55 per cent less likely to die of an overdose the following week.

It also showed the protective effect increased with the number of days opioid medications were accessed. People who received four or more days of prescription opioids were 91 per cent less likely to die from any cause, and 89 per cent less likely to die from overdose in the following week.

Dr. George Carson, a Regina-based physician with a focus on public health, says there's decades of evidence showing that providing sterile equipment and discouraging drug injection saves lives and prevents the spread of HIV and hepatitis C.

The province's move is "entirely ideological" and "just plainly wrong," he said in a Tuesday interview.

"Our country has historically responded to drug use with punishment, imprisonment, fines, court orders and criminal records," Lapointe said. "This response has resulted in lost jobs, lost families, lost dignity and lost hope. It has required huge investments in the criminal justice system, police, courts, probation officers and prisons."

As it stands, prescribed safer supply is only accessed by about 5,000 people in B.C. each month. There continues to be “no indication” that prescribed safer supply is contributed to unregulated drug deaths.

“Tragically, toxic, illicit drugs are continuing to cause unprecedented numbers of deaths across our province,” said Lisa Lapointe, chief coroner. “This crisis, driven primarily by unregulated fentanyl, has cost our province dearly in the loss of much-loved and valued members of our communities. We cannot bring our deceased loved ones back, but we can and must do much more to protect the lives of tens of thousands of our family members, friends and colleagues still at risk.”