“For the love of all that is good, listen to us.”
In response to the latest data from the BC Coroners Service (BCCS) on overdose deaths on Thursday (June 9th), a Vancouver-based drug advocacy group again delivered free cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine to people who they use drugs at an event in the city.
Illicit drugs continue to claim more lives in BC than “homicides, motor vehicle incidents, drownings, suicide deaths and combined fire-related deaths,” according to the BCCS.
In April, nearly 161 British Colombians died from an overdose, accounting for about 5.4 deaths a day.
The Drug Release Front (DULF) has been distributing illicit substances at numerous events in recent months as a way to demonstrate the life-saving potential of a community-led response to the overdose crisis.
And while the BC government recently announced that it will eliminate criminal penalties for people who own a small amount of certain illegal drugs for personal use, DULF and organizations like this say it will not prevent deaths from a supply of toxic drugs.
But it’s not just drug advocacy groups that say the only way to resolve the overdose crisis is by providing a secure supply.
Many government officials, including Chief Forensic Officer Lisa Lapointe, say a regulated supply of illicit substances is the only way to ensure that people who use drugs are not at risk.
While the use of any drug, including legal ones such as marijuana and alcohol, can be dangerous, proponents say an unregulated market puts people who use illicit substances at increased risk of overdose death. .
“The reality is that every time someone uses drugs bought on the unregulated market, their life is at risk,” Lapointe says. “Until a more secure and regulated supply is widely available, I encourage those who use drugs to use only in the presence of someone who can offer help and seek medical attention if necessary.”
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Through its “Drug Arrival Program,” DULF says it has distributed “310 doses of each cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, with no reported overdose, either fatal or non-fatal.”
Together with the Vancouver Drug Consumer Area Network (VANDU), the activist group says offering a regulated supply to drug users provides a model of what a federal government exemption would be like. compassionate clubs operate in the city. .
“The response from all levels of government remains reprehensible,” the group says. “As long as they continue to promote” achievements “such as decriminalization, a policy that will increase market instability due to the reorientation of the supply chain of the drug supply chain, more friends, family and loved ones continue to die.
“Once again, we ask that they act to regulate the supply of medicines or get out of our way.”
On May 31, the provincial government announced that it would grant a three-year exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) for adults 18 years of age or older who possess 2.5 grams or less of certain substances. For personal use, but experts say the exemption is largely political and will not prevent an increase in the number of deaths.
Find out why advocates call BC’s new drug policy a “zombie exemption.”