B.C. Greens want harm reduction expansion as other parties change course

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Green Leader Sonia Furstenau Tuesday promised to fight for an expansion of safe supply, and look at other non-prescriber models such as community based compassion clubs.

She is also looking at measures to increase the transparency around treatment outcomes for people with addiction and increasing mental health supports for youth as part of her plan to address the current toxic drug crisis.”

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It’s a marked difference from NDP Leader David Eby and Conservative Leader John Rustad, both of whom have shifted away from harm reduction to a rollout of involuntary care for those with addiction and mental health issues.

Rustad also said he would scrap safe supply and decriminalization while turning supervised consumption sites into treatment intake facilities.

At a press conference in Victoria with former chief coroner Lisa Lapointe and Leslie McBain of advocacy group Moms Stop the Harm, the leader of B.C.’s third party said there is a need for evidence-based solutions and not the “dehumanizing rhetoric” of her opponents.

“I want to look people in the eyes and say, we know the solutions. We can change this. We can make life better. We can save lives,” said Furstenau.

“Unlike the NDP, who have hesitated and kept unnecessary limits on prescription alternatives, or the B.C. Conservatives, who want to scrap essential lifesaving harm reduction measures like prescription alternatives and overdose prevention sites, we are not offering vague promises, we are focused on solutions that the evidence tells us will work.”

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Lapointe, who retired as chief coroner in February several months after the NDP government rejected her recommendation that safe supplies be distributed by advocacy groups and not just some physicians, said the Green plan is the only one that will save lives.

The monthly death totals have been falling this year and are at their lowest point since 2020, with a 15 per cent decrease in year-over year deaths in July.

“We know that people are dying because the drug supply is toxic. Fewer than two per cent of those who use drugs in our province have access to regulated supply,” she said, highlighting the 200,000 people who use recreational drugs, but just over 4,000 have access to safe supply.

“Regulating drugs is not a radical idea. Governments regulate things all the time. That is government’s job to regulate products so that they are safe. It is irresponsible to allow thousands of people to die across our country without stepping in.”

Both Lapointe and McBain criticized the NDP and Conservative’s plans to introduce involuntary care, arguing there is no evidence that it helps recovery.

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McBain said she’s seen numerous members of her organization get their kids into treatment only for them to relapse once released.

Furstenau provided few details on a non-prescriber model, but said it could help save more lives given that the current model lacks physicians enrolled in the program.

Eby defended his promise of involuntary treatment, stating it’s necessary to help “people who we see on our streets, lying face down on the sidewalk, or involved in incidents with people where they’re threatening or sometimes setting fires or other disturbing conduct.”

He said it’s clear those people are not being adequately cared for by the system.

As for the Green’s proposal to expand safe supply, Eby said it’s vital that medical professionals are involved in the distribution and will not be looking at non-prescriber models.

“We believe in doctors, we believe in science, that evidence-based practice, and it’s the same for addiction medicine as for anything else,” said Eby.

For Rustad, the Green proposals are a continuation of the NDP policies that have failed to stem the crisis, alleging policies such as safe supply and decriminalization have led to an increase in drug use and a decrease in public safety.

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He pointed to the recent police raid of a supervised consumption site in Nanaimo, which led to the seizure of weapons and illicit drugs, as an example of the danger of such sites.

“It’s really sad to see that these places, that particular place and who knows how many others, were fronts for distributing bad drugs,” he said. “This perpetuation of the drug climate in British Columbia has just gone on, and the problem has only gotten worse.”

Rustad didn’t elaborate on supervised consumption sites or what the intake facilities would look like.

Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West, who raised one of the initial alarms about the unintended consequences of decriminalization, said he believes that all of B.C.’s political parties are getting too bogged down in slogans when it comes to their policies surrounding the toxic drug crisis.

He said involuntary care, supervised consumption sites and a range of other supports are needed but believes the details are too often missed during implementation.

“From my perspective, is there a place for supervised consumption sites? Yes, there is but they need to be appropriately located. They need to be appropriately resourced. You have to have people working in them who are professionals, and it should be a place where people can be connected with recovery and treatment options,” he said.

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“There’s a place for involuntary treatment. There are clearly cases where individuals are severely mentally ill or severely addicted, that they are not able to make decisions for themselves, whether in the best interest of themselves or of broader society.”

West warned that it’s “incredibly easy for politicians to say the right things,” but the hard work will begin following the election.

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