Dr. Bonnie Henry's Report on Non-Prescribed Alternatives to Street Drugs Rejected
Supreme Court of BC rules that report would violate Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
The latest report from Dr. Henry, BC's provincial health officer, has been rejected by the Supreme Court of BC. The report called for the safer use of non-prescribed alternatives to street drugs, but the court ruled that this would violate the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
The report, which was released in November 2021, argued that the current approach to drug policy in BC is not working. The province has one of the highest rates of overdose deaths in Canada, and the report argued that this is due in part to the fact that people who use drugs are criminalized and stigmatized.
The report called for a number of changes to drug policy, including the decriminalization of small amounts of drugs, the establishment of safe injection sites, and the provision of access to naloxone, a life-saving antidote to opioid overdoses.
The Supreme Court of BC rejected the report's call for the decriminalization of small amounts of drugs, but it did uphold the report's other recommendations. The court ruled that the province has the authority to establish safe injection sites and to provide access to naloxone.
The rejection of Dr. Henry's report is a setback for harm reduction advocates in BC. However, the court's ruling on safe injection sites and naloxone is a victory for public health.
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