B.C. premier says ‘zero’ chance of no-prescription opioids

Premier David Eby says there's a "zero per cent chance" B.C. will implement recommendations by the provincial health officer for no-prescription "safer supply."

British Columbia Premier David Eby says there’s a “zero per cent chance” the province will implement recommendations by the provincial health officer that alternatives to opioids and other street drugs be made available without a prescription.

Eby says he has “huge respect” for Dr. Bonnie Henry, who he said saved countless lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that it’s OK they occasionally have a difference of opinion.

He told an unrelated Friday news conference his position is “non-negotiable,” and B.C. will not be moving to a model where medical professionals are not “directly involved” if people use “harmful and toxic drugs.”

Henry said on Thursday that drug prohibition strategies have not only failed to control access to controlled substances but have also created the toxic unregulated drug supply that has killed more than 14,000 people since a health emergency was declared in B.C. eight years ago.

Her report says 225,000 or more people in B.C. are accessing unregulated drugs and fentanyl continues to be the main killer, with 83 per cent of illicit drug deaths linked to the opioid.

Henry says the distribution of safer-supply drugs through prescriptions faces “barriers and challenges” presented by the system’s limited capacity, and B.C. cannot prescribe its way out of the crisis.

The report echoes the findings of former chief coroner Lisa Lapointe, who said in January before leaving her post that prescribed safer-supply drugs would not solve the crisis.

Eby said Friday that public health has an important role to play and needs to remain independent.