The Slippery Slope of Safer Supply
Instead of asking why some people get addicted to drugs and alcohol, the question we should be asking is: why doesn’t everyone get addicted? - Jordan Peterson
One of the favorite smackdowns we often hear from “the left” directed towards those on “the right” is the accusation of the frivolous use of the phrase slippery slope. It often goes something like this: “You far-right conservative wingnuts think everything that you don’t like is a slippery slope!”
Sometimes (even often) this accusation is legit, but more and more, we are now seeing legitimate slippery slopes in Canada. This article will hopefully become Part 1 in a Slippery Slope series on BlogOfKen. Time will tell.
Safer Supply
I think its notable that the concept of “safer supply” was originally simply called “Safe Supply”, but then later an R was added, presumably to make it easier to juxtapose it with the obviously unsafe practice of say, shooting heroin with a dirty needle in a dark alleyway behind a garbage bin with a bunch of stray cats.
Notwithstanding the added R, “Safer Supply” is not only a controversial idea, it’s also an obvious oxymoron in regards to supplying someone with hard drugs to use, especially when you look at some of the details.
In order to emphasize that this is in fact a rather slithery decline, I’ve decided to do this in a timeline format, so here’s the timeline of Canada’s Safer Supply fiasco as it currently stands:
2016: First Safer Supply opens in London, Ontario to address the beginning of Canada’s opioid crisis.
The government begins handing out hydromorphone tablets for addicts to take at home.
Almost immediately these same addicts take the hydromorphone and sell it on the street (cheap) to buy fentanyl.
The government begins expanding the program.
2017 - 2019: Opioid deaths continue to increase year over year, especially in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.
‘Diversion’ of safer supply hydromorphone continues.
8 mg government-supplied hydromorphone tablets flood the streets of Ottawa (among other cities), dropping the street price from $20/pill to $1/pill, and fueling it's own opioid epidemic.
2020: the pandemic hits and safer supply ramps up to address the “dual public health emergencies” of COVID-19 and opioid overdose deaths.
More federal money flows in and safer supply programs grow.
Doctors are encouraged to prescribe safer supply.
The main drug was still hydromorphone, but some sites also supplied fentanyl.
Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer for the Province of BC states that, “It won't be a free-for-all. It will be a way of supporting people who have the need right now.”🙂
More drugs are diverted to the street.
Overdose deaths continue to rise.
2022: A “Fentanyl Patch Policy” comes into being which states that the “scientific literature in this area is minimal” and that the organization “is not responsible for any adverse outcomes related to the implementation of this policy.” Well, that's a relief…
Prescriptions for fentanyl tablets are introduced.
Overdose deaths continue to rise.
January, 2023: B.C. decriminalizes hard drugs like opioids, crack, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA — for personal use.
May, 2023: Mental Health and Addictions Minister, Carolyn Bennett issues a statement criticizing the leader of the opposition for spreading “misinformation” and for “irresponsible and dehumanizing” comments after he stated that the government’s approach is actually fueling addiction and what these people really need is treatment.
August, 2023: B.C. makes it possible for minors to get a prescription for fentanyl without their parents’ permission while setting a new record for toxic drug deaths.
Also, more drugs are diverted and deaths across the country continue to rise.
November, 2023: Because citizens were becoming concerned with the amount of hard drug use going on in playgrounds and other public spaces where their kids like to play, B.C. passes the common sense legislation Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act to encourage PWUDs (people who use drugs) to use safely at local overdose prevention sites and to keep community spaces free of illegal drug use. New law slated to come into effect on January 1, 2024.
Also, people who use drugs are awarded their very own official acronym.
December, 2023: Three days before the new common sense legislation to shield kids from hard drug users in playgrounds is to come into force, B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson pauses said legislation, noting that “Irreparable harm will be caused if the act comes into force,” on the basis that it would infringe upon PWUD's “right to life, liberty, and security,” and something about a “stigma” around illicit drug use that might make PWUDs feel bad if it was mentioned. It's too bad our governments weren't overly concerned with the stigma applied to those not wanting to take the drugs they mandated during the Covid pandemic…
February, 2024: B.C. Provincial Health Officer, Bonnie Henry announces that, though “reports have suggested that youth may increasingly be accessing diverted hydromorphone,” and “many clinicians are distressed about the risk of diversion and potential downstream impacts of (prescribed safer supply),” the province will go ahead and expand the program anyway, with plans for government distribution of smokeable fentanyl and heroin.
Bonnie Henry: "Diversion is not, in itself, good or bad or right or wrong. There are things that it tells us,” specifically that there are "unmet needs among people who use drugs."
Apparently, it is now up to the government to supply these “unmet needs” because obviously there aren’t enough drugs on the street already. Maybe the question we ought to be asking now is: Is what these people need really more fentanyl and heroin?
This is pretty heavy stuff, but thankfully Canada has a government run by a middle-aged TikTok influencer, and so we can always expect a comedic break about once a week or so. This is the perfect time to insert such a break:
Meanwhile, in another universe equally divorced from reality, Laura Smith, who is the director of tobacco and vaping policy at Health Canada’s Tobacco Control Directorate was in possession of a very “forward-looking” idea for keeping Canadians safe from tobacco smoke (because we all know how serious the current tobacco epidemic is). Here’s her pitch:
Smoke-free private spaces involve the regulation of smoking in private places such as homes, vehicles, multi-unit housing, government-subsidized housing, balconies, patios, and yards belonging to housing complexes.
Here’s a statement from Health Canada:
Canada’s draft decision does not advocate for any one tobacco control measure. Rather, the intent of the draft decision is to generate new discussions and reinvigorate the collective response to the global tobacco epidemic.
The global tobacco epidemic. You thought I was making that up, didn’t you?
So here we have Health Canada suggesting that they would really prefer that you don’t smoke cigarettes (that you paid for) in your car or your living room, or your yard, but if you decide that you need to start smoking crack or fentanyl at the local playground, they would be more than happy to not only meet those needs (on the taxpayer’s dime), but also give you a crack pipe, a lighter, and detailed instructions on how to use them.
How’s that for comedy?
It’s strange, but also typical that when it comes to issues like climate change, pandemics, or tobacco epidemics, our government is Johnny-on-the-spot with the most dire predictions imaginable - the computer models are running full steam ahead and death and destruction are constantly in the headlines - even though most of these morbid predictions never come to pass. In the case of safer supply though, it’s amazing how optimistic they are. To listen to our government, the plan is working perfectly. So, if that’s really the case, then maybe we’ve grossly misunderstood what the plan actually is all this time...
For further reading on this topic, I highly recommend Adam Zivo’s work on this, specifically this piece from the MacDonald Laurier Institute.
Also, Chris and Julie Curwin of Nova Scotia (both doctors) have a great Substack called Pairodocs where they break down a lot of this stuff.
“Also, people who use drugs are awarded their very own official acronym.” What was wrong with “druggies”? Oh, wait. Sorry, my bad. That is too accurate a name so it had to go.
Beam me up Scotty.
Finally some politicians on the west coast are getting the message that their plan simply isn't working, and that maybe there are other things worth considering after all. Things like, "the safety of health professionals or patients in our hospitals," providing the police with "actual tools to maintain public safety," and families and children being able to use the parks safely.
Better late than never, I suppose.
https://globalnews.ca/news/10453051/bc-decriminalization-public-drug-use-overhaul/