Re: 鈥淥verdose crisis presents more dilemmas,鈥� editorial, May 3.
This editorial should be required reading for our political leaders.
According to the B.C. Coroners Service, there were almost 4,000 illicit-drug overdose deaths in B.C. from 2016 to 2018. That is a shocking statistic. Something has to change in our approach to drug addiction.
The editorial notes the provincial health officer鈥檚 call to decriminalize possession, and then asks the question: 鈥淚s the provincial health officer proposing that the government act as a supplier?鈥� I don鈥檛 know what Dr. Bonnie Henry might be thinking in that regard, but it seems eminently logical.
What logic is there in providing safe-injection sites, but requiring addicts to purchase often adulterated drugs of unknown potency from black market street-corner or back-alley sellers? Pharmaceutically pure opiates can be provided safely, and at low cost, when black-market forces are not in play.
We need to set aside judgmental dogma and stop thinking about drug addiction in criminal-law terms. Instead, position it as a medical condition with a full range of initial treatment and longer-term rehabilitation options available.
Henry鈥檚 suggestion would be at least an initial step in the right direction 鈥� but we are going to have to go further than that to stop this epidemic of unnecessary deaths. Politicians at all levels of government need to show the courageous leadership required to address this crisis.
Rennie Heel
Saanich
