British Columbia害羞草研究所檚 chief coroner Lisa Lapointe says she害羞草研究所檚 a hopeful person, but she is leaving her office frustrated and disappointed.
Angry, even.
Lapointe has been at the forefront of the province害羞草研究所檚 battle against toxic drug overdoses for years, but she said the public health emergency that was declared in 2016 never received a 害羞草研究所渁 co-ordinated response commensurate with the size of this crisis.害羞草研究所�
Instead, she lamented a 害羞草研究所渙ne-off, beds and projects害羞草研究所� response to the emergency that the B.C. Coroners Service says has claimed more than more than 13,000 lives.
害羞草研究所淲e see these ad hoc announcements but sadly what we haven害羞草研究所檛 seen is a thoughtful, evidence-based, data-driven plan for how we are going to reduce the number of deaths in our province,害羞草研究所� said Lapointe in an interview Monday.
Lapointe, who retires in February, said she was particularly worried about what she feared was the creep of politics into vital public health decisions surrounding overdose policies.
She wondered whether the government even read a recent coroners service death review panel report that recommended providing controlled drugs to people without prescriptions.
The proposal was immediately rejected by the government last month, moments before Lapointe had an opportunity to present the conclusions at a press conference.
害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 hard, especially now, there are a lot of ideologies battling over this. It害羞草研究所檚 become a very political issue, unfortunately,害羞草研究所� Lapointe said.
She said that instead of abating, the crisis is poised to have its deadliest year yet.
害羞草研究所淲e know that last year we had almost 2,400 deaths and this year we are likely to see it even higher,害羞草研究所� she said. 害羞草研究所淭his year is looking to be the worst year ever in terms of lives lost to drug toxicity.害羞草研究所�
For months, the NDP government has faced opposition challenges about its safe-supply initiatives amid concerns about drug use in public areas and police investigations of government-funded organizations providing illegal drugs obtained from the underground market.
害羞草研究所淲ell, I害羞草研究所檓 sorry, but buying drugs from the dark web, supporting organized crime, is not life-saving work. It actually puts police and the public at risk,害羞草研究所� Opposition BC United Leader Kevin Falcon said in the legislature in October.
Falcon害羞草研究所檚 remarks came after Vancouver police said search warrants were executed at the Vancouver office of the Drug User Liberation Front, which had been buying, testing and distributing drugs in an effort to prevent overdose deaths. Two people were arrested.
Premier David Eby said the government害羞草研究所檚 contract to provide funding to DULF was terminated. 害羞草研究所淓ven though they were doing that important life-saving work, they were breaking the law and we can害羞草研究所檛 have it,害羞草研究所� he said earlier.
It was against this backdrop that the death review panel issued its Nov. 1 report. It estimated 225,000 people in B.C. were using unregulated drugs but fewer than 5,000 people a month had prescriptions to receive safe-supply drugs.
It said a fundamentally different approach was needed to save lives because 害羞草研究所渋ncremental increases in existing interventions害羞草研究所� weren害羞草研究所檛 likely to make much of an impact.
Michael Egilson, chair of the panel, said its first recommendation was that an application be made to the federal government for an exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to allow access to opioid and stimulant drugs without a prescription.
The B.C. government was having none of it.
害羞草研究所淚 cannot accept the primary recommendations of this report to pursue a non-prescriber model of safer supply,害羞草研究所� said Jennifer Whiteside, B.C.害羞草研究所檚 minister of mental health and addictions, in a letter to Lapointe issued minutes before her scheduled news conference on the report.
Six weeks later and Lapointe doubts the report got due consideration.
害羞草研究所淚 think for government to dismiss those recommendations out of hand without even, I害羞草研究所檓 not even sure they read the report as the response came back so quickly,害羞草研究所� Lapointe said. 害羞草研究所淵ou can害羞草研究所檛 help but feel perhaps we did run into the politics of the issue.害羞草研究所�
She said she believed it was 害羞草研究所渧ery much a political response害羞草研究所� and to this day the government has not provided any response about it to her office.
Lapointe said she was saddened but won害羞草研究所檛 stop supporting efforts to reverse the overdose crisis.
She said she looks to former B.C. chief coroners like Vince Cain, who championed treatment over criminal charges for people struggling with addiction, and Larry Campbell, who led the charge for safe consumption sites.
害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檓 not by nature a negative person, and I like to be hopeful and I think that害羞草研究所檚 what frustrates me,害羞草研究所� Lapointe said.
害羞草研究所淚 want to be hopeful that we can turn this crisis around and I think it takes courage, and I害羞草研究所檓 ever hopeful our political leaders whether elected or not will at some point recognize (it),害羞草研究所� she said. 害羞草研究所淚t sounds naive, but we need to collaborate if we truly want to reduce the suffering that we害羞草研究所檙e seeing and the deaths we are experiencing.害羞草研究所�
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