Although BC has stopped its decriminalization of drugs policy — what still remains is its safe supply, offering prescribed drugs, something from which healthcare professionals are financially benefiting.Safe supply offers drugs in a PharmaCare-approved package, and for a few dollars, healthcare workers get paid to witness you taking them.The Prescribed Alternatives (PA) program is, according to the BC government, used to prescribe and regulate "pharmaceutical grade medications of known quality and dosage to people at high risk of harm from unregulated drug supply."Translation: pharmacists give away government-regulated drugs under a prescription..BC claims this helps reduce drug poisoning, thus providing a safe supply for those addicted to drugs.They also add a bit of a contradiction: "Evidence shows that PA is helping keep people at the highest risk of drug poisoning alive, so they can stabilize their lives and connect with care and treatment."However, they then add, "increasing reports and emerging evidence of diversion (ie, the displacement, unintended use, selling/trading or sharing of PA) indicate that diversion of PA medications is happening, which has they potential to result in individual-and population-level health harms."They claim there has been an increase in opioid-related hospitalizations since the start of PA and Risk Mitigation Guidance (RMG)..This is how PA works: Prescribers, including many healthcare professionals (physicians, pharmacists, and nurses) can prescribe "medication" options that disincentivize people from accessing the "unregulated drug supply" on the black market. Prescribers can offer people opioids, stimulants, and benzodiazepines. Here's what is needed on the drug receivers' end if they wish to receive the drug prescription: a prescription, a PA classified drug, and the drug can only be ingested orally or applied topically.The person who receives a drug must have a healthcare professional witness its use..Then, the healthcare worker receives money.Witnessed dosing refers to the payment given to healthcare professionals by BC's PharmaCare when witnessing a person take their prescribed drug under PA.If people receive their drugs at a pharmacy, pharmacists receive the money.If the drug is delivered to the person, it must be witnessed by an approved healthcare professional, and they are given the witness fee money..If a pharmacy were to prescribe and witness all 21 different drugs in a day, they could earn an estimated maximum of just under $200 daily.Each drug has a different witness fee and a daily maximum cap on the fee.To name some of the safe supply "drug alternatives," the infamous opioid, fentanyl, is one, coming in patch or tablet form.The patch has a $10 witness fee for a healthcare professional, but only once daily, while the tablet can be traded in for cash by a witnessed three times daily at $7 a pop.Another opioid, morphine, comes in three different forms, capsule, tablet, and syrup each with a $4 witness fee..In the Legislative Assembly of BC's Hansard dated April 1 2025, it was stated between 2022 and 2023 PharmCare spent $14.22 million on PA with over 7,600 receiving PA drugs.In 2023 and 2024, PharmCare spent $17.5 million on drugs alone, on top of another $8.89 million on PA's program expensesThis means the BC government spent $40.61 million on PA safe supply program over the course of two years.Back in February 2023, the Tyee reported the BC government had announced adding $67.7 million to its PA program over the next three years — but since then there has been no data released by the government to show the amount spent.Since PA's conception in 2020, PA has been used by over 14,000 people, according to the most recent data.
