The naïve political intervention of making possession of illegal street drugs legal, under the guise of saving lives is not working. Safe supply drugs from BC’s street programs are being sold by organized crime in Alberta and across Canada, says the RCMP.Thousands of opiate pills obtained by prescription through a “safe supply” harm reduction program have been seized by police, after they were discovered to have been diverted to organized crime groups. Many of the pills had been prescribed to specific individuals but were found collected together. People take prescribed medication, some of which is dedicated as safe supply prescription drugs, and then sell them to organized crime groups in exchange for more potent illicit drugs. Some may also falsely obtain prescriptions through a variety of deceptions on behalf of the crime enterprise. Crime groups are then selling drugs inter-provincially across Canada. Some drug users are perhaps looking for more potent drugs or something more specific than what they have been prescribed. Others may be part of an organized network of patient scammers. Sophisticated criminals also prey upon street people to obtain their government provided drugs. Police searches found in addition to prescription drugs, large quantities of fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine.Government sponsored safe supply programs are meant to reduce drug overdose deaths by providing public-funded alternatives to potentially tainted illicit drugs. It usually means distributing hydromorphone, a pharmaceutical opioid, to mitigate the use of fentanyl encountered on the street. But the RCMP investigation confirms the fears of many who are opposed to safe supply as a method to curb opiate addiction and drug-related deaths. It’s taxpayers that pay for the safe supply of drugs, but it looks like organized crime is the benefactor. It’s not only a problem for police, but it’s a problem for those who live in communities where they see the cause and effect of the continuing drug use tragedy.British Columbia Premier David Eby downplayed concern raised by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith about the diversion of safe supply opioids from B.C. The embarrassed BC Premier wrongly said the majority of drugs in a B.C. police seizure cited by Premier Smith were not from that program.However, the fact on the street is that organized crime groups have been redistributing safe supply and prescription drugs, some of which are moved from lax sources in British Columbia and resold across Canada.Eby said medical professionals who administer safe supply to drug users monitor for risk and “do everything possible to minimize the risk of diversion.” That is the political rationalization. Premier Smith had issued a statement, saying she was concerned that diverted safe supply drugs from B.C., including hydromorphone, may end up being trafficked to Alberta, and she cited several police drug seizures in BC.When pursued further, B.C.’s solicitor general Mike Farnworth tried the outright denial tactic. He said the idea that there is widespread diversion is simply not true. Farnworth, who is also B.C.’s NDP public safety minister, said Smith shouldn’t have made claims about the seizures without waiting for all the information. Farnworth admitted that some, but not all of the drugs seized by the RCMP were from the safer-supply program.Premier Smith had said she was concerned that diverted safe-supply drugs from B.C. may end up being trafficked to Alberta, while Conservative Leader Poilievre pledged to scrap the provincial program if he becomes prime minister. Poilievre had raised the particular resale of drugs issue in the House of commons question period.Minister Farnworth demurred, saying that both these politicians should have waited for more details. He alluded to the possibility of prescription pill counterfeiting, saying criminal organizations were extremely sophisticated in terms of how they can make things look. He demonstrated the typical political leftie behaviour. When confronted, just minimize, outright deny, then claim it's fake.In the RCMP news release, the police had noticed an alarming trend over the last year, uncovering increasing amounts of prescription drugs in trafficking investigations. The pills were being used as a form of currency to purchase more potent, illicit street drugs. Organized crime groups were actively involved in the redistribution of safe supply and prescription drugs. In spite of the liberal open drug possession policies and significant money spent for diversions, the problem of drug addiction and death on the street is not diminishing.The politically stated goal of B.C.’s safer-supply program is to get people away from the toxic drugs on the street, to get between them and predatory drug dealers, with a health-care professional, and to keep them alive so they can get into treatment. Similar approaches that were attempted in the state of Oregon have failed and are now being abandoned. They tried the safe supply along with enticements into diversions of help. They spent millions. But, they fundamentally misunderstood the nature of addiction.Yet there are reasonable responses, such as a comprehensive policy of reducing international supply of harmful drugs, and more prosecution of illegal drug cartels in Canada. At the community level, health professionals have responses that can work for some addicts, if they are fully funded and supported. Carry a big stick and be bold to use it for ‘compulsion’, in a pragmatic combination with adequate health measures of ‘compassion’. Canada is capable of finding the balance of compulsion and compassion with wise political leadership.
