"Impossible barriers" are being created for drug users across B.C. with changes to safe supply regulations, says a White Rock group that has created a petition against the shift.
In February, B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne detailed a plan the government said would add additional safeguards to its prescribed pharmaceutical-alternatives program, which took effect immediately after. Patients now have to travel to a pharmacy to take their medication in front of a health-care worker. Since the announcement, many safe supply users, advocates and researchers have denounced the plan.
Now, White Rock's Community Action Team has begun a petition calling on the government to reverse its decision.
"We, the undersigned, call on the Government of British Columbia to immediately protect and expand access to prescribed safer drug supply programs, including the right to take-home doses," reads the online petition created by Andree Patenaude, CAT co-ordinator for the South Surrey White Rock chapter.
"The opioid crisis is far from over, and the B.C. government’s recent rollback of take-home prescribed safer supply programs is putting lives at risk," Patenaude said.
The petition also calls on the government to include people with lived and living experience with substance use to be included in decision-making.
"This is not about politics. It is about survival. Prescribed safer drug supply works. It saves lives. It offers people the chance to imagine a future beyond crisis," the petition adds.
The group points to difficulties in the plan for those who take medication multiple times a day. Needing to visit a pharmacy multiple times daily does not allow time for many other things, it states. Many who use prescribed safe supply medication are simply trying to move forward in their lives and this measure is disrupting that, the CAT adds.
"If a dose(s) is/are missed, we need to take street drugs to get through the day, derailing our progress and setting us back. Furthermore, missed doses could negatively impact co-workers, family and friends," it goes on to state.
"Prescribed safer drug supply works. It offers a path forward, and for many of us, it’s the reason we’re still here.
"Let’s not take this away."
