Momentum is building in British Columbia to draw down the so-called “war on drugs” and to begin treating drug use as a medical, not a criminal problem.
Top health officials in the province, including the health minister, say treating drug users as criminals doesn’t solve the problem of drug use and is too costly and ineffective.
Too many users, they say, simply don’t get the help they need and remain dependent on drugs.
The move comes as B.C. (and the rest of Canada) grapples with crisis from the overuse of opioids–some prescribed, some illegal–that can too easily become addictive, and as the federal government continues to draw up and debate a plan to legalize marijuana by next spring.
Dr. Patricia Daly is the chief medical health officer and vice president of public health for Vancouver Coastal Health, a regional health authority that provides a full range of health care services to over a million people who live in the greater Vancouver area.
Dr. Daly, who supports a regulatory approach to all physchactive substances, spoke to RCI from her office in Vancouver.
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