{"id":670844,"date":"2026-01-03T09:08:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T09:08:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/670844\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T09:08:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T09:08:30","slug":"supervised-consumption-now-required-for-b-cs-safer-supply-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/670844\/","title":{"rendered":"Supervised consumption now required for B.C’s safer supply users"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new rule set by the B.C. Health Ministry has come into effect, requiring medical supervision for those who consume safer supply drugs. <\/p>\n

Several months after being first announced, B.C. is now requiring all patients to be part of their prescribed alternatives program<\/a>, to have medical supervision \u2014 like from a pharmacist \u2014 when consuming. <\/p>\n

The change is partly due to efforts to combat safer supply drugs being diverted from users, and sold in the streets<\/a>. In February, the province said it was informed that a \u201csignificant portion\u201d of prescribed drugs by doctors and pharmacists was being trafficked globally.<\/p>\n

The health ministry also said at the time it was investigating around 60 pharmacies that were allegedly involved in the diversion.<\/p>\n

Watch below:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe know\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0so important to make sure that these medications only land in the hands of those people for whom they are intended, which is why we are supporting pharmacists, pharmacies, prescribers, in moving to a witnessed consumption model, with exceptions only being made in exceptional circumstances,\u201d said the Ministry of Health in an email. <\/p>\n

The new changes are getting mixed reactions from advocates. Teresa Reeves, founder of West Coast Recovery Outreach Society, says it\u2019s long overdue. <\/p>\n

\u201cI went through the system myself when I was an addict, and if you\u2019re serious about wanting to get clean, you\u2019ll follow the rules of what they\u2019re asking you to do,\u201d said Reeves.<\/p>\n

She says she\u2019s witnessed first-hand safer supply drugs being misused and sold to others on the street.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to get a handle on it. Safe supply works if it\u2019s worked properly,\u201d said Reeves.<\/p>\n

Harm reduction advocate Guy Felicella disagrees with the move and says it would create extra barriers for those seeking recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s say somebody does have employment or has a job, how do you expect them to go into a pharmacy four times a day?\u201d said Felicella.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we put up too many barriers for them to access the services, then they\u2019ll access the street drugs. I\u2019d like to remind everybody that it\u2019s the street drugs that are killing people, it\u2019s not the prescription drugs that are.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health said the investigation into the pharmacies involved is still ongoing.<\/p>\n

B.C.\u2019s Health Critic: \u2018This clearly is not helping people\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Conservative Skeena-Bulkley Valley MLA Claire Ratt\u00e9e says the rule change is an example of a failing program. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think moving to witness consumption is going to deter people that legitimately need to use these prescribed alternatives for the intended purpose,\u201d said Ratt\u00e9e.<\/p>\n

The MLA, who recovered from addictions herself, says the program should be scrapped, and investments should be made elsewhere to battle addictions. <\/p>\n

\u201cAccess to treatment, getting more treatment beds open, access to mental health care, investing in things like sober-living facilities, and education and training opportunities for people after they leave treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m 100 per cent positive that if the government was going to be handing out free drugs for me, back when I was struggling with addiction, I would not have felt any shame using them in front of a doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

RELATED: Victoria doctor calls for return of witnessed safe supply of drugs<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new rule set by the B.C. Health Ministry has come into effect, requiring medical supervision for those…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4315],"tags":[105,4326,16,15,359],"class_list":{"0":"post-670844","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-medication","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-video"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115830384465660251","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}