Governments across Canada have embraced a “harm reduction” and “safe supply” agenda in response to the drug crisis, which has killed more than 30,000 people since 2016.
Dateline goes to Vancouver, the city at the forefront of Canada’s fentanyl crisis, and meets the doctors and dealers giving hard drugs to users to combat opioid overdoses.
Dr. Julian Somers, a clinical psychologist and expert on addiction, addressed the crowd at the Free Speech in Medicine conference in Baddeck, Nova Scotia, where he addressed the limitations of safe supply programs in reducing addiction-related issues.
Immediately addressing the crisis of street homelessness, crime, addiction and other forms of mental illness is doable and has been shown to be doable in B.C. and in other places. But unfortunately, the programs that successfully achieve those changes are starved for resources in favor of other things.