December 31,2025
RED FM News Desk
B.C.’s safer-supply overdose-prevention program has undergone a major change.
With limited exceptions, people in the program must now take their prescribed alternatives to street drugs under the supervision of a health-care professional, usually a pharmacist.
The opposition B.C. Conservatives say the shift is an improvement and an admission that the safer-supply approach hasn’t worked.
“This is really just managing someone’s decline,” said Claire Rattee, the party’s mental health and addictions critic. “We don’t do this in any other area of mental health or medicine.”
The change was announced in February after leaked documents suggested large quantities of prescribed drugs were being diverted and sold on the street — a claim critics had long made and the NDP had disputed.
Independent MLA Elenore Sturko, who revealed the diversion concerns, welcomed the move but called for a public inquiry and answers about investigations into dozens of pharmacies allegedly involved.
“We need accountability and clarity,” Sturko said. “What’s happening with those pharmacy investigations?”
In October, 150 people died from toxic drug overdoses in B.C. Some worry the new rules could make things worse if people turn back to the illegal drug supply because it is easier to access.
“My concern is that if people stop getting their prescriptions, where will they go?” said harm-reduction advocate Guy Felicella.
The Health Ministry says investigations into the pharmacies began more than nine months ago and are still underway. It says it remains committed to monitoring the program to ensure it saves lives in the ongoing crisis, which has killed more than 16,000 people over nine years.
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