A study on supplies and decriminalization of safer drugs in British Columbia revealed that the two were associated with an increase in hospitalizations on opioid overdoses.
The report indicates that there was no change in deaths associated with a safer supply, while no policy seems to mitigate the opioid crisis which has made more than 16,000 lives in British Columbia since it was declared public health in 2016.
The study authors, published in Jama Health Forum, claim that this is the first proof of the association between overdoses and the decriminalization of drug possession in British Columbia, introduced in January 2023 then sharply reduced in May 2024.
They say that the increase in hospitalizations could be due to a greater desire to seek a doctor, because decriminalization could reduce stigmatization, but it is also possible that less stigmatization and fewer criminal penalties increase overdoses by facilitating the diversion of opioids safely.
The study was carried out by researchers from Memorial University in St. John’s, as well as the University of Manitoba and Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.
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Research revealed that the safer offer was associated with a 33% increase in opioid hospitalizations, while the addition of decriminalization was associated with another peak for a global increase of 58%, compared to the introduction of the safer supply program in 2020.
“There was not enough evidence to attribute in a conclusive manner an increase in overdose deaths of opioid to these policy changes,” he said.
The safer supply program consists in providing pharmaceutical quality opioids to people at risk of overdose, but criticisms say that this potentially worsens the crisis if safer supply medication are diverted in the streets.
The study examined data from early 2016 to the end of 2023.
The provincial coroners service said earlier this month that 152 people died of toxic drug overdoses in January, marking four consecutive months that the toll was less than 160.
Deaths in British Columbia in January decreased by more than 30% compared to the previous year.
There was recently a drop in deaths of drugs across North America, Health Canada declaring a 12% drop from January to September 2024, compared to the same period in 2023.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press