No evidence in B.C. of widespread safer supply drug diversion: RCMP

Mounties in B.C. say there is no evidence to currently support claims of “widespread diversion of safer supply drugs” in the province or Canada’s illicit market.

In a statement Monday, the BC RCMP said it conducts “thousands of drug trafficking investigations” each year. Through those investigations, illicit, unregulated, and prescription drugs are seized, Mounties explain.

“The seizure of prescription drugs, such as narcotics and opioids, that are no longer in the possession of their prescribed owner is something the police have had to deal with on many occasions,” the statement from John Brewer, assistant commissioner, criminal operations officer, Core Policing, reads.

“However, the presence of confirmed safer supply prescriptions are in the minority of drug seizures. While there have been recent investigations that have resulted in notable quantities being seized, there is currently no evidence to support a widespread diversion of safer supply drugs in the illicit market in BC or Canada.”

The statement comes after a large seizure of drugs in Prince George prompted controversy.

Last week, the Prince George RCMP announced it had seized over 10,000 pills, including prescription and non-prescription drugs, following a months-long investigation. The RCMP claimed the “Morphine and Hydromorphone (also known as Dilaudid) are safe supply prescription drugs,” adding the department had “noted an alarming trend over the last year in the amount of prescription drugs located during drug trafficking investigations.”

“Organized crime groups are actively involved in the redistribution of safe supply and prescription drugs, some of which are then moved out of British Columbia and resold. The reselling of prescription drugs significantly increases the profits realized by Organized Crime,” Corp. Jennifer Cooper said in a statement.

In their statement, Mounties did not say how they confirmed the seized drugs came from the B.C. prescribed alternatives program.

The suggestion raised the alarm with many, including Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who directed two of her ministers to organize an emergency meeting with their B.C. counterparts to talk about alleged diverted safer supply drugs.

In response, Premier David Eby said he was open to meeting with Smith. While he said there is a risk of diversion with all prescribed medications, he stated that the drugs listed by the Prince George RCMP in this most recent bust did not appear within the province’s prescribed alternatives program.

“I do want to be clear that the recent RCMP seizure of drugs … are not part of the prescribed alternatives program in British Columbia at all, and clearly could not be diverted from that program. We’re also aware that there is a serious issue of counterfeit hydromorphone pills are made from fentanyl, on the streets,” the B.C. premier said.

“They said they were from that program; it is not actually possible for that to be true.”

The BC RCMP says it has “increased awareness” to help officers “better identify cases where safer supply drugs may be present within their investigations.”

“We are continuing to work with our partners in order to test seized drugs, in order to both definitively confirm and source them. We are committed to working with local, provincial and national agencies with respect to all drug-related crimes,” the statement Monday concluded.

Expanding prescribed alternatives

In February, B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry recommended the province not just continue offering people who use drugs prescribed alternatives to the illicit, toxic street supply, but called for the program to be expanded to help more British Columbians.

As part of her review, Henry noted the program is “an ethical way to reduce harms for PWUD (people who use drugs).” She recommended more drugs — even prescription heroin — be made available to those in need.

Dr. Alice Veroni, executive director, ethics, Provincial Health Services Authority, added “diversion, in and of itself, isn’t something we should think of as good or bad.”

“Diversion is something we should think of in terms of its unmet need. Diversion happens when people’s needs are not being met in other ways,” she explained.