The seemingly unending opioid overdose crisis with its litany of deaths and near-deaths has not only sapped the energy if first responders, it’s made something that would have been unthinkable almost normal.
Nobody knows how many British Columbians now suffer from toxic brain injury, let alone how many Canadians. But the estimates range from the hundreds to the thousands. Then, there’s a much more complicated economic cost. We’re only now starting to understand the effect of billions of dollars earned in the illicit drug trade being laundered including through government-regulated casinos. It’s linked to the spike in Vancouver house prices, which has made this once most-livable region into an unaffordable one.
Because drugs remain illegal, police attention is focused on trafficking and the result has been a reduction in supply, while effective prevention programs have reduced demand.The second is that cannabis is legal here. Since legalization, there is growing pressure from drug users and grieving families for a safe supply of drugs. Their influence is evident in the recent from the B.C.
Regardless of what kind of policy would result from a national discussion, Portugal’s drug policy head, Dr. Joao Goulao, underlines that the success of its policies was only possible because the government earned the social licence to proceed.Initially, there were some large costs associated with expanding its treatment services and facilities . But those costs are now balanced out by reductions in addiction rates, HIV/AIDs infection rates, hospitalizations and lost job productivity.