Photo: Contributed

As the opioid crisis in Canada worsens, nurses are calling on the federal government to take stronger action.  

"Harm reduction is not enough. Decriminalization is the only long-term approach that will save lives," according to the BC Nurses Union.

"About 90 percent of those who died last year were alone inside a home when they suffered an overdose. Supervised injection sites alone don’t help these people," stated BCNU president  Christine Sorensen.

Sorensen says decriminalization is needed to remove the widespread stigma toward addiction and against those who use illegal drugs.

The BCNU has asked the federal government to declare a national public health emergency, decriminalize personal possession of all opioids and provide access to a safe opioid supply.

"BC has some of the most progressive harm reduction programs and policies and has been a leader in promoting supervised injection sites, yet the province continues to face one of the worst overdose crises in the country – almost 2,000 British Columbians died of preventable opioid overdose in 2016 and 2017 — and in March of this year, we saw overdoses spike to 160, the second highest monthly toll in the province’s history,” stated Sorensen.

The federal government has eased the rules to allow the expansion of supervised injection sites and has made it possible to access naloxone without a prescription

Sorensen stated that while harm reduction is a comprehensive approach to substance use, these policies and practices need to be broadened in order to address the toxicity of the drug supply and reframe the way drug use is approached. 

"We need to stop treating the most vulnerable members of our society like criminals. We've learned from countries like Portugal that when you decriminalize, people feel safe enough to ask for treatment."

Sorensen argues that by declaring the current crisis a National Public Health Emergency under the Emergencies Act, Ottawa can begin to effectively address the issue and reduce preventable deaths.

"There is a growing concern among nurses across BC that more needs to be done," she stated. 

Sorensen is encouraging the public to sign a petition to the House of Commons. 

The petition calls for the decriminalization of personal possession and safe unadulterated access to substances to prevent poisoning and overdose due to a contaminated source.