BC nurses urge federal government to decriminalize drugs as opioid overdoses escalate

Nurses in British Columbia are calling for significant changes to the way the federal government treats illicit opioids – including the decriminalization of drugs.

The BC Nurses Union announced Tuesday that it wanted to declare the opioid crisis a national public health emergency. He also calls for the decriminalization of personal possession of all opioids – and wants Ottawa to provide users with access to secure supplies.

"Nurses across Canada are increasingly worried. "You have to do more," says Christine Sorensen, President of BC Nurses & # 39; Union. "The preventable death of Ryan Hedican, of Comox, is only one example of the devastating consequences of the crisis on families and communities."

Ryan Hedican died of an overdose in April while he was using heroin containing fentanyl. The 26-year-old was found unresponsive during his absence from work.

Sorensen argues that Ottawa can reduce preventable deaths like Hedican by declaring a national public health emergency under the Emergency Measures Act

. reacted to the crisis by relaxing the rules to allow the expansion of supervised injection sites and make naloxone available without a prescription. However, Sorensen believes that they must do more.

"BC She has some of the most progressive harm reduction programs and policies and has been instrumental in promoting supervised injection sites," she says. Province continues to face one of the worst overdose crises in the country – Nearly 2,000 British Columbians died from a preventable opioid overdose in 2016 and 2017. And in March of this year, we saw overdoses in the history of the province. "

Following the death of Hedican, a petition was filed calling for decriminalization and secure access. in the House of Commons

CTV Vancouver Island contacted the Ministry of Health and Housing for a comment and the department said they would be in contact.