Federal Conservative Party Leader Pierre Polivre When asked about the ongoing drug crisis in BC and how federal and state governments are dealing with the issue, he didn’t chop his words Wednesday.
“The results are out. The discussion is over,” Polivre said.
“It was a disaster. An absolute failure.
“You need to look at the data, not just strolling the streets of East Vancouver, where addicts lie face-to-face on the pavement and people live permanently in tents and campsites.”
He said there has been a 300% increase in drug overdose deaths in the state since Justin Trudeau was elected prime minister in 2015.
According to the BC Coroners Service, there were 529 deaths from illegal drugs in 2015. That number will increase to 2,272 he will in 2022.
In British Columbia, 2,300 British Columbians died from toxic drug supplies in 2022.
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“Trudeau and NDP’s approach is on public display in Vancouver. This is a complete disaster — hell on earth,” Polyvre said.
Pilot project in British Columbia decriminalize Possession of small amounts of some drugs began Tuesday in a three-year experiment built on a three-year federal exemption from the Controlled Substances and Substances Act.
This exemption allows drug users to bring up to 2.5 grams of opioids such as heroin and fentanyl, crack and powdered cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA. Under this program, police do not seize small amounts of drugs from people, but instead distribute information about drugs. recovery option.
Polivre said his government would overturn the decriminalization policy and replace it with recovery and treatment if elected.
He pointed to what happened in Alberta, where the number of treatment beds increased from 4,000 to 8,000 and drug overdose deaths were cut in half.
In 2019, the Government of Alberta announced a four-year funding commitment. 4,000 addiction treatment spaces — is said to have doubled by the end of 2021.
Prime Minister Jason Kenny said at the time, “Each year, more than 8,000 Albertans will have access to previously inaccessible, fully funded medical detox home treatment and home recovery services.
by Alberta COVID-19 Opioid Response Surveillance Report, 626 people died from unintended opioid addiction in 2019. That number increased to 1,184 in 2020 and 1,621 in 2021.
However, that number will drop to 1,346 in 2022.
Colin Aitchison, spokesman for Alberta’s Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Nicholas Milliken, The state last week “We are cautiously optimistic about the continued downward trend since peaking in late 2021.
“Furthermore, hospitalizations and emergency room visits related to opioid addiction are at their lowest point since the start of the pandemic and have declined by 39% and 40%, respectively, since peaking in late 2021,” Aitchison added. I was.
Poilievre said plans at BC would have to change.
“We need to save our brothers, sisters, neighbors and friends from the scourge of drug addiction and the Polivre government will make sure we have the cure to do it.”
B.C. Premier David Eby was quick to respond to Mr. Poilievre, saying that managing the drug problem in B.C. was “a health care crisis, not a police crisis” and that decriminalization would destigmatize drug use. said it would help prevent future deaths. .
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