This week I’m bringing you a story that I’ve been working on since the end of the summer. When I went to this year’s International Overdose Awareness Day march in Nanaimo on Aug. 29, I wanted to do something different than the other daily news outlets, which provided solid reporting on the event itself. 

Instead, I was curious how the province’s prescribed alternatives program — also known as safer supply — has been impacted since it changed to a witnessed consumption model in February. The program has helped people avoid unpredictable and often deadly street drugs by providing them with safe, prescribed options they could take home.

When I first reported on the changes, people I spoke with who were accessing the program were concerned that the new guidelines would mean they would not be able to avoid using street drugs. They worried they would be at risk of overdoses and a return to the chaotic life of having to score drugs from black-market dealers instead of picking them up at the local pharmacy. 

One thing I learned in my reporting is that the often political dichotomy between harm reduction and recovery with safer supply is something that is not rooted in the experience of doctors and patients on the program. Most patients who are accessing the program are also undergoing Opioid Agonist Treatment at the same time to try and stop using drugs and support their recovery in the long-term. 

I am grateful to the people who spoke with me for this story and hope you find it informative. 

Thank you for reading,

Mick Sweetman

‘Like a bomb dropping’: Safer supply changes leave patients struggling for stability

A local doctor says the province’s new safer supply rules are more about politics than public health.

I support The Discourse because...

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"Great in-depth articles that are local and relevant."

— From our newsletter survey.

Council corner

The city’s finance and audit committee will meet on Wednesday, Oct. 15 to discuss changes to the city’s debt management policy to allow long-term borrowing without electoral approval when the city is within the allowable limit set by provincial legislation. Also on the agenda are recommendations for $1 million for a contingency fund, an application for $1.1 million in federal funds for a cyber security cooperation program and quarterly budget and single and sole source purchase reports. 

A special council meeting will be held on Thursday, Oct. 16 that will deal with various bylaw contraventions around building permits in the city. 

On the Island

🌊 Save our Forests Comox Valley members are not alone in their frustration with the province’s lack of action on old-growth protection. Comox Valley reporter Madeline Dunnett has the story. 

In other news

👉 Naloxone kits will be in all public schools next fall, following a ministry directive that will ensure school staff are able to respond to a drug overdose, as well as having automated external defibrillators devices for heart attacks. The Nanaimo News Bulletin has the story.

👉 Pacifica Housing is planning to build 160 units of affordable housing with three, four-storey buildings at Third Street and Wakesaiah Avenue. About 20 per cent of the units will be for middle-income earners but the rest would be geared to low-income earners or only go for $500 a month, according to Pacifica’s chief executive Carolina Ibarra. Nanaimo News Now has the story.

👉 Striking government and postal workers joined forces on Friday to show their solidarity with each other in front of the provincial government building on Labieux Road. Nanaimo News Now has the story. Since the rally, postal workers have moved to a strategy of rotating strikes, which will mean workers in specific cities will strike as negotiations continue instead of a national strike, CTV reports.

👉 Campbell River’s Tanille Johnston launched her bid for the federal NDP leadership in Nanaimo last week, the first Indigenous women in the race. CHLY has the story.

Local NDP members will also have the first chance to meet the leadership candidates with Johnston, Rob Aston, Avi Lewis and Heather McPherson making their pitch at the Nanaimo Ladysmith NDP's Annual General Meeting on Thursday evening at the Beban Park Social Centre according to a press release sent to The Discourse.

👉 A VIU chemistry professor is researching why some cancers are resistant to immunotherapies. Kyle Duncan’s team is working on “building custom instrumentation to map molecules in tissue and understand what is occurring on a molecular level,” the Nanaimo News Bulletin reports.

Community photo

This past weekend was the Gabriola Thanksgiving Studio Tour. It included Dave and Tammie Hennigar's Fishhead Studio which is known for its sculptures using reclaimed and recycled materials. Photo by Mick Sweetman / The Discourse.

Be part of it!

🎉 Keep an eye out for more posts about our reporters' extraordinary work at @thediscourse.ca on Bluesky. You can tap the bell on our profile to get a notification when we post a new story. 

You can also now follow us on TikTok and YouTube.

You can also follow our journalists and sister publications in the Discourse Community Publishing network by clicking “follow all” in our starter pack.

What did you think of this newsletter?

⭐    ⭐⭐    ⭐⭐⭐    ⭐⭐⭐⭐    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐