The BC government has approached the federal government and asked to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs as a way to help reduce the growing number of over doses in BC and they have the support of the alcohol and drug counselor in Smithers.
Mel Bazil from the friendship centre says such a move would really help reduce the stigma surrounding drug use and help drug users get the support they need. Bazil mentioned that people often turn to drugs as a form of self-medication. He also said what we are facing is a trauma crisis, not a drug crisis.
The BC coroner service says 1,200 people died from drug poisoning between January to July of this year. that includes 23 deaths in the northwest and 77 looking across the north as a whole. Bazil stated that greater access to safe non-tainted drugs and a variety of other health services are needed to prevent more deaths.
Another thing that Bazil said was that if Smithers had a full range of services from detox to recovery facilities it would create more connections to services abusers really need.
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