Vaughn Palmer: More NDP stumbles on drug decriminalization

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VICTORIA — The New Democrats this week faced more unwanted evidence of the shocking consequences of their decriminalization experiment in the province’s hospitals.

Nurses and other staff have been told not to stop openly using illicit drugs in the hospital, according to a leaked memo from the Island Health region.

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“It can be difficult for people who use substances not to use substances while in a facility,” the memo (described as a “resource document”) said in part. “Rather than requiring patients to stop using substances when accessing care or services, a harm reduction approach offers ways to provide care while meeting patients’ individual needs.”

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Other helpful tips included: “Offer supplies and make sure they are easy to access. If the patient has an IV, provide education on how to inject into the lines.”

When encountering a patient using an illicit substance, “assess immediate safety (overdose, flames, behavior); if it is safe, let the patient finish; if unsafe, take steps to address safety and recognize the patient, then return in five minutes to assess and discuss.”

The memo was introduced in the legislature by the BC United Opposition as a follow-up to one they provided earlier this month from the Northern Health Region. That memo told staff they could not take illicit drugs from patients, prevent their use or confiscate drugs from visitors.

The New Democrats attempted to discredit it as obsolete and requested assistance at a regional hospital. They also claimed it was “poorly worded,” suggesting it could have benefited from the confusing touch of NDP messaging wizards.

But the Island Health memo, dated March 14, further corroborates that the practice of turning a blind eye to illicit drugs in hospitals is widespread and continuing.

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This provoked a dismissive criticism from the president of the Nurses’ Union, Adriane Gear.

“The memo talks about how to provide patient-centered care,” he told Global TV’s Richard Zussman. “What it lacks is direction on how to keep nurses safe, and it involves allowing open and unrestricted consumption of illicit substances within healthcare spaces.”

Health Minister Adrian Dix responded to the latest memo during question period in the legislature. It wasn’t his best moment.

“Let me be clear to everyone. No one should have to deal with secondhand smoke in our hospitals. That is not allowed. It will not be allowed. It’s not allowed,” Dix declared, ignoring widespread evidence that the rule is regularly ignored.

The Minister of Health has appointed a task force to standardize rules and procedures related to the use of illicit drugs in hospitals. The goal is a policy to protect patients, staff and drug users alike.

“There will be a policy across British Columbia that sets out very clearly the expectations of everyone involved,” the Health Minister promised. “House members and others in BC will see that policy soon.”

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It has been four years since the New Democrats promised to accelerate decriminalization in their election platform. Two years ago, the federal government granted the exemption that allowed decriminalization to proceed.

The experiment itself has been underway for 15 months.

Only now is Dix beginning to address the implications for the most vulnerable institutions: the province’s hospitals. It’s hard to believe that this is the same minister who was so in control of the situation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Did you really not see this coming? Or was he simply pursuing the re-election agenda of a prime minister who has little of his predecessor’s ability to delegate?

Eby himself was surprised by another development related to the government’s harm reduction policy, when the opposition called for the publication of a report evaluating the safer supply and prescribing program for opioids.

The prime minister told reporters that the first time he heard about such a report was when the opposition raised it in question period.

His staff discovered that such a report did indeed exist and that it had been commissioned by provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

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“She is our independent public health officer,” the prime minister reminded reporters on Tuesday. “It is within her powers to order these types of documents.”

He paused to acknowledge how Henry’s independence came in handy in handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

The New Democrats often hid behind their edicts about which events could not take place, which businesses should close, and which schools would remain open.

Now, however, “sometimes there are moments of frustration, like yesterday, when the officer is doing a job that we are not aware of,” Eby said.

As for calls to release the report, Eby said don’t ask him.

“Dr. Henry commissioned this article, and for whatever reason he commissioned it, what the intent was, and where his work is going, I would direct it to Dr. Henry.”

The comment was another reminder of how far we have come from the depths of the pandemic, when the New Democrats granted Henry the status of a secular saint, beyond all criticism.

It has now become a source of frustration for a controlling Prime Minister bent on minimizing the consequences of his harm reduction strategy in an election year.

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