Ottawa rejects Alberta’s proposal for tracking ‘safer supply’ drugs

The federal Liberal government is rejecting a proposal from the Alberta government to consider adding a “unique chemical identifier” to the pharmaceuticals being offered to users as an alternative to street drugs.

Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya’ara Saks wrote Monday to her counterpart in Alberta, saying that while she takes concerns about diversion seriously, the province’s proposal raises practical concerns.

Critics, including some addiction specialists, want the federal government to reconsider its support for programs that offer drug users pharmaceuticals like hydromorphone as an alternative to street drugs.

Experts say the country’s overdose crisis is largely being fuelled by an increasingly toxic drug supply. The majority of overdose deaths recorded from January to June 2023 involved fentanyl.

More than 40,000 people have died from opioid-related deaths since 2016, which is when the federal agency began collecting statistics on the phenomenon.

British Columbia was the first jurisdiction to offer drug users a supply of pharmaceutical alternatives through so-called “safer-supply” programs.

After the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Ottawa offered funds to other pilot programs in Ontario and New Brunswick, citing the heightened risk of pandemic-related restrictions and disruptions to the drug supply.

In the year since, critics have warned that some drug users are taking part in safer-supply programs, only to turn around and sell those drugs on the street.

The issue was flagged by Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, as a “common occurrence” in her recent review of her province’s safer supply program.

The scope of the problem is unclear, Henry said, but it underlines how diversion poses a