Opinion | We have to keep people alive before we can help them fight addiction

No one disputes that the ideal outcome is for people to stop using drugs. But that can’t happen instantly

To those uninitiated in the global fight against the opioid crisis, the idea of delivering safe opioids through vending machines might sound ridiculous, counterintuitive and even dangerous.

The idea was raised late last year by Dr. Mark Tyndall, executive medical director of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, who suggested that machines could dispense pills at supportive housing facilities or supervised consumption sites.

Many Canadians – including one of my medical school classmates who wrote a column on the topic for the National Post – believe that the government’s focus should be getting people off drugs, not supplying them with them. Alberta United Conservative Party leader Jason Kenney echoed that sentiment recently, saying in an interview that, “Helping addicts inject poison into their bodies is not a solution to the problem of addiction.”

But a mountain of research and rooms full of professionals will tell you that it is, in fact, part of a solution: that addressing addiction is a long-term effort. The opioid epidemic is killing at least eight people per day in this country. And as we struggle to fight it, we don’t always have time to fight the addiction first. We need to fight to keep people alive.

At its core, harm reduction is about showing compassion to people with addiction issues and removing the stigma that may keep them from seeking help. It recognizes that if people are going to use drugs, they might as well do so in as safe an environment as possible. Most importantly, it’s about prioritizing a person’s life ahead of their addiction.

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During the Canada Post strike announced September 25, 2025, the following measures will be undertaken to minimize service disruption to BC-CfE clients and providers.

  • The BC-CfE Laboratory has transitioned to private courier for delivery of outgoing reports and documents. Results required urgently can be faxed upon request. (Lab Contact Information: Phone 604-806-8775; FAX 604-806-9463)
  • The BC-CfE Drug Treatment Program (DTP) will fax outgoing forms and documents to the provider’s office. (DTP Contact Information: Phone 604-806-8515; FAX 604-806-9044)
  • St. Paul’s Hospital Ambulatory Pharmacy has transitioned to private courier for delivery of medications. We recommend requesting medication at least 2 weeks in advance in case of delivery delays, particularly to rural/remote parts of BC. (Contact Information: Phone 1-800-547-3622; FAX 604-806-8675)

During the Canada Post strike, we recommend that documents be faxed or couriered to our sites, versus utilization of regular mail service

The BC-CfE Laboratory is streamlining reporting processes for certain tests in order to simplify distribution and record-keeping, and to ensure completeness of results. Beginning September 2, 2025, results for the ‘Resistance Analysis of HIV-1 Protease and Reverse Transcriptase’ (Protease-RT) and ‘HIV-1 Integrase Resistance Genotype’ tests will be combined into a single ‘HIV-1 Resistance Genotype Report’.
For more details and example reports, please click on the button below