Provincial Health Officer’s Assertions Is Pro-Drug Propaganda
(VANCOUVER, BC) – Following the release of a pro-drug propaganda missive title “Alternative to Unregulated Drugs” by the British Columbia Office of the Provincial Health Officer, Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions (FDPS)President Dr. Kevin Sabet, an international drug policy expert and former three-time U.S. White presidential drug policy advisor, along with PROSPER, a new B.C.-based organization, the Policy Roundtable On Substance Prevention Education and Recovery, released a scathing statement pushing back against the dangerous and false narrative forwarded by Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry:
“This report is the latest effort by pro-drug activists to misinform and misguide the public. Drug normalization and legalization has consistently proven to be a complete disaster. The dangerous policies of British Columbia are being rolled back specifically because of the plethora of problems, from open air drug usage in public spaces including public parks and hospitals, to the thriving illicit market, that they created.
“This latest report from the Provincial Health Authority is more fantasy than fact, and it’s outrageous that a government agency tasked with protecting the public would publish such misguided and ill-informed materials. BC’s disastrous drug policy experiment was wildly unpopular, just like it was in the US state of Oregon. BC’s policies have been an unbridled failure that’s making communities less safe and creating serious threats to public health. No wonder Addictions Minister Whiteside has distanced herself from the report.
“The Provincial Health Officer’s assertion that prohibition creates more potent, deadly drugs is an out-and-out lie. In fact, the experience of legal opioids and legal marijuana has proven that the addiction-for-profit industry is deeply motivated to create more dangerously potent drugs to fuel sales. Before legalizing, cannabis products were rarely, if ever, 99-percent THC as they are so commonly found now.
“This pro-drug propaganda claims regulation will create pure products and consistent doses. That’s outrageous. The latest players in the addiction-for-profit industry have taken their playbook directly from Big Pharma and Big Tobacco, focusing on hooking a new generation of users who become increasingly reliant on their mind-altering drugs. Assumptions about responsible use are equally laughable, as these products are addictive and psychoactive, and people are not responsibly using any legal substances on the market today.
“The idea of informed consumers responsibly using and comparing this to informed consumption of grocery products is so embarrassing one must wonder if this is a satirical document. Consumers are informed of nutrition facts, yet obesity and morbidities are rampant all over the world. Drugs are infinitely more dangerous and capable of ruining more live.
“While B.C.’s government has shot down Dr. Henry’s recommendations, there should be wider condemnations of these policies by the province’s elected officials and the public health infrastructure.”