British Columbia has announced a significant shift in its controversial "safer supply" drug program, mandating that most prescribed substances must now be consumed under direct medical supervision. The policy change, effective from the end of December 2025, aims to stem the diversion of government-provided opioids to the illicit market, a problem that critics say the province ignored for years.
A Long-Delayed Course Correction
The "safer supply" initiative, championed aggressively by the BC NDP government throughout the 2010s and 2020s, involved prescribing free recreational drugs—primarily the potent opioid hydromorphone—to people with addiction. The theory was that providing a regulated supply would deter use of more dangerous street drugs like fentanyl. However, the practice of allowing these drugs to be taken home with minimal oversight led to widespread resale.
Evidence of a growing diversion crisis began mounting publicly in mid-2023. A National Post investigation, citing over a dozen addiction doctors across Canada, reported that recipients were frequently selling their free hydromorphone to purchase illicit fentanyl. This diverted supply was flooding communities and fuelling new addictions. At the time, the BC NDP government dismissed these reports, insisting the program was not contributing to addictions or deaths.
Mounting Pressure and Ignored Warnings
Later in 2023, the warnings grew louder. Dozens of addiction doctors signed two public letters pleading for the government to implement mandatory witnessed consumption. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry released a report that same year, based on consultations with doctors and people who use drugs, which confirmed that safer supply diversion was a "common occurrence."
Despite this, the province took no substantive action. The crisis deepened in 2024. The RCMP conducted several high-profile busts of diverted hydromorphone, and the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police told a federal health committee that roughly half of the hydromorphone seized in the province could be traced back to the safer supply program.
The Leak That Forced Change
The government's stance finally shifted in early 2025, following a leaked internal ministerial report. That document revealed the province was secretly investigating the diversion issue and found that "a significant portion" of safer supply opioids were being resold and trafficked provincially, nationally, and internationally.
This leak precipitated the new policy. However, when interim prescribing guidelines were published in May 2025, addiction experts found them surprisingly weak. The recently mandated move to supervised consumption is seen as a necessary but long-overdue fix to a flawed policy. Critics argue that the province's delayed response allowed diverted drugs to circulate for years, exacerbating the very public health crisis the program was meant to solve.
The reform highlights the difficult balance in harm reduction between providing low-barrier access to a safer drug supply and preventing those substances from causing unintended community harm. The BC government now faces scrutiny over why it took years of mounting evidence and public pressure to implement a basic safeguard that medical professionals had long advocated.
