By David P. Ball
---
British Columbia could soon see its one supply of prescription heroin to help save drug user’s lives during the fentanyl crisis — but only if governments show some political will, says the province’s top doctor.

Former Provincial Health Officer Dr. Perry Kendall, who retired in 2018, passed the torch to Dr Bonnie Henry — who is now the respected face of B.C.’s COVID-19 pandemic response.

Since then, he’s become co-interim Executive Director of the B.C. Centre on Substance Use. But he is also taking up an effort to do something that’s long been a challenge for public health officials working on drug policy.

Health experts agree a safe supply of pharmaceutical-grade narcotics — from heroin to cocaine, dilaudid to benzos and other sought-after substances — is a key pillar of reducing overdose deaths.

But neither B.C., nor Canada, is capable of sourcing enough heroin supply to meet the demand. So during the pandemic’s emergency safe supply plan pioneered by the province, heroin was one drug of the table. Users had to seek out similar alternatives, or analogs.

Now, Dr Kendall is involved with a company trying to produce heroin right here in Canada. Fair Price Pharma hopes to manufacture a safer supply of prescription heroin, and is led by the researcher who led the famous NAOMI and SALOME prescription heroin studies that proved scientifically that a safe supply actually saves lives.

But there’s a catch, Dr Kendall explains. And that falls to governments both provincial and federal to clear the legal obstacles to realizing their vision.