A new study shows that drug overdose hospitalizations increased by 33 per cent after the safer drug supply program was introduced in 2020. The safer program dispenses pharmaceutical grade opioids to drug users who register with the program.

The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, also found that if the effects of drug decriminalization are added, the overall increase in hospitalizations rose to 58 per cent.

On that basis, the authors conclude that neither the safer supply program nor the decriminalization project had the intended effect of mitigating the opioid crisis.

Safer supply has been criticized previously on the grounds that recipients of these drugs are not required to consume them on site.

Instead, some take them away and sell them on the street. That is a fair criticism.

However the conclusion drawn by the CMAJ study, that the increase in hospitalizations is due both to safer supply and decriminalization, is........

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