Giving up on addicts

Re: Opioid vending machines won’t help B.C.’s addicts. Jeremy Devine, Feb. 14 This piece, written by my classmate, Jeremy Devine, contains misinformation and stigma. I felt compelled to write a response because his views do not reflect mine or those of many of our fellow medical school class- mates at the University of Toronto.

The article suggests that British Columbia’s harm reduction approach is some illconceived mistake that jeopardizes the lives of people who use drugs. In fact, Mr. Devine’s ideological stance is not based on evidence, and if enacted, could endanger countless lives.

Like many British Columbians, I have seen firsthand the impact of harm reduction efforts. In particular, the B. C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and other organizations lead the world in harm reduction research. Their work has demonstrated again and again that harm reduction saves lives. Dr. Brandon Marshall demonstrated that Vancouver’s supervised injection facility Insite led to fewer overdoses in the Downtown Eastside.

We must centre our strategies on high- quality evidence and the lived experiences of people who use drugs. The issue is not some theoretical academic debate; real lives are at risk if we continue with the statusquo. Having compassion and realistic approaches for people who use opioids is not “giving up” on them. No one disputes that treatment for addictions should attempt to help people move past their addiction and lead healthier lives. But a central pillar of addictions treatment is harm reduction.

Preventing the unnecessary deaths of Canadians should be at the fore of our approach to the opioid epidemic. We must do all we can to keep our fellow Canadians who are struggling with addiction alive. Anything less would be giving up on them. Luke Swenson, fourth year medical student at the University of Toronto