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00:00On this edition of The Fifth Estate, we're in Vancouver's downtown Eastside, the epicenter of a poison drug crisis in Canada.
00:13Since 2016, more than 4,000 people have died of opioid overdoses in this city.
00:19More than 50,000 across Canada.
00:22The main killer is fentanyl.
00:26I was overdosing like upwards of twice a day.
00:30I think the way that I'm going now, like, I could die any day now.
00:33Down here, it's regressing the light.
00:37A panicked response that involved prescribing millions of pills.
00:41It wasn't working. The dose was too low.
00:43We're spending hundreds of millions of dollars on our treatments and they're not working.
00:48And sometimes ended up in the wrong hands.
00:51These guys are counting pills right here. There you go.
00:53Did politics get in the way of saving lives?
00:56I think people have been manipulated politically by certain actors who want to stoke fear.
01:04We talked to experts who had the ear of the Prime Minister.
01:07We had the highest people in the government intrigued by this idea.
01:10And reveal why it all fell short.
01:13Safe supply itself is not a failure. Safe supply has never been tried yet.
01:17If this was happening to another group of people and we could do something about it and we've chosen not to.
01:24It's a crisis. We need help.
01:26I'm Stephen D'Souza. This is The Fifth Estate.
01:28What does a person who uses drugs look like?
01:46It's not always what or who you think.
01:49Each one carries their own story and faces their own unique set of challenges.
02:01Often masking years of pain and trauma at the root of their addiction.
02:05So, I mean, even as we're talking now, you're already thinking about where you have to go or how you have to get your next...
02:15Yeah, it's constantly on my mind.
02:20I meet TJ Felix in Vancouver on a Friday in September around noon.
02:26They say they've already done two shots.
02:29Just one would have been enough to kill me.
02:32Some people have this idea of what a person who uses drugs should look like after taking drugs, right?
02:39Like there's...
02:40Yeah, do I look like kind of a dope?
02:43No.
02:44What do you say to somebody who may have that stereotype in your head listening to you now?
02:49I mean, we all could be coming in all shapes and sizes.
02:51I mean, drug users come from all walks of life.
02:55I am a two-spirit Kelmuk, indigenous to the interior of B.C.
03:00We're each individuals and we have our individual needs.
03:04And I think medically that means acknowledging, like, that we have specific drugs that we use.
03:10And if we're not given those exact drugs, then, like, treatment doesn't work.
03:17They get their drugs on the street because, like so many chronic drug users, they don't have a safe, regulated option.
03:28If I had, like, a steady, like, reliable, you know, dose from a doctor or something,
03:33but that's not something that's really possible for me at the moment, it's a matter of life and death, really.
03:40T.J. Felix grew up beside Eagle River and Shuswap Lake in B.C.'s interior.
03:58They say they were exposed to drugs and alcohol
04:01earlier than anyone should be.
04:06On and off, since I was about nine years old, I've struggled with alcoholism and chronic drug use.
04:16Yeah, I had a pretty fucked up childhood, I guess you could say.
04:19Yeah.
04:20By 2007, at the age of 18, T.J. was living in Vancouver, creating music and art at a prolific pace,
04:33but also falling in and out of treatment programs.
04:37I think that it's entirely possible to be a functioning and contributing member of society
04:42while being a chronic drug user.
04:43But, you know, it's also, like, a very fine line, I think, that I've crossed many times.
04:55Tonight, T.J. is heading to a rehearsal for an upcoming show.
04:59Just steps from their Vancouver apartment in the trendy Mount Pleasant neighborhood,
05:03they lean in to a familiar ritual.
05:06Music still helps me get through the day.
05:10It's how I communicate, really.
05:13I love making music.
05:21If music is their healing ritual, it's in contrast to their other ritual.
05:26Today, T.J. uses a dangerous mix of fentanyl and methamphetamine 10 times every 24 hours.
05:41The euphoria is long, long gone.
05:45I don't really get any pleasure out of using.
05:48It's just something that, at this point, has become a substitute for community and therapy
05:56and everything else that functioning adults, you know, need in their daily lives.
06:06T.J. says using also keeps away the painful and dangerous symptoms of withdrawal.
06:12I would kill myself if I had to go through intense withdrawal.
06:16Again, it's something that you avoid at any cost.
06:21And the worst, deepest level of addiction is when you're just using to avoid that.
06:29It's no life at all, really.
06:34When it revolves just around you not being sick.
06:36TJ was one of thousands of drug users caught by surprise
06:50when fentanyl began to take over the drug supply.
06:57The synthetic opioid, which is up to 100 times stronger than morphine,
07:01was a cheap and convenient way for dealers to make more potent drugs.
07:07In British Columbia, overdoses nearly doubled between 2015 and 2016
07:12and provincial officials declared an emergency.
07:16Mark Tindall is a physician whose research put him on the front lines of the HIV
07:23and then the drug crisis in Vancouver.
07:26At one point, there were two or three deaths a day in the downtown east side.
07:31And in the province, there was six or seven.
07:35So we knew something had rapidly switched.
07:38And a lot of the deaths had no heroin at all.
07:41It appeared that people were now using fentanyl.
07:50By 2016, fentanyl was showing up in two-thirds of the nearly 1,000 drug deaths in the province.
07:57The pharmaceutical once used for chronic pain and post-surgery
08:01was being mass-produced by organized crime in clandestine labs, flooding the streets.
08:07So 2017 doubled again.
08:092018, and now all of a sudden we're up to like 2,000 deaths a year.
08:14And 80, 90% were all fentanyl on toxicology.
08:18It had a very chilling impact.
08:21Everybody felt at risk.
08:23And they were at risk if they were buying this on the street.
08:28Tindall's patients were among those at risk, including Mark Desjarlais.
08:31Chronic drug user, he's known Tindall for 25 years.
08:36I wouldn't be here without him.
08:39He really saved my life.
08:42He did more than what a doctor should, you know.
08:47He went above and beyond to help me.
08:50And I appreciated that.
08:51Tindall's help came at a time when the crisis was making daily headlines.
08:56Deaths caused by overdoses of opioids and other drugs.
08:59With a public health emergency declared in B.C.
09:02This is an extraordinary challenge.
09:04Overdose fatalities in the province are going up, not down.
09:08As the death toll kept climbing,
09:13Tindall started prescribing patients like Desjarlais hydromorphone pills,
09:18an opioid also known under the brand name Dilaudid.
09:21It was a drug already regulated and approved,
09:24though not for chronic opioid users.
09:26It was easy to prescribe.
09:30It was readily available.
09:31It was cheap.
09:32And it was already established on the street.
09:34So Dilaudid had already become kind of part of the drug economy.
09:38Knowing that I could write them a prescription for an opioid that wouldn't kill them,
09:43I just felt that was the only ethical thing that I should be doing.
09:47For Desjarlais, having an alternative to the street supply was like dodging a bullet.
09:52What did it mean for your life to be able to be on that program?
09:55Make things easier and, you know, do something that's clean and know what's in it.
10:04When you don't have a safe supply,
10:06or when you don't have it, you know, in that way,
10:09where does your supply come from?
10:10Just from the street, I guess.
10:12Just from the street, yeah.
10:14And does that concern you,
10:15not knowing sometimes where it may be coming from?
10:18I try not to think about it.
10:20Yeah.
10:21You know, I mean,
10:23down here it's the rest of the lat, I guess.
10:26But these tiny 8-milligram pills couldn't help everyone.
10:36For Tommy Kortzeris, who's been using in Vancouver for over 22 years,
10:42it wasn't enough.
10:43It's very difficult to come off fentanyl and supplement it with some kind of pill.
10:56Coming up,
10:57what happens when the government turns its attention to the crisis and funds alternatives?
11:02Will the Prime Minister cancel the dollars for drugs?
11:05Just stop it and save lives!
11:08And we'll show how the fallout was being felt on the streets.
11:11Oh, I've seen them exchange pills,
11:13I've seen them do a crack,
11:14and they look around like,
11:16oh, nobody's watching.
11:17What do you mean?
11:17The whole world is watching.
11:18The following program contains mature subject matter.
11:27Viewer discretion is advised.
11:42Claudia West has traveled the streets of Vancouver's downtown Eastside for 14 years.
11:48This is home.
11:52The people here,
11:53her family.
11:56That's going to be a lot more homeless people.
11:59She is a chronic drug user,
12:02and three times a day,
12:03she makes a journey
12:04for a safe supply that keeps her stable.
12:11Hi!
12:12When I was really sick four years ago,
12:14they asked me if I wanted to join,
12:16and I go,
12:17really?
12:17And then do it here,
12:19and that's okay too.
12:20Here, she gets an injection
12:21of diacetylmorphine,
12:23pharmaceutical heroin.
12:25She's part of an injectable program
12:27helping 83 chronic drug users.
12:30This model was the first of its kind
12:32in North America.
12:33I joined it,
12:36and it's pretty good.
12:37Yeah,
12:37it's been keeping me clean for December 9 will be four years.
12:42Four years clean.
12:43From the street drugs.
12:44Yeah.
12:44So tell me about the street drugs.
12:46What were you using before?
12:47I was using heroin and fentanyl,
12:50and the benzos in it,
12:53you know,
12:54it was getting pretty bad.
12:57In 2021,
12:58while in hospital for a serious infection,
13:01she was approached with a chance
13:02to join the program.
13:03How does it help you?
13:05Well,
13:05it keeps me clean from the street drugs,
13:07which is a big thing.
13:09Yeah,
13:09yeah.
13:10Is it about the high,
13:11or is it about just...
13:12It's not about the high,
13:13it just makes you...
13:14It just makes you feel good.
13:17Like,
13:17like I got stiff every day
13:19when I wake up,
13:20and the shot loosens my body.
13:23Yeah,
13:23it just loosens it right out.
13:25Yeah.
13:27All right,
13:27so tell me about this poster.
13:29Yeah,
13:29so this is a copy
13:30of the original advertisement
13:32we launched Safe Supply in.
13:35So we took out a full-page ad
13:37in the Georgia Straits
13:38about Safe Supply
13:40and why it was needed.
13:41Back in 2018.
13:422018, yes.
13:43Well...
13:44While Crosstown
13:47had been running its program
13:48since 2005,
13:50the term Safe Supply
13:52didn't enter the conversation
13:53until 2018,
13:56thanks in part
13:57to Jordan Westfall.
13:58I guess the message
13:59in the middle there
14:00is quite clear.
14:00People never have to worry
14:01that the next sip of beer
14:02they drink will kill them.
14:03Why can't we all have that safety?
14:05Yeah.
14:06At the time,
14:07he was a high-achieving
14:08university student,
14:10but in private,
14:11he was hiding an addiction.
14:12It felt at times
14:13I was living almost
14:14a double life, right?
14:16Honour student,
14:17sort of respectable,
14:18and then the other side,
14:19you know,
14:19seeking drugs on the streets
14:21and just the sort of
14:23sometimes agony
14:24that comes with it,
14:25you know.
14:27Westfall got sober
14:28and came to Vancouver
14:29to tackle the drug crisis.
14:31He entered grad school
14:32in public health.
14:33It seemed very clear to me
14:35that everybody
14:36was using these drugs
14:37that they didn't really know
14:38what was in them.
14:40There's a person
14:40who used these drugs
14:41that when you know
14:42what they are
14:43and they're predictable,
14:45you're way less likely
14:46to overdose.
14:47For Westfall,
14:48safe supply meant
14:49legalizing and regulating
14:51opioids, stimulants,
14:52and hallucinogens.
14:54He outlined his ideas
14:55in this 2018 concept paper,
14:57which also included
15:01expanding access
15:02to the kind of
15:03pharmaceutical heroin
15:04Claudia West
15:05was using at Crosstown.
15:07That program proved it.
15:09The evidence proved it.
15:10This idea caught on
15:10pretty quick.
15:11Within a year of us
15:13sort of launching
15:14this term safe supply,
15:15I was, you know,
15:16talking to the Prime Minister
15:18about it less than
15:18a year later.
15:19It started to create
15:20just a rallying cry
15:21for people on the streets
15:22who really needed this.
15:24In 2019,
15:26Health Canada created
15:27an expert advisory group
15:28to provide input
15:30on proposed pilot programs.
15:32Westfall was made co-chair,
15:34pushing for legal
15:35and regulated drugs.
15:37But he quickly realized
15:39the group wasn't willing
15:40to go that far.
15:42Take this drug we already have,
15:43just give it out to people,
15:45and it's fine.
15:46You know, problem solved.
15:48The thing is,
15:4850,000 people have died
15:50of overdose
15:50and preventable death
15:51in this country.
15:52Everything needs to change.
15:54Westfall realized
15:55that even having the ear
15:57of Prime Minister
15:57Justin Trudeau
15:58wasn't enough.
16:00So we're presenting
16:01and encouraging
16:02safe supply
16:03to the Prime Minister
16:04who's asking,
16:05what's the strongest evidence?
16:06What are the options
16:06with the strongest evidence?
16:07And we, you know,
16:09took them through
16:09the concept paper.
16:11But at Health Canada,
16:14on this expert advisory group,
16:16the conversation is different.
16:19Health Canada supported
16:20hydromorphone pills
16:21as safe supply.
16:23They were available,
16:24easy to dispense,
16:25and some research showed
16:27they led to less street drug use
16:28and fewer overdoses.
16:32But internal notes
16:34obtained by the Fifth Estate
16:35show advisory group members
16:37flagged the potential
16:38for diversion
16:39as early as 2019
16:41and highlighted the success
16:43of options Westfall supported.
16:46We know now,
16:47and we knew then,
16:48that these tablets
16:49are not as strong
16:50as a drug legal and regulated
16:53for someone specifically
16:54using street fentanyl.
16:56It'd be like, you know,
16:57if you have a cup of coffee
16:58every morning
16:59and we took your cup of coffee away
17:01and just gave you
17:01a teaspoon of coffee
17:02and said, you know,
17:03try and start your day with that.
17:05For most people,
17:06it wouldn't work.
17:07But it's a fight
17:08you want to take on, right?
17:09Yeah, yeah.
17:11Claudia West also knew
17:12that the pills,
17:13often called dillies,
17:15didn't work for everyone.
17:16One of the things
17:17we've heard
17:17is that people say
17:18the people
17:19who have prescriptions
17:21for Dilaudid,
17:21they take those drugs
17:22and they sell them elsewhere.
17:24Yeah, yeah.
17:25A lot of them do,
17:26yeah, they trade it for dope.
17:28Yeah.
17:29What do they trade it for?
17:30For heroin and coke.
17:32Yeah.
17:32Yeah.
17:32Do you see a lot of that?
17:33Yeah.
17:34Yeah.
17:34How often do you think
17:35that happens?
17:36Every day?
17:37Yeah.
17:37Yeah.
17:38Every day, yeah.
17:41What Wes described
17:42is called diversion,
17:43the selling of prescription pills
17:45to others.
17:46This sparked debate
17:47about the intent
17:48of safe supply.
17:50Supporters said
17:51diverted pills
17:51were still safer
17:52than the street supply.
17:54My common sense plan
17:55to put the resources...
17:56But opponents
17:56loudly called
17:57on the federal government
17:58to shut safe supply down.
18:01The Prime Minister
18:02has spent
18:03$100 million
18:04on so-called
18:06safe supply.
18:07Turns out
18:07they're being resold
18:08to other addicts
18:10in order to raise
18:11the money
18:11to buy deadly fentanyl.
18:13Will the Prime Minister
18:14cancel the dollars
18:15for drugs
18:15and instead
18:16put the resources
18:17into treatment
18:18for addicts?
18:19Mr. Speaker,
18:20we are pretty fed up
18:22with this fight
18:23against evidence-based
18:24programs
18:25that actually
18:26are saving lives.
18:27We cannot allow
18:28the Conservatives
18:29to take us back
18:31to the failed ideology
18:32of the past
18:33so just stop it
18:35and save lives!
18:37In B.C.,
18:39the opposition Conservatives
18:40leaked a report
18:41revealing the NDP government
18:43new safer supply pills
18:45are not being consumed
18:46by their intended recipients.
18:49Were being diverted
18:50and trafficked,
18:51they had proof
18:52from vehicle searches.
18:53They also identified
18:5560 pharmacies
18:56offering incentives
18:58like cash
18:59to patients.
19:02In London, Ontario,
19:04where some local doctors
19:05had been trying out
19:06their own versions
19:07of safe supply,
19:08Diversion made headlines
19:09when police seized
19:11over 11,000
19:12Dilaudid pills
19:13in 2024.
19:14The prescription drugs
19:16are being used
19:17as currency
19:19and individuals
19:21are using
19:23the diverted
19:24safe supply
19:25to obtain
19:26fentanyl.
19:29These guys
19:29are counting pills
19:30right here.
19:31There you go.
19:33And in Ottawa's Chinatown,
19:35one clinic
19:35became a flashpoint
19:36in the Diversion debate.
19:38Oh, they're doing crack
19:39right there.
19:40And a neighbouring
19:41store owner
19:41had had enough.
19:43Uncomfortable.
19:45I've had employees
19:46quit because of this,
19:48because they threaten them
19:48when they say,
19:49hey, please move
19:49from in front of the door.
19:51At the time,
19:52Fadi Daya
19:52captured surveillance
19:53outside his cannabis shop.
19:55You know,
19:55people who are going
19:56to watch this
19:56are going to think
19:57it's ironic
19:57that, you know,
19:58here you are
19:59selling cannabis,
20:00but you're complaining
20:01about drugs.
20:02Yeah, but this is not
20:03a hard drug.
20:04Cannabis is not an addiction.
20:07These drugs
20:07are addiction
20:08that could take control
20:09of a human.
20:10He showed us videos
20:11he captured
20:11of what he believes
20:12are safe supply pills
20:14being exchanged
20:15in drug deals
20:16involving people
20:17from an addiction clinic
20:18a few doors down.
20:19You've seen people
20:20just exchanging the pills
20:21that they've just gotten?
20:22Oh, I've seen them
20:23exchange pills.
20:23I've seen them do a crack.
20:25Sometimes these guys,
20:26they think they're smart.
20:27They step away
20:28from the building,
20:28they come over here
20:29or over here
20:30and they look around
20:32like, oh, nobody's watching.
20:33What do you mean?
20:33The whole world is watching.
20:37Ottawa City Councilor
20:39Ariel Troster
20:39has also watched firsthand
20:41the shift in her community.
20:43Immediately,
20:44within days
20:45of coming into
20:45the neighborhood,
20:46an entire criminal ecosystem
20:48developed around
20:50the clinic
20:50immediately
20:51and it was
20:52obvious to everyone.
20:54You were seeing
20:54diversion happening
20:55right out in the open?
20:56Absolutely.
20:57We all did.
20:58Literally,
20:58we would see people
20:59walk out of the clinic,
21:00pull out their bottle,
21:01somebody else counting pills,
21:03we would see the exchange.
21:04When you were on the panel,
21:06none of this came
21:07as a surprise
21:07to Jordan Westfall.
21:09Was there a warning
21:10or did they have a sense
21:10that diversion
21:11would become an issue?
21:12Yeah, absolutely.
21:13Absolutely.
21:14And I think there was
21:15a sense of
21:16we need to reframe
21:20this to the public.
21:21So the discussion wasn't
21:22let's try to avoid
21:24this from being diverted,
21:25let's try to reframe
21:26the messaging around it?
21:28Yep.
21:29Yep.
21:29I'd say that's exactly right.
21:32Coming up,
21:34one Vancouver doctor
21:35gives patients
21:36what they need.
21:37This is unprecedented
21:38in the history
21:39of opiate prescribing.
21:40The dilaudits
21:41didn't get people
21:42out of withdrawal.
21:42I had to switch
21:43to a fentanyl product
21:44in order to alleviate
21:45those withdrawal symptoms
21:46that are so uncomfortable
21:47for people.
21:47The following program
21:54contains mature subject matter.
21:56Viewer discretion is advised.
21:57A lot of times
22:10my day is reduced
22:12to working on my art
22:16and using alone.
22:19Like, uh, drugs
22:21have kind of become
22:21like a substitute
22:22for a lot of important
22:23things in my life.
22:24I have to do
22:28enough drugs
22:29to kill
22:29that would kill
22:30any other person.
22:33Um,
22:34otherwise it just
22:37isn't manageable.
22:44For Safe Supply
22:45to work
22:46it had to reach
22:47users like TJ Felix.
22:48But they say
22:52the types of drugs
22:53the program offered
22:54simply weren't strong
22:55enough to help them.
22:57It was a complete failure
22:58as far as I'm concerned.
23:00It didn't do anything
23:01to stabilize me
23:02or, you know,
23:04it didn't meet me
23:05where I was at
23:05in any way, shape, or form.
23:07If they just gave
23:07drug users
23:08the drugs that they need
23:09to function
23:10there wouldn't be diversion.
23:14As diversion
23:15of Safe Supply
23:15medications
23:16took over headlines
23:17and tilted the debate
23:19against Safe Supply
23:20TJ retreated
23:21to the streets.
23:23I think the way
23:24that I'm going now
23:24like I could die
23:25any day now.
23:35The program
23:36can never solve
23:37a problem
23:37that's created
23:38by policies.
23:39Christy Sutherland
23:40is a family doctor
23:41working in the heart
23:42of Vancouver's
23:43toxic drug crisis.
23:44In the early days
23:47of Safe Supply
23:48she tried
23:48the government
23:49approved
23:49hydromorphone pills
23:51but soon realized
23:53at least 40%
23:55of her patients
23:56were not taking
23:57the pills
23:57she was prescribing.
23:59It wasn't working.
23:59The dose was too low
24:01and it didn't help
24:02the patients stabilize
24:03or help them
24:03get away from fentanyl.
24:05Really they needed
24:05a higher potency medication
24:07to help them
24:07stay away from withdrawal.
24:09Sutherland chose
24:10to end the program
24:11after two years
24:12and worked on
24:13what she hoped
24:13would be a more
24:14effective alternative.
24:16But that meant
24:17cutting off her patients
24:18from Dilaudid
24:18and for some of them
24:20this meant
24:20a loss of income
24:21since they were
24:23selling the pills.
24:24If I was getting
24:25free wine
24:25from my family doctor
24:26and then if my family
24:27doctor stopped it
24:28I would be really
24:29angry at them.
24:30The violence got to the point
24:31where your life
24:32was threatened?
24:32Yeah, so we had to
24:34make the clinic
24:34all telehealth
24:35and I had to leave town
24:36for the safety
24:37of the staff
24:38and myself.
24:40Instead of backing down
24:41she came up
24:42with a revolutionary
24:43alternative.
24:44So we worked
24:45with a pharmaceutical
24:46company and a local
24:47compounding pharmacy
24:48in order to create
24:49a new fentanyl product
24:50that's both smokable
24:51and injectable.
24:52I think it's the first
24:53smokable pharmaceutical
24:53product that's ever existed.
24:55That's not easy.
24:56Why do that?
24:57Well, because we had
24:58nothing else at the time.
25:00She started off
25:01prescribing low doses
25:02but soon learned
25:04just how high
25:05some patients'
25:06tolerance was.
25:07My first guess
25:08was 250 micrograms.
25:09I based that
25:10on the drug checking
25:11systems here in Vancouver
25:12and the patients
25:14who we started
25:14said they couldn't
25:15even feel it.
25:15So you went from
25:16250 to 20,000?
25:18Yeah, I never
25:18would have thought.
25:19And so now we have
25:20people on 20,000 micrograms
25:21of fentanyl per dose
25:22which is just
25:23an astronomical dose
25:24that I never thought
25:25I'd ever be
25:26prescribing in my life.
25:29To put this in context,
25:30getting fentanyl
25:31at the hospital
25:32for a broken leg
25:33might be 50 to 100 micrograms.
25:37Sutherland was prescribing
25:38200 times that amount.
25:40She helps just 70 people
25:42in her research program.
25:44So for my patient population,
25:46there's a rigorous intake process
25:47with an interview
25:48with the physician,
25:49their urine drug tested,
25:50they see the nurse,
25:51they see the pharmacist
25:52and then we observe them
25:53to figure out
25:54what their individual dose is
25:55and then they can enter
25:56into our fentanyl
25:57or heroin sales programs
25:58where they can purchase
26:00their drugs
26:01from the pharmacy
26:02for a little bit higher
26:04than what is the street cost
26:06to prevent them
26:06from selling it onward
26:08but that they know
26:09it's a pharmaceutical version
26:10of the drug
26:11with no contamination
26:12and it's a way
26:13to exit street life.
26:15Safe supply!
26:16Are we not?
26:17We not!
26:18Safe supply!
26:20Safe supply!
26:21She wasn't the only one
26:22trying to find an alternative
26:23to the safe supply program.
26:27Others faced criminal charges
26:29for trying to help users.
26:31In October 2023,
26:33Jeremy Calicom was arrested
26:35for drug trafficking
26:36after operating
26:37a compassion club
26:38which sold a clean supply
26:40of drugs to users.
26:42They called it
26:42the Drug User Liberation Front
26:44or DOLF.
26:45We wanted to get
26:46a realistic picture
26:47of what would happen
26:48if people had access
26:50to a regulated supply
26:52of substances
26:53that they had to purchase.
26:56Calicom had seen
26:57the impact
26:58of an unsafe supply
26:59through his brother
27:00who began using
27:01while working
27:02in the trades
27:02and recovering
27:03from injury.
27:05It's very personal
27:05because when you have
27:07somebody in your life
27:07who uses substances
27:09or uses substances
27:09in a chaotic way,
27:11you realize that
27:11the most important thing
27:13when they're in
27:14sort of chaotic use patterns
27:15is that they stay alive.
27:18With a master's degree
27:20in public health
27:21and experience
27:22working and testing drugs
27:23at overdose prevention sites
27:24in B.C.,
27:25Calicom worked
27:26with co-founder
27:27Aris Nix
27:28to create a safe alternative
27:29in the downtown east side.
27:31People really just
27:32had no resources
27:34or way to keep
27:35themselves safe.
27:35The government
27:36had been doing
27:37its own safe supply program
27:39with Dilaudid pills.
27:40Why not rely on that?
27:41The drugs that they
27:42were providing
27:42weren't sufficient.
27:43That's something
27:44that we were telling them
27:45that you're going
27:46to give people drugs
27:47that they don't want.
27:48The club had to source
27:49drugs from the dark web,
27:51tested them
27:52at university labs
27:53and then sold
27:54uncontaminated heroin,
27:56cocaine and methamphetamine
27:58to a select group
27:59of members.
28:00We had exemptions
28:01to the laws.
28:03We had overdose
28:04prevention site designations.
28:06What we explained,
28:07what we were doing
28:07and how it was understood
28:08was a form of drug
28:09checking for people.
28:11We talked to the police.
28:12We talked to the health
28:14authority.
28:14We talked to the local government.
28:17We talked to the provincial government.
28:19We talked to the federal government.
28:20What did you start to see?
28:21What were the impacts?
28:22We saw that people
28:23overdosed way less.
28:25We didn't have anybody die,
28:26but we also saw things
28:27that we weren't expecting.
28:29We saw people
28:29that were accessing the club
28:32stop using drugs
28:33once they were able
28:34to gain that stability
28:35and not have to be
28:36like kind of flailing around
28:38trying to find substances
28:39or, you know,
28:40getting ripped off.
28:41People had to commit
28:42less crime.
28:43If they were committing crime,
28:44they had to do less sex work.
28:46They interacted
28:47with the police less.
28:49They interacted
28:50with the hospital system less.
28:53People felt like
28:54they were more stable
28:54in their lives.
28:57Like, I'd be dead
29:00ten times over
29:01if it wasn't for them.
29:02TJ Felix
29:03was one of just 24 people
29:05who were part
29:05of the first trial.
29:07Dolph was like a huge
29:08part of my social life
29:10and communal,
29:13like community building
29:15and my, you know,
29:16gateway to the community really
29:18and to just be around
29:20people every day.
29:22Calcambe and Nix
29:23were found guilty
29:24of drug trafficking
29:25in early November,
29:26but that's not the end.
29:28They filed a constitutional challenge
29:30arguing drug users
29:31have a right to safe supply.
29:33We think there's a real
29:34constitutional issue here
29:36that needs to be addressed
29:38if we're ever going
29:39to get to the point
29:40where we don't have
29:42thousands of people
29:42dying every year
29:43from preventable deaths.
29:45It's, you know,
29:46our friends,
29:46our family
29:47and our communities
29:48who are at risk of dying.
29:49The day that they raided
29:52the Dolph office,
29:53that was a pretty crazy day
29:56for you, wasn't it?
29:58Yeah, so pretty bad,
30:00pretty bad day.
30:00Yeah.
30:03Yeah, I showed up
30:04and I hadn't scored
30:07or didn't do my shot
30:09for the morning
30:09because I, you know,
30:11was expecting to go into work
30:12and to be able to buy some.
30:14I started going into a panic
30:15and all I could think to do
30:18was to buy fentanyl
30:20and I'd never used fentanyl
30:21in my life.
30:23Had no idea how to use it,
30:24how much to use.
30:26For the next two months
30:28after that,
30:28it was all in a fog
30:31of paranoia
30:31and drug odies.
30:34Like, I think I overdosed,
30:36you know,
30:37at least once a day.
30:40People lost their homes.
30:42People got in trouble
30:44with the law.
30:45People died.
30:47People died after getting
30:48cut off from your program?
30:50People died.
30:51No streets!
30:52No streets!
30:53No more dying!
30:56No more dying!
30:58Every policy change
30:59originated with people
31:01having the clarity
31:01to break unjust laws.
31:05Both Sutherland and Calicum
31:07published peer-review studies.
31:09They also say no one died
31:10while using Safe Supply
31:12in their programs.
31:14Was there any data
31:15or policy
31:17or medical reason
31:19for shutting you down,
31:20do you think?
31:21It was politics.
31:23It was 100% politics
31:25and fear
31:26of public outrage.
31:30Coming up,
31:31caving to political pressure?
31:33Our governments
31:34don't have the courage
31:35to stand up and say,
31:36this is what the physicians
31:38tell us,
31:39this is what the science
31:40tells us,
31:40this is working.
31:42And were the answers
31:43in plain sight?
31:45The evidence
31:45was absolutely clear
31:47that this was a treatment
31:49that could help people.
31:50We tried so many times.
31:52The following program
31:58contains mature subject matter.
32:00Viewer discretion is advised.
32:12Now I don't have
32:13any capacity,
32:15especially with time,
32:16in order to even think
32:18about recovery.
32:19because I'm constantly
32:21worried about
32:21where the next hit
32:22is going to be coming from.
32:25What do you say
32:25to those critics
32:26that say that,
32:26you know,
32:27people like yourself
32:28should just go right
32:28into treatment
32:29and they shouldn't be given
32:30a safer supply of drugs?
32:32Well, they should
32:33spend 24 hours
32:35in my boots
32:35and see what they think
32:37after that.
32:39What would they learn?
32:40It's a hard life.
32:42It's not made for everybody.
32:45Every person
32:45has a different set
32:46of problems.
32:47And just slapping us
32:51into treatment
32:51wouldn't help.
32:53Mark Desjarlais
32:54and TJ Felix
32:55are at the mercy
32:56of a fierce political debate.
32:59Chronic drug users
33:00seeking access
33:01to a safe
33:02and regulated supply
33:03to stay alive.
33:06I don't think
33:07that we deserve death.
33:08I think we deserve
33:09a lot more
33:10than what we've been given.
33:12Opioid overdose deaths
33:17have climbed
33:17to 18 per day
33:18in this country.
33:21Fentanyl continues
33:22to flood the streets,
33:24found in 63%
33:25of those who die.
33:27More than 2.5 million Canadians
33:29used illegal drugs
33:31in the last year.
33:32And though any of them
33:33could be at risk
33:34of an overdose,
33:36based on provincial data,
33:37less than 1%
33:38are accessing
33:39safe and regulated drugs.
33:42I think people
33:43have been manipulated
33:45politically
33:46by certain actors
33:47who want to stoke fear.
33:50And that has really
33:51pushed us back.
33:55Martin Schechter
33:56is a global leader
33:57in population health.
33:59In the early 2000s,
34:00he led two landmark studies
34:02that examined alternatives
34:04for people
34:04with severe opioid addiction.
34:07In the first,
34:07he tested pharmaceutical heroin,
34:10also called dicetylmorphine.
34:12Well, in Germany,
34:13Holland,
34:15Switzerland,
34:16England,
34:17there are,
34:17they use this
34:18as a treatment
34:19for people
34:20who have opioid use disorder.
34:22So the evidence
34:23was absolutely clear
34:24that this was a treatment
34:26that could help people
34:27where the existing treatments
34:29were not helping.
34:30They stayed
34:31with the treatment,
34:32far more
34:33than people
34:34who had been assigned
34:34to methadone.
34:35The second thing
34:36the study found
34:37is that it's actually cheaper.
34:41Schechter says
34:42access to medical heroin
34:43was never scaled up
34:45because of political fear.
34:47It has so much stigma
34:48associated with politics
34:51and moral panic
34:53and fear-mongering
34:54that government officials
34:57were afraid to fund it.
34:58So he tried something else,
35:00injectable hydromorphone,
35:02which contains the same
35:04active ingredient
35:04as Dilaudid pills.
35:06To our surprise,
35:08they did as well
35:09as people who were
35:10receiving diacetomorphine.
35:12In 2019,
35:14this research prompted
35:15Health Canada
35:16to approve both
35:17injectable heroin
35:18and hydromorphone
35:19for opioid use disorder.
35:21Despite this,
35:23only a few hundred people,
35:24like patients at Crosstown,
35:26have access to it.
35:27We tried so many times
35:29to make an argument
35:31that this should be adopted
35:32as a treatment.
35:34We presented our data
35:35to municipal health authorities,
35:38provincial, federal government,
35:40but we were unable
35:41to ever convince them
35:43to make this as useful
35:46as it has been in Europe.
35:47Jordan Westfall,
35:51who co-chaired
35:52the expert advisory group
35:53on safer supply,
35:54pushed for these alternatives.
35:56Was that evidence
35:57looked at
35:58or was it ignored?
35:59How would you describe
36:00having all of that information
36:02already out there
36:03than not being implemented?
36:05It was kind of heartbreaking
36:06because we had solutions
36:07that were available.
36:08We had evidence
36:09that showed them
36:10and it was being ignored
36:13and it was incredibly frustrating.
36:15That expert advisory group
36:17ended its work in 2023.
36:20The Fifth Estate requested
36:21their final reports
36:22to Health Canada.
36:23They refused to share it.
36:25We then found
36:26a redacted version
36:27on the Government of Canada website.
36:29We did obtain, though,
36:30a clean version of the report
36:32and we can now share with you
36:34what wasn't released publicly.
36:36They said Canada's overdose crisis
36:38is driven by prohibition
36:40and an illegal market
36:41and that prescribed medications
36:43like Dilaudid
36:44do not meet the needs
36:45of all drug users.
36:47They recommended expanded access
36:49to more prescription opioids
36:51and stimulants
36:51and said the government
36:53should consider legal
36:54and regulated compassion clubs
36:56and retail stores.
36:58The Fifth Estate, though,
36:59has found no evidence
37:00that any of these recommendations
37:02have been implemented.
37:04Prime Minister,
37:05if things go well
37:06with the BCD...
37:07Every step of the way,
37:07we need to make sure
37:08that A, we're following science
37:10and data
37:10and that's exactly
37:11what we're doing.
37:12Despite advice
37:13from Health Canada's
37:14chosen experts,
37:16it wasn't enough
37:17to bridge the divide
37:18between science and politics.
37:21I'm not a fan
37:21of the federal government's
37:23safe supply.
37:25I compare it
37:26to giving people poker chips,
37:28dropping them off
37:28in front of the casino
37:29and saying,
37:29go to town.
37:30We in our province,
37:31we don't believe
37:32there's such a thing
37:32as a safe supply of heroin
37:33in any of its forms.
37:36And even in BC,
37:38where more people
37:38are dying of toxic
37:40drug overdoses
37:40than in any other
37:42part of the country,
37:43safe supply
37:44is still a tough sell.
37:46Lisa LaPointe,
37:46the former chief coroner
37:48and your own
37:48provincial health officer,
37:49Dr. Bonnie Henry,
37:51both disagree with you.
37:53They both want to see
37:54the safe supply
37:55program expanded.
37:57I just disagree
37:58with them on that.
37:59I don't think
37:59the government
37:59distributing crystal meth,
38:01crack cocaine and fentanyl
38:04through co-op
38:06is going to solve
38:07this crisis.
38:08Our governments
38:08don't have the courage
38:09to stand up and say,
38:10this is what the physicians
38:12tell us,
38:13this is what the science
38:14tells us,
38:15this is working.
38:18BC's chief coroner,
38:19Lisa LaPointe,
38:20resigned,
38:21frustrated that even
38:22expert recommendations
38:23in BC were ignored.
38:26How did that make you feel
38:27when you saw the government
38:29basically undermine
38:30all the work
38:30that had been done?
38:31Here was a panel
38:32that had made recommendations,
38:35a blue ribbon panel
38:37that had made recommendations
38:39that they believed
38:40would prevent people
38:42from dying
38:43and government
38:43just dismissed it
38:44out of hand.
38:46It felt more political
38:48than based on
38:50any attention
38:51to the science.
38:54There is currently
38:55no National Safer
38:56Supply Program.
38:58Funding from Ottawa
38:59has dried up
39:00and there's no longer
39:01a federal ministry
39:02of mental health
39:03and addictions.
39:04Safe supply itself
39:06is not a failure.
39:08Safe supply
39:08has never been tried yet.
39:10Safer supply
39:11is a failure.
39:14To find out
39:15why government leaders
39:16disregarded the advice
39:17of so many experts,
39:19we requested interviews
39:20with former Prime Minister
39:21Justin Trudeau,
39:22former Chief Public Health
39:23Officer Theresa Tam,
39:25former Minister of Health
39:26and Addictions
39:27Carolyn Bennett
39:28and the current
39:29Health Minister
39:30Marjorie Michelle.
39:31They all declined
39:32an interview.
39:35Instead,
39:36Health Canada provided
39:37a statement
39:37about the future
39:39of prescribed alternatives
39:40known as
39:41Safer Supply.
39:42In it,
39:43they said,
39:43these pilot projects
39:45have concluded
39:46and there are no plans
39:47to fund new projects
39:49going forward.
39:54Undeterred,
39:55we went to a Health Canada
39:56announcement in Toronto,
39:58touting new money
39:59for the toxic drug
40:00and overdose crisis.
40:03In the place
40:04of the Health Minister,
40:06Parliamentary Secretary
40:07Maggie Chee.
40:08Funding will provide
40:09a wide range
40:10of urgent interventions
40:11for those affected
40:12by the illegal
40:13toxic drug supply
40:14and overdose crisis.
40:16Health Canada
40:16earmarked more than
40:18$36 million
40:19for projects,
40:20but no mention anywhere
40:22of safe supply.
40:23I wonder
40:24if you can tell us
40:25if the government
40:25has given up
40:27on prescribed alternatives
40:28and safe supply.
40:29Is that the end
40:30of that program?
40:31Indeed,
40:31this is an announcement
40:32I think that really
40:33gives hope
40:34to a lot of communities.
40:35It is a whole
40:35government approach, right?
40:37We are working
40:37with all partners.
40:38But to the question though,
40:39are we going to see
40:40any new funding
40:41for safe supply
40:42or is that the end
40:43of funding
40:43for those programs?
40:44Again,
40:45I think it's one
40:46of those cases
40:47when we talk
40:48about addiction
40:49and the overdose crisis,
40:51we really have to work
40:52with all partners
40:53on this.
40:53But what do you say
40:54to people who use drugs
40:55who may not be
40:56in a position
40:57to get into treatment,
40:58who may now have
40:58to turn to the streets
40:59because they can't
41:01get a safe alternative?
41:02That's an excellent question.
41:03I think this is
41:04when community partners
41:04really stepped up, right?
41:07But will communities
41:10and provinces
41:10support safe supply
41:12if the federal government
41:13isn't willing to?
41:15I approached
41:15Parliamentary Secretary
41:16Maggie Chee
41:17one more time.
41:18I just wanted to follow up
41:20just to get a sense
41:20if there is any more
41:21information on
41:22prescribed alternatives.
41:23I'm going to refer to you
41:24because I do apologize
41:25to you, but I do need
41:26to run back to the writing.
41:27Okay, let's refer you
41:28to the media person
41:29because I don't want
41:30to give you
41:30a brush-off answer.
41:40What's your message
41:41to the politicians
41:41and the people
41:43in charge of these things
41:44that could expand
41:44the program?
41:47They should open
41:48more programs.
41:50It changed my life.
41:53Everybody is somebody's
41:57sister or brother
41:58and it's just as easy
42:01as them to come down here
42:04and do the same things
42:05I do.
42:06If it was offered again,
42:07I'd be on it.
42:10We need help.
42:12We need a clean supply
42:13and we're not getting it.
42:22Throughout it all,
42:23TJ Felix is still holding
42:25on to hope.
42:26I mean,
42:27it wasn't a solution
42:28at all.
42:29Tying, like,
42:30livelihood up in politics
42:31and it's got to end.
42:33It's just not right.
42:35I mean,
42:36do you hope that people
42:37can overcome
42:38the stigma around
42:39people who use drugs?
42:40I'd be dead by now
42:41if I didn't think so.
42:43I don't want to live
42:44in a world
42:44where that's not possible.
42:45Do you ever hope to
42:48have capacity,
42:50work on ourselves
42:51and to even think
42:53about recovery?
42:54We need to be given,
42:55like,
42:56you know,
42:58some grace.
43:00I'm Joanna Rumaliotis.
43:15Next week,
43:16on the Fifth Estate.
43:16A violent criminal network
43:18responsible for home invasions
43:20and robberies.
43:21Brazen attacks
43:23often in broad daylight.
43:24Many of the suspects,
43:26just kids.
43:26We've got very young
43:28persons committing
43:29very violent crimes.
43:31Smashing grabs.
43:32They're on the rise
43:33and videos like these
43:35have gone viral.
43:36But who or what's behind it?
43:38He was approached
43:39by somebody
43:40who told him
43:41that he wanted
43:42to see young teens
43:44make money
43:45and flourish.
43:47They are walking
43:48bags in their hands
43:49and they know we're here.
43:51We get extraordinary
43:53access inside
43:54a police takedown.
43:55This is another
43:56potential break
43:57in the case.
43:58He pointed
43:58the gun directly
44:00at her.
44:01This trauma
44:01will stay with them
44:02forever.
44:04But what's happening
44:04to these suspects
44:05once they're caught?
44:07They can keep doing it
44:08and get away with it.
44:10What's to stop that?
44:11We're strengthening
44:12the criminal code
44:13to get tough on bail.
44:15We need to be invested
44:16in OU's future.
44:17Do you think
44:18the answer is
44:19to lock kids up?
44:20For those that are
44:21committing
44:21absolute violent crime,
44:23they have to be held
44:23accountable.
44:24That's next week
44:25on the Fifth Estate.
44:27Want more from Fifth Estate?
44:29Sign up for our weekly newsletter.
44:32Be among the first to know
44:33about our upcoming investigations
44:35and get behind-the-scenes details
44:36you can't find anywhere else.
44:38Head to our website
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44:40slash fifth
44:41to subscribe.
44:55For more information
44:56and get into below
44:57above the next update
44:57from the Future of the Income
44:58of the eventual
44:59Income
44:59of the André
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