RCMP Seizes Gov’t-Funded ‘Safer Supply’ Drugs in 2 Busts, Says It’s an ‘Alarming Trend’

Drugs seized during busts in Prince George, B.C., as announced by the RCMP on March 7, 2024. Courtesy of RCMP

The RCMP have seized more than 10,000 prescription pills—many of them government-funded “safer supply” pills—as part of recent drug busts in Prince George, B.C.

Mounties also seized 3,500 pills, with evidence they were diverted from safer supply programs, during a Vancouver Island bust last month. In both cases, safer supply pills were found alongside illicit drugs such as fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine in both busts.

Cpl. Jennifer Cooper issued one of strongest statements by law enforcement thus far about the dangers of safer supply drugs being diverted by criminal organizations.

“We have noted an alarming trend over the last year in the amount of prescription drugs located during drug trafficking investigations, noting they are being used as a form of currency to purchase more potent, illicit street drugs,” she said a March 7 press release announcing the busts in Prince George.

“Organized crime groups are actively involved in the redistribution of safe supply and prescription drugs, some of which are then moved out of British Columbia and resold. The reselling of prescription drugs significantly increases the profits realized by organized crime.”

While safer supply proponents, including Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry, have admitted diversion is a problem, they have often downplayed the impacts.

“Some diversion is occurring; however, the extent and impacts are unknown,” Ms. Henry said in her review of safer supply programs published Feb. 1. She noted potential harms of diversion include “expanded access and availability of opioids for youth, and normalization of this access leading to risky use, and reduced incentives for recovery.”

But Ms. Henry and the province’s NDP government have confirmed their commitment to expanding the safer supply program. They have said it is necessary to prevent drug overdoses, arguing that people are more likely to overdose if they are buying street drugs rather than receiving the “safer supply” from pharmacies.

Federal funding for dozens of safer supply programs is slated to end this month. So the debate over pros and cons of the programs is heating up ahead of a potential funding renewal.

Diversion to Teens

Many addictions experts and others have raised the alarm on diversion, especially regarding pills sold to young people who may thus be initiated into opioid addiction. Hydromorphone (brand name Dilaudid) is the main safer supply drug, and it provides a relatively mild high to many of the patients who receive it, so some of them sell the pills and use the money to buy fentanyl.

Cpl. Cooper says she believes safer supply hydromorphone is being diverted to teenagers.

Officers are aware of hydromorphone showing up in high schools, she told Breaking The Needle, a publication run by the newly founded Centre for Responsible Drug Policy.

It’s hard to prove it’s safer supply hydromorphone, she said, but they “have to be getting it from somewhere.” She is concerned youth are experimenting with it because they are “under the false belief that it’s safe, because it’s a prescription drug.”

Items seized during a drug bust in Campbell River, B.C., on Feb. 21, 2024. Courtesy of RCMP

Hydromorphone is highly addictive. It causes the release of large amounts of dopamine in the brain, creating pleasurable feelings, and the brain begins to produce less dopamine on its own, making users reliant on the drug, according to AddictionCenter.com.

“Two or three of these pills is enough to induce a fatal overdose in an opioid-naive user and, when mixed with alcohol, even just a single pill can be fatal,” according to Breaking the Needle.

Other Police Reports on Hydromorphone Trafficking

When The Epoch Times asked the RCMP in November about the extent of safer supply diversion, its response was very different than Cpl. Cooper’s.

The Epoch Times asked the RCMP how common it is to see hydromorphone being trafficked, and whether trafficking of the drug is on the rise.

Sgt. Kim Chamberland replied via email that diversion of hydromorphone prescribed for pain—not through safer supply programs—was common more than a decade ago. But, she said, “hydromorphone demand is very low across the country.”

She did not confirm any seizure of safer supply pills.

When asked if the RCMP was aware of hydromorphone being sold to teenagers, Sgt. Chamberland’s response was that younger people tend to use stimulants instead of opioids.

The Epoch Times sent an inquiry to Sgt. Chamberland regarding the difference between her response and what Cpl. Cooper has reported, and whether the RCMP’s position on the matter has changed. No reply was received as of publication.

Multiple drug busts across the country have found hydromorphone alongside substances such as cocaine and methamphetamine. One such seizure was in Saskatoon on Aug. 3 last year. Another occurred in Moncton, NB, on Feb. 16, 2023. And another in Charlottetown, PEI, on Aug. 29, 2023. Busts finding hydromorphone have also been reported in Thunder Bay and St. Catherines, Ont.

The reports do not note whether any of the pills are from safer supply programs. In both of the recent busts in British Columbia, the RCMP noted evidence was found at the scene suggesting the pills had been diverted from safer supply programs.

The Epoch Times asked Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS) about hydromorphone trafficking in the region following the bust in St. Catherines last year.

“Detectives ... are aware that hydromorphone trafficking is occurring within our region,” NRPS said in an email response. “As these incidents occur; the data has yet to populate to quantify, analyze, and assess whether hydromorphone trafficking is on the rise.”

NRPS did not respond specifically to questions about safer supply, and regarding teenagers getting a hold of the hydromorphone, it said “we cannot suggest or deny” this is happening.

Sgt. Chamberland said some criminals are making pills that look like safer supply hydromorphone as well, creating the illusion of safety. She said it is not a common phenomenon, however.

Cpl. Cooper went so far as to tell Breaking The Needle the safer supply program should be reevaluated.

“[It] clearly is not being used in the way it was intended,” she said.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has long been an opponent of  safer supply programs, and in a March 8 statement she called on British Columbia to stop the flow of safer supply drugs into Alberta.

“Alberta has been warning for years that diversion of high-potency opioids from these programs could be diverted and trafficked across Canada,” she said. “In Alberta, we have made the provision of ‘safe supply’ illegal to prevent this very thing from happening. Unfortunately, that does not stop organized criminals from bringing it here illegally from other provinces.”