LANGLEY — British Columbia Premier David Eby says he is "astonished" that Health sa国际传媒 has granted a cannabis company the right to possess, produce, sell and distribute cocaine.
Adastra Labs in Langley, sa国际传媒, said in a news release that Health sa国际传媒 gave it approval on Feb. 17 for an amendment under its controlled substance dealer’s licence.
Eby told a news conference on Thursday about funding for overdose prevention and mental health that, "if Health sa国际传媒 did in fact do this," the federal agency did so without engaging the sa国际传媒 government or notifying the province.
The premier said the province will be contacting Health sa国际传媒 for answers.
"It is not part of our provincial plan," he said, referring to the ongoing effort to stem the overdose death rate, with an average of more than six people dying every day in sa国际传媒 in 2022.
Health sa国际传媒 has not responded to requests for comment.
Decriminalization of up to 2.5 grams of drugs, including cocaine, began in sa国际传媒 on Jan. 31, after the federal government approved the decriminalization exemption as one of several steps to combat the crisis.
More than 11,000 people have died from illicit overdoses since British Columbia declared a public health emergency in 2016. Deaths soared as the opioid fentanyl became the dominant illicit drug.
Adastra said in the statement the amended licence allows the company to “interact” with up to 250 grams of cocaine and to import coca leaves in order to make and synthesize the substance.
Adastra CEO Michael Forbes said it will evaluate how the commercialization of the substance fits in with its business model in an effort to position itself to support the demand for a safe supply of cocaine.
“Harm reduction is a critically important and mainstream topic, and we are staying at the forefront of drug regulations across the board,” Forbes said. “We proactively pursued the amendment to our Dealer’s License to include cocaine back in December 2022."
The topic of Adastra's licence amendment to include cocaine was broached during question period at the sa国际传媒 legislature, where Opposition leader Kevin Falcon criticized the move.
"Cocaine isn't prescribed, it isn't safe, and this is wrong," Falcon said. "Commercializing cocaine as a business opportunity amounts to legalizing cocaine trafficking, full stop."
Kevin Hollett, a spokesman for the sa国际传媒 Centre on Substance Use, said in a written response that the agency knows "very little" about the exemption granted to Adastra.
Hollett said the sa国际传媒 safe supply policy released in July 2021 focused on opioids.
"To my knowledge, prescribed safer supply in BC is focused on opioids, so I’m not clear how this might fit in, if it does at all," he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2023.
The Canadian Press
