The manager of a supervised injection site in Vancouver is applauding the new national medical guideline around opioid addiction treatment that was released on Monday.
The standards were written by a network of doctors, and they recommend treating opioid addiction with prescription medication when possible.
With the dangers of fentanyl on the street, providing people with a safe drug supply in a managed context is an important move in harm reduction, said Overdose Prevention Society manager Ronnie Grigg.
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“It becomes a life or death situation when a poison drug supply is a part of it,” Grigg said.
“I’ve seen people who have been on opioid replacement therapies, like with pharmaceutical-grade heroin, like at Crosstown Clinic, and people that I’ve seen at Insite regularly are now… they get to step away from the hustle required with addiction which is a lot of high-risk activity.”
Grigg said that, without the shame and trauma of having to result to that activity for drug money, he’s seen a positive ripple effect of people making empowered decisions for their lives.
Grigg also said he recognizes that relapse is part of recovery.
But he added that when someone is using drugs in a safe way, or has an overdose reversed, that’s an important part of their intervention.
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