Canada: questions after the authorization given to companies to sell cocaine

British Columbia, a province of five million people located in western Canada, decriminalized possession of small amounts of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and other hard drugs on Tuesday, January 31, 2023 (illustration).

© Jennifer Gauthier / Reuters

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

Since January 31, British Columbia has allowed drug users to carry small amounts of illicit substances, such as cocaine and heroin, on their person in an attempt to deal with the explosion of overdoses.

This partial opening arouses the interest of producing companies.

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Without fanfare, Adastra, a legal cannabis producer in British Columbia, announced two weeks ago that it would import coca leaves to produce 250 grams of cocaine.

The company would have the necessary authorizations to then distribute this drug, reports our correspondent in Quebec

.

At the request of the opposition, the government of the State of British Columbia expresses its astonishment at this news, because this province has never allowed the open sale of this type of substance.

Users, on the other hand,

.

This in order to avoid being targeted by the police and to have access to help in the event of an overdose in a province which is facing a

 : 10,000 people have died in the past five years from consuming drugs, or about six deaths a day.

In the face of the opiate crisis, harm reduction activists are also calling for a safer supply of drugs to be made available to people in a situation of dependence.

They face an increased risk of overdose linked to drugs bought illegally on the street.

Information taken, the sale of cocaine announced by Adastra concerns only bodies linked to research: the general public is therefore not targeted.

This license also authorizes the company to produce psilocybin and psilocin, hallucinogens more commonly associated with mushrooms whose consumption produces effects similar to LSD.

In a statement, another company, Sunshine Earth Labs, said it had received permission from Health Canada to " 

 ," as well as morphine, ecstasy, and heroin.

Another company in British Columbia has recently reported supplying cocaine as well.

Here again, the authorities are monitoring the situation closely to ensure that marketing rules are respected.

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• Canada

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