B.C. mulling oversight committee amid pressure on drug diversion concerns [Video]

Amid mounting pressure over the possible diversion of drugs from B.C.’s safer supply program, the provincial government now says it is in talks with health authorities to create some form of oversight committee.

Earlier this week, B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said RCMP had told him there was no evidence to suggest “widespread diversion” of safe supply drugs.

But in recent weeks, several RCMP detachments have reported finding government-issued hydrophone, also known as Dilaudid, in drug seizures.

“We’ve always found safe supply during search warrants. It’s always been a small amount, but when you’re seeing it at this level clearly it’s profit-driven,” Prince George RCMP Insp. Darin Rappel told media Monday.

With police finding drugs but politicians downplaying it, what does the public know about the extent of diversion?

Global News asked the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions if it had ever hired or assigned anyone to work full-time on counter-diversion.

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