Ms. Que Banh<p>At least a third of the publicly funded <a href="https://beige.party/tags/AddictionTreatment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AddictionTreatment</span></a> beds <a href="https://beige.party/tags/BCgovernment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BCgovernment</span></a> claims are available for drug users across <a href="https://beige.party/tags/BritishColumbia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BritishColumbia</span></a> do not actually offer treatment, the <a href="https://beige.party/tags/IJF" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>IJF</span></a> has learned.</p><p>“B.C. now has 3,645 publicly funded substance-use treatment beds, including 659 beds opened since 2017 with more to come,” the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions announced in an Aug. 27 press release.</p><p>But a breakdown of the available types of adult and youth treatment options provided by the ministry shows that its tally includes 1,232 low-barrier housing beds, accounting for about 34 per cent of the total.</p><p><a href="https://beige.party/tags/Addictions" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Addictions</span></a> treatment is not directly provided in low-barrier housing in B.C., but is part of “a full continuum of support services,” the ministry said in an email to the IJF. This type of facility simply makes shelter available to people who use drugs, without requiring them to abstain or be in treatment.</p><p>The news comes as both the <a href="https://beige.party/tags/BCConservatives" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BCConservatives</span></a> and the <a href="https://beige.party/tags/BCNDP" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BCNDP</span></a> government are touting <a href="https://beige.party/tags/involuntary" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>involuntary</span></a> addiction care as a solution to the province’s ongoing <a href="https://beige.party/tags/ToxicDrugCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ToxicDrugCrisis</span></a>.</p><p>That <a href="https://beige.party/tags/political" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>political</span></a> focus is deeply frustrating for Correne Antrobus of <a href="https://beige.party/tags/MomsStopTheHarm" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MomsStopTheHarm</span></a>, an advocacy group led by families affected by tainted illegal drugs.</p><p><a href="https://theijf.org/bc-publicly-funded-addiction-treatment-low-barrier-housing" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theijf.org/bc-publicly-funded-</span><span class="invisible">addiction-treatment-low-barrier-housing</span></a></p><p><a href="https://beige.party/tags/BCpoli" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BCpoli</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Medical" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Medical</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/PublicHealth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PublicHealth</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/HarmfulPolicy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HarmfulPolicy</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Cruelty" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Cruelty</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/HumanRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HumanRights</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/MentalHealth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MentalHealth</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/AddictionsStigma" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AddictionsStigma</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/MentalIllnessStigma" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MentalIllnessStigma</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/BreakTheSitgmas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BreakTheSitgmas</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/HelpNotHarm" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HelpNotHarm</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/BCNewDeathParty" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BCNewDeathParty</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/BCNDPLegacyoOfDeath" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BCNDPLegacyoOfDeath</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/FundMentalWellness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FundMentalWellness</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/FundSocialHousing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FundSocialHousing</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/NeverVoteConservative" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NeverVoteConservative</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/NeverVoteNeoliberal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NeverVoteNeoliberal</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/BCElection2024" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BCElection2024</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/BCVotes2024" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BCVotes2024</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/BCelection" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BCelection</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/CDNpoli" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CDNpoli</span></a></p>