VANCOUVER — British Columbia's corrections system has implemented a new policy to ensure prisoners with opiate addictions can access the same treatment as patients outside provincial jails.
Four prisoners who launched a charter of rights legal challenge in late March have also gained opiate replacement therapy as part of a settlement reached this week.
Their lawyer, Adrienne Smith, says the agreement protects the men's lives, especially because one client had overdosed on illicit drugs while asking for treatment.
But Smith says the new policy is also significant given the declaration on Thursday that B.C. is facing a public health emergency as overdose deaths have surged from powerful drugs like fentanyl.
The policy follows the same guidelines for administering suboxone or methadone treatment as set out by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C.
It means any prisoner who is seeking opiate replacement therapy can request an appointment with a jail doctor.
