Daphne Bramham: More oversight and enforcement needed at addictions recovery houses

published on December 12, 2019 by Daphne Bramham in Vancouver Sun

If ever there were a need for more harm reduction, it’s at the registered and unregistered, licensed and unlicensed addictions recovery houses in British Columbia run by operators who have no regard for residents’ health or safety.

Within the last year, five people have died in provincially registered recovery homes. Two of those deaths were in the last three months.

On Dec. 1 — years too late for too many — new legislation and regulations finally came into effect. But they apply only to operators on the provincial Assisted Living Registry and not to those licensed by the local health authorities. There is also no provision to shut down those that are operating illegally. On its website, the Health Ministry does list 26 unregistered houses that it has received complaints about. But people in the recovery community say it’s only the tip of the iceberg.

The regulations themselves are “thin,” according to Carson McPherson, the chair of the B.C. Centre on Substance Use’s recovery committee…