The CBC's Fifth Estate, “Canada’s premier investigative documentary program,” recently aired a 43-minute film on the country's “safer supply” drug strategy. Despite its claim of impartiality, the documentary is heavy-handed harm reduction propaganda, proving yet again why the CBC should be defunded.

“Safer supply” provides addicts with free, pharmaceutical-grade drugs — typically hydromorphone, a heroin-strength synthetic opioid, but sometimes fentanyl— a policy meant to curb the use of riskier illicit substances.

The federal government quietly ended its safer supply pilot programs earlier this year after reports, investigations, and police action showed patients were widely reselling their 'safer supply' stash to buy illicit fentanyl. This diversion reportedly flooded communities with the highly addictive and potent opioids, ultimately benefiting organized crime at taxpayers' expense. 

The CBC overtly opposed the policy change, producing the partisan film, “The political war on safe drugs,” to call for a reinstatement of funding. Their thesis was that safer supply is a wonderful, evidence-based policy and Conservative opposition is rooted in reactionary politics and scientific ignorance.

“The most important thing to know about the documentary is that it excludes any experts who oppose safer supply,” writes columnist Adam Zivo, author of several exposés into purported harm reduction.

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Over the past two years, numerous prominent addiction doctors have published open letters and spoken to the media, calling for the reform or abolition of safer supply, warning that the strategy is disastrous and further exacerbates the OxyContin crisis.

“None of them are in the film. Their advocacy work is completely ignored,” notes Zivo, who accused the Fifth Estate of attempting “to conceal, or dismiss” dissenting views. “The film barely discusses how organized crime and corrupt pharmacies profit off safer supply, or how diverted opioids harm communities.”

“In fact, it even suggests that diversion could be beneficial by filling the market with 'safe' drugs,” he continued, a claim strongly opposed by addiction doctors and police.

B.C.'s top doctor admitted in early 2024 that “safer supply” is not “fully evidence-based.” Premier David Eby then walked back his support of the program, owning up to public safety concerns.

Harm reduction proponents initially dismissed reports of widespread safer supply diversion as disinformation or minimized it, while addiction physicians feared speaking out due to potential backlash. 

The Fifth Estate omitted victims harmed by safer supply diversion, as well as critical civil society figures and politicians. This appears intentional, claims Zivo. For instance, prominent critic B.C. MLA Elenore Sturko stated that the CBC contacted her for background but refused her interview request.

“In lieu of balanced reporting,” Zivo wrote, “the documentary almost exclusively spotlights addicts, progressive activists and harm reduction advocates, including some of the chief architects behind safer supply. This creates a wildly skewed — and factually inaccurate — retelling of how and why federal funding was cancelled.”

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Zivo refutes the documentary's claim that safer supply is an evidence-based, widely supported policy. He argues that supporting studies are often poorly designed, relying on addict testimony or suffering from basic methodological flaws like uncontrolled confounding variables.

“Had The Fifth Estate had the integrity to include critical experts, this could have all been easily explained. It instead relentlessly pushed the narrative that cancelling safer supply was driven by ‘politics’ (aka: evil conservatives),” the columnist wrote.

“Their evidence for this claim?” he posed. “The harm reduction advocates said so, so it must be true.” The accompanying article mentions diversion only briefly, wrongly suggesting safer supply was cancelled for no reason.

A CBC spokesperson asserted that “the episode adheres to CBC’s Journalistic Standards and Practices and as such, we stand behind the journalism.”

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