People First Radio – July 11, 2024People First Radio – July 11, 2024
People First Radio
Researcher Cora DeBeck discusses how drug prohibition contributes to overdose deaths in British Columbia and explains why she supports regulated access to currently illegal substances. The episode places policy debates alongside youth experience, trauma and colonial history, with added historical context from Neil Boyd.
0:00•12 Jul 2024
Regulating Drugs to Save Lives: Rethinking Prohibition in British Columbia
Episode Overview
- Unregulated, toxic drug supply, driven by prohibition, is identified as a central cause of overdose deaths in British Columbia.
- Drug regulation is presented as a way to control production, distribution and access, using tools similar to tobacco, alcohol, cannabis and firearms policies.
- Criminalisation and stigma are described as major barriers that keep people who use drugs away from health and social services.
- Research with street-involved youth links problematic substance use to early childhood trauma, poverty, child welfare involvement and the legacy of residential schools.
- Effective reform is said to require ongoing evaluation, course correction and meaningful inclusion of people who use drugs and Indigenous communities.
“Drug prohibition is fueling the overdose crisis and regulating drugs is the way out.”
Curious about how others manage their sobriety journey when drug policy itself seems stacked against them? This episode of People First Radio drops you straight into British Columbia’s toxic drug crisis and asks a big question: what if regulating currently illegal drugs could save lives? Host Joe Pugh speaks with researcher and public policy scholar Cora DeBeck, who has spent more than 15 years studying substance use and drug policy.
She argues that drug prohibition is “fueling the crisis” and that “drug regulation is really the way out here,” especially when more than 2,500 people in BC died from unregulated drug toxicity last year. You’ll hear clear, grounded explanations of what drug regulation could look like in practice. DeBeck contrasts it with decriminalisation and stresses tools such as age limits, pricing, packaging and limits on where substances can be used, drawing parallels with tobacco, alcohol, cannabis and even firearms rules.
She doesn’t pretend there’s a perfect blueprint, but stresses that “we won’t get it right right away” and that constant monitoring and adjustment would be essential. The episode also digs into stigma, trauma and colonial history as core drivers of harm. DeBeck highlights how criminalisation pushes people away from health services and how many street-involved young people use substances to cope with entrenched poverty, early childhood trauma and the legacy of residential schools.
A short archival segment with SFU professor emeritus Neil Boyd adds historical context on how racism, labour tensions and moralism shaped early drug laws in Canada. While the policy detail might sound heavy, the conversation stays human and grounded, repeatedly centring people who use drugs and their expertise. If you’ve ever wondered whether a different approach to drugs could reduce deaths and shame, this episode might leave you asking what changes you’d be willing to support.
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