B.C. psychologist says government ignored two decades of addiction research

Health Minister Josie Osborne announced the province will end its drug decriminalization trial on Jan. 31, and clinical psychologist Julian Somers says the government ordered data from his two-decade addiction study destroyed and ignored its findings.

British Columbia is ending its drug decriminalization trial, the province's Health Minister Josie Osborne announced, saying the project had not achieved desired results. The decision has drawn comment from a clinical psychologist involved in long-term research on addiction and related social issues. Julian Somers, who led a two-decade study spanning addiction, homelessness, housing and the justice system, opposed the decriminalization plan. He told Global News he believes the government ordered his study's data destroyed before the program began and that the research was ignored. Key points: - Health Minister Josie Osborne announced the decriminalization trial will end on Jan. 31, saying it had not met the government's goals. - Julian Somers, a clinical psychologist at Simon Fraser University, led a two-decade study covering addiction, homelessness, housing and the justice system. - Somers told Global News he opposed the decriminalization plan and said the government ordered his study's data destroyed before the program began. - Somers said he believes the outcome would have been better if the research had been followed and that unintended consequences could have been identified earlier. - The B.C. government did not respond to Global News by the publication deadline. Summary: Health Minister Josie Osborne announced the decriminalization trial will end on Jan. 31, reporting it did not deliver the expected results. Julian Somers has said his two-decade study was ignored and that its data were ordered destroyed. Undetermined at this time.