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B.C. is the hardest-hit province when it comes to opioid deaths, with 347 fatalities recorded by the coroners’ service between January and March of this year.

Canada approved prescription heroin treatment in September 2016 for substance users who did not respond to other therapies such as methadone and suboxone.

The new rules would allow health authorities to import a year’s supply of prescription-grade heroin or other drugs in bulk for a public health emergency such as a flu pandemic if the medication is not sold domestically.

“Our government is determined to work with our partners to help reduce the harm to citizens and communities that is associated with problematic substance use,” federal Health Minister Jane Philpott said in a statement.

The urgent nature of the overdose issue means the consultation period for Canadians to share their views on the proposal has been shortened to 15 days, from about 75 days, Health Canada spokesman Eric Morrissette said Monday.

Dr. Scott MacDonald, lead physician at Vancouver’s Crosstown Clinic, said about 100 people are currently being treated with prescription heroin, or diacetylmorphine, at the only such facility in North America.

Patients are given a syringe of medical-grade heroin, which they inject themselves, up to three times a day under a nurse’s supervision.

MacDonald said the clinic’s pharmacy is being expanded to treat up to 200 people though hundreds more need access to the medical heroin, which is imported from Switzerland on an as-needed basis for individuals, MacDonald said.