Two companies in British Columbia, Canada, has said Heath Canada has given them the green light to possess, produce, sell/distribute cocaine, heroin, MDMA among other substances, to “bring a safer supply of drugs to the global market.”

The licensing deal comes after a radical policy shift to address an opioid overdose crisis that has killed thousands, by decriminalizing small amounts of cocaine, heroin and other hard drugs.

Ottawa granted a criminal code exemption in January to British Columbia for the three-year pilot project, with the aim of removing the stigma associated with drug use that keeps people from seeking help.

Advocates have also been pushing for safer supplies of drugs to be made available to addicts who face a risk of dying from toxic drug poisoning linked to illicit street drugs.

Sunshine Earth Labs said in a statement it received permission from Health Canada to “legally possess, produce, sell and distribute coca leaf and cocaine,” as well as morphine, MDMA (ecstasy) and heroin.

Its announcement comes on the heels of a similar licensing arrangement offered in February to Adastra Labs, which had until now focused on crafting cannabis extracts.

Adastra’s license also allows it to produce and sell psilocybin and psilocin — hallucinogens more commonly known as magic mushrooms that produce effects similar to LSD.

British Columbia is only the second jurisdiction in North America to decriminalize hard drugs after the US state of Oregon did so in November 2020.

British Columbia province is the epicentre of drug crisis that has seen more than 10,000 overdose deaths since it declared a public health emergency in 2016.

Nationwide the number of fatalities has surpassed 30,000.