It will be possible to walk around Vancouver with 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine or methamphetamine in your pocket without risking being arrested by the police or charged with a crime.
The federal government announced on Tuesday that it would create an exception to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to allow possession of small amounts of drugs “for personal use.” This measure applies strictly to the territory of the province of British Columbia. It will not take effect until January 31, 2023, in order to give its police officers some time to prepare for it.
“Today we are taking the first step in the important and ambitious policy change that we badly need,” said federal Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Carolyn Bennett, during an announcement in Vancouver.
Certain exceptions apply, such as for minors and in certain places, such as schools, daycare centers or airports. Possession of drugs will also remain prohibited when driving a vehicle, for example. Trafficking will remain a crime, as will possession of more than 2.5 grams of the substance. Ottawa will leave it to British Columbia to see how to apply the law in ambiguous cases.
Ottawa is responding to a request from the Victorian government, which wants this to reduce the number of overdoses. The explanation presented is that decriminalization will encourage drug users to seek health care without fear of arrest, which has the potential to save lives.
Several provinces have reported record levels of overdose deaths in the past five years. Nearly 27,000 people lost their lives in this way in the country between January 2016 and September 2021, according to federal data.
The drug law exemption will last at least three years, during which time Ottawa will study its effects. The federal government says it will study each provincial request on a case-by-case basis. No other province has so far made such a request, but major cities have already done so, like Toronto last December. Montreal was also in favor of the idea.
The Trudeau government has taken on the task of reducing minimum sentences for various crimes, including offenses related to drug possession, in its Bill C-5 currently under consideration. The New Democratic Party (NDP) tabled its own bill in November to decriminalize all drugs across Canada. The text of C-216 must be put to the vote on Wednesday.