Decriminalization of possession of small amounts of illegal drugs for personal use became a reality on Tuesday in British Columbia, but users and researchers don’t believe the change will have much immediate impact, due to the proliferation of toxic drugs.
The federal government granted British Columbia an exemption from Canadian drug laws last May to allow drug users to possess a total of 2.5 grams of opioids such as heroin and fentanyl as well as crack and powder cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA, also known as ecstasy.
Starting Tuesday, users will not be arrested or have their drugs seized by police under a three-year pilot project.
Dean Wilson, who started working as a peer facilitator at the BC Center on Substance Use in 2017 as a heroin user, believes decriminalization is a welcome change to prevent drug users from interacting with police.
However, according to him, this measure should be accompanied by a bold plan to provide more people with a wide range of alternatives to toxic street drugs, which some cut or infect, often with the powerful opioid fentanyl.
“They cut their cocaine for five minutes, then they cut their fentanyl on the same scale and all of a sudden there’s fentanyl on the cocaine. And when someone who has never taken opioids takes [quelque chose] who had a little fentanyl, they died,” he explained.
According to him, a regulated supply of pharmaceutical options should be available in several places, including compassion clubs, to save the lives of people at risk of fatal overdose.
“Nothing is safe unless you test your drugs every time. And you can’t do that if you’re an active drug addict. »
Insite, a supervised consumption site that opened in Vancouver in 2003 as the first facility of its kind in North America, is one of the few places with a specialized machine that addicts can access to have their substances tested for contaminants, including fentanyl.
Take-home fentanyl test strips are also available there and at designated sites to allow people to test their drugs in seconds.
But despite those services, more than 11,000 people have fatally overdosed in British Columbia since 2016, when the province declared a public health emergency.
These deaths led to the policy to stop criminalizing people who use drugs to reduce stigma and make them more likely to get help for an addiction.
Other necessary measures
“If people think there’s some sort of correlation between drug decriminalization and fewer overdoses leading to deaths, that’s not going to happen,” said Wilson, 64, who is in a treatment program on methadone since last May to help curb his opioid cravings, which he said he started using when he was 13.
Researchers and drug users say the 2.5 gram threshold is too low for those who may be forced into more contact with black market sellers as they try to avoid interactions with police . The province has asked for the limit to be 4.5 grams, while police have asked for a total of one gram for all drugs allowed under the exemption.
They say decriminalization requires adequate supports so people get the help they need when they ask for it.
In Portugal, for example, decriminalization provides for various social and harm reduction services as well as treatment.
British Columbia Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jennifer Whiteside said the province has expanded harm reduction programs and since 2017, more than 360 new treatment and recovery beds have been opened. A safer prescription-based supply program was strengthened in July 2020, which is a first in Canada, she points out.
More than two-thirds of RCMP and municipal officers in British Columbia have so far received training on aspects of decriminalization, which involves handing out so-called resource cards to people who use drugs, Ms Whiteside said at a press conference on Monday.
“Decriminalization is a historic change, but we know it alone will not solve the toxic drug crisis,” she acknowledged.
Reinforced services
Mike Serr, co-chair of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said while the group has long advocated for decriminalization, he fears that providing more services to people in areas like northern British Columbia British is a “challenge”.
“These are things that I will monitor and it is something that the government is going to have to deal with. It’s a very important and critical part of that,” said Serr, who is also the deputy chief of the Abbotsford Police Department.
Federal Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett said the plan is to divert people away from the criminal justice system and into health and social services. These programs should therefore be intensified.
Kora DeBeck, a researcher at the BC Center on Substance Use, said while the cumulative 2.5 grams is low, the fact that substances are no longer seized at this point is a positive step for those who might otherwise borrow from drugs or money and exposing themselves to violence or even enduring painful withdrawal symptoms.
“I would describe the decriminalization of drug possession as an incredibly progressive and important movement and a recognition that criminalization is harmful,” she said. It responds to what I consider to be decades of research showing that Prohibition has been a failure and a disaster. »
However, the supply of toxic drugs is the biggest problem driving overdose deaths, added DeBeck, who is also an associate professor in Simon Fraser University’s School of Public Policy.
“I think it’s incredibly dangerous, actually, to think that (decriminalization) will have an impact on overdoses in the immediate term,” she concluded.
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