As the opioid crisis wreaks havoc across Canada, much of the focus on toxic and illicit substances has shifted in recent years to areas of British Columbia, including rural, where people are still succumbing massively to their addiction problems.
To combat this epidemic, the province will on January 31 become the first jurisdiction in the country to launch a three-year experiment on decriminalization, allowing drug addicts aged 18 and over to carry a combined 2.5 grams of opioids like heroin and fentanyl, as well as cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA.
The latest data from the BC Coroners Service shows about 14,000 people have died since the province declared a public health emergency in 2016, with most deaths occurring in private residences. In 2021, illicit fentanyl was implicated in 87% of deaths.
Families whose loved ones have fatally overdosed are increasingly calling for the decriminalization of small amounts of drugs for personal use to reduce the stigma associated with criminalization. They also want people to have easier access to health services, which in some cases could save their lives.
Some drug addicts and advocacy groups like Moms Stop the Harm, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition and the HIV Legal Network are among those saying a 2.5 gram cumulative drug threshold is not enough. for many individuals. They argue that those who live in rural areas and remote communities, where people often buy larger quantities of substances when they can access the illicit market.
Mike Serr, co-chair of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said the organization is aiming for a maximum threshold of one gram for illicit substances under British Columbia’s decriminalization model.
“We don’t want to see drug traffickers or organized crime take advantage of the good intentions of decriminalization. […] We want to see a system that does not promote illicit drug use, but rather tries to help people and communities,” he said.
Train the police
Serr said he helped develop training that will be rolled out to about 9,300 police officers in British Columbia before decriminalization begins.
“The training will include everything they need to understand the thresholds and how decriminalization works, including the distribution of resource cards to individuals and in what situations this measure is appropriate,” he added.
Mr. Serr said that the cards that police would distribute in British Columbia would only be intended to provide information on where people could access services related to addictions and homelessness.
Drug activist Garth Mullins, who was involved in the decriminalization planning process, however, argued against the distribution of cards by law enforcement.
“I fear that the success or failure of decriminalization is measured by the number of people who have gone for treatment or the number of people who have stopped using drugs, and that it is based on health parameters . But you really have to calculate it based on the drop in the number of interactions with the police,” he stressed.
The Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions said ongoing monitoring and evaluation were essential parts of British Columbia’s application to the federal government, approved in May 2022, to address any unintended consequences and to s ensure that people are not re-criminalised.
The federal government is currently reviewing a request from the City of Toronto to set up a similar experiment, but the request does not currently include a threshold for the amount transported.