Despite a growing drug crisis, a Canadian province has been granted an exemption from the nation’s drug laws.
British Columbia will be the first province in Canada to decriminalize small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use starting early next year, according to the federal government.
The decision follows the B.C. The government requested an exemption from the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, which makes it illegal to have even small amounts of most illicit substances.
Beginning January 31, 2023, B.C. Adults caught with up to 2.5 grams of substances such as opioids, cocaine, or methamphetamine will not be arrested or charged, and the drugs will not be seized.
Instead, officers will provide information on available resources as well as assistance in connecting with such services if needed.
Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart said, “Decriminalizing the simple possession of drugs is a historic, brave and groundbreaking step in the fight to save lives. It marks a fundamental re-thinking of drug policy that favours health-care over handcuffs.”
Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, has long advocated for decriminalization.
“Today is a very important day. It is hard to believe that we have actually gotten here,” said Henry.
While police rarely enforced the possession for personal use law, Henry believes the exemption is more about reducing the stigma and shame associated with illicit drug use.
“Because of that risk of being labeled a criminal, losing their job, not being able to get an apartment, not being able to travel, things like losing their children, it keeps them from talking to their family and friends about their drug use. And that keeps them from accessing services,” said Henry.
Overdose deaths have increased dramatically in Canada over the last five years, with fentanyl-related mortality more than doubling.
Sheila Malcolmson, B.C.’s minister of mental health and addiction, stated that stigma and secrecy about substance use kill.
“Shame and fear keep people from accessing the care that they need, and fear of being criminalization has led many people to hide their addiction and use drugs alone. And using alone can mean dying alone,” she said.
The province had asked the federal government for a 4.5-gram personal use exemption. Leslie McBain, co-founder of Moms Stop the Harm, is concerned that the total of 2.5 grams of illicit drugs allowed will not be adequate for some addicts who consume more than that each day.
“The more times you have to access this illicit supply, the more chances you have of having an overdose or death. So that’s why 2.5 grams is not practical, it is not what people who use drugs need to hear,” said McBain.
She does agree it will reduce the stigma around drug use. But McBain believes the key to reducing deaths is a safe, regulated supply.
“Decriminalization is a step to getting there, but in and of itself it will not save lives,” said McBain who lost her son Jordan to an overdose in 2014. Illicit drugs have become much more lethal since then. “We are losing our loved ones at rates that are almost beyond belief,“ she said.
Except on elementary and secondary school grounds, licensed child care families’ premises, airports, and Canadian Coast Guard boats and helicopters, all adults 18 years and older within the jurisdictional limits of B.C. are exempt from the personal use exemption.
According to Health Canada, the province of B.C. will communicate with impacted groups and teach law enforcement in the eight months leading up to the start of the exemption.
The province claimed in its proposal for an exemption from Health Canada that punitive drug laws disproportionately harm marginalized populations and fail to address a public health issue. It claimed that federal drug restrictions were having the opposite impact of their goal, increasing the likelihood of drug overdoses.
“Criminalization and stigma lead many to hide their use from family and friends and to avoid seeking treatment, thereby creating situations where the risk of drug poisoning death is elevated,” it said.
Possession for the purpose of trafficking, production, or export of any of the narcotics named in the exemption, regardless of quantity, is still unlawful.
Sources: Dailywire, Canada, Npr
