As of May 7, British Columbia will no longer allow public consumption of drugs
Photo by Ethan Barkley
In late April, the B.C. government announced that it was revising its drug decriminalization program to make the public use of drugs illegal again. These revisions were approved by Health Canada on May 7.
Health Canada granted B.C. a three-year exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) in 2022, and it took effect in early 2023. The exemption decriminalized possession of small amounts (up to 2.5 g) of certain substances, including opioids, cocaine, methamphetamines and MDMA/ecstasy, for personal consumption by adults only.
The exemption was a response to the ongoing overdose crisis, which was declared a public health emergency in 2016 by the province. Since 2016, almost 14 000 people living in B.C. have died due to toxic overdose.
The province’s decriminalization program intended to remove legal and social barriers that might prevent people from accessing services like drug checking and medical care. However, popular concerns over public safety in places like hospitals, parks, and on public transit have prompted B.C. Premier David Eby to seek revisions.
“Keeping people safe is our highest priority. While we are caring and compassionate for those struggling with addiction, we do not accept street disorder that makes communities feel unsafe,” said Eby.
Ya’ara Saks, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, said in her statement that “[e]xemptions will continue to apply in private residences, healthcare clinics as designated by the province of BC, places where people are lawfully sheltering, and overdose prevention and drug checking sites.”
Many people, including experts in substance use and public health, have criticized the province’s new approach.
“Incriminating people who use drugs does not increase safety or wellbeing of people, or reduce stigma. I think a lot of the public health goals and the goals of drug checking is to reduce stigma and to increase safety and wellbeing. Recriminalizing people definitely works against those objectives,” said Dr. Bruce Wallace, a UVic professor and scientist with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR).
“It’s a little bit disappointing,” Dr. Jaime Arredondo, Canada Research Chair in Substance Use and Health Policy Research, said about the revisions just one year into the program
“We’re pushing those people on the margins even more to the margins, we are really putting them into more dangerous conditions. We know a lot of people unfortunately die from overdose using alone, and this might just lead to those consequences, just pushing people to hide instead of looking for help,” he said.
At this time, it is unclear what B.C. intends to do next, less than halfway into the three-year exemption. Experts like Arredondo suggest that additional tools, beyond decriminalization, like safe consumption spaces and overdose prevention sites, are necessary to combat the crisis.
