In British Columbia, it is no longer an offence for a person over age 18 to possess a very small amount (2.5 grams) of illegal drugs including heroin, fentanyl, crack and powder cocaine, meth and ecstasy.
This is a three-year trial, which will undoubtedly be watched closely by the rest of Canada.
It should be noted that decriminalization is not legalization; possession of more than 2.5 grams of the listed drugs in combination is still illegal, as is selling any amount of illegal drugs. So is possession of such drugs in certain places, such as elementary and secondary schools, child-care facilities, and airports.
A British Columbia information sheet on decriminalization states the purpose of the measure is to “help reduce the barriers and stigma that prevents people from accessing life-saving supports and services.” Police finding someone in possession of a small amount of illegal drugs will provide information on where they can get help.
One has to wonder if it will have any impact at all on drug overdoses and deaths. The reason is that in British Columbia, like the rest of Canada, there is a shortage of addiction treatment facilities and beds. Should an addict decide to make use of the information police hand out and seek help to get clean, they could be waiting months.
Months can be a lifetime for an addict who uses street drugs, most of which are contaminated with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine; carfentanil, a large-animal sedative that can be 100 times more toxic than fentanyl; or a fentanyl-related designer drug such as W-18.
British Columbia’s decision to tackle the stigma associated with addiction is laudable. It is not the first government to do so, and it will not be the last. Treating drug addiction as a crime does not work – it never did.
The B.C. government has stated there were nearly 2,300 deaths in 2022 related to the toxic drug supply. That is an average of six per day. There have been 11,171 lives lost in the province due to drugs since 2016.
Treating this as a public health emergency requires more than tinkering with a law in a tepid gesture at decriminalization.
As has been stated in numerous news stories, 2.5 grams is such a small amount – the vast majority of addicts caught with drugs, even for personal use, will have substantially more.
In addition, the change in the law is not accompanied by measures that have made decriminalizing drug possession successful elsewhere in the world, including combining the measure with stepping up anti-trafficking enforcement.
Little is being done to protect addicts from an increasingly toxic and contaminated drug supply, such as enhancing programs to provide better access to a safe, medical grade alternative.
Safe supply programs aim at stabilizing the addict’s life, allowing them to work instead of forcing them into criminal activity to buy their drugs. Mostly, these programs keep the addict alive, with the eventual hope the person will seek treatment. The same is true of using naloxone to revive people who overdose on opioids.
Speaking of naloxone, it forms a key part of B.C.’s harm reduction strategy. Unfortunately, it does not work with non-opioid drugs like benzodiazepines that also contaminate much of the illegal drug supply.
While rural midwestern Ontario would seem a world away from the mean streets of downtown Vancouver, as far as drug addiction issues are concerned, it could be next door.
People in both places are taking unknown substances in the hope they are getting opioids, and they are dying.
People in both places who seek addiction treatment end up on lengthy waiting lists. They, too, are dying because of it.
Oh, yes, health officials around here will be watching very closely to see what happens with B.C.’s gesture toward decriminalization. At present, it appears to be a step in the right direction, but far too small a step to get any momentum in solving a life-and-death crisis for too many of our brothers and sisters, children and friends.
