B.C. city councillor proposes ban on open drug use

In Maple Ridge, Councillor Ahmed Yousef is proposing a motion to ban the use of drugs in public places.

Yousef said he's seen an increase in public drug use since January, and he links that to the province's decriminalization of the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use.

"Anecdotally and just being on the ground as a parent myself, visiting the playgrounds, visiting the parks, being in the community we see a significant uptake in open drug use," he told CTV News.

Yousef doesn't have stats, but says many businesses and parents are also concerned. He notes a letter from local business groups was sent to city council, asking for something to be done.

He explained he's hearing from "parents of toddlers and babies that take them out to enjoy our beautiful parks ... but they can't allow their children to go crawling around in the grass for fear of encountering some paraphernalia."

He says he's also heard from "child care workers that are having to do sweeps at playgrounds."

Already, Campbell River, Prince George, Kamloops and Fort St. John are considering similar bylaws to the one Yousef is proposing. Sicamous already has one in place.

While the recent decriminalization allows people to carry drugs, you can't have them at schools or child-care facilities.

Debate at the legislature has questioned if the province should step in with a province-wide ban on using the drugs in public places.

Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe has observed the debate, and thinks it's problematic to suggest there's rampant open drug use.

"Whether there's an increase in that right now, I don't think there's any data to support that. I think there's a lot of fear and a lot of fear-mongering right now," Lapointe said.

Lapointe added she has more than 20 years' experience in the field, and "only a handful of times" has the coroners service been called to school grounds to respond to an overdose death. She said the data shows most people use indoors because of the stigma involved. Those who do use in parks, she adds, are mostly unhoused.

"So in a way it's a law against poor people," she said. "The majority of people are housed and they are using alone and they will die alone."

Lapointe and Yousef are both worried about the message sent to younger people, but for different reasons.

"Instead of being a compassion that we want to help members of our community who are vulnerable and who are experiencing substance use challenge, it's about intolerance," Lapointe said. "It's about punishing. It's about vilifying."

Yousef insisted it's not about vilifying specific groups of people.

"Places that are frequented mostly by children, youths, adults and families, seniors should not have to deal with these behaviors," he said. "I'm talking about behaviors. I'm not looking at any certain (detail like) whether a person has a fixed address or not."

The province says since municipalities have oversight over public places within their borders, they're the ones best equipped to establish rules.