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.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
A look back on Alberta's record-breaking wildfire season: Preparing for potential challenges in 2024
By the end of the 2023 wildfire season in Alberta, 1,088 wildfires had burned more than 2.2 million hectares of land, and this year, the wildfire season is already in full swing.
Video appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs beating singer Cassie in hotel hallway in 2016
Security video aired by CNN appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs physically assaulting singer Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
B.C. man 'attacked suddenly' by adult grizzly near Alberta border: RCMP
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.
Anglers reel in 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off coast of Florida: 'She found my bait'
A group of fishers said it took roughly 20 minutes to reel in this 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off the coast of Florida.
Australia's richest woman seeks removal of her portrait from exhibition
Art is subjective. And while many artists long to share their work with the world, there's no guarantee that the audience will understand it, or even like it.
Scottie Scheffler isn't the first pro golfer to be arrested during a tournament
Scottie Scheffler's arrest hours before his second-round tee time at the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, will go down as one of the most shocking in professional golf history. It certainly wasn't the first, though.
Canadian convicted of attacking Nancy Pelosi's husband with a hammer sentenced to 30 years
The man convicted of attempting to kidnap then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and attacking her husband with a hammer was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison.