Drug user advocates decry B.C.'s decriminalization exception request
Advocates for drug users are raising concerns about British Columbia's request for Health Canada to empower police to step in when they see illicit drug use in public spaces, saying it may be a step backward in the fight against the deadly opioid crisis.
Brittany Graham, the executive director of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, said though she hasn't seen the specifics, the proposed change currently only seems to affect those who have no home and are living in poverty.
“They are going to be recriminalized in every sense of the word and it is very disappointing, in the middle of this overdose crisis when 14,000 people have died, that our current government is blaming our larger problems of homelessness, and poverty, and the welfare state on the individual people who have nowhere to go,” she said in a phone interview.
Graham said the fallout from the proposed change shines a light on other issues the government should be more focused on addressing.
“People cannot afford housing anymore,” she said. “This is a housing issue, not a decriminalization issue.”
The three-year decriminalization pilot project was enacted on Jan. 31, 2023, exempting those who are in possession of small amounts of opioids from facing criminal charges. Exemptions apply to drugs including heroin and fentanyl, as well as cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA, in quantities of 2.5 grams or less.
The province said Friday that it was working with Health Canada to “urgently change the decriminalization policy to stop drug use in public.”
B.C.'s request comes after repeated criticism from politicians, health workers and police about the policy, including open drug use in public spaces.
The province previously tried to make drug use illegal in public places with its own legislation, but the Harm Reduction Nurses Association challenged the bill in court.
Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson ruled in December that if the laws were enacted, “irreparable harm will be caused.”
Premier David Eby said the province has now asked for the changes to come from Health Canada by requesting an amendment to its exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The requested change would give police the power to step in when they see illicit drug use in public spaces, including inside hospitals, on transit and in parks.
Corey Ranger, president of the Harm Reduction Nurses Association, called the move “grossly unethical.”
“We're very concerned, and truthfully believe this to be an improper circumvention of the BC Supreme Court order,” he said in an interview. “B.C. has not acted transparently, nor have they consulted with people who are going to be most affected by this issue.”
The association issued a news release earlier this month saying it had reached out to the provincial government “to discuss legal and policy changes.”
“The association is asking the province to engage in productive efforts rather than continuing to defend a law that puts lives at risk,” the April 16 news release said of the legislation.
Ranger said Friday's announcement came as a surprise, noting the province did not provide a formal response to the association's request.
“It seems like their response was their announcement that they were going to seek an amendment to their exemption for the decriminalization pilot,” he said.
Ranger said he believes the request was an attempt to “score political points” ahead of a provincial election set for the fall.
“We should work toward solutions like housing and mental health supports and instead, they regressed to the only thing they know, which is punishment,” he said.
Ranger said the association is not yet able to determine what the next steps will be because members have not yet seen the province's request.
The premier's office did not immediately respond to request for comment on the criticisms.
Eby said during a news conference on Friday that police need tools to address extraordinary circumstances when people are compromising public safety through their drug use. He said police will receive guidance to only arrest people for simple possession in “exceptional circumstances.”
Guy Felicella, a Vancouver-based harm reduction expert, saidhe agrees there should be some rules around public consumption in places like playgrounds, but he still has many questions about what the exemption would mean, specifically regarding police discretion.
“That's the part that's concerning to me and that's the stuff that I need clarity on,” he said.
As someone who struggled with addiction for decades and faced more than 50 drug-related convictions, he said he believes recriminalization will not work.
“When you get caught up in this, it's very, very, very hard to break free from,” he said of the justice system.
“It's just a revolving door (of) rinse, wash and repeat for decades, and I can tell you, when I look back on it, it was probably the hardest thing to ever break free from.”
He credits his recovery largely to harm reduction services.
“Without harm reduction, I wouldn't be alive today, my kids wouldn't be alive today and I wouldn't have over 11 years sober in my work. My recovery gives me the life that I have today,” Felicella said. “But it was all built on a continuum of care from harm reduction to recovery services.”
He said he is grateful the province supports supervised consumption and other harm reduction methods, but argues there needs to be more buy-in from municipalities across the province.
“We have to give them somewhere to go,” he said of drug users.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Latest updates on the major wildfires burning in Canada
The 2024 wildfire season has begun, and it's shaping up to follow last year's unprecedented destruction in kind, with thousands of square kilometres already consumed.
Veteran TSN sportscaster Darren Dutchyshen has died
Veteran TSN broadcaster Darren 'Dutch' Dutchyshen, one of Canada’s best-known sports journalists, has died. He was 57. His family says 'he passed as he was surrounded by his closest loved ones.'
Toronto man killed his mother and decapitated her — but it wasn't murder, lawyers argue
A ‘lifetime of abuse’ led Dallas Ly to snap and repeatedly stab his mother inside their Leslieville apartment in 2022 but he never intended to kill her, his defence lawyers argued during at his murder trial in Toronto on Thursday.
He had dreams of running for Canada in the Olympics, then he learned his family would be deported
A burgeoning track star says his dream of going to the Olympics is being derailed by a deportation order after Immigration officials rejected his family’s claim for asylum
Father charged with second-degree murder in daughter's stabbing death southwest of Montreal
A father has been charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his 34-year-old daughter in southern Quebec.
Teen died from eating a spicy chip as part of social media challenge, autopsy report concludes
A medical examiner says a Massachusetts teen who participated in a spicy tortilla chip challenge died from ingesting a substance 'with a high capsaicin concentration.'
Kidnapped by her father and kept in a crawl space: Court documents reveal Montreal horror story
A Montreal father who kidnapped his daughter who has autism and lied to police when they asked where she was should serve three years in prison, a Crown prosecutor said.
Ontario calls on Toronto to drop 'disastrous' drug decriminalization request
The province’s health minister and solicitor general are urging Toronto to rescind its request to decriminalize simple possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use, calling the proposal 'misguided' and 'disastrous.'
Trudeau calls New Brunswick's Conservative government a 'disgrace' on women's rights
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assailed New Brunswick's premier and other conservative leaders on Thursday, calling out the provincial government's position on abortion, LGBTQ youth and climate change.