Opposition leader wants crack and opioids banned from B.C. beaches and parks
While 4/20 is the day many people take to public beaches to smoke pot — B.C. United is calling on the governing NDP to bring in a province-wide ban on using recently decriminalized drugs at beaches, parks, and playgrounds.
Municipalities are responsible for making rules about how public places are used. Yet the opposition thinks the province can bring in B.C.-wide legislation to ban opioid and crack use from the same places.
From January 31, 2023 to January 31, 2026 Health Canada is allowing adults 18 and older to avoid arrest and charges for possessing up to 2.5 grams combined of opioids, crack and powder cocaine, meth and ecstasy.
Vancouver's Police Chief Adam Palmer said he supports the idea of a ban because "it's just common sense."
Kevin Falcon, the leader of the party formerly known as the B.C. Liberals, said he's hearing from police officers who are concerned about people using hard drugs in places families hang out.
"The problem is, you've taken a tool away from the police that now don't have the ability to go to someone that's say at Spanish Banks, or a local park or playground that's doing whatever drug of choice they're doing, to be able to take that away now, because it's decriminalized," added Falcon.
The ministry of mental health and addictions rejects that. In a statement to CTV News it said, only possession is decriminalized and it's still illegal to be intoxicated.
B.C. United also said some municipal councils are encountering pushback from local health officials about putting in city-wide bans.
On Wednesday, Jennifer Whiteside, the mental health and addictions minister, said it was appropriate for councils to get information from local health officers.
"I understand that the Sicamous municipality bylaw has been passed. There has been engagement with the medical health officer, and that's what municipalities are doing. They are engaging appropriately with their medical health officers to determine what the local conditions are," Whiteside said.
There is a ban on using these drugs at schools and daycares but not other public places.
The ministry's statement went on to say, "... implementing blanket bylaws does not address the underlying causes related to addiction and may undermine the goals of decriminalization."
That's because it may encourage people to use alone, and increase the risk the user may die of an overdose due to the toxic drug supply.
B.C. declared a public health emergency in April of 2016 and continues to set records for illicit drug overdose deaths.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.