British Columbia plans three-year decriminalization test

British Columbia will decriminalize personal possession of small amounts of drugs for three years to address the province’s overdose death crisis. Canada’s federal government announced Wednesday that it has approved a motion by provincial officials to pass the plan that will decriminalize possession of street drugs like heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine.

“Eliminating criminal penalties for those who carry small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use will reduce stigma and harm and provide British Columbia with another tool to end the drug overdose crisis,” said the Secretary of State for Mental Health and Addiction, Carolyn Bennett, in a statement cited by Reuters.

In November, British Columbia officials requested a three-year waiver from enforcing the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Under the plan, personal possession of up to a total of 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA will not result in an arrest, subpoena or seizure of the drugs. However, the limited drug decriminalization plan does not apply to airports, schools and members of the Canadian military.

“This is not legalization,” Bennett told reporters at a press conference in Vancouver. “We didn’t take this decision lightly.”

Possession, sale or trafficking in large quantities of the drugs remains illegal under the plan. The limited decriminalization test program begins on January 31, 2023 and will run until January 31, 2026.

British Columbia overdose deaths rise

British Columbia, which was particularly hard hit by the nationwide opioid crisis, declared a public health crisis in 2016 due to a surge in overdose deaths. The number of deaths has continued to rise since then, with a record 2,236 fatal drug overdoses reported in the province last year. Drug overdoses are the leading cause of death among people aged 19 to 39, according to provincial officials.

Officials hope the decriminalization testing plan will help reduce the stigma surrounding drug use and addiction and make it easier for people with addiction problems to seek treatment.

“Drug use is a public health issue, not a criminal one,” British Columbia Secretary of Mental Health and Addiction Sheila Malcolmson said, adding that the exemption will help officials address substance abuse problems in the province.

In the request to the federal government, British Columbia officials wrote that the criminalization of drug use disproportionately affects marginalized communities and does not treat substance use disorders as a health problem. The federal drug policy, the province wrote, is missing its goals and making overdoses more likely.

“Criminalization and stigma lead many to hide their use from family and friends and avoid treatment, creating situations that increase the risk of drug poisoning,” provincial officials wrote in the exemption request.

The 2.5-gram limit set by the federal government is smaller than the 4.5-gram maximum limit required by British Columbia officials. In the exemption application filed with Health Canada, the province wrote that levels that were too low were ineffective and “ reduce progress towards drug decriminalization goals”.

“The evidence that we have across the country and [from] Law enforcement … was that 85 percent of the drugs seized were under 2 grams,” Bennett said, explaining the lower limit, “and that’s where we move.”

Public health advocates, local and provincial government officials and even some police chiefs have called on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to decriminalize possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use. In 2018, Canada legalized cannabis nationwide, a drug policy change endorsed by Trudeau.

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart is among officials who have campaigned for drug decriminalization. Every Monday he gets an email with the number of drug overdoses and resulting deaths in the city. For a week, the death of one of his family members was included in the report’s grim statistics. On Monday, the mayor learned that British Columbia’s decriminalization plan had been approved.

“I can tell you I felt like crying and I still feel like crying,” he told the Washington Post. “It’s a big, big deal.”

“It marks a fundamental shift in drug policy that favors health care over handcuffs,” Stewart added.

Bennet said British Columbia’s plan to decriminalize personal possession of small amounts of drugs will be monitored as it progresses. If successful, it could be a model for nationwide drug policy changes.

“This temporary exemption is the first of its kind in Canada,” she said. “Real-time adjustments are made as soon as we receive an analysis of data that indicates a need for change.”