British Columbia will become the first province to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs, but drug users, advocates and forensic chief in the province warn that the 2.5-gram threshold set by the government federal ignores the harsh reality of how people buy and buy. consuming drugs in the province.
Canadians aged 18 and over will be able to own up to 2.5 grams of accumulated opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA in BC as of January 31, 2023.
The province applied for an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in November 2021, with a threshold of 4.5 grams. The federal government lowered the threshold to 2.5 grams, citing comments from law enforcement officials across BC.
Kevin Yake, vice president of the Vancouver Drug Consumer Area Network (VANDU) and a drug user for 40 years, said many rooted drug users depend on well over 2.5 grams a day and that politics, though significant, “prepares them for failure.”
“At 4.5 grams, I thought it was low. Two or five grams, I think that’s ridiculous,” he said.
“I need this to wake me up in the morning. For people with higher tolerances, it really doesn’t cut it at all,” he said.
Yake said many users buy in bulk or with a partner, to save money and minimize the number of transactions that put them at risk.
“It’s a new ball game now – make sure I have enough for this day because I have to score again.”
‘A half measure’
Ryan McNeil, director of harm reduction research at the Yale Addiction Medicine Program and a scientist affiliated with the BC Substance Use Center, said the threshold does not take into account many of the dynamics of drug use. specific to downtown Vancouver Eastside, where Fentanyl, a highly toxic drug, is pushing people to use ever-increasing amounts.
“One of the dynamics of fentanyl is that it is a shorter-acting opioid than heroin, so over time we see people using it in higher volumes than before,” he said.
“There are some people who can potentially eliminate and take the police out of their lives and that’s important, but it will leave a lot of people behind. In that sense, it’s really a policy that represents a half measure.”
Carolyn Bennett, the federal minister of mental health and addictions, said the government’s decision to lower the possession threshold from 4.5 to 2.5 grams was based on law enforcement contributions across the country. .
He said the threshold is a “starting point”, which can be adjusted as needed.
Bennett said law enforcement data revealed that 85 percent of drug seizures correspond to amounts less than two grams, although it was not specified in what time period and region the drugs were specific. data.
Carolyn Bennett, Federal Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, and Associate Minister of Health, on her back, listens as BC Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry speaks during a press conference after BC obtained an exemption to decriminalize possession of some illegal drugs for personal purposes. use on tuesday. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press)
The British Columbia Association of Police Chiefs said the average amount of hard drugs seized between departments ranged from an average of 1.9 grams for Vancouver and Abbotsford police departments to 1. 6 grams for the Victoria Police Department and 1.3 grams for the RCMP North District. .
Some measures take into account the weight of the medicine container, while others do not.
Details of police are unknown
Vancouver police said in a statement that they support the damage reduction measures and are waiting for the province and police services to get guidance on how officers will enforce the threshold.
McNeil said it is key to know how much discretion law enforcement will have and what tools they will use to determine how the threshold is applied.
“Two or five grams is hard to see: how will the police be equipped to look at it in the field? It means that this could become a mechanism by which anything above this threshold is understood as potential possession with the intention of “selling or branding someone as a potential drug dealer?” He said.
“We need to ask questions about how this will be implemented in real-world environments and whether it could perpetuate the inequalities we see in policing and the potential imprisonment of especially indigenous people, but also of other racialized people.”
Yake, who said VANDU will continue to advocate for a higher legal threshold, said he believes the federal government should have consulted with drug users and health care workers, rather than law enforcement bodies at all. the country.
“I just see more money for the police and more headaches and obstacles for the user,” he said.
“It’s not a cure, to legalize a little narcotics. strong fentanyl, which is poison. “
More than 9,400 people in BC have died from toxic drug overdoses since the province declared a public health emergency in 2016, an average of six people a day.