A former Yellowknifer advocate and advocate for drug decriminalization says a recent decision to allow possession of smaller amounts of drugs in BC is a move in the right direction to reduce harm, albeit small.
On May 31, the federal government announced that BC adults will be able to possess up to 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA starting next year. The measure was supported by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and the Association of Chiefs of Police of British Columbia.
Garth Mullins, an adviser to the BC government representing the Vancouver Drug Consumer Area Network, says the decision will not stop people from dying because it does not address safe supply, but it is the first step in dealing with consumption. of drugs as health. issue rather than criminal.
“If you are a drug user … you are criminalized, or the police are chasing you and harassing you. You are being locked up, you have to hide what you are doing, obtaining your substance must be done in secret. use must be done in secret. It makes everything more incomplete and dangerous, “Mullins told CBC’s Loren McGinnis on The Trailbreaker on Thursday morning.
“Real decriminalization is an invitation to rejoin society, and that’s huge. That could be a small step towards that.”
Mullins grew up in Yellowknife before moving to BC. An activist for decriminalization and safe supply, he is open about his own drug use: having spent much of his adult life using heroin, he is now taking methadone. He said access to a prescribed legal drug did not cause him to overdose or that his arrest “radically” changed his life.
He began attending decriminalization meetings in 1998.
“All these years later, to see important ministers and parliamentarians and journalists, and everyone talking about this word ‘decriminalization’ … that’s a little encouraging,” he said.
But problems continue with the BC plan, he added. The amount that people can carry is low, which means that many drug users will not benefit; and, of course, possession remains illegal throughout the country.
“A template to follow,” says NWT MLA
Some NWT politicians have argued for years that the territory should treat addictions as a health problem rather than a criminal one, decriminalizing personal drug possession.
On June 1, Yellowknife North MP Rylund Johnson said BC’s decision offered the NWT “a template to follow,” though he noted that decriminalization is not a silver bullet.
“I know a lot of people feel uncomfortable with the idea. They see it as punitive behavior that they consider immoral. They see it as an illegality that will cause harm. But that’s just not true,” Johnson told the Legislature.
“If we’re really going to help addicts, we have to do what really works and follow the evidence.”
Rylund Johnson is the NWT MLA of Yellowknife North and a longtime advocate of decriminalization. (Mario De Ciccio / Radio-Canada)
During an exchange with Johnson, Health Minister Julie Green said her department is watching what is happening in BC and said she would accept her suggestion to examine the application BC made to the federal government that led to the decision there.
“We’re very interested to see what comes out of BC,” he said.
Johnson has spoken out on the issue for years and raised it during the last session of the Legislature. On March 10, he spoke of the overdose deaths of two people that prompted public health advice on opioid cocaine.
He noted Portugal, which decriminalized drugs in 2001 and now has a four-fold lower mortality rate than the European average.
During this session, Justice Minister RJ Simpson said the government’s position is that it should work with Indigenous governments on this issue.