The British Columbia’s request to decriminalize the personal possession of some illicit drugs is unlikely to be replicated by other provinces and territories or nationally, at least not immediately.
Provincial ministers who reacted publicly to Tuesday’s approval of the decriminalization by the federal government, as well as the provinces and territories that responded to Global News, said they were in no hurry to follow BC’s example or that they are not even considering this request.
Read more: BC becomes the first province to eliminate criminal sanctions for possession of some hard drugs
Meanwhile, Carolyn Bennett, the federal minister of mental health and addictions, said on Tuesday she would not vote in favor of a private member bill tabled by New Democrat MP Gord Johns to decriminalize possession of small amounts of drugs across the country .
“I have a certain discomfort with the bill, because I don’t think it puts the railings around implementation,” he told reporters.
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“It’s been an important bill, but I think starting in British Columbia is a prudent way forward.”
Johns, who represents a Vancouver Island district and is his party’s mental health critic, said in a statement that the decision to approve the BC application “will leave Canadians living outside of BC province wondering, “If this is good for British Columbia, why. isn’t it for the rest of the country? ‘”
2:05 BC MP urges Liberals to support drug decriminalization bill BC MP urges Liberals to support drug decriminalization bill
He appeared in the House of Commons on Tuesday and called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to end what he called an “irresponsible” mosaic approach to resolving the national overdose crisis, which has killed nearly 27,000 Canadians since January. 2016 and has become more lethal during COVID-19. 19 pandemic.
“There are thousands of families burying their loved ones outside of BC and local and provincial governments should not fill the gap in federal leadership. There are lives at stake,” he said, asking if the government would support the his bill.
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Trudeau did not directly answer the question, saying the government is “working with partners to move forward with a multifaceted health-based strategy to end the overdose and crisis of the supply of toxic drugs.”
Read more: Calls for drug decriminalization grow. Could it solve Canada’s opioid crisis?
The three-year exemption from federal drug laws, effective January 31, allows adult drug users to carry up to 2.5 grams of opioids such as heroin and fentanyl, as well as cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA, also known as ecstasy, for personal use. These drugs will no longer be confiscated by the police, who will instead direct drug users to treatment and health services.
Mark Haden, an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia School of Population and Public Health who studies drug policy and addictions, says drug policy needs to move quickly from a criminal approach to a health approach to prevent more deaths.
“I’m very happy that (the federal government) is at least talking about it,” he told Global News.
“This is a step in the right direction and the government has indicated that it is interested in demonstrating the importance of a health approach. But we need more solutions.”
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Other provinces are not ready
In November, when BC submitted its application to the federal government to request the exemption, the provinces told Global News that they were waiting to see how the process would unfold before deciding whether to do so.
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However, public comments and statements provided to Global News on Tuesday indicated that most provinces are not prepared to follow BC’s example.
“Manitoba is not considering this at the moment,” Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen told reporters in the legislature, saying the province is focusing on cutting off the supply of illicit drugs while offering addiction treatment. to users.
“Our perspective has been that when people are entangled in addiction … it’s important to focus on trying to curb this availability of drugs and when people are addicted to offering them support,” he added.
Read more: Trudeau urges decriminalization of illicit drugs as opioid deaths continue to rise in Canada
The Saskatchewan government told Global News that the province is not considering deciding to decriminalize certain drugs and is focusing on treating addiction.
“The potential long-term effects of the decriminalization of illicit drugs in terms of public safety are unknown,” a spokesman said in a statement.
An official from Prince Edward Island’s health ministry told Global News that they were not aware of any request for decriminalization in the works in that province.
1:53 Saskatoon Mixed Reaction to Drug Decriminalization Proposal Saskatoon Mixed Reaction to Drug Decriminalization Proposal – April 24, 2022
Alberta Prime Minister Jason Kenney said in Edmonton on Tuesday that he was concerned the decision would be a “slippery slope” and wondered why other provinces had not been consulted on the plan.
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“I don’t think it’s hard to see where this is going,” he told reporters. “And where it goes, I think, is in a counterproductive direction.”
An Alberta health ministry spokesman added that the government is concerned about the ramifications of decriminalization and that the provincial police forces have spoken out against these policies.
The decriminalization has garnered vocal support from the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and the Vancouver Police Department, among other forces.
Other jurisdictions are pursuing decriminalization, however. Toronto has filed its own application with the federal government for an exemption, while a Yukon government spokesman told Global News on Tuesday that the territory is discussing “exemption possibilities” with Ottawa and other stakeholders.
Read more: Jurisdictions that push to decriminalize small amounts of drugs as overdose deaths increase
Bennett said Tuesday that Toronto’s application has not yet been approved, but is being reviewed, adding that BC’s successful application could serve as a model for other applications.
Bennett’s BC counterpart Sheila Malcolmson said the province has pursued decriminalization because shame and fear have prevented people from accessing the care they need, while the concern of being criminalized has led to many people to hide his addiction and use drugs alone.
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Haden says that while this is an important goal, it should also focus on creating a secure supply of drugs to counteract the toxic amounts of fentanyl in the illegal market, along with other health-focused policies.
“The next steps are all drugs and more grams (allowed for personal possession),” he said. “And then what they really have to do is make the medicines available in the context of the health service.
“The fact that it has become a political issue is unfortunate, because what you get is for politics to interfere, and then people die.”
– with archives of the Canadian press
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