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The first such exemption from federal drug laws would allow users to own small amounts of cocaine, opioids and methamphetamine.
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May 31, 2022 • 3 hours ago • 4 minutes of reading • 334 comments BC has been the zero point of the opioid epidemic, with more than 2,000 deaths from overdose last year, ten times more than a decade ago . Photo by Patrick Sison / AP
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OTTAWA – The Liberal government will exempt the entire province of British Columbia from federal drug possession laws, allowing users to have small amounts of cocaine, opioids and methamphetamine without fear of criminal charges.
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Mental Health Minister Carolyn Bennett announced the exemption in Vancouver on Tuesday, but it will not take effect until Jan. 31, 2023. It will prevent police from charging criminal charges or confiscating drugs from anyone carrying less than 2 .5 grams of cocaine. opioids, methamphetamine and MDMA, or as it is commonly known, ecstasy.
Bennett stressed that the government was not offering full legalization, but was taking a harm-reduction approach to drug use.
“For too many years, ideological opposition to harm reduction has cost lives,” he said. “Despite best efforts to increase harm reduction, the crisis has worsened, the supply of illicit and increasingly toxic drugs has exacerbated the already devastating loss.”
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For too many years, ideological opposition to harm reduction has cost lives
The exemption will be valid for three years, but may be extended in the future.
The BC government applied for the exemption last fall in hopes of curbing the rise in drug overdose deaths. It will be subject to peer review and may be modified or canceled for three years.
Drug trafficking would continue to be illegal and the exemption would not apply to schools, kindergartens or airports. BC had asked for an exemption of up to 4.5 grams, but Bennett said the research they have done showed that 2.5 grams would cover most people who are currently loaded.
The exemption is the first of its kind in Canada, but Toronto City Council has requested a similar one, and Edmonton City Council is also in the process of requesting an exemption from the federal government.
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Bennett said the BC exemption, which includes a training requirement for police officers and more treatment options for drug users, could be used as a model.
“This successful application will greatly help other jurisdictions to make applications and know what criteria need to be put in place,” he said.
Despite this, Bennett said she is not yet ready to support a private NDP member’s bill calling for decriminalization at the national level, because she argues that the bill does not have the necessary guarantees.
“Don’t put railings around implementation.”
NPD MP Gord Johns’ bill will be voted on Wednesday. In addition to decriminalization at the national level, it would also establish a process to clean up the records of previously convicted persons.
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Johns said in a statement that the government should not offer a partial solution to a national crisis.
“While this announcement is an important step, it will leave Canadians living outside this province wondering” if this is good for British Columbia, why not for the rest of the country? And why the Liberal government is not moving forward with a national solution, “he said.
Michael Barrett, the Conservative shadow health minister, said Canada has a duty to “help people improve”, but suggested that Ottawa should prioritize other measures.
“Canadians struggling with addiction deserve compassion for access to treatment and a path to recovery, and we believe the federal government should prioritize this care by expanding treatment and recovery programs so that they can get help.”
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The Conservative Prime Minister of Alberta also has reservations. Prime Minister Jason Kenney said the decision is “a slippery slope” and is counterproductive to solving the twin problems of illicit drugs and helping those recovering from addiction.
Kenney said other provinces should have been consulted first, especially neighboring Alberta.
The move also violates a promise that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made not to take such action, he said.
BC has been the zero point of the opioid epidemic, with more than 2,000 deaths from overdoses last year, ten times more than it was a decade ago. Most police forces in the province have stopped arresting people for possession and federal prosecutors have been instructed since 2020 to avoid prosecuting cases.
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Vancouver has many supervised injection sites and the federal government has offered secure supply programs.
BC Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson said decriminalization will help with the stigma of use, forcing many people to use them alone when there is no help if they take an overdose.
The British Columbia coroner tells us that between five and seven people a day die from an overdose of toxic drugs.
“The British Columbia coroner tells us that between five and seven people a day in British Columbia die from toxic drug overdoses and that half of these deaths occur in a private home, often when people are alone. “.
He said the province is constantly adding more treatment beds, but that it cannot keep up with a supply of drugs heavily contaminated with fentanyl.
“While we are adding new services to British Columbia, almost weekly, we have not ended the public health emergency. Innovation and determination have been overtaken by the increasing toxicity of illicit drugs,” he said. to say.
Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart said he receives weekly updates on the death toll every Monday and that it is affecting the entire city.
“You can’t find a Vancouverite who hasn’t lost anyone and is included in these horrifying stats,” he said.
Stewart said the government should take all possible steps and that this is a tool that can help.
“We need to detoxify our supply of medicines with a regulated unpolluted supply. We need to build more specially designed homes with integrated health supports and approve more supervised consumption sites.”
Twitter: RyanTumilty Email: rtumilty@postmedia.com
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