Province taking steps to minimize public drug use

The B.C. government is taking action to address concerns about illicit drug use in public places.

The government has introduced legislation to minimize public drug use and redirect people to safer spaces where they can connect with health care services and treatment.

“The recognition that taking someone with an addiction issue, arresting them, bringing them to criminal court, sentencing them potentially to jail for struggling with addiction is not going to work, is one that is widely shared,” Premier David Eby said.

“However, our compassion and understanding that that system doesn’t work to address addiction issues does not mean that we need to tolerate public drug use in our communities, especially in areas used by kids.”

If passed, the Public Drug Use Act will ban drug use in public and recreation-focused spaces including:

• a six-metre radius from building entrances, including businesses and residential buildings;
• within six metres of a bus stop;
• within 15 metres of playgrounds, spray and wading pools, and skate parks; and
• at parks, beaches and sports fields.

“The toxic-drug supply is impacting every community across B.C. and our government is doing everything we can to expand access to addiction treatment for people,” Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, said.

“We want people to be able to come forward for help and not fear arrest for struggling with addiction, and we also recognize that places where children and families gather are not places where people should be using drugs. The legislation introduced today reflects that.”

The new policy would align with provincial regulations surrounding tobacco, alcohol and cannabis use in public spaces.

The legislation would allow police officers to ask a person using drugs in any of the aforementioned places to leave and go to a more appropriate space, such as an overdose prevention or supervised consumption site which, in turn, could lead to more individuals seeking treatment and accessing resources.

Eby noted work is ongoing to increase the number of overdose prevention and safe consumption sites throughout B.C. to ensure people in all areas of the province have access to supports and services.

If a person refuses to leave a prohibited area, police may proceed with appropriate enforcement measures, though Eby said the legislation does include a series of escalating steps starting with conversing with the individual to encourage them to leave the prohibited area and instead use at an overdose prevention or safe consumption site, and leading up to confiscating the drugs and potentially taking the individual into custody.

Farnworth added the intention of the Public Drug Use Act is compliance over enforcement, with a goal of having less people using drugs in public areas and instead at appropriate sites, while also providing police with tools needed to direct those individuals to the supports and services in their communities.

“The B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police (BCACP) appreciates the tools this legislation provides our members, which will ensure everyone in our communities feel safe, while we continue to support those who are living with addiction,” BCACP vice-president and co-chair of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police’s drug advisory committee, Deputy Chief Fiona Wilson, stated.

“We support today’s announcement on new provincial legislation, while also recognizing that we must apply our discretion and utilize the act only when behaviour is problematic or repeated. Our goal is to not to criminalize drug users, but to continue to direct people to alternate pathways of care while at the same time supporting our community’s sense of safety.”

The regulations outlined in the new legislation comes from feedback gathered from local governments, police and members of the public who have voiced concerns about public drug consumption.

“The toxic-drug crisis has taken too many lives, too soon. That’s why we’re doing everything we can to save lives and help people suffering with addictions get treatment,” Eby said.

“British Columbians overwhelmingly agree addiction is a health matter. At the same time, they’re also concerned about open drug use in public spaces, especially near where kids play. That’s why we’re taking this critical step similar to how we regulate smoking or alcohol use in public, to help people feel safer in their communities, and ensure people who use drugs can be connected to safer and more appropriate spaces with the services they need.”

Eby added decriminalization was always intended to move addiction issues away from the criminal system and instead into health care options, and that “it never was about, and it cannot be about, using drugs wherever you want.”