B.C. calls for exemption to decriminalize drug possession for personal use
In a Canada-first move to address the ongoing opioid crisis, the B.C. Government is looking at decriminalizing possession of small amounts of illicit drugs for personal use.
Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Sheila Malcomson announced Monday that the province has applied for an exemption from Health Canada under Section 56 (1) of the Controlled Drug and Substances Act to remove criminal penalties for people in possession of small amounts of illicit substances.
With an average of six British Columbians dying each day due to drug use, the province submitted the application which would allow people to posses up to 4.5 grams of illicit drugs.
“Substance use and addiction is a public health issue, it is not a criminal justice issue,” stated Malcomson during Monday’s announcement.
“By decriminalizing people who are in possession of a small amount of drugs we will be removing a barrier to health and treatment services. I hear that shame and fear keeps people from accessing life-saving services and treatments, and shame and fear can make people hide their drug use and use drugs alone, and especially at a time of incredibly toxic supply using alone can mean dying alone.”
Provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, also noted that drug use and addiction is a health problem, not a ‘criminal issue or a moral issue,’ and that decriminalization will yield positive results as it will be a big step in defeating the stigmas surrounding the issues.
She stated the stigma often leads to people not accessing treatment programs or seeking out support services, and that criminal penalties leads to a ‘revolving door’ that takes up resources without addressing the base problem.
B.C.’s Chief Coroner, Lisa Lapointe, said that addiction and drug use crosses all socioeconomic, racial and political spectrums, but added a disproportionate amount of deaths were in Indigenous peoples. She stated that more needs to be done to address the fear and stigma and get people into the types of treatments and services that fits there specific needs and prevent future deaths.
“Often substance use was a means of coping with significant challenges and traumas, often not understood by, or visible to others,” said Lapointe.
“Criminalizing people using drugs have meant punishing those who are already suffering, it has meant layering fear, shame and stigma onto those who are already vulnerable. It has meant separating good people from their families, their jobs and their communities. It has meant removing dignity.”
Lapointe also acknowledged that some people will be opposed to decriminalization of any amount of illicit substances and others will say 4.5 grams is too much, and while stating that any change can trigger fear and take time to accept, it should be noted that decades of criminal punishments have not yielded positive results.
“[Criminal punishments] has contributed to the shaming, marginalizing and deaths of thousands of promising, caring and much loved individuals,” said Lapointe. “It’s time to move drug use away from a law enforcement model to a health-centered model.”
Malcomson said stakeholders and partners, including those from law enforcement, Indigenous communities, social service organizations, clinical and research groups, and overdose prevention organizations, helped the government come up with the call for exemption. She noted that these partners, specifically on the law enforcement side, asked that the application specifically include wording that discourages law enforcement from confiscating small quantities of illicit substances from people.
“Even if police are not pressing personal possession charges in some jurisdictions, that removal of drugs is something that makes vulnerable people potentially more vulnerable to overdose or to some of the public safety impacts associated with the illegal drug trade,” said Malcolmson.
“That it’s been named in our application to Health Canada is an important step. It’s something that we certainly identified as part of the education of police, something that is part of the implementation period where we get ready for decriminalization, and something that is then included in the monitoring and evaluation framework that we also requested be associated with a successful application.”
Those partner organizations and other advocacy groups also had a hand in specifying the 4.5 gram limit, as that appeared to be a middle ground with some calling for possession of higher amounts while some saying it’s too much.
The application was backed by Senator Larry Campbell, who stated Monday that he’s confident this plan will be successful and affirm that addiction and substance use are problems that should be dealt with from the health care side, and not on the criminal justice side.
“If the intention of a prohibition-style system was to protect people from harm’s inherent to substance use, then this policy approach has significantly failed to achieve this goal at an individual or a population level,” said Campbell. “Evidence shows that this approach has had the opposite effect and has substantially increased harms.”
He added that decriminalization is about “keeping people alive. That’s it, that’s the bottom line.”
He also emphasized that addiction and substance use is a health issue and possession of small qualities of drugs should no longer be a criminal matter, adding that this change will help direct more people towards the support services and treatment programs that fit their needs.
Campbell said he is confident the federal government will move to accept the request for exemption, adding that if it does move forward it will be open to every jurisdiction, and asks that all communities take the opportunity to decriminalize possession of illicit substances for personal use.
Though Malcolmson could not provide a specific time line for when this application will be reviewed by Ottawa, she did say that she’s confident the matter will be taken seriously and that action will be taken quickly to back the call for an exemption and move towards decriminalization in B.C.