Critics say the government is walking back its drug decriminalization policy less than one year into the experiment
New legislation introduced Thursday in B.C. makes it illegal to use drugs in almost all public spaces, a move that some say effectively kills the NDP’s decriminalization policy just eight months into the experiment
If passed, the law would ban drug use within 15 metres of a playground, splash pool, skate park, sports field, beach or park and within six metres of the doorways of businesses, residences, recreation centres or any public space.
“Decriminalization was never about the ability to use hard drugs wherever you wanted and this law makes that very clear,” Premier David Eby said at a news conference Thursday morning. Instead, Eby said, people will be directed to supervised consumption sites where they’re able to access addiction and health services.
It’s a significant walk-back of the government’s three-year decriminalization pilot project, launched in January with the aim of destigmatizing people who use drugs and reducing the number of fatal overdoses.
Harm reduction advocates said the changes will be “deadly” while B.C.’s chief coroner said it’s “tremendously disappointing” to see the government advance legislation “that attempts to push people into back alleys and back corners.”
“People are being set up to fail and die,” said Vince Tao of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users.
The group organized a rally in opposition to the proposed changes on Wednesday but Tao said advocates were shocked by the “all-encompassing” list of restricted areas.
“This is a huge step back,” Tao said. “I think we can altogether admit that decriminalization is dead.”
Lapointe, who has championed decriminalization as a way to treat drug use as a health crisis rather than a criminal one, said “any changes that put more lives at risk are a significant concern to me.”
She pointed out the government’s news release mentions several times “helping people feel safe.”
“I think this is about a perception of safety,” Lapointe said. “This is a provincial piece of legislation that potentially reinforces the sense that you are at risk from people who use drugs, which is just simply not true.”
B.C. United party Leader Kevin Falcon rejected Lapointe’s notion that public drug use doesn’t pose a harm to British Columbians, pointing to a case in April where a Nanaimo kindergarten student brought home a packet of fentanyl she found on the grounds of her elementary school.
“I cannot believe that there’s anybody out there that thinks reasonable limits on open drug use is somehow a bad thing,” Falcon said.
The official Opposition leader said the proposed changes are an admission that the government’s “reckless” decriminalization policy has resulted in “flagrant” drug use in public spaces.
Eby refused to admit the new legislation was a reversal of the original decriminalization policy that came into effect Jan. 31. That policy stated that people 18-and-older found with a total of 2 1/2 grams or less of opioids, cocaine and amphetamines will not face criminal charges or mandatory treatment, nor will their drugs be seized.
Since that policy came into effect, both Eby and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said they’ve heard frustrations from mayors, business owners and citizens about a rise in public drug use, especially in places frequented by children.
The regulation would bring illegal drugs in line with alcohol, cannabis and cigarettes, which are restricted in public, Eby said.
If a person consumes drugs in those areas, police must first ask them to stop or leave the area. If they refuse to comply, they can be arrested and their drugs seized.
Vancouver police Deputy Chief Fiona Wilson said in a statement that police officers support the legislation while also “recognizing that we must apply our discretion and utilize the Act only when behaviour is problematic or repeated.”
Wilson, who is vice-president of the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police, said the goal isn’t to criminalize drug-users but to direct them to health-care options such as overdose prevention sites.
Lapointe, however, said many communities don’t have overdose prevention sites.
“There aren’t very many,” she said.
Despite Coroner Service data that show 65 per cent of overdose deaths in 2023 were a result of smoking drugs, only 19 of B.C.’s 47 overdose prevention sites in B.C. provide the option to smoke drugs, according to the Mental Health and Addictions Ministry.
Tao said he’s disappointed the government’s legislation wasn’t coupled with an announcement to expand overdose prevention sites, especially at a time when sites in Vancouver’s Yaletown and in Nanaimo are set to close.
