Canada announced on Tuesday that it will decriminalize possession of small amounts of hard drugs in a pilot project aimed at curbing an opioid crisis in British Columbia that has already caused thousands of deaths, and to treat addiction instead.
In response to a request from the province of British Columbia, Canadian Minister for Mental Health and Addiction Carolyn Bennett said on January 31, 2023, an exemption from the law allowing the possession of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs will come into effect. for a period of three years.
Adults in this Pacific coast state cannot be arrested, charged with personal consumption doses of up to 2.5 grams of hard drugs, and police cannot confiscate the product.
Instead, users will receive information on how to access medical help to treat their addiction.
“For years, ideological opposition to reducing living costs,” said Bennett, speaking at a press conference announcing the pilot program.
“We’re doing this to save lives, but also to give drug users reputation and decision-making power,” he said, adding that it “will be a model for other jurisdictions in Canada.”
Kennedy Stewart, the mayor of Vancouver, the epicenter of the opioid crisis, said the decision “fundamentally reshaped drug policy to favor healthcare over handcuffs”.
He described it as “a historic, bold and pioneering step in the fight to save lives from the toxic drug crisis”, adding that it would also reduce petty crime often linked to drug addiction.
Several Canadian cities, including Montreal and Toronto, have expressed a desire to obtain similar exemptions.
The petty-left New Democratic Party will present a bill to parliament on Wednesday that would decriminalize drug possession across the country, although expected to be defeated.
shame and fear
Bennett stressed that the exemption granted to British Columbia was “not legalisation”.
However, it will make this state the second jurisdiction in North America to decriminalize hard drugs, after the US state of Oregon did the same in November 2020.
While spending on police surveillance has declined, Oregon’s experience so far has yielded mixed results, as few people adhere to drug addiction treatments.
Substance abuse has caused thousands of deaths in British Columbia. Chemical dependency minister Sheila Malcolmson told AFP when she applied for an exemption in November that the state is facing an “overdose crisis that has caused a terrible loss of life.”
At a news conference on Tuesday, he said the pandemic is worsening its effects.
“Shame and fear prevent people from accessing the health care they need,” he said. “And the fear of being criminalized has caused many people to overlook their addictions and use drugs on their own… which could mean dying alone.”
Several drug users consulted by AFP said the amount of medication allowed by the exemption was too small because their daily consumption was much higher.
Bennett acknowledged the truth, but said it was a starting point.
He also said there are increasing calls in Ottawa to regulate the safe delivery of hard drugs, which are now often processed with toxic substances.
But he added that first evidence must be gathered about the pilot project to show that the approach is working.
Between January 2016 and September 2021, 26,690 people died in Canada from opioid overdoses, according to federal government data.
An estimated six people die each day in British Columbia from opioid-related poisoning.
More than 2,200 people died last year, and nearly 9,400 have died since the state’s public health officer Bonnie Henry declared it a public health emergency in 2016.
source: Noticias
