The top doctor in B.C. is calling for decriminalization of people in possession of illicit drugs for personal use.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has released a 47-page report which offers two ways of decriminalizing drug possession.
Through the Police Act, Henry proposes to allow the Public Safety Minister to “broaden priorities” for people who use drugs, or to prevent police from enforcing offenses for simple drug possession.
“It’s really important that we know that this is not the same as legalization. Legalization is what we did for cannabis, where all levels from production, from use, from distribution, are controlled and regulated. What we’re talking about is alternative pathways for people who are caught with substances with small amounts for their own use, and that can vary depending on the situation. Where as there are alternatives to incarceration, to criminal charges.”
Henry says it was three years ago this month that a public health emergency was declared in B.C. because of the overdose crisis. Her report says more than 3,700 people have died of illicit drug overdoses in the province since then.
She says the reason for her proposal is that more needs to be done to combat the overdose crisis, saying decriminalizing simple possession will not be an overnight solution to the crisis but saying the conversation needs to be started.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Kamloops says he agrees with proposals made in Doctor Bonnie Henry’s report that was released today.
Ken Christian says he has long been saying we need to change the conversation around drug addiction.
“That I think is an important step. We have to remember that we are losing way too many lives and we are impacting way too many families with this current situation, so we have to do things differently… Along with Bonnie Henry’s suggestions, we need to look at clinics that are going to dispense controlled opioids to people who are finding their way through that addiction cycle.”
In terms of policing resources used to arrest and charge people for using illicit drugs, Christian says “it’s tremendously time consuming, and it’s quite frankly a revolving door, and that’s the nature of the problem.”
More than 140 people have died in the Kamloops health area from an illicit drug overdose since 2016.
