'Knee-jerk reaction': Politicians and residents respond to B.C. ending drug decriminalization
Opposition politicians were quick to react after B.C. announced it would not continue its controversial three-year drug decriminalization pilot project on Wednesday.
The NDP government’s decision was criticized from all sides, with the B.C. Conservatives blaming decriminalization for less public safety, and the B.C. Greens saying that the implementation was faulty.
On Jan. 14, B.C. Minister of Health Josie Osborne said that the three-year pilot project “hasn’t delivered the results that we had hoped for,” and they won’t be asking the federal government to continue its exemption to decriminalize people who use drugs.
“From the beginning, this pilot was designed as a time-limited trial, with ongoing monitoring built in so we could understand what was working, what wasn’t, and where changes were needed,” she said at a press conference.
The pilot started on Jan. 31, 2023, and will finish at the end of this month. Health Canada had granted B.C. a three-year exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to decriminalize people who use drugs.
This meant that anyone in B.C. age 18 or older could possess up to 2.5 grams of MDMA, methamphetamine, cocaine, or opioids for personal use. For three years, individuals didn’t face arrests for possession, nor could police seize the substances.
Jeremy Valeriote, MLA for West Vancouver-Sea to Sky and a member of the B.C. Green Party, said that the decriminalization pilot project was “set up to fail.”
“The minister of health announced they would not be renewing the decriminalization pilot project in the province. In lieu of that, the minister announced an addictions phone line. While any added support is welcome, equating decriminalization and a phone line in tackling a public health crisis is deeply irresponsible,” he said in an emailed release.
“If destigmatization was the government’s only measure of success, then the pilot failed—not because of the policy itself, but because the government failed to do the necessary public education.”
Valeriote said that ending decriminalization “won’t change drug purchasing or consumption habits,” and that enforcement should instead focus on distributors and organized supply.
He added that this “knee-jerk reaction” was to appease the Conservatives.
The B.C. Conservatives, meanwhile, slammed the NDP for not rolling back the policy sooner.
“After months of rising public concern, the government is now conceding what families, front-line workers, and communities have been warning for years: the NDP’s risky experiment with drug decriminalization has negatively impacted our downtowns, communities and schools,” said Claire Rattée, MLA for Skeena, Critic for Mental Health, Addictions and Housing Supports, in a release.
Rattée said that businesses, local governments, and police had been raising alarms about more frequent drug use in community spaces.
“The NDP defended the approach until the consequences became impossible to ignore.”
But in 2024, the government started to walk back on its policy, making illicit drug use illegal in public spaces.
“After three years of disorder and chaos, the NDP government cannot even provide the number of people who were directed to treatment options,” Rattée said.
At the media availability, Osborne did not answer reporters’ questions on what results they were looking for with the decriminalization pilot.
For example, when a reporter asked how many people were directed to drug management and recovery, Osborne said that it was a “challenging” question to answer, due to the number of programs, policies, and tools being used.
Daily Hive readers also weighed in with their thoughts, commenting on the story we published shortly after Osborne made the announcement.
“How can we have laws that make some drugs punishable with a criminal record, while other drugs (like alcohol and marijuana) are promoted through open advertising and sold out of licensed establishments?” one commenter wrote.
“This is clearly a mental health issue, not a criminal issue,” they added.
People went to Reddit to share their opinions on drug decriminalization, as well.
“Over the past year, I’ve had to exit trains and call TransLink security several times because people were openly smoking crack on the SkyTrain. It can be really distressing, especially when you’re travelling with kids,” said a commenter. “I really hope we can keep finding ways to get people the help they need while also keeping our public spaces safe and welcoming for everyone.”
“Honestly fair. Decriminalization works only if you provide the proper care needed to help people suffering from drug addiction. Without that safety net, it just legalized public drug use and keeps city streets unsafe,” someone else said.