Drug decriminalization plan has merit

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/02/2021 (1871 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s a tendency, particularly when this windswept flatland province is in the grips of a Canadian Prairie cold snap, to look westward to the Pacific coast for hints of moderation and relief.

“Why can’t we have it like Vancouver does?” we wistfully ask, shiveringly oblivious to the 160-plus days of rain the B.C. coast receives annually. There are just times when Canada’s westernmost province seems to have a better plan.

Such a moment arrived last week, and it had nothing to do with relative degrees of minus-Celsius weather. Rather, it had to do with B.C.’s forward-thinking approach to illicit-drug criminality and a request to the federal government that Manitoba’s lawmakers would do well to carefully contemplate.

B.C. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson sent a letter to Ottawa asking Health Minister Patty Hajdu to grant the province an exemption from federal drug laws that would effectively decriminalize personal possession of small amounts of illegal drugs. The request is intended to help B.C. respond to a worsening addiction crisis that saw more than 1,700 overdose-related deaths last year.

“Are you willing to consider a Section 56 exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for B.C. to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of controlled substances for personal use, as a way to reduce stigma as a barrier to treatment?” Ms. Malcolmson wrote in the letter, which was obtained by the Globe and Mail. The minister said a more fulsome analysis of such an exemption would include a public-engagement process that would precede any change.

The idea of decriminalizing personal possession of illicit drugs is not new. Such a change has been suggested previously in other jurisdictions, and the concept has been endorsed by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police as a means for diverting drug users away from the legal system and into necessary support and treatment programs, which would therefore free up police resources for other crucial duties.

The city of Vancouver has already begun its own process of seeking a federal-law exemption to address its escalating drug-overdose crisis. “We would welcome such work by the province on this file as we all have to do everything we can to bring an end to this terrible health disaster,” Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart said in response to the province’s request.

Given the current Manitoba government’s deep-rooted reluctance to explore innovative strategies to combat drug abuse and overdoses — the Progressive Conservatives remain resolute in their opposition to the establishment of safe-consumption sites — there’s scant reason to expect it to take any inspiration or guidance from B.C.’s pursuit of a new approach.

But it should. Manitoba’s drug crisis is serious and, as in every other city and province, has been made worse by the added pandemic stresses on social services and at-risk populations. One need look no further than last week’s report that the Winnipeg Police Service aims to begin construction this fall on new holding cells to alleviate the overcrowding and underservicing being experienced by individuals in custody, many of whom are in the grips of substance abuse.

Decriminalizing personal possession of drugs could be a significant factor in reducing the behind-bars population, as fewer people would be subject to arrest and more might be inclined to seek assistance that could help them break free of the cycle of addiction and crime.

Such an initiative deserves serious and purposeful consideration. In this regard, this time B.C. really might have a better plan.