Committee on meth abuse urges drug decriminalization

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This article was published 10/06/2019 (2695 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Canada should decriminalize all drugs to prevent Winnipeg’s meth crisis from repeating elsewhere, a parliamentary committee has recommended.

The House health committee tabled its report Monday afternoon on methamphetamine abuse, after holding hearings on Parliament Hill and visiting Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver.

“Much more is needed to be done to address methamphetamine use in Canada, which is quickly escalating into a crisis in some communities,” reads the report.

The committee unanimously suggested Ottawa boost public-awareness campaigns, improve mental-health services and integrate drug users into the federal housing strategy.

MPs also sought a national summit on substance-use harm reduction, and anti-drug programs tailored to urban Indigenous people.

But committee members split in their support for harm-reduction measures that would liberalize access to meth, reasoning that street drugs contain toxic chemicals and the prohibition presents barriers to accessing treatment.

The measures include: decriminalizing the simple possession of small amounts of any illicit substance; expanding access to “supervised inhalation sites and drug-checking services”; and a pilot project of giving out prescription methamphetamines.

The federal Conservatives objected to those three recommendations, arguing they’re based on a model in Portugal that has many more supports for recovery in place, and that it is ineffective “to give addicts free drugs to keep them safely addicted.”

That argument didn’t wash with Charleswood-area MP Doug Eyolfson, who accused the Tories of being “ideologically opposed” to harm reduction.

“We have to look at all options, because people are dying. We have an obligation to act,” said Eyolfson. “If there’s evidence showing that any of these interventions are going to help people from dying, then we’re obligated to take them.”

The former emergency-room doctor called for the study in April, 2018, and said the focus on poverty and social issues are the most relevant for Winnipeg.

He said the report shows that the Liberals aren’t solely focused on the opioid crisis, which has been more deadly than meth almost everywhere in Canada except Manitoba.

The committee started its hearings last November, connecting with local groups like Bear Clan Patrol, the Winnipeg Drug Treatment Court, city police and staff from the province’s RAAM clinics.

The committee heard repeatedly that Ottawa should co-ordinate with provinces, cities and front-line organizations to take stock of what’s working and whether effective projects are receiving enough funding.

On an April visit to Winnipeg, the committee visited Morberg House, a recovery centre run by St. Boniface Street Links. MPs learned that program doesn’t qualify under the federal housing strategy, as residents aren’t categorized as chronically homeless.

The health committee has asked the federal Liberals to respond to its suggestions.

The recommendations might influence the results of a trilateral task force on meth, which is set to present its own suggestions for short- and medium-term actions for Winnipeg and Manitoba later this month.

Monday’s report noted that the task force had not heard from groups like Morberg House and the Nine Circles Community Health Centre, and might not get the full picture of the crisis.

In any case, provincial Health Minister Cameron Friesen said his government will likely be restricted in how much it can say about that looming report, due to the pre-election blackout.

“A determination will have to be made in respect of any blackout [on] how that information would come forward. But of course, we’ll have a strong interest in sharing that,” he told reporters.

With files from Jessica Botelho-Urbanski

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca

Health-committee report on impacts of methamphetamine abuse in Canada