Voters deserve answers on NDP drug stance

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/02/2023 (951 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba NDP leader Wab Kinew wants us to stop telling kids and adults to “say no” to drugs, but would a Kinew-led provincial government make it legal for Manitobans to possess hard drugs on our streets, in workplaces, and even in schools, colleges and universities?

That’s a question Manitoba voters should be asking as we approach the province’s next general election later this year.

In January 2019, Kinew released a 22-page paper called We Have to Start Here: Addressing the Root Causes of Manitoba’s Addictions Crisis and Reducing Harm from Problem Meth Use. In that document, he said that “abstinence is not a realistic expectation” and recommended Manitoba “move away from an abstinence-based education model and instead focus on education as a harm-reduction strategy.”

The next day, then-justice minister Cliff Cullen responded: “Wab Kinew wants to tell kids it’s OK to do meth and other illicit drugs… I can tell you that our government will continue to warn kids about the dangers of using illicit drugs.”

To be fair, Kinew never explicitly said it was OK for kids to use meth and other drugs. There is a massive difference, however, between kids experimenting with cannabis and alcohol versus highly dangerous and addictive drugs such as meth, cocaine, fentanyl and heroin.

Why on earth would a man poised to become our next premier recommend we stop telling kids (and adults, for that matter) to stay far away from those poisons? Why would he take such a reckless, dangerous position?

Those questions take on greater significance now because Kinew’s New Democrats appear likely to win the upcoming provincial election and, secondly, because British Columbia’s NDP government has just embarked on a new drug strategy that a new Manitoba NDP government could quickly adopt.

Last week, the B.C. government began a three-year pilot project that decriminalizes the possession of small amounts of certain illegal drugs. Adults in that province will be neither arrested nor charged for possessing up to 2.5 grams of opioids (including heroin, morphine and fentanyl), cocaine (including crack and powder cocaine), meth and MDMA (ecstasy).

Trafficking of those substances will remain illegal, but critics of the new policy argue that the “small amounts” exemption simply means that drug dealers and their minions are now able to carry small amounts of dangerous drugs in B.C. with impunity.

Those same critics also point to what has happened in Oregon, which implemented a similar strategy two years ago. The rates of drug abuse and the number of fatal overdoses in that state have each increased since then.

Some might argue it is unfair and inflammatory to suggest a Kinew government would adopt such a dangerous policy, given the problems experienced in Oregon. The reality, however, is that he is on the record as supporting the very approach now being taken in Oregon and B.C.

In an Aug. 31, 2020, post on his Facebook account, Kinew wrote, “Dear Justin Trudeau, it’s time to decriminalize personal supply on this International Overdose Awareness Day. We need to move from the failed war on drugs.”

There is no ambiguity in those words. As Opposition leader, Kinew was publicly advocating for precisely the drug strategy that is now happening in B.C. As Manitoba premier, there is every reason to believe he would implement that same policy here in our province — and risk the potential consequences of doing so.

For the past several months, Kinew has been working to make Manitobans comfortable with the idea of him as our premier. As part of that strategy, he has largely avoided questions about how a government led by him would tackle the tough issues that continue to vex the Stefanson government. There will soon come a point, however, when he can no longer duck those questions.

As the election draws closer, voters will demand detailed specifics on what a Kinew-led NDP government would actually do to fix our health-care system, improve the quality of our education system and make our communities safer. And they will want to know what a Kinew government would do on the question of drug decriminalization.

Manitobans are entitled to those answers before they vote. Now would be a good time for Kinew to start providing them.

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