B.C. is banning all illicit drug use in public, a major policy reversal of its decriminalization pilot project, after a recent outcry from health care workers worried about patients using drugs in hospitals as well as criticism from political leaders.
Premier David Eby announced at a news conference Friday that his government has formally asked the federal government to amend the drug law exemption underpinning B.C.’s decriminalization, but he also highlighted that people will still be able to use a handful of illicit substances inside their own homes, in their tents if they are living in sanctioned parks, or at drug-checking or supervised consumption sites.
Health Canada has committed to urgently changing B.C.’s exemption, but gave no timeline for the outlawing of public use, according to Mr. Eby, who said decriminalization has been “intensely politicized” especially as a provincial election looms this fall.
“I share the concerns that so many British Columbians have about the public drug use that they’re seeing in their communities and it’s clear to me that police need the authority to be able to address this issue, as well as other extraordinary circumstances where someone’s safety may be at risk – that should have been in place,” he told reporters, noting the province has just entered its eighth year of a public-health crisis from the toxic drug supply.
Since the province’s decriminalization experiment began on Jan. 31, 2023, adults in British Columbia are not being arrested or charged for possessing small amounts of certain illegal drugs most commonly associated with overdoses.
Previously: B.C. asks Ottawa for help on decriminalization fallout
The new prohibition will give police the power to force people to stop using or leave the area if they are caught anywhere in public, including hospitals, restaurants, transit, parks and beaches.
Vancouver Police Deputy Chief Fiona Wilson, standing beside Mr. Eby at the news conference, said most people using drugs go out of their way to avoid consuming in front of children and families, but the new ban will give officers the authority to intervene and even arrest users in the rare circumstance they cause problems.
A week earlier, Deputy Chief Wilson, who is also president of the British Columbia Association of Chiefs of Police, testified at the House of Commons health committee that officers don’t believe arresting public drug users will save their lives or solve the addiction crisis. But she said decriminalization went ahead without fulsome guardrails against public consumption.
Pressure had been mounting for months on both B.C. and Ottawa to find ways to curb illicit drug use in spaces such as beaches, parks and hospitals. Ottawa’s current exemption had established some exceptions where illicit drug use was still prohibited, including at school premises for kindergarten to Grade 12 students, child-care facilities, airports, playgrounds and skate parks.
Provincial Opposition Leader Kevin Falcon, of the BC United Party, said in a statement that the NDP government’s decriminalization pilot normalized drug use and further harmed children and communities. If elected, he said his party would immediately end the decriminalization pilot, which is set to run until January, 2026.
The province’s urban mayors say they are in crisis because of widespread public drug use. Hospital workers report a marked increase in the use of illicit substances in patient rooms and bathrooms – even in the maternity unit of a large city hospital. They say this puts workers and patients at risk.
Lynn Bueckert, spokesperson for the Hospital Employees’ Union that represents 60,000 health care workers in the province, issued a statement saying her union is urging the government to put into place the raft of policies announced by Mr. Eby Friday and add more funding. The union, her statement said, supports the other moves, which include adding in-person specialists to assist patients who enter large hospitals with severe addictions and mental-health problems, as well as adding access to virtual addictions care for patients at smaller regional facilities.
Mr. Eby said he decided to roll back the decriminalization after recently being briefed on reports of worsening public safety in hospitals and restaurants.
Last fall, the B.C. government attempted to introduce legislation to ban public drug use from a series of areas, including parks and beaches. But the legislation was put on hold by a judge, who found the limits imposed by the legislation could force drug users to hide their drug use, causing “irreparable harm.” The B.C. government failed in its attempt to have the ruling overturned. A constitutional challenge to the law is scheduled to go to court later this summer.
Mr. Eby said he was counselled that there “was no end in sight for the injunction that restricts us from using that law and that the case itself might drag out for as much as a year,” which was the other major factor in his decision to reverse course.
The Harm Reduction Nurses Association, which is one of the plaintiffs in that lawsuit, said it was profoundly frustrated and disappointed with Friday’s announcement, which it characterized as an end run around that constitutional challenge. The group said recriminalizing users without expanding overdose prevention services and access to housing will put more lives at risk by pushing drug users to consume alone and out of sight.
The group did not say how the rollback of decriminalization would affect their lawsuit.
“The B.C. government’s actions today will put people who use drugs and people who rely on public space at further risk of harm and death,” nurse Corey Ranger said in a statement.
With a report from Justine Hunter in Victoria
Mike Hager