British Columbia’s Minister of Health has announced that the province will not renew its drug decriminalization program because “it has not delivered the results” the government hoped for.
The three-year pilot program, which allowed people to possess small amounts of illegal drugs, began in January 2023 and expires at the end of this month.
The program was launched in response to BC’s toxic drug crisis, which has claimed more than 18,752 lives since 2014. The province announced a public health crisis in 2016.
In a statement, health minister Josie Osborne said the intention was to make it easier for people struggling with addiction to reach out for help without being criminalized.
“The toxic-drug crisis continues to take lives and cause tremendous pain across British Columbia. Families, communities, first responders and service providers are all feeling the impact,” said Osborne.
“This is a deeply complex public-health emergency, and there is no single solution that can fix it. From the beginning, we have been determined to explore every option and use every tool available to save lives and support people who are struggling.”
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However, Osborne said “despite the hard work and good intentions” the program has not worked and the province will not be asking the federal government to renew the exemption.
Some, including former BC Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe, have criticized the program, saying it does not stop people from dying. Lapointe called the province’s response “frustrating.”
Elenore Sturko, former critic for public safety and the Solicitor General, said decriminalization of drugs has exacerbated antisocial behaviours, violence, and fear among residents and workers.
Last March, a study found that BC's drug decriminalization and safer supply were associated with more overdoses.
In a separate statement, Claire Rattée, MLA for Skeena, Critic for Mental Health, Addictions and Housing Supports, was highly critical of the project.
"From the outset, businesses, local governments, and police raised alarms about increased public drug use and disorder in community spaces. Instead of acting quickly to tighten the rules and restore confidence, the NDP defended the approach until the consequences became impossible to ignore," Rattée said.
The program will expire on Jan. 31.
However, Osborne said the province remains focused on “approaches that are helping people get timely, appropriate care.”
"We are building a more complete and comprehensive system of mental-health and addictions care in BC, including prevention, treatment and recovery, harm reduction and after-care,” she said.
“We have opened hundreds of new treatment and recovery beds, significantly reduced wait times for withdrawal management and prevented tens of thousands of overdose deaths through services such as Take Home Naloxone and overdose-prevention sites.”
According to the province’s statement, other efforts include opening more than 760 new treatment beds, bringing down wait times for withdrawal services from 26 days down to a little more than week, and opening Foundry centres throughout the province to deliver mental-health, substance-use and health-care services to young people.
Also on Wednesday, the province announced that Access Central, a clinical phone line service that makes it easier for adults to get support for addictions, is now active in Fraser Health, Interior Health and Island Health.
The program helps adults connect to addictions care through a single phone line in each available region. That includes being linked to clinics for in-person assessments for screenings, placement in treatment programs, initiating opioid agonist therapy and more within 24 hours.
An expansion to the Northern Health region is expected in the near future.
Access Central services are available seven days a week at:
Fraser Health: 1-833-866-6478 from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm
Interior Health 1-866-777-1103 from 9 am to 4:30 pm
Island Health: 1-888-885-8824 from 9 am to 7:45 pm
Vancouver Coastal Health: 1-(866)-658-1221 from 9 am to 7:45 pm
Osborne also said the province continues to provide support to police so they focus their efforts on people who make and traffic toxic drugs and who bring violence and crime to communities
Dwayne McDonald, deputy commissioner and commanding officer of the BC RCMP, said detachments across the province remain committed to working with the province and other partners to find solutions for people with mental-health and addiction issues.
“With the end of the exemption, police officers can fully enforce and focus on the most serious offences within the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act,” the province said.
“Police will continue to apply a measured approach to our enforcement efforts, while upholding the safety and security of the communities we live and serve in.”
