The government of British Columbia is changing course on public drug use.
“Illicit drugs and hard drugs should not be used where kids are playing, where patients are recovering, or community life is lived,” Premier David Eby told a news conference on April 26.
Mr. Eby told reporters that while he has compassion for those struggling with addictions, “that compassion, that concern for people who are struggling, does not mean that anything goes. We still have expectations around safety, public spaces, in the coffee shop, on the bus, in the park, on the beach, and spaces where a family or people gather to celebrate.”
As a result, he said, the B.C. government is asking Health Canada to “urgently change” the province’s decriminalization policy to stop drug use in public.
In a statement, Mr. Eby said the change would make illicit drug use illegal in all public places, including inside hospitals, on transit, and in parks.
The U-turn by the provincial government comes after repeated criticisms of the decriminalization policies by local politicians, health workers, and police about open drug use in public spaces.
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The province had tried to make drug use illegal in public places with its own legislation, but a B.C. Supreme Court judge put in place an injunction preventing that, and Mr. Eby says they’ve now asked for the same changes from Health Canada.
The government says the change would not criminalize drug possession in private homes or places where someone is legally sheltering, along with overdose prevention sites and locations with drug-checking services.
The province says the changes are among several new measures that focus on providing police with more tools to address public safety.
Some who have been critical of the province’s drug policies say the announcement is good news.
“It really gives us back some of the ability to protect some of our public spaces, make sure that they’re for everyone,” said Alexa Loo, a councillor for the City of Richmond. “It gives back the ability to the police to be able to do their job properly,” she told The Epoch Times.
More to come.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
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