Police chiefs calling for decriminalizing illicit drugs for personal use
Police chiefs from across Canada are calling for the possession of illicit drugs for personal use to be decriminalized, and for a national task force to research drug policy reform.
Decriminalization is something health experts and advocates have been pushing authorities to move on for years, and they say the police action is welcome, but long overdue.
“I think it’s a very sensible, progressive move, and I’m very supportive of it,” said Dr. Perry Kendall, interim executive codirector of the B.C. Centre on Substance Use and a past provincial health officer. “We’ve known for many years that the current approach to classifying some drugs as legal and some as illegal doesn’t have any logical basis behind it.”
Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer, who is president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said that more than five years into the opioid crisis, the organization is officially recognizing that substance use and addiction is a public health issue.
“Being addicted to a controlled substance is not a crime and should not be treated as such,” said Palmer.
In May, B.C. recorded 170 illicit drug toxicity deaths, its worst month ever. It was a 44-per-cent increase from the previous month, and a 93-percent increase from May 2019.
Instead of people who have a small amount of drugs for personal use being arrested and criminally charged, the association proposes that there should be more access to health care, treatment and social services at local, provincial and national levels to help people dealing with substance use or addiction.
Enforcement would be focused on organized crime, drug trafficking and illegal production and importation.
“The bottom line is that addiction issues should be best handled through a health-care system, and not through a criminal justice system,” said Palmer.
The organization is also advocating for the creation of a national task force to research drug-policy reform, focusing on a section of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act that deals with simple possession.
Kendall said that, ideally, decriminalization of personal possession would see no arrests, charges, tickets or warnings for people who use illicit drugs. Rather, they would be provided with information, referral for treatment if they want it, and a safer supply of drugs.
Decriminalization in one form or another is in practise in nearly 90 jurisdictions around the world — Portugal is a wellknown example — and it’s a well-established policy alternative to criminalization, according to experts.
“I think to have the voice of the police articulating that in a forceful way is very important, and so we welcome that,” said Scott Bernstein, director of policy for the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. “Decriminalization of possession of drugs and some other activities around drug use are something we’ve been advocating and others have been advocating for many, many, many years, so it’s long overdue to have a bit of momentum of this sort happen.”
Erica Thomson, executive director of the B.c.-yukon Association of Drug War Survivors and a member of the Drug User Liberation Front, said decriminalization would help remove the stigma associated with drug use, which is a good start.
“It’s excellent to hear that this is the way they’re going. We’ve been asking for this for a long time,” she said, adding that it should be followed up with opportunities for housing, education, employment and a regulated drug supply.
B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry issued a report last year that proposed decriminalizing possession of drugs in order to deal with the overdose crisis. At the time, the public safety minister said drug-possession laws are federal and he would not take action provincially.
Premier John Horgan also noted on Thursday that federal action would be required to reform criminal laws, however, he supported the police chiefs’ proposal.
“This fundamental question that Adam Palmer, the Vancouver Police Department chief and the head of the national chiefs, outlined today is where I believe we need to go. If not now, when?” Horgan said at a news conference.
“Anything that we can do to reduce the deaths, and to reduce the dependence and to, quite frankly, free up law enforcement to do other things, I support.”
Palmer said that in Vancouver there has been “de facto decriminalization” of simple possession of drugs for personal use for about a decade.
“We do not spend resources enforcing for possession of illicit substances,” Palmer said.
Thomson said while police in Vancouver often say that they don’t enforce laws around illicit drug possession, that is not what plays out on the streets. She said although there may not be criminal charges, officers will still come up to people and take their drugs, crush their pipes and give them warnings.