Medicine Hat News

B.C. seeks exemption on decriminal­ization

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British Columbia is asking for a federal exemption to decriminal­ize the possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use after more people died from overdoses in 2020 than any other year.

Sheila

Malcolmson, minister of mental health and addictions, said the province wants to see a national approach to decriminal­ization. Failing that, she has asked federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu to consider a provincial exemption that would make B.C. unique in Canada.

Decriminal­ization is a vital step toward saving lives because it helps reduce stigma as a barrier for treatment, she said.

“Whether it’s Canada-wide or in B.C., it is in the federal government’s power to act.”

Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said 1,716 people died last year from illicit drug overdoses as she and others expressed their frustratio­n at the slow pace of action.

The “alarming” death rate of 33.4 per 100,000 people represente­d the most fatalities in a single year from any unnatural cause, and far surpassed suicides, homicides, motor vehicle crashes and prescripti­on drug deaths combined, she said.

Lapointe said harm reduction measures, such as overdose prevention sites, were starting to have an effect in 2019, but COVID-19 drove people back inside their homes, where they use alone.

The 2020 death toll represents a 74 per cent jump from 2019, when 984 people died from illicit drug overdoses.

“While many may think that deaths due to illicit drugs are confined to small areas or population­s in our province, in fact people are dying in communitie­s across B.C., from all walks of life, and leaving behind brokenhear­ted family, friends and colleagues,” she said.

Lapointe said virtually no part of the province is untouched by the opioid crisis, and most deaths are among males between 19 and 59 years old in private homes.

B.C. declared a public health emergency in 2016 after a significan­t increase in overdose deaths caused by powerful opioids, including the synthetic drug fentanyl.

Lapointe said fentanyl is still driving the public health emergency, while cocaine is the next most common substance detected, along with methamphet­amine, other opioids and alcohol.

“We must turn this terrible trajectory around,” she said.

The coroner said it’s time to decriminal­ize the simple possession of drugs so that public health officials can reduce the harm and stigma associated with substance use.

“We know that decades of this punishing and stigmatizi­ng approach have brought us to the devastatin­g place we’re in today,” she said.

 ??  ?? Lisa Lapointe
Lisa Lapointe

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