Drug crimes down but confiscations continue

On paper, it appears that Vancouver police are waging the war on drugs with a lot less enthusiasm these days. The year in which officers logged the most Criminal Code violations for drugs was 2006, when there were 5,183 recorded by the force, according to VPD annual reports.

Since then, there’s been a consistent downward trend, to an all-time low of 1,556 drug crimes in 2016 and then 1,629 in 2017, the most recent year for which data is available.

Between 2006 and 2017, cannabis offences declined 61 percent, cocaine offences declined 80 percent, heroin offences dropped 37 percent, and recorded Criminal Code infractions for methamphetamine, fentanyl, and other drugs declined 73 percent.

On the streets, however, drug users and legal advocates told the Straight that it’s a different story.

Laura Shaver, vice president of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), said the numbers look positive and are good news, but she argued they don’t reveal the whole picture. “People on the street are still getting into trouble,” she said in a telephone interview.

Shaver recounted the experience of a friend. “About a week ago, the cops pulled her over, they took everything from her, and they didn’t arrest her,” she said, adding that every VANDU member can tell a story like that.

Pivot Legal Society staff lawyer Caitlin Shane told the Straight that drug confiscations remain a constant problem, especially in marginalized areas like the Downtown Eastside.

“On paper, the Vancouver Police Department can say, ‘Look, our stats have gone down. We are taking a harm-reduction approach to policing and drug use,’ ” Shane said. “But what is actually happening is people are still getting hassled on a daily basis.”

The VPD did not make anyone available for an interview by deadline. For years, the force has stated that lowlevel drug crimes are no longer a “policing priority” for the force. On January 10, for example, Deputy Chief Const. Howard Chow wrote on social media: “We do not arrest and charge people for simple drug possession.”

Shaver and Shane both said it’s a good thing that fewer people in Vancouver are saddled with criminal records for drugs but they also maintained that a police encounter not entered into a computer system can have severe consequences. Shaver explained that the effect is fear, which causes people to use drugs alone, away from friends or family who could otherwise respond in the event of an overdose.

“It makes people hide, and that makes people die on their own,” Shaver said. g

On paper, the Vancouver Police Department can say, ‘Look, our stats have gone down.’ – Caitlin Shane