Conservatives Call for End to Decriminalization Experiments
On May 17, Minister Ya’ara Saks rejected the City of Toronto’s request to decriminalize the public consumption of hard drugs. The move comes 10 days after the Government of Canada finally agreed to British Columbia’s request to recriminalize drugs.
Canada has led the way in changing drug laws in recent years, most notably by decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of several substances. In February last year, BC became the first province to decriminalize possession of hard drugs. Fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, meth, and MDMA were considered legal to use under 2.5 grams. There has been much discussion about this policy change, which attempts to shift the problem into a public health issue rather than a criminal one. Although decriminalization may improve health outcomes and increase the effectiveness of law enforcement, there are a number of problems with the policy's implications and negative impacts on Canadian society.
This new attitude towards previously illicit drugs marked a big change to the leniency given to drug-related legislation. Initially, the BC government stated that, “Effective Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, possession of illicit drugs within 15 metres of any play structure in a playground, a spray or wading pool, or a skate park will be prohibited.” However, this amendment was invalidated shortly after. According to the National Post, Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson of the British Columbia Supreme Court ruled that preventing drug users from staying out of public places would cause "irreparable harm," even if doing so meant public parks full of potentially harmful drug paraphernalia.
Minister Ya’ara Saks at a press conference regarding the federal government’s decision to reject Toronto’s request to decriminalize drugs
In Scotland, a similar decriminalization strategy was used and found significant success. According to a BBC News article, “the number of people who died due to drug misuse in Scotland [in 2022] fell by 279 to the lowest level for five years.” Although there are still significant drug-related issues in Scotland including the high death rate, this strategy has shown some success.
Conservatives argue that the current government’s attempt at reducing drug-related deaths has failed, and is impacting hospital conditions. Pierre Poilievre stated that, “Instead of learning from this catastrophic mistake, Trudeau has doubled down. He’s refusing to reject Toronto and Montreal’s request to allow hard drugs like fentanyl and heroin to be used in Canada’s two biggest cities”. While the federal government has since rejected Toronto’s request and recriminalized drugs in BC, around 60 British Columbians died of overdoses between the time of the request and when it was finally approved. Conservatives cite that Nanaimo, a city in BC, has seen a 400% uptick in drug overdose deaths in the last four years. Poilievre’s Conservative party states that, by ending the Health Minister’s power to grant exemptions under subsection 56 of the Controlled Drug and Substances Act, the decriminalization of hard drugs will not impact hospitals.
