Decriminalization of people with small amounts of illegal drugs for their own use has become a reality in British Columbia, but substance users and researchers say the change is expected to make little immediate difference because of a toxic drug supply.
The policy shift came after Health Canada allowed an exemption from federal drug laws so people 18 and over could carry up to 2.5 grams of opioids such as heroin and fentanyl, as well as crack and powdered cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA.
"They'll cut their cocaine for five minutes, then they'll cut their fentanyl on the same scale and all of a sudden there's fentanyl on the cocaine. And when somebody who's never done opioids at all gets the one that had a little bit of fentanyl, they're dead," Wilson said. Take-home fentanyl test strips are also available there and at designated sites to allow people to test their drugs within seconds.
Researchers and people who use drugs say the 2.5-gram threshold is too low for those who may be forced to have more contact with sellers on the black market as they try to avoid interactions with police. The province requested the limit be 4.5 grams, while police called for a total of one gram for all the drugs allowed under the exemption.
More than two-thirds of officers with the RCMP and municipal departments in B.C. have so far taken training on aspects of decriminalization, which involves handing out so-called resource cards to people who use drugs, Whiteside told a news conference Monday. "These are things that I'm going to be watching and this is something that the government is going to have to address. That's a very key, critical part of this," said Serr, who is also deputy chief of the police department in Abbotsford, B.C.
"I am worried about the number of deaths that are from people in the construction, trades or natural resources . Or even at parties, the fact that somebody can die for having used once. We are going to have to really explore the options and I think that we've been persuaded that just the prescriber model will not stop this tragedy."
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