Province decriminalizes small amounts of hard drugs
Very affected by the opiate crisis, the Canadian province of British Columbia hopes that this measure will “save lives”.
Carolyn Bennett, Canadian Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, during a press conference in Ottawa, October 26, 2021.
AFP
Canada on Tuesday announced the decriminalization of the possession of small amounts of so-called “hard” drugs in a western province badly affected by the opiate crisis, which has killed thousands of Canadians. At his request, British Columbia is the first Canadian province to have this exception, which will concern heroin, cocaine, opiates and other hard drugs.
“We are doing this to save lives but also to give people who take drugs their dignity and their right to choose,” explained Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, adding that this project could be applied. in other provinces. According to the minister, “for too many years, the ideological opposition” aimed at considering drug possession as a health problem has “cost lives”.
Starting January 31, 2023 and for a period of three years, adults may carry up to 2.5 grams of drugs on them for personal use. They will receive information on accessing medical help for addictions.
“Not legalization”
So far, the most serious cases of possession of hard drugs carry fines and imprisonment. “I want to be very clear, this is not legalization. We did not take this decision lightly,” added Carolyn Bennett during a press briefing.
In 2021, the province recorded more than 2,200 opiate-related deaths, or six people a day. In total, from January 2016 to September 2021, Canada has recorded nearly 27,000 deaths and more than 29,000 hospitalizations for opioid-related overdoses, according to government figures. These figures showed a “worrying increase in overdoses and opioid-related deaths since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic”, according to this same source.
British Columbia is the second jurisdiction in North America to decriminalize the possession of hard drugs for personal use after Oregon, a very progressive American state in the North-West, in November 2020.
Published: 31.05.2022, 23:45
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