Canada’s Opioid Overdose Crisis: Is Decriminalization the Answer?
Heroin Bottles by Karen Neoh is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
In British Columbia, opioids are more deadly than COVID-19. Although Canada as a whole has experienced record-high numbers of accidental opioid toxicity deaths, Western Canada, especially B.C., has been impacted the most throughout the crisis. While the total number of people in B.C. who have died from COVID-19 is 1,421 1,716 people out of a total population of 5,145,851 have died from illicit drug use in 2020 alone. Concerned by the rising number of opioid overdose deaths, B.C. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson asked Health Minister Patti Hajdu for a provincewide exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act this month. Presently, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act criminally prohibits Canadians from possessing, producing, and selling certain substances, including opioids, heroin, and fentanyl. If Ottawa grants B.C. an exemption, though, the province would become the first in Canada to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs. However, academics and politicians continue to debate whether drug decriminalization policy is the most effective solution.
History of Drug Decriminalization
The worldwide push for drug decriminalization stems from Portugal’s dramatic success at stabilizing its opioid crisis. In the 1990s, approximately one in every hundred Portuguese battled a heroin addiction. With its upsurge in crime and overdose deaths, Lisbon was known as the “heroin capital” of Europe. Due to recommendations from health officials Rui Pereira and João Goulão, Portugal became the first country to decriminalize the personal possession and consumption of all drugs in 2001. If someone was caught with a small amount of an illicit drug, they may be warned or given a small fine, but they were no longer thrown in jail. Moreover, the person could appear before a local commission to discuss the treatment and support services available to them. Now, the level of drug use and the mortality rate from drugs in Portugal is significantly lower than most countries in the European Union. Additionally, drug-related crime and incarceration rates have both dropped considerably. Even though Portugal’s recovery is the most well-known, other European countries have also implemented some form of drug decriminalization to combat alarming increases of opioid abuse in their own countries. For example, Switzerland legalized drug consumption rooms, heroin-assisted treatment facilities, and heroin dispensaries in 1994. After implementing its new drug policy, Switzerland's number of drug-related deaths more than halved from 376 deaths in 1995 to 165 deaths in 2018. As policy analysts study these new drug policies, Canada faces pressures from drug decriminalization proponents to re-examine its own laws and policies regarding drug use.
Canada’s Drug Policy
Passed in 1996, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) is Canada’s primary drug-control legislation. Originally, the possession of all drugs, including cannabis, were criminal offences. In spite of the CDSA though, Canadian youth had one of the highest rates of cannabis use worldwide. In order to prevent young people in Canada from accessing marijuana and displace the illegal marijuana market, the Cannabis Act in 2018 legalized marijuana use for adults. If you are an 18 or 19 years old adult or older (depending on the province), you can now legally possess 30 grams of marijuana. Despite the legalization of cannabis, heroin, fentanyl, and other opioids continue to be controlled under Schedule I of the CSDA as of 2021. Nevertheless, Health Minister Patti Hajdu may exempt “any person or class of persons ... if, in the opinion of the minister, the exemption is necessary for a medical or scientific purpose or is otherwise in the public interest” from the CDSA under Section 56. Thus, B.C. could potentially decriminalize drug use in its province with Ottawa’s approval. Manufacturing and trafficking illicit drugs would still be illegal, but the small, personal possession of drugs like heroin and other opioids would no longer be a criminal offence. Inspired by Vancouver and the rest of B.C.’s request, Montreal and Toronto’s city councils have also asked Hajdu for a federal exemption from the CDSA. Thus, not only is Ottawa further incentivized to approve B.C.’s request, but the capital is also pushed to reform the CDSA and decriminalize personal drug use across the nation.
Proponents of B.C.’s Drug Decriminalization
Although drug decriminalization incites intense debate, advocates insist that it could be the only effective solution in solving B.C.’s opioid crisis. Since B.C. declared a public health emergency in 2016, the province adopted numerous measures, such as overdose prevention sites and sustained access to Naloxone (a medication used to counter the effects of an opioid overdose), to stop the rise of illicit drug deaths. Unfortunately, these actions did not curb harmful drug use, and B.C. saw a 74% increase in the number of overdoses in 2020. Without decriminalization, the opioid crisis in B.C. will persist. B.C.’s top health office Dr. Bonnie Henry further elaborates that stigma and fear will continue to prevent opioid addicts from seeking help. Both the NDP and Green Party agree that decriminalization will help shift public outlook on the opioid crisis from a criminal issue to a health-care issue. Moreover, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police also supports the notion to decriminalize illicit drug use as they admit that arrests for simple possession are not constructive. Additionally, Scott Bernstein, director of policy at the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC), discusses how decriminalization could help eradicate racism in the Canadian criminal justice system. Bernstein believes that Canada’s drug policy was formed on “racist ideas'' with the intent to control minorities, which disproportionately hurts Canadian people of colour. Indigenous Canadians are overrepresented in the criminal justice system by 500%, while Black Canadians also suffer from an overrepresentation of 300%. Decriminalization would change the status of illicit drugs and possibly alleviate the harm of the current policy. Advocates reiterate that if drug decriminalization was successful in Europe, Canada should learn from and try to emulate this approach.
Critics of B.C.’s Drug Decriminalization
On the other hand, critics insist that drug decriminalization is not a ‘silver bullet’ that will fix Canada’s overdose crisis. Instead, they propose different alternatives since they think drug decriminalization causes more harm than benefit. In reference to Portugal, experts point out that the country supplemented its move to decriminalize illicit drugs with other initiatives. For example, the Portuguese government decided to allocate more resources to treating drug addiction, which improved programs such as social reintegration. Moreover, the Portuguese welfare state expanded to lessen financial difficulties for their impoverished or lower-income citizens by guaranteeing a minimum basic income. With lower levels of poverty, there are lower levels of drug-related harm and drug dependence. Henceforth, some argue that Portugal’s success cannot solely be credited to its decriminalization policy. In 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau explicitly stated, “we’re not looking at full decriminalization at all right now.” He believes that the government should focus on providing safe consumption sites. Likewise, the Conservative Party also did not show support for drug decriminalization in 2019. In the United States, critics similarly maintain that decriminalization of opioids will do more harm than good and cause addiction levels to skyrocket. The reason that legalizing personal opioid possession will enable drug use and cause more people to become addicted. Overall, like the advocates for decriminalization, critics acknowledge the escalation of opioid overdose deaths in B.C. needs to be resolved. Unlike advocates for illicit drug decriminalization though, critics disagree that decriminalization is the best method. In fact, some U.S. politicians fight for tougher drug laws. While some of the same sentiments may exist in Canada, critics of drug decriminalization in Canada also simply prefer other harm reduction methods such as improving supervised consumption sites and offering a purer supply of opioids than what is sold on the black market.
What Comes Next
Recently, Attorney General David Lametti introduced Bill C-22 in the House of Commons, which repeals mandatory minimums for certain drug offences. Bill C-22 also instructs federal prosecutors to only pursue the most serious cases of drug possession. While both the Liberal and Conservative Party seem to approve Bill C-22, advocates like NDP leader Jagmeet Singh see the bill as a missed opportunity to enact drug decriminalization. If Health Minister Patti Hajdu will consider B.C.’s request to decriminalize drugs, B.C. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson has offered B.C.'s support and assistance in hammering out the details of the drug decriminalization policy. On the other hand, if B.C.’s request for an exemption is dismissed, then the province is prepared to pursue its own approach to solving the crisis.