On Tuesday, May 31, the Canadian government has implemented a rule it was the first of its kind for the country. Starting January 31, 2023, the province of British Columbia will conduct a trial — spanning three years — in which people over the age of 18 will be able to possess up to 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA without not be arrested, seized, or charged. Canada joins a number of countries with existing denomination policies; others include Portugal, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and the United States (Oregon denominated in possession of small amounts of hard drugs in 2020).
A drug has been designated as located in a constitutionally uninhabited land, neither legal nor illegal. Basically, the policy states that possession will not be handcuffed and that substance use disorder will not be considered a crime. Daniel Werb, Director of the Center for Drug Policy Evaluation at St. Michael of Toronto, said: “This is long overdue. “This is something people have understood for a long time — that you cannot find a way out of this problem.”
And a problem it really is. The war on drugs has dragged on for half a century, and the words on the wall: Obviously it doesn’t work. Ben Perrin, professor of law at the University of British Columbia and author of Overdose: Heartbreak and Hope in Canada’s Opium Crisis. The criminalization of drug use targets marginalized people, including black and indigenous communities, non-users, and those with mental illness. And the stigma stemming from criminalization means that people are less likely to seek help and more likely to just use drugs, which contributes to higher overdose rate.
But advocates of drug policy reform say the de-categorization — or “removal” — is just the first in a long list of overhauls needed to tackle the country’s catastrophic opioid epidemic. Canada. While a commendable policy move, this decision is just a bandage on this gaping wound. only got worse throughout the pandemic. British Columbia is epicentre crisis in Canada and has one of the highest drug-related death rates in North America. The province’s opioid epidemic was declared a public health emergency in April 2016, and since then more than 9,400 people died from an overdose.
Proponents of the period argue staunchly that bringing law enforcement into the equation has done nothing to lower that number. In addition, Canadian research shows that people in custody – whether for drug-related reasons or not – are at significant risk of overdose upon release; One study found that in the two weeks after someone was released from prison, their risk of drug overdose was 50 times higher compared with the general population. Another person discovered that 1 in 10 deaths due to drug overdose is in people who were released from prison last year. In other words, prison is like a death sentence for many people with substance use disorders.
Adeeba Kamarulzaman, president of the International AIDS Society, said criminalization exacerbates a vicious cycle of poverty, stigma, discrimination, unemployment and recidivism, all of which drive substance use stimulation becomes more difficult. (Kofi Annan, former secretary general of the United Nations, speak“The criminal record for a young person for minor drug offenses can pose a much greater threat to their health than occasional drug use.”)
