Today, the Vancouver Police Department reported a decrease in seizures related to simple drug possession since British Columbia’s decriminalization pilot launched in early 2023. While this news is positive, it doesn’t give us the full picture of how drug-related issues are being handled in the criminal-legal system.We need more openness and clarity. To truly reduce harm through decriminalization, we must minimize police involvement and interactions overall. Matters concerning substance use – including referrals and outreach – should be dealt with through health and social systems, not police.
Police Interactions Can Drive Harm
It is important to note that when the VPD reports they made no seizures for simple possession, it does not mean there were no police interactions with individuals who use drugs. We know that interactions with police and criminal justice systems often drive harm for people who use drugs. For example, we do not have enough information about whether police might categorize seizures as “possession for the purposes of trafficking” rather than simple possession. We also lack data on informal interactions with the police that do not result in seizures, but still have similar negative impacts. These unrecorded interactions can cause the same harms as criminalization, including increasing the risk of death from unregulated drugs due to fear of police intervention and drug confiscation.
BC Drug Decriminalization Threshold Too Low
The combined 2.5 gram threshold for decriminalization is too low to effectively decriminalize people who use drugs in B.C. It does not reflect the evidence regarding the quantities people use or the behaviours of a variety of groups, including people living in rural or remote communities and those purchasing from a safer, more trusted seller. As a result, the 2.5 gram threshold is not a useful measure to determine what is simple possession and what is possession for the purposes of trafficking. More than 30 B.C. organizations have endorsed a recommendation to either remove threshold amounts in their entirety, or immediately scale up the decriminalized personal possession threshold to 28 grams (1 oz) for all illicit drugs, including those currently excluded such as ketamine and benzodiazepines.
We Need Drug Policies That Will Keep Us Safe
There are clear links between criminalizing drug use and causing harm. Enforcement has not reduced drug availability or use. It also comes at a high financial cost, while contributing to an increased risk of overdose and cycles of homelessness. Decriminalization, on the other hand, is associated with fewer people being incarcerated or involved with the criminal-legal system, reduced stigma and better access to services – all of which help prevent harm and overdoses. That is why decriminalization is a crucial part of a larger shift in drug laws and policies to make our communities safer for everyone. This shift must also prioritize equitable access to overdose prevention sites, healthcare, responsibly regulated substances, affordable housing, sufficient income, and evidence-based, voluntary, non-profit treatment.
Police communications about drug seizures vary widely in their accuracy. These statements rarely share specific evidence or data sources and sometimes contain errors or overstatements, as in the recent case in Belleville, Ontario and emerging information on Prince George. Police announcing large seizures of prescribed alternatives to the unregulated drug supply as Prince George RCMP did this month may drive fear and influence policy, even if based primarily on assumption. Without forensic testing, police may base their conclusions on visual assessments of shape, size, colour and packaging. Many of these visual clues can be closely copied by producers of counterfeit pills.
Most hydromorphone is prescribed for pain management, not as safe supply. If police do not have evidence of the reasons seized medications were prescribed, it is irresponsible for them to speculate. If police have demonstrable proof that drug seizures include prescription medications, they should refer to them as such, rather than guess or assume they are prescribed safer supply.
We know a few things for certain:
There is always some possibility that people will re-sell or give away their medications, no matter the reason they are prescribed. The sale of prescription drugs on the illicit market is not a new phenomenon. We also know that prescribed alternatives account for only 14 per cent of hydromorphone prescribed in the province of BC – the vast majority of hydromorphone prescriptions are for pain management.
We have zero doubts as to what continues to kill thousands of people across the country, and it is not prescription medications. Unregulated illicit drugs are driving deaths. Rates of drug use across Canada have remained stable over the past decade, while drug deaths have skyrocketed. The unregulated drug supply has become drastically more toxic and more dangerous.
According to Health Canada, of all accidental apparent opioid toxicity deaths from January to June 2023, 80 per cent involved opioids that were only non-pharmaceutical. Data from the BC Coroners Service shows no indication prescribed alternatives are driving deaths. Hydromorphone was detected in three per cent of expedited toxicological testing in 2023, whereas illicit fentanyl was present in 85 per cent of such tests.
We know counterfeit prescription pills are manufactured and sold on the illicit market. These drugs are unregulated and can be dangerous, in part because they may be seen as lower risk. It is unclear whether or to what extent police test seized drugs to determine their actual contents before making public statements, versus assuming their source and contents based on appearance or other clues.
Police claim by removing illicit drugs from the streets, they save lives. But growing evidenceshowsdrug busts are associated with higher fatal overdose rates.
It is useful to understand why and to what extent prescription drugs make their way into the illicit drug market. We must navigate that reality, both to support people and communities and to ensure prescribed alternatives are effective in reducing the harms of unregulated drugs. But if we seek to stop mass drug toxicity deaths, fixating on prescription drugs misses the point.
We cannot lump all substances together. Prescription medications have the potential to be harmful, but they do not kill 22 people every day in Canada. It is unregulated illicit drugs that are killing people. We rely on police to share accurate information about public safety. Stoking public misunderstanding and fear about prescribed alternatives – a potentially lifesaving intervention with the support of the Provincial Health Officer, the BC Coroner’s Office, the BC Coroner’s Expert Death Review panel, a range of health professionals, policymakers, public health experts, researchers, and yes, even a range of police services – is an irresponsible distraction.
Ontario, Canada | March 5, 2024 — Fifty-one community groups from across Ontario are calling on the provincial government to immediately fund and support supervised consumption services amidst the worsening toxic drug crisis. In an open letter released this morning, the coalition called for eight urgent actions, including direct emergency funding, with a deadline of March 29. Citing recent and imminent closures of sites in Windsor, Sudbury, and Timmins, the group demanded swift intervention to prevent further deaths.
In Ontario, seven to 10 people are killed every day by toxic unregulated drugs. An estimated 3,644 people lost their lives in 2023 alone. Supervised consumption services are a proven health intervention where trained staff can respond to overdoses, offering supports and connections to health and social services. Evidence consistently shows the sites save lives and significantly reduce emergency calls and hospital visits.
Last fall, the Province of Ontario put all supervised consumption services funding applications on indefinite hold pending a lengthy review period, adding to the already years-long wait for some jurisdictions. The decision came after a bystander was tragically killed by an incident of gun violence in the vicinity of a Toronto site last summer. Results of the review are expected this month, but come too late for those who have died of drug poisonings in the interim.
Citing the province’s pause, an application in Hamilton was withdrawn in October 2023. In Sault Ste Marie, a site application is instead being directed to the federal government. Windsor’s only site shut its doors at the end of December. Without provincial funding, sites in Sudbury and Timmins will close at the end of this month.
The open letter highlights how these funding delays have impacted communities already reeling from the effects of the toxic drug crisis.
“We want to ensure that people who use substances continue to have self-determination over their health outcomes,” says Michael Brennan of Pozitive Pathways in Windsor. “And that, just like anyone else, they have the tools, resources and support available without barriers.”
The first supervised consumption sites in Ontario opened in 2017. Within months, 20 sites were operating throughout the province. In June 2018, the current provincial government was elected. Since then, the unregulated drug supply has become increasingly volatile and dangerous. “Instead of scaling up sites, the current government added layers of bureaucracy, put an arbitrary cap of 21 sites across the entire province, and has delayed and impeded approval and funding of new sites,” says Nick Boyce of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. “Some applications have sat waiting for over two years, while people are dying.”
There are currently only 17 provincially-funded supervised consumption sites in Ontario. There is just one site in northern Ontario, which has among the highest drug-related death rates in the country. Data indicates Timmins and Sudbury have an opioid toxicity mortality rate nearly three times the provincial average.
Some sites, including Windsor, Timmins and Sudbury, have had to temporarily rely on municipal funding and public donations to operate. “This is a health issue. These sites should be funded by the Ministry of Health,” says Dr. Julie Samson of Timmins and District Hospital. “Why are municipalities, local health boards, and even the caring public having to step in to do the province’s job?”
“With overdose alerts across Ontario, state of emergency declarations from several municipalities and hundreds of needless prevented deaths and injuries each month, we encourage elected officials to prioritize the safety of residents by expediting outstanding requests and eliminating the political red-tape blocking consumption services,” says Michael Parkinson of the Drug Strategy Network of Ontario.
Local organizations worry the decision will lead to more deaths and set back efforts to connect people to supports.
“In the 16 months that The Spot has been open, we have seen the incredible impact it has had on those who access the service,” says Amber Fritz, Manager of Supervised Consumption Services at Réseau ACCESS Network in Sudbury. “It is a place of safety, self-determination, community and support. The drug poisoning crisis has shown no sign of abating; drugs have become more toxic, volatile and deadly. Members of our communities deserve better. Using drugs should not be a death sentence.”
“The Safe Health Site Timmins is saving lives, reducing demand on emergency services and actively connecting people with withdrawal management and treatment services,” says Samson. “The risks associated with closing of this site are significant and have the potential to negatively impact our entire community.”
Safe Health Site Timmins has directly contributed to the dramatic reduction of opioid-related fatalities in our community,” says Timmins Mayor Michelle Boileau. “Quite simply, it saves lives. Northern Ontario suffers from higher rates of hospitalization, overdose and death from opioid use compared to communities in the south. These sites give us a fighting chance to mitigate the negative effects caused by drug use. We need immediate and sustainable funding for Safe Health Site Timmins. It is imperative to the continued safety and well-being of our community.”
The letter calls for the elimination of unnecessary barriers and the immediate provision of sustained provincial funding for supervised consumption sites, including inhalation services, to meet the urgent needs of communities. The coalition emphasizes that these demands require immediate action from the provincial government to prevent further loss of life and harm to communities across Ontario.
“Our community has been fighting for a supervised consumption site since 2019,” says Reverend Christine Nayler of Ryan’s Hope in Barrie. “In the five years since our fight for this life-saving site began my son Ryan and my nephew Josh both lost their lives to toxic drugs, along with over 215 other community members. If those in power, whose desk these applications sit on, were the ones who had to deliver the heartbreaking news to the families left behind or if they had to attend each funeral, I don’t think they would still be stalling. These are not numbers; these were our children, our siblings, our nieces and nephews, neighbours and friends.”
Janet Butler-McPhee & Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Co-Executive Directors, HIV Legal Network Dr. Julie Samson, MD, CCFP (EM), Co-lead Addiction Medicine Consult Team, Timmins and District Hospital Michael Brennan, Executive Director, Pozitive Pathways Community Service
Michael Parkinson, Coordinator, Drug Strategy Network of Ontario
And the following organizations have endorsed the open letter:
Adrian R. Betts, Executive Director, AIDS Committee of Durham Region (ACDR)
Dear Minister Jones and Associate Minister Tibollo,
RE: Supervised Consumption Services site closures due to lack of funding from Ministry of Health
We write to you with grave concern regarding the Ontario government’s inaction in ensuring the provision of urgently needed supervised consumption services (SCS) amidst a worsening public health emergency caused by the toxic unregulated drug supply. We are calling on you to immediately provide direct emergency funding on or before March 29 to SCS sites that have submitted their applications to the province and are under imminent threat of closure or have closed due to lack of funding, eliminate the Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) approach to funding SCS and urgently provide, improve, and sustain uninterrupted provincial funding for SCS that includes inhalation services.
Unregulated drugs of unknown contents and potency are driving increased deaths, hospitalizations, injuries and trauma across Ontario, with an estimated 3,644 drug-related deaths in 2023. Several communities in Ontario have declared a state of emergency due to drug toxicity deaths. SCS, and particularly low-barrier overdose prevention sites, are a necessary emergency response to this crisis and must be immediately scaled up. In 2018, the Ontario government arbitrarily capped funding to only 21 CTS. Six years later, the government has still not delivered on funding 21 sites. Despite overwhelming need and local support, the Ontario government has approved and funded only 17 CTS locations across the entire province. Only one of these is located in northern Ontario (NorWest Community Health Centre in Thunder Bay). Meanwhile, the toxic unregulated drug crisis has taken far too many lives since 2018 – nearly 20,000 and rising, with many more family and friends left grieving.
In the context of this preventable public health emergency, urgent action is required. There are at least five submitted applications for CTS sites that have been inordinately delayed by the Ontario government in Sudbury (30 months since application was submitted), Barrie (28 months), Windsor (19 months), Timmins (13 months), and Hamilton, where the application was withdrawn in October 2023 after two years, in part due to the Ontario government’s delays and lack of transparency in providing the necessary approvals and funding to sustain the site. These delays are unacceptable and deadly.
The tragedy of an isolated instance of gun violence in Toronto must not prevent people in diverse locations across the province from accessing vital health services any longer. The Ontario government’s decision to stop processing applications altogether for more than seven months is punitive and irresponsible. After the significant years of work and investment in each community to prepare the onerous applications under the provincial CTS model, to secure a suitable location and community support, and – in the case of Sudbury, Windsor and Timmins where the sites have been established with municipal stopgap funding – to hire and train staff and build trust and service uptake amongst people who use drugs, these sites are at imminent risk of closure or have been forced to close due to a lack of provincial funding. It should not fall to municipalities to fund healthcare services, which are a provincial responsibility. Moreover, management of these sites is extremely challenged by the Ontario government’s lack of transparency and accountability regarding site funding and approval timelines. In the case of Windsor, lacking the much-needed provincial support, the site has been forced to close.
Of the regions with submitted, pending CTS applications, data released in 2024 from the Office of the Chief Coroner indicates that three of these regions have amongst the ten highest mortality rates in the province: Timmins, Windsor and Sudbury each have an opioid toxicity mortality rate that is nearly three times the provincial average. Further, inhalation now accounts for significantly more overdose deaths than injection in Ontario, according to data from the Office of the Chief Coroner, yet the current CTS model continues to prohibit inhalation services. Services must be designed and supported to reflect the magnitude of the crisis and the data regarding regional need and modalities of drug use.
Failure to equitably provide for lifesaving health services like SCS is discriminatory and violates the right to life and security of the person for people who use drugs. The inordinate delays in processing applications, onerous requirements and lack of inhalation services under the provincial CTS model are also fiscally irresponsible, unsustainable and ineffective for the provision of a service that is fundamentally necessary amidst the worsening public health emergency that is the toxic unregulated drug crisis.
SCS are evidence-based, highly effective, and must be recognized as an integral part of Ontario’s publicly funded healthcare system. As such, these services must be universally available wherever there is need. These sites relieve the burden from overtaxed emergency first responders and are not complex to implement; they require an accessible location, oxygen, naloxone, sterile medical and first aid supplies, and supervising staff. It is indefensible as a matter of public health and fiscal policy that we currently have a two-tiered healthcare system where SCS are available in some southern Ontario communities and not in northern Ontario. It is a violation of the fundamental rights to equality and security of the person.
We call for urgent action from the province, commensurate with the magnitude of the crisis our communities are facing. It is vital that the Ontario government embrace a harm reduction approach to substance use, which centres the dignity, health and safety of people who use drugs while providing pathways to care, services, and community.
We are calling on the Ontario government to:
Immediately provide direct emergency funding on or before March 29 to supervised consumption services (SCS) sites that have submitted their Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) applications to the province and are under imminent threat of closure or have closed due to lack of funding.
Urgently provide, improve, and sustain uninterrupted provincial funding for SCS, including inhalation, and ensure equity in regional service availability, particularly in northern communities.
Phase out the Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) approach to funding SCS, which requires additional and overly stringent conditions over and above Health Canada’s requirements.
In the interim, immediately remove the cap on the number of funded SCS sites and the prohibition on inhalation services under the provincial CTS model.
In the interim, introduce transparency and an expedited 30-day timeline for responding to applications under the provincial CTS model.
Introduce a low-barrier process by which community organizations can seek provincial funding for SCS.
Integrate SCS into Ontario’s core funded healthcare system with ongoing, integrated funding and resources.
Meet with us by March 13.
We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible on this urgent matter.
Signed by,
DJ Larkin, Executive Director, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
February 08, 2024: Belleville, Ontario is back in the news with another spike in overdoses. In November 2023, Belleville experienced a similar spike. At that time, Belleville police stated the spike was likely due to “opioids laced with GHB”. We were skeptical of this claim, but needed to wait for any lab-based analysis of the drugs involved. The results came back in January and we developed the following statement.
A misinformation campaign around public use legislation distracts from real solutions
January 31, 2024 | One year ago today, British Columbia decriminalized personal possession of small amounts of some drugs in limited locations in a three-year pilot project. Since then, an organized political campaign has spent time and money to cloud public perception and discredit evidence-based efforts. Let’s cut through the rhetoric and talk about what is and isn’t working with decriminalization, and what a better way forward could be.
It’s understandable people are concerned, as drug poisoning deaths reach their highest-ever levels: with 2511 deaths last year alone, communities across B.C. feel the impact of this crisis. Under decriminalization, adults carrying up to 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA in specific places will not be subject to criminal charges: police cannot seize their drugs, arrest or charge them for simple possession. Instead, they are directed to services. The pilot excludes schools, childcare facilities, playgrounds, splash pads and skate parks, among other locations. Decriminalization has support amongst public health and policy experts, including B.C.’s provincial health officer and chief coroner.
If you think you are seeing more unhoused people than ever, you’re right – but not because of decriminalization. While drug use rates remain stable, homelessness has risen considerably: up 32 per cent across 11 Lower Mainland communities and 65 per cent in Surrey. Some critics wrongly attribute these worsening social issues to decriminalization. Content creators, treatment industry lobbyists and municipal mayors alike have blamed the policy for alleged spikes in public drug use, fuel for a politicized assault.
But decriminalization cannot build homes; open supervised consumption sites; undo decades of housing divestment; reverse generational traumas of colonization; create responsive health care systems; or influence the unregulated drug market. If the government was serious about tackling the drug poisoning crisis and finding solutions to public drug use, there are clear places to start. Scaling up permanent welfare-rate housing and renewing modular housing leases would reduce visible poverty. Opening overdose prevention services in every community, per the still-unfulfilled 2016 Ministerial Order, would create safer indoor spaces for use while facilitating access to healthcare and treatment, reducing emergency costs, and improving neighbourhood cleanliness.Most importantly, B.C. could prevent deaths by responsibly regulating the drug supply to standardize content, access and use, all while increasing tax revenue and diverting hundreds of millions of dollars of profit from organized crime.
Although evidence-based solutions exist, the government is choosing reactionary politics to push the poorest people in society out of voters’ line of vision. Despite existing limits on decriminalization, the Province introduced Bill 34, which encourages racist and anti-poor stereotyping, ordering police to remove people from public spaces based on suspected rather than observed drug use. Pushing unhoused people into isolation will increase overdose deaths and countless other social harms. So if you are upset about rising poverty and death despite decriminalization, please redirect your anger toward the politicians who care more about getting re-elected than building healthy, happy communities.
Authors:Anmol Swaich, SUDU (Surrey Union of Drug Users) Sarah Lovegrove, the EIDGE (Eastside Illicit Drinkers Group for Education) and Aaron Bailey
Anmol Swaich is a MSc student and Research Assistant in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University and a Community Organizer with Surrey Union of Drug Users.
Aaron Bailey holds a Master of Science in Health Promotion from Queen’s University, serves as Program Coordinator at the Eastside Illicit Drinkers Group for Education (EIDGE) and supports operations of the VANDU Overdose Prevention Site.
People who use drugs will suffer the consequences of backward-thinking and restrictive policies
January 26, 2024 | Two leading national human rights organizations have addressed the Saskatchewan provincial government to express profound concern over changes that restrict access to vital harm reduction supplies and safety information. The HIV Legal Network and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition sent the letter yesterday, urging the government to reverse the changes and ground policy in evidence, human rights and best practice.
On January 18, Saskatchewan’s provincial health ministry announced it would stop providing clean pipes and require people to exchange a used needle to receive a sterile one, as well as stop distributing education resources on safer pipe use practices. Third-party organizations would also not be permitted to used provincial funds for these purposes. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Tim McLeod said providing information to people who use drugs on how to stay safer, “sends the wrong message to people who we want to help.”
The HIV Legal Network and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition contend these restrictions pose a severe threat to the health and safety of people in Saskatchewan, particularly those at risk of contracting hepatitis C and HIV, as well as drug poisoning and overdose.
“If the Saskatchewan government is concerned about sending messages with its policies, let’s be clear. The message this sends is that if you use drugs or live with addiction, the government does not care about your safety,” says DJ Larkin, executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition.
The HIV Legal Network stresses the vital role that harm reduction information and supplies play in mitigating the spread of HIV and hepatitis C. “Saskatchewan already has by far the highest rate of new HIV infections in Canada,” say Sandra Ka Hon Chu and Janet Butler-McPhee of the HIV Legal Network. “This is a reckless move, and a terrible use of public health dollars. Limiting access to cost-effective interventions proven to keep people safer – and alive – is counterproductive. Anyone who loves someone who uses drugs in Saskatchewan should be very alarmed by this backwards shift in policy.”
Saskatchewan is already facing disproportionately high rates of HIV and hepatitis C cases. The province has the highest rate of new HIV diagnoses in Canada, according to 2022 data from the Public Health Agency of Canada. While the rate of new diagnoses of HIV in Canada is 3.8 per 100,000 people, in Saskatchewan, the rate is more than five times that, at 20.3 per 100,000 people. Hepatitis C surveillance data from 2021 shows Saskatchewan had 38.3 reported cases per 100,000 population, versus the national rate of 19.7 new cases per 100,000.
Information available on the government of Saskatchewan’s website recognizes the importance of sterile supplies to reduce harm, encouraging the public to “protect yourself from HIV [and] hepatitis C…use new, clean needles each time you use drugs, and do not share supplies with other people.”
The policy announcement comes as the Saskatchewan Coroners Service has indicated the number of drug toxicity deaths in 2023 is likely to set a provincial record, with a possible 484 lives lost.
“This approach is completely unsupported by any evidence,” says Larkin. “None of this will stop people from using drugs. It will only stop people from getting the information and supplies they need to stay safer. People in Saskatchewan will be hurt by this decision.”
Local organizations offering programs and services to support those actively using or affected by substance use worry the decision will harm marginalized communities, hamper efforts to connect people to supports, and put further strain on grassroots organizations already providing life-saving services on shoestring budgets.
“Our funding already falls short of what’s needed to support the 300 people who regularly access our services,” says Kayla DeMong of Prairie Harm Reduction. “We’re not willing to abandon people, so we’ll have to find a way to fund the supplies on our own. The fact that the government is making our work harder is so disheartening.”
The joint letter urges officials to reverse the changes, and engage in open dialogue with the organizations, people with lived and living experience, public health experts, frontline workers, and other stakeholders to explore approaches grounded in evidence that prioritize the health and safety of all Saskatchewan residents.
Founded in 2010, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition works in partnership with more than 60 organizations and 7,000 individuals working to support the development of a drug policy for Canada that is based in science, guided by public health principles, respectful of the human rights of all, and seeks to include people who use drugs and those harmed by the war on drugs in moving towards a healthier society. Learn more at www.drugpolicy.ca
About HIV Legal Network
The HIV Legal Network promotes the human rights of people living with HIV or AIDS and other populations disproportionately affected by HIV, punitive laws and policies, and criminalization, in Canada and internationally. We do this through research and analysis, litigation and other advocacy, public education, and community mobilization. Learn more at www.hivlegalnetwork.ca
About Prairie Harm Reduction
Prairie Harm Reduction is a community based non-profit organization, in the heart of the inner city of Saskatoon, whose mission is to improve the quality of life for all members of our community through gold standards in harm reduction, emphasizing local action with national impact. www.prairiehr.ca
Hon. Tim McLeod Minister of Mental Health and Addictions [email protected]
Re: Recent Saskatchewan Health Policy Changes
Premier Moe, Minister Hindley, Minister McLeod;
We are writing on behalf of the HIV Legal Network and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition to express our grave concern at the Saskatchewan government’s recent health policy changes, announced January 18, 2024.
The changes, which include restricting access to vital harm reduction supplies and information encouraging safer substance use, will jeopardize efforts to combat the transmission of HIV and hepatitis C, shutter cost-effective and proven health interventions, and contradict decades of established scientific evidence, best practice in public health, and international guidance. Ultimately, they put people in Saskatchewan at risk.
Communities across Canada face intersecting challenges of poverty, homelessness, a dangerously unregulated drug supply, and health inequities. To meaningfully address these challenges and improve life for all people, governments must implement compassionate, evidence-based public policy that upholds principles of public health and human rights.
For nearly six years, the provision of sterile pipes and information on safer inhalation has been part of efforts to reduce the transmission of hepatitis C and HIV, promote safety for people using drugs in Saskatchewan, and connect people to health and social supports. This abrupt policy change not only undermines these efforts but also puts people at risk of harm, placing an undue burden on communities, Saskatchewan’s health system and those who work within it, and community organizations.
The policy appears fiscally reckless, as the cost to manage new cases of HIV and hepatitis C is considerably high. Preventing new infections through sterile supplies and safer use information is a vastly more cost-effective approach. We urge the government to responsibly steward public funds by continuing to invest in health interventions proven to reduce transmission and alleviate the strain on health care systems.
The Saskatchewan government’s inability to cite any evidence in support of these policy changes raises serious questions about the decision-making process. A focus on a “recovery-oriented system of care” need not come at the expense of cost-effective, evidence-based strategies with proven benefits to public health. Evidence has consistently demonstrated how harm reduction supplies and information can connect people to health and social supports, including voluntary treatment. Limiting access to safety education and health services does not decrease substance use: it only makes people less safe.
The HIV Legal Network and Canadian Drug Policy Coalition urge the Government of Saskatchewan to reconsider these policy changes. To ensure the well-being of all residents, we invite you to engage in a constructive dialogue with people with lived and living experience, front-line and health workers, health and scientific experts and other affected communities. We would welcome an opportunity to discuss this issue with you and offer research and policy resources on effective measures to ensure the well-being of all people in Saskatchewan.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
DJ Larkin, Executive Director, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
Janet Butler-McPhee and Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Co-Executive Directors, HIV Legal Network
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: BC Supreme Court rules in favour of Harm Reduction Nurses Association, pauses coming into force of BC’s public drug consumption law
xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, sḵwx̱wú7mesh & səlilwətaɬ lands |Vancouver, BC | December 29, 2023
This temporary injunction provides time for the Court to assess whether the law violates Charter rights and is outside of BC’s constitutional jurisdiction.
The province passed the Act in November, imposing sweeping restrictions on the decriminalization pilot that launched January 31, 2023, which removes criminal penalties for the possession of small amounts of some illegal drugs. The proposed Act would prohibit drug use in most public spaces. The Harm Reduction Nurses Association, represented by lawyers Caitlin Shane of Pivot Legal Society and DJ Larkin of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition argued this would exacerbate many harms decriminalization aims to reduce through increased interactions with law enforcement, displacement, drug seizures, fines and arrests.
BC Supreme Court Chief Justice Hinkson agreed, concluding that, “It is apparent that public consumption and consuming drugs in the company of others is oftentimes the safest, healthiest, and/or only available option for an individual, given a dire lack of supervised consumption services, indoor locations to consume drugs, and housing.”
British Columbia initially launched the decriminalization pilot to reduce police and criminal justice involvement with substance use, in an effort to reduce harm, destigmatize drug use, and prevent fatal overdose in the context of a public health emergency that causes 7 unnecessary deaths each day. Evidence shows enforcement has not reduced drug availability or use, is costly, and is linked to an increased risk of overdose and cycles of homelessness.
The BC Supreme Court ruling determined that the province’s proposed ban on public drug consumption cannot come into force until at least March 31, 2024, due to the irreparable harm it could cause to people at risk of death or serious injury from the unregulated toxic drug crisis. In his judgement, the Honourable Chief Justice Hinkson concluded, “I am satisfied… that there are serious issues to be tried [and] that irreparable harm will be caused if the Act comes into force.”
The decision preserves the status quo of the law in BC. The province’s decriminalization pilot project remains in effect, allowing for the possession of small amounts of some drugs. The restrictions to the pilot also remain in effect, including that drug possession remains illegal on the premises of elementary and secondary schools, playgrounds, child-care facilities, around splash pads and skate parks, and for anyone under 18 years old.
HRNA is a non-profit national organization comprised of nurses who work alongside people at severe risk of overdose and death due to Canada’s toxic unregulated drug supply. “We’re concerned this proposed law would threaten the lives, health, and safety, and Charter rights of our clients, many of whom live in communities that lack safe, indoor locations where drug use is permitted,” said Corey Ranger, HRNA President. “This law would drive our clients into more remote and isolated locations away from services and emergency care.” The application was filed alongside a Charter challenge to the law, which is likely to be heard in the new year. A statement from HRNA regarding its decision to take legal action is available online.
Since BC’s decriminalization policy took effect, there has been no documented increase in public drug consumption. Instead, concerns highlighted in government documents released through access to information requests mention recent “media frenzy” driving anti-poverty/anti-homeless sentiment, the spread of misinformation about the decriminalization pilot, and the province’s continued treatment of drug use as a criminal rather than a health matter.
If brought into force, BC’s law would have authorized displacement, fines, arrest and imprisonment for people who use drugs in public, regardless of the availability of safe, legal spaces to use drugs or people’s housing status.
“This law cannot be compared to laws restricting alcohol, nicotine or cannabis consumption in public. Because our governments have refused to regulate the drug supply itself, the contents and potency of the drugs are unknown. That is at the core of why so many people are at risk of overdose,” says DJ Larkin, one of HRNA’s lawyers and Executive Director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. Chief Justice Hinkson’s judgement states, “I accept that the unregulated nature of the illegal drug supply is the predominant cause of increasing death rates in British Columbia.
“Ultimately, legislation outlining where people can and can’t ingest drugs of any kind likely makes sense,” says Larkin. “But we must start from regulating what is in the drugs, how they are packaged, and who, where and how they are purchased. That would provide the safety that people need.”
