In Toronto, officials have asked Health Canada to approve a decriminalization plan that is even more sweeping than what was tested in B.C.
British Columbia’s decision to roll back part of its landmark experiment with decriminalizing possession of small amounts of hard drugs could affect similar efforts elsewhere in the country, experts say.
Toronto and other jurisdictions considering decriminalization should be “watching and learning and heeding the lessons from B.C.,” said Benedikt Fischer, a senior researcher on substance abuse and public policy at the University of the Fraser Valley. “B.C. has paid a high price for the roller coaster this experiment has taken.”
B.C.’s three-year decriminalization pilot project, which began on Jan. 31, 2023, was an attempt to respond to an opioid and toxic street drug crisis that has killed more than 14,000 people since the province declared a public-health emergency in 2016. The minister’s office also confirmed in an e-mailed statement that Health Canada is reviewing Mr. Eby’s request for an amendment to the B.C. exemption, but declined to provide a timeline.
Lindsey Richardson, an associate professor of sociology at the University of British Columbia who holds a Canada Research Chair in social inclusion and health equity, said it would be a shame if B.C.’s experience led other jurisdictions considering decriminalization to back away. Overdoses aren’t the only metric on which decriminalization should be judged, she added. Dr. Richardson said preliminary research shows arrests for simple possession are down significantly in B.C. since the pilot program began, and that was one of the program’s goals.
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