British Columbia, a province in Canada, is changing its legislation that forbids the use of hard drugs in public spaces.
Premier David Eby said Friday that authorities will soon have the energy once to maintain substance use legislation in all public places, including facilities, restaurants, gardens, and beaches.
It brings to an end a many- criticized pilot programme that allowed the private use of some illegal drugs, including heroin, methamphetamine, MDMA, cocaine, morphine, and fentanyl.
The three-year programme, which was supposed to start in January of last year, was supposed to start in January of this year in an effort to end the stigma associated with drug use.
‘Addiction a health issue’
Premier Eby stated on Friday that he still believed addiction is a health problem and no a” criminal laws matter.”
However, he said,” People who are struggling do not necessarily imply anything goes.” He expressed compassion for those struggling with addiction, but insisted open safety is paramount.
The leading stated on X, previously Online, that” we’re taking actions to offer police the police tools they need to maintain parks, hospitals, and transit safe from people drug use.”
Concerns about medicine and public disorder
The action comes after Fiona Wilson, the deputy police chief in Vancouver, testified last week at a parliamentary commission about having “absolutely no authority to tackle difficult drug use” under the decriminalization pilot.
” If you have someone who is with their family at the beach, and there’s a person next to them smoking crack cocaine, it’s not a police matter”, she told the House of Commons health committee.
Police will be able to “only arrest for simple possession of illicit drugs in exceptional circumstances” and require drug users to leave an area or seize drugs.
Use of drugs will continue to be permitted in the private home or at supervised drug testing or consumption locations.
