VICTORIA — The British Columbia authorities has repealed a legislation it handed final 12 months to limit drug use in some public areas as a result of profitable court docket challenges prevented it from being introduced into pressure. Garry Begg, B.C.
VICTORIA — The British Columbia authorities has repealed a legislation it handed final 12 months to limit drug use in some public areas as a result of profitable court docket challenges prevented it from being introduced into pressure.
Garry Begg, B.C.’s solicitor normal and public security minister, says in an announcement the federal government has revoked the Limiting Public Consumption of Unlawful Substances Act, that was handed in November 2023.
Nothing consequential will change on the bottom after the federal authorities accepted the B.C. authorities’s request in Could to exempt public areas from the province’s decriminalization pilot venture, that means police now have the authority to grab unlawful medicine possessed in public, even with out the provincial legislation.
The legislation was tabled within the B.C. legislature to tighten guidelines round the usage of illicit medicine in public locations after widespread criticism from municipal leaders and residents who mentioned the drug consumption in group parks and different areas confronted fewer restrictions than cigarette smoking.
However the Hurt Discount Nurses Affiliation and different substance-use reform advocates launched a court docket problem of the B.C. legislation and received, saying proscribing drug use in public areas would lead to extra drug customers dying alone.
B.C.’s Courtroom of Attraction upheld a three-month momentary injunction in March put in place by a decrease court docket that stopped the legislation that was supposed to limit public drug use in sure areas.
However with the federal adjustments, police now have the discretion to think about taking motion, warning the person or referring the individual, with consent, to providers.
Possession of drugs beneath 2.5 grams for private use by adults, in non-public residences, dependancy well being services, locations the place individuals are lawfully sheltering and overdose prevention and drug-check websites stay decriminalized.
“These adjustments to the decriminalization pilot limit the usage of medicine in the entire locations that had been supposed to be lined by the act,” says Begg in an announcement.
“Our authorities stays decided to show the tide on the toxic-drug disaster and we’re beginning to see indicators of progress. If individuals encounter drug use in inappropriate locations, police can be found to implement the foundations and assist to attach people to help providers.”
The BC Coroners Service launched figures earlier this month that mentioned 1,925 individuals had died of overdoses within the first 10 months of this 12 months, which was down about 9 per cent from the identical interval final 12 months.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Dec. 19, 2024.
Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press
