In the present day, the Vancouver Police Division reported a lower in seizures associated to easy drug possession since British Columbia’s decriminalization pilot launched in early 2023. Whereas this information is optimistic, it doesn’t give us the total image of how drug-related points are being dealt with within the criminal-legal system. We want extra openness and readability. To really cut back hurt via decriminalization, we should reduce police involvement and interactions general. Issues regarding substance use – together with referrals and outreach – must be handled via well being and social methods, not police.
Police Interactions Can Drive Hurt
You will need to be aware that when the VPD stories they made no seizures for easy possession, it doesn’t imply there have been no police interactions with people who use medication. We all know that interactions with police and legal justice methods typically drive hurt for individuals who use medication. For instance, we should not have sufficient details about whether or not police may categorize seizures as “possession for the needs of trafficking” moderately than easy possession. We additionally lack information on casual interactions with the police that don’t end in seizures, however nonetheless have comparable adverse impacts. These unrecorded interactions could cause the identical harms as criminalization, together with growing the chance of dying from unregulated medication as a result of concern of police intervention and drug confiscation.
BC Drug Decriminalization Threshold Too Low
The mixed 2.5 gram threshold for decriminalization is just too low to successfully decriminalize individuals who use medication in B.C. It doesn’t replicate the proof relating to the portions individuals use or the behaviours of a wide range of teams, together with individuals dwelling in rural or distant communities and people buying from a safer, extra trusted vendor. Because of this, the 2.5 gram threshold just isn’t a helpful measure to find out what is straightforward possession and what’s possession for the needs of trafficking. Greater than 30 B.C. organizations have endorsed a suggestion to both take away threshold quantities of their entirety, or instantly scale up the decriminalized private possession threshold to twenty-eight grams (1 oz) for all illicit medication, together with these at the moment excluded equivalent to ketamine and benzodiazepines.
We Want Drug Insurance policies That Will Maintain Us Secure
There are clear hyperlinks between criminalizing drug use and inflicting hurt. Enforcement has not diminished drug availability or use. It additionally comes at a excessive monetary price, whereas contributing to an elevated danger of overdose and cycles of homelessness. Decriminalization, then again, is related to fewer individuals being incarcerated or concerned with the criminal-legal system, diminished stigma and higher entry to providers – all of which assist forestall hurt and overdoses. That’s the reason decriminalization is an important half of a bigger shift in drug legal guidelines and insurance policies to make our communities safer for everybody. This shift should additionally prioritize equitable entry to overdose prevention websites, healthcare, responsibly regulated substances, reasonably priced housing, adequate revenue, and evidence-based, voluntary, non-profit therapy.
