The number of deaths caused by illegal drugs increased by one-third in 2021. Statistics Canada reported on Monday..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, after the federal government proposed to decriminalize heroin across the country, more people died by "accidental poisonings.”.“An accidental poisoning resulting in death occurs when a person is exposed to a noxious substance such as drugs, alcohol, carbon monoxide or pesticides,” said a StatsCan report Deaths 2021. .“Unintentional deaths caused by accidental poisonings accounted for 7,006 deaths in 2021, an increase of 31.9% compared with 2020.”.“In particular, drug overdoses, which accounted for the vast majority (95.9%) of deaths attributed to accidental poisonings, rose by 32.9%,” wrote analysts. Most drug victims were men..The rise in deaths happened around the same time as a parliament debated criminal sanctions on narcotics..The Commons Health committee, in a 2019 report Impacts of Methamphetamine Abuse in Canada, recommended that cabinet “work with provinces, territories, municipalities, indigenous communities and law enforcement agencies to decriminalize the simple possession of small quantities of illicit substances.”.In 2021, a federal government panel suggested they should also consider decriminalization..“By criminalizing simple possession, Canada’s Controlled Drugs And Substances Act increases the stigma by labeling people who use drugs as criminals,” said Report No. 1 Recommendations on Alternatives to Criminal Penalties for Simple Possession of Controlled Substances by cabinet’s Expert Task Force on Substance Use..However, a Commons majority on June 1, 2022, defeated at the Second Reading a New Democrat bill to decriminalize simple possession of heroin, cocaine, fentanyl and other narcotics. Bill C-216 An Act to Amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act was lost on a vote of 247 to 71..Fourteen members of the government caucus supported the bill, including Marc Garneau, former transport minister, MP Joël Lightbound (Louis-Hébert, QC), chair of the Commons Industry committee, Ron McKinnon (Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam, BC), former chair of the health committee, and Heath MacDonald (Malpeque, PEI), a former Prince Edward Island finance minister..On January 31, the federal government agreed to a request from British Columbia to decriminalize small amounts of cocaine and other illegal drugs for two years. The information from the British Columbia Coroners Service showed that from February 1 to June 30, there were 1,001 deaths related to addiction in the province. Last year, there were 936 deaths, seven percent fewer in the same period..“There is no indication that prescribed safer supply is contributing to unregulated drug deaths,” the Coroners Service said in a statement..Last year, the Privy Council did a survey about making simple illegal drug possession no longer a crime in Canada..“What do you think the impact of decriminalizing small amounts of illicit drugs would be?” asked a February 28, 2022, study Continuous Qualitative Data Collection of Canadians’ Views. Most opposed it, said the report.
