British Columbia had decriminalized personal possession of cocaine for the first time in 111 years. “Today we take the first steps in the much needed bold action,” said Mental Health Minister Dr. Carolyn Bennett. .“This is not legalization,” said Bennett. “We have not taken this decision lightly.”.According to Blacklock's Reporter, the federal government granted B.C. an exemption under the Controlled Drugs And Substances Act to suspend criminal sanctions against possession of up to 2.5 grams of cocaine, methamphetamine, opioids, or ecstasy..“There will be no arrests or charges for personal possession at or below 2.5 grams,” the Department of Health said in a statement. Possession remains illegal for minors under any circumstances or any adult in a school, daycare or airport..“For too many years the ideological opposition to harm reduction has cost lives,” said Bennett. “British Columbia has been the epicentre of the overdose crisis.”.The B.C. Coroners Service counted 10,481 drug overdose deaths since 2014. The fatalities were typically men in Vancouver over age 30..“No longer criminally prohibiting personal possession of small amounts of certain controlled substances is just one tool in a full range of solutions to fight the overdose crisis we are facing,” said Bennett. The exemption takes effect on January 31, 2023 and will last for three years..The B.C. cabinet sought the exemption last November 1. It is the first of its kind in Canada since Parliament criminalized cocaine, opium and morphine in 1911. The City of Vancouver in 2011 won an initial exemption under the Substances Act to permit a drug injection site, the first of 37 currently operating across Canada..A Department of Health Expert Task Force on Substance Use last August 13 recommended national decriminalization of cocaine, heroin, meth and other narcotics. “Penalties of any kind for the simple possession and use of substances are harmful to Canadians,” said the task force..They said Canada’s current drug policies are based on an "outdated and deeply problematic position" that "devalues and dehumanizes people who use drugs by labeling them as 'immoral,' 'addicts,' or weak.'".“Furthermore by criminalizing simple possession Canada’s Controlled Drugs And Substances Act increases the stigma by labeling people who use drugs as criminals," they said.
