Simply put decriminalization in the context of drug policy is this:

Allowing people, with no risk of criminal intervention by police, to carry enough illicit drugs for their own personal use. They cannot be arrested or relieved of their drugs by police or anyone else. They cannot be charged with the crime of possessing an illegal substance.

What decriminalization is not is legalizing drugs. Decriminalization refers only to the people who are possessing drugs for their own use. The drugs they carry may still be illegal (illicit).

It only makes sense that people who need drugs because they are addicted (or have substance use disorder, SUD) need drugs! If they don’t have the drugs they need, they will go into withdrawal and become sick and in pain. They do not need to be thrown into the criminal justice system!

Of course we wish that no one was addicted, that there were enough and good recovery options, that people need not carry illicit drugs or use toxic substances, that no one must put themselves in danger by purchasing drugs under dangerous circumstances.

Unfortunately that is not the world we live in today.

What different municipalities, and now the Province of British Columbia are doing is applying to the Federal Government for an exemption (Exemption 56) to be able to pass a law that institutes the decriminalizing of people who possess controlled (illicit) substances for personal use such as heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamines, and others. To see B.C.’s decriminalization submission to the federal government, click here.

Check out this link to learn more about the Canadian Controlled and Substances Act (CDSA)

This gives some insight to the process and the complexities of implementing decriminalization and safe supply, for which Moms Stop the Harm strongly advocates.

(One stumbling block which we can discuss in more detail at a later date, is the amounts that a person may carry without criminal charges. This is still under discussion and with some disagreements to be worked out. The submission from the BC government to the Federal Government is not supported by MSTH or people who use drugs in terms of amounts, also known as thresholds.)

Progress is being made in this area in BC and federally, but not fast enough to save lives. Please write to your local and federal politicians to express your support for Decriminalization!

Leslie McBain, MSTH Co-Founder