Canada has just announced that it will temporarily decriminalise the possession of cocaine and MDMA in the province of British Columbia.
The province asked for the criminal code exemption after overdoses saw the deaths of over two thousand lives last year. This is the first time-limited three-year trial in Canada.
Adults will be allowed to possess a combined total of 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA. While the substances will remain illegal, adults found in their possession for personal use will not be arrested or charged.
They will instead be offered information on available health and social services. The province said that it asked for the exemption in order to remove the shame that prevents people from reaching out for life-saving help.
Federal minister of mental health and addiction Carolyn Bennett said that ‘for too many years, the ideological opposition to harm reduction has cost lives. We are doing this to save lives, but also to give people using drugs their dignity and choices.’
The programme will run from the 31st of January 2023 to the 31st of January 2026. BC declared the overdose crisis a public health emergency five years ago. Overdose deaths reached historic heights in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over 9000 people died of drug overdose in the province since 2016. However, Minister Bennett is hoping the scheme could become a template for other jurisdictions across Canada, and possibly the rest of the world.
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