Success or failure? Canada's drug decriminalisation test faces scrutiny

Decriminalisation is based on the argument that the war on drugs has failed - that arresting people with severe addiction and seizing their drugs could increase their likelihood of overdose by forcing them to find other drugs that may be lethal. A criminal record may also bar them from finding a stable job, reducing the chance of recovery.

"I got thrown in jail for nine months for a half a gram of cocaine," said Guy Felicella, a Vancouver-based advocate for drug harm reduction and recovery, who recovered from drug addiction after overdosing six times in 2013.

Decriminalisation, he said, would have helped reduce his fear of being legally punished - a fear that forced him and others to use in private, out of view from someone who could call for help if they overdosed.

Portugal, where drugs were decriminalised in 2001, has drug death rates that are significantly lower than other countries., external

Its success inspired efforts in both BC and in the US state of Oregon, which decriminalised drugs in 2020.

But in all three places, the policy has faced pushback, and in Oregon, lawmakers voted in March to reverse it altogether after it was blamed for a rise in public disorder and drug use.

In BC, which has a history of harm reduction advocacy, the government's push to revise its decriminalisation policy was challenged in court over concerns it would lead to an "increased risk of overdose fatality".

For Mayor West, the courts are "out of touch with where the public is".

"This focus on 'irreparable harm' to a certain group ignores the harm that occurs to others by allowing rampant public drug use," he said.

But these sentiments have been countered by supporters of decriminalisation, like the province's outgoing chief coroner, who has said there is no evidence that suggests the general public is at risk from public drug use.

In Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, a historic neighbourhood that has long grappled with social issues like poverty and drug use, advocates have accused politicians of sowing "moral panic".

"Scapegoating and vilifying people who use drugs has [historically] been a real good vote-getter," said Garth Mullins, a member of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users.