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We are deeply disappointed by the Government of British Columbia\u2019s move to end its drug decriminalization pilot at the end of this month. This disastrous decision is a major step back in the efforts to end a toxic drug crisis that has killed more than 16,000 people in BC over the past decade; more lives remain at risk.<\/p>\nWe have had concerns with this pilot since it was first announced \u2014 this pilot never reflected the lived realities of people who use drugs in BC. Decriminalization done right must include the removal of criminal sanctions and\u00a0all\u00a0other penalties for simple drug possession for\u00a0all\u00a0people who use drugs, including youth, and there should be no restrictions on where decriminalization applies.<\/p>\n
Late last year we released the results of a community-based research project<\/a> that clearly demonstrates how Canada\u2019s drug laws cause tremendous harm to entire communities by creating barriers to healthcare services. Canada\u2019s outdated drug laws serve to fracture relationships with trusted networks of support, including vital healthcare providers, wrest families and other loved ones apart, and contribute to the volatility of an unregulated drug supply that takes thousands of lives every year. These harms are disproportionately experienced by Indigenous and Black people in Canada.<\/p>\n Despite claims to the contrary from BC Health Minister Josie Osbourne, the success of BC\u2019s pilot can be measured: for nearly three years, fewer people experienced the harms caused by police involvement and incarceration. No matter how meagre the pilot, this was a fundamental change in the day-to-day lives of people whose personal health and safety is risked when the police get involved in their lives. British Columbia should be building on this success today, but it is instead choosing a path that we know will only deepen harms and accelerate preventable deaths. We denounce this political decision based on fear, misinformation, and stigma while we mourn the many who will suffer as a result.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We are deeply disappointed by the Government of British Columbia\u2019s move to end its drug decriminalization pilot at the end of this month. This disastrous decision is a major step back in the efforts to end a toxic drug crisis that has killed more than 16,000 people in BC over the past decade; more lives … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"publication_topics":[],"publication_language":[],"class_list":["post-25476","news22","type-news22","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news22\/25476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news22"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news22"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news22\/25476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25556,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news22\/25476\/revisions\/25556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"publication_topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication_topics?post=25476"},{"taxonomy":"publication_language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication_language?post=25476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}