B.C.’s move to reintroduce a ban on public drug use, a step back in the three-year experiment to decriminalize the possession of certain illegal drugs, is getting approval from Okanagan mayors.
Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas was one of the elected officials who made the call to make the shift to stop public use after the January 2023 decision to decriminalize possession for personal use of less than 2.5 grams of cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA, and opioids like fentanyl.
“Not only myself, but all mayors up and down the valley from Princeton all the way through to Vernon, had signed a request of the province to revisit and not allow drugs to be consumed in public spaces, parks, playgrounds, bus terminals, in front of businesses, and that was our request,” Dyas said.
Personal use decriminalization was part of an ongoing attempt to treat drug use as a public health issue and keep users from falling into the criminal justice system but there have been bumps in the road and Dyas and other Okanagan mayors said their communities were beset by drug-related issues and crimes.
Dyas said RCMP officers will now be able to deal with situations where somebody is taking drugs continuously in a public setting, which endangers citizens.
Community safety is something that the West Kelowna mayor is also eying with the shift, he said in a statement.
“A safe community is the highest priority and we thank the B.C. Government for confirming, as our City bylaws do, that parks and public spaces are not for illicit drug use, but rather the physical and mental well-being of our children, families and community at large who rely on these spaces for their intended uses — sports, recreational and cultural programs and gatherings,” Milsom said in the statement.
“We have compassion for those struggling with drug use and addictions and we urge the subject matter experts with the Ministries of Health and Mental Health and Addictions to continue to create solutions that complement city zoning and other bylaws and ensure strong, safe, resilient and inclusive communities.”
For Lake Country Mayor Blair Ireland, the change is the right move, though his community is not one that suffered much of the fallout.
“We don’t have a lot of public spaces conducive to that and we don’t have a lot of parks close to people, so we didn’t see it here as much . My approach is that I always thought it was a bad idea for anyone to do that in places where there are children and families,” he said.
That said, the province can’t be faulted for trying, he said.
“I am not critical of the province on this. The goal was to stop people dying from overdose, so they tried something.”
Under B.C. Premier David Eby’s request, these drugs would remain decriminalized for personal use in a person’s home, a place they are legally sheltering, and overdose prevention or drug-testing sites.
“Keeping people safe is our highest priority. While we are caring and compassionate for those struggling with addiction, we do not accept street disorder that makes communities feel unsafe,” Eby said on Friday, when the shift was made known.
Eby said he still sees addiction as a health issue, not a criminal issue, and the principle of the decriminalization pilot is to try and help people get assistance without fear of arrest.
The goal, according to Eby, is that police would encourage people not to use drugs in public, potentially seize the drugs and arrest people only “when necessary.”
“That compassion, that concern for people who are struggling, does not mean that anything goes. We still have expectations around safety, public spaces, in the coffee shop, on the bus, in the park, on the beach,” Eby said Friday.