‘Children Need Safe Spaces as Well’: BC Cities Call for Limits on Drug Decriminalization

Items are seen on the ground as paramedics from B.C. Ambulance respond to a drug overdose in downtown Vancouver on June 23, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward)

Since British Columbia decriminalized the possession of small amounts of hard drugs in January, police have been unable to stop drug use in public places, including where children gather.

Although earlier this month the province announced a new ban on illicit drugs within 15 metres of playgrounds, city councillors and mayors across B.C. have said it’s not enough. They say the ban needs to extend to other places children are exposed to drug use and used needles.

The library in Smithers, B.C., is one such place, says Councillor Frank Wray.

“You can’t crack open a beer at the library, but you can smoke drugs or shoot up,” Mr. Wray told The Epoch Times. And people often do, he said.

In the small city of about 5,400, he said, you can’t help but see these things.

Drug abuse was a problem before decriminalization, but now police can’t do anything to prevent people from using drugs in plain sight, Mr. Wray said.

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He was one of the elected municipal officials who supported a resolution passed by the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) at its convention on Sept. 18–22 to “further regulate the possession and use of illicit drugs in parks, beaches, sports fields and bus stops.”

The resolution passed by only a narrow margin, with some arguing that this would stigmatize drug use and go against the approach taken by the province in its decriminalization pilot.

The Epoch Times reached out to some city officials who were against the UBCM resolution, but they declined interviews due to time constraints.

Mr. Wray said he understands wanting to help people who are addicted and not “drive them back into the shadows,” but there has to be a balancing for the public good.

“It seems like there isn’t a consideration for the whole community,” he said. “Children needed safe spaces as well.”

This issue has been discussed in city council meetings in the province in recent months.

‘Out in the Open’ in New Westminster

New Westminster city councillors decided in February to bring a resolution to the UBCM asking that “public park spaces designed for and used by children” be added to the list of spaces where illicit drugs are banned.

“As a business owner for almost two decades in the downtown core, I have seen a lot of children with their parents that are in the park or they’re walking some of the streets downtown where there is open use of hard drugs,” Councillor Paul Minhas said at a Feb. 27 meeting. “It is a serious concern that I have. It’s very much out in the open.”

Councillor Daniel Fontaine checked with parks and law enforcement officials present at the meeting and ascertained that decriminalization law prevents them from doing anything about illicit drug use in public.

“If you’re consuming a vodka cooler, you could fall under some kind of a penalty, ... but if you’re consuming crystal meth, you’re not,” Mr. Fontaine summarized.

He said he’s worried not only about parks, but as Mr. Minhas had said, many other places where children are exposed. He recalled witnessing two people openly using hard drugs sitting at a table on private property directly beside a children’s play area in the city.

How Decriminalization Is Regulated

Health Canada granted British Columbia an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act from Jan. 31, 2023, to Jan. 31, 2026, for its pilot to decriminalize 2.5 grams or less of opioids, cocaine derivatives, and amphetamine derivatives. The exemption includes a list of exceptions, such as on school premises and in airports.

But without exceptions for other public places, law enforcement have no legal authority to stop people from using. At the province’s request, Health Canada added the exception for playgrounds on Sept. 18.

When the pilot began in January, then-federal Mental Health and Addictions minister Carolyn Bennett said it would reduce “the stigma, the fear, and shame that keep people who use drugs silent about their use, or using alone.”

The idea is fewer people will overdose if they’re not alone. British Columbia had a record-setting 1,455 overdoses in the province in July, according to the B.C. Coroners Service.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is among the critics of decriminalization and B.C.’s “safe supply” approach, both of which he says increases drug use. The answer to addiction is “more treatment and recovery—not more poison,” Mr. Poilievre said on X on March 3.

Councillor Kurtis Rabel of Pouce Coupe, B.C., said at the UBCM convention in Vancouver that public drug use is a problem.

“Open substance use is causing severe property problems in our communities and is tearing our communities apart,” he said. “Our communities are not an experiment.”

UBCM’s policy book says the province is planning to introduce provincial legislation to further regulate public drug use in the fall of 2023.

“Currently, the province regulates where people can smoke tobacco, drink alcohol, and use cannabis, but does not have rules about public use of other controlled substances,” the policy book states.

Municipal officials also passed a resolution at the convention calling on the province to come up with a comprehensive, province-wide plan to better tackle the “toxic drug health emergency.” It called for immediate funding to provide detox, treatment, and other services on a “geographically accessible” basis.

Mr. Wray said Smithers is too small to have much to offer people struggling with addiction. One has to travel far to reach detox or treatment, he said. Yet its somewhat remote location in northwestern B.C.—between Prince George and Prince Rupert—makes it a service centre for many other, smaller communities around.

So anyone struggling with addiction not only in Smithers, but also in a large surrounding area, have a hard time getting help. It’s about a four-hour drive to Prince George where some treatment may be available, he said, but “then you’re away from all your family and support as well.”

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.