BC’s drug decriminalization experiment failed to stop deadly overdoses: study
A drug user slumped in a Vancouver lane. Photo by Nick Procaylo/PostmediaArticle contentBritish Columbia’s contentious experiment decriminalizing fentanyl, cocaine and other hard drugs was hailed by provincial health leaders as a “vital” means of keeping people from dying from drug overdoses.
It appears it didn’t. New research found no significant changes in drug-related hospitalizations or toxic drug deaths compared with the rest of Canada, where the drug laws hadn’t changed.
“I think there’s a real risk of over-promising simple solutions” to the opioid crisis, said the study’s senior author, Dr. Daniel Myran, in an interview.
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Although drug poisoning deaths dropped slightly in B.C. after decriminalization, the changes didn’t differ relative to other provinces, according to the study published in this week’s issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Overdose deaths fell by 19 per cent in B.C. but were down 25 per cent in Ontario over the same period.
“There is no effect that you’re seeing in B.C. that is not occurring in Ontario,” said Myran, who is the Gordon F. Cheesbrough Research Chair at North York General Hospital and associate professor and scientist at the University of Toronto’s department of family medicine.
“I do think that the premise of ‘we’re going to see these very large health benefits related to acute overdoses’ has not been borne out by the data we’re presenting here.”
Under a pilot project that launched Jan. 31, 2023, B.C. allowed adults to possess up to 2.5 grams of heroin, fentanyl, crack or powder cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA (ecstasy) for their personal use.
People found carrying drugs below the 2.5-gram threshold were no longer to be arrested, charged or have their drugs seized. Instead, police were directed to offer information on social supports and help with referrals to treatment, if requested.
