Canada’s British Columbia to decriminalise hard drugs to ‘end stigma’ amidst unsolvable addiction crisis

Canada will temporarily decriminalise the possession of certain illegal drugs such as cocaine, MDMA, and opioids for personal use in British Columbia (B.C.) to help combat the province’s burgeoning drug abuse problem effective on January 31, 2023. 

The exemption, which is a first in Canada, is intended to reduce the stigma associated with substance use and make it easier for people to seek help from law enforcement and other authorities.

The provision will be in effect from January 31, 2023 to January 31, 2026, and instead of punishing those found in possession of small amounts of exempt drugs, police will provide information on available health and social supports.

Broken behind the beauty

Canadians are proud of their country’s beauty and the generosity of their people. And, as you drive past rows of gleaming glass towers framed by the snow-capped Rockies and the Pacific waters of the Burrard Inlet, Vancouver is undeniably stunning — widely regarded as one of the world’s most ‘desirable’ cities to live in.

However, driving down the “drug city” dispels all such optimism.

Tents line the entrances to every building that hasn’t bribed them to leave or pleaded for police intervention. The goods they stole to satisfy their drug cravings litter the street, waiting for someone to buy them.

Addicts huddle in doorways, openly injecting, cooking, and smoking hard drugs like heroin, crack cocaine, crystal meth, and fentanyl — a lethal synthetic opioid 50 times stronger than heroin that has killed hundreds of thousands in North America. Others lie motionless on the ground, even in the rain, or stagger around in search of their next fix.

The crisis is about to worsen as a result of Canada’s ruling class’s disastrously misguided, woke politics.

Drug decriminalisation – is it the best decision?

Canada, which announced plans last year to put warning labels on fatty or salty foods as well as ‘poison in every puff’ warnings on cigarette packets, is more than happy to stigmatise drinkers, smokers, and obese people in the name of improving their health.

British Columbia, particularly Vancouver, has become a haven for liberal Canadians, who have elected a provincial government that believes society is too harsh on addicts.

They insist that decriminalisation will end the “shame” of drug use.

Anyone will be able to inject, smoke, snort, or swallow whatever they want, whenever they want — even if they want to sit on the swings next to children in a playground. And the police will have no authority to stop them as long as they have no more than 2.5 grammes of a drug in their possession.

Between 2016 and 2021, over 26,000 people died in Canada as a result of opioid-related overdoses. Overdose deaths have killed over 9,400 people in British Columbia since the province declared a public health emergency in 2016.

“Substance use is a public health issue, not a criminal issue,” said Sheila Malcolmson, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions in British Columbia, adding that the exemption will help the province combat the crisis.

RELATED ARTICLE
"Kneeling Millionaires Are Back!" Premier League Brings Back 'Taking the Knee' for Anti-Racist Campaign