Public drug use became illegal in British Columbia once again on Tuesday, after the federal government granted the province’s request to scale back its drug decriminalization pilot.
The change represents a major policy climbdown for the provincial NDP government more than a year into the three-year pilot program with Ottawa that is aimed at tackling the deadly overdose crisis.
But Ya’ara Saks, Canada’s mental health and addictions minister, dismissed any notion the shift is an admission the program was a failure.
“This is the first time this has been done,” she told reporters on Parliament Hill. “As in any pilot, it is a process of learning.”
On April 26, the province announced that it had asked Health Canada to amend the exemption allowing the decriminalization of small amounts of drugs such as heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine.
Following widespread concern from the public, nurses and police around consumption of drugs in public, B.C. Premier David Eby said his NDP government wanted to ban the use of those drugs in spaces such as hospitals and parks.
Police in Vancouver have said they were unable to deal with concerns about public drug use.
“Effective today, with Health Canada’s approval, public drug use is illegal in all public spaces in B.C.,” Mike Farnworth, the province’s public safety minister, said Tuesday.
