Whereas the Province of BC was granted an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for the personal possession of small amounts of certain illegal drugs for a trial period beginning January 31, 2023 until January 31, 2026; And whereas communities have seen increased pressure on RCMP and first responders since the implementation of the decriminalization pilot program; And whereas no statistics or reporting dashboard has been provided to support the continuation of the program or demonstrate the decrease in harm associated with decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of illegal substances: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions to create a workable dashboard which reports statistics of the impact decriminalization has had on reducing the harm of criminalization and demonstrates whether the continuation of the pilot program is of benefit to communities.
Ministry of Health Health Canada approved the Province of British Columbias request for an exemption to the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act CDSA to decriminalize personal possession of small amounts of illicit substances on May 31, 2022. The exemption was accompanied by a Letter of Requirements outlining the conditions that the Province is required to meet in order to maintain the exemption for the three-year term. Monitoring, Applied Research, and Evaluation is one of the core components of the Letter of Requirements, with the publication of decriminalization quarterly data reports and snapshots of broader mental health and substance use data identified as mandatory activities. The Province has been publishing data snapshots since September 2023. In addition to data on BCs broader response to the toxic drug crisis, these snapshots contain quantitative data on police interactions, possession offences, drug seizures, and interactions with proactive outreach workers funded as a part of the Provinces decriminalization efforts. The March 2025 data snapshot can be accessed here. The Province also publishes the quarterly data reports that it provides to Health Canada. These reports provide more in-depth monitoring of data, context for chosen indicators, and explanations of data collection methodologies. Quarterly data reports can be accessed on the Provinces decriminalization website. The goal of decriminalization has always been to reduce the stigma associated with illegal substance use and encourage people to access life-saving services, while balancing the goals of public safety and other community interests. That is why the Province asked the federal government to change the decriminalization policy to prohibit drug use in all public places including parks, beaches, hospitals, transit, and businesses. As of May 7, 2024, this change is now in effect and gives police the tools to address public safety concerns. As demonstrated in the Provinces publicly reported data, visits to overdose prevention and supervised consumption services and drug checking sites have increased since decriminalization was implemented on January 31, 2023, and the number of people receiving opioid agonist treatment has remained steady. The Province will continue to monitor these indicators closely and update the public on their status in quarterly reports and data snapshots.