Persons who use drugs and activists gathered for a student-organized panel on Tuesday to assess the impact of BC’s decriminalization of small amounts of illicit drugs, one month into the province’s pilot program.
Organized by UBC’s Law Students for Decriminalization and the Vancouver chapter of Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy, the Zoom discussion drew over 60 attendees as community organizers from advocacy groups for illicit drug users reflected on the change.
Some organizations present were directly involved in the development of the decriminalization pilot, which grants BC an exemption from the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act until 2026, but said many of their suggestions were rejected or watered down.
Still, panelists reluctantly celebrated the policy as a minor victory for people who use illicit drugs that resulted from their tireless activism and campaigning.
“The fact that we win a fucking inch when we still have to go a mile doesn’t negate our community power,” said Garth Mullins, an organizer with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU).
The inch won was a 2.5 gram threshold allowed for the possession of cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA and opioids. The mile? Full decriminalization, or something closer to an 18 gram threshold, said Mullins, who acknowledged that a 2.5 gram threshold is better than the one gram proposed by police.
Delilah Gregg, another member of VANDU, agreed that the current threshold is far too low to effectively decriminalize the majority of people who use drugs in BC.
“In regards to 2.5 grams, so many people down here or anywhere do that much for breakfast,” said Gregg.
Frontline panelists said the policy’s effect on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, where the impact of the toxic drug crisis is most visible, hasn’t been substantial yet.
“It’s only been a month and, as we know, when policy is decided it needs to trickle down to actual police behavior,” said Vince Tao, a community organizer at VANDU who works directly with people who use drugs in the Downtown Eastside.
But for activists, an ideal policy change would negate police involvement altogether — according to VANDU, full decriminalization would void the need for police arrests of people who use illicit substances, regardless of age or amount of substance under possession.
“The choice of whether you are charged, or whether they take away your shit, or whether they beat you up, that still remains intact. So this is a win that's not really a win because it hasn’t changed that balance of forces,” said Tao.
Despite the current momentum being built toward full decriminalization, panelists expressed concern that the current policy won’t affect the number of people seeking treatment or lower overdose deaths. Those two factors will likely be looked at when assessing the pilot’s success.
Jeremy Kalicum, co-founder of the Drug Users Liberation Front, emphasized that the current policy doesn’t address the lack of safe supply of illicit drugs it applies to, which would be the most effective way of preventing overdoses.
“This decriminalization response was really a result from the political pressure that was put on and not a genuine attempt to stop overdoses,” said Kalicum.
While BC’s decriminalization pilot represents a small victory, the work of these activists continues in the fight toward the full decriminalization of illicit drugs in Canada.
The best way for students and allies to get involved is to organize within their communities, especially those outside of the reach of the many existing organizations in the Downtown Eastside, said Mullins.
“Fighting feels better than losing by yourself.”
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