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By James Peters

Two & Out

PETERS: Decriminalizing drug use can’t make the problem much worse — and could make it better

Apr 26, 2019 | 4:04 AM

THERE ARE TWO PLAUSIBLE EXTREMES when it comes to the legal system’s handling of drug possession.

On one extreme is Singapore, which has capital punishment and uses it 70 per cent of the time to execute people for drug-related offences.

On the other extreme is the Netherlands, where the attitude is to openly tolerate drug use, even if soft drugs are still technically illegal.

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That’s accompanied by a policy to treat soft drug use as a public health issue.

The execution practice of Singapore might be an effective deterrent, but it’s also, suffice it to say, a little less than humane.

Here in Canada, drug use is treated as both a public health and criminal justice issue.

We have legalized and regulated recreational marijuana, but all other illicit drugs remain just that.

This week, BC’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry recommended decriminalizing drug use as a harm reduction measure.

Henry says because drug use is illegal and subject to the corresponding stigma, many people use alone and in secret.

If they suffer a medical emergency or overdose, it’s less likely someone can help them and less likely they survive.

And if our society’s goal is to help people stay off of drugs, that can’t happen if those people are dead.

The suggestion doesn’t mean production and trafficking would be decriminalized as well.

In fact, it might free up law enforcement to put more focus and resources on those very serious issues.

Even the most callous, cold-hearted individual lacking in sympathy for drug users has to admit that the current public policy approach to drug use in Canada is not working for anyone except drug traffickers and organized crime.

And while there is plenty more for law enforcement authorities to do on that side of the ball, shifting resources to treating drug use and addiction as a full scale health crisis has the potential to really turn the tide.

It certainly can’t get much worse.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.