File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

Drug Use

Kamloops council okays bylaw amendment banning drug use in public spaces

Sep 12, 2023 | 5:31 PM

KAMLOOPS — Kamloops council has moved forward with a new bylaw amendment prohibiting use of illicit drugs in public spaces.

Staff came up with the bylaw upon council’s direction in spring.

The bylaw would ban drug use on any sidewalk and within 100 metres of certain designated areas, including public parks, swimming pools and City of Kamloops property.

During debate at Tuesday’s (Sept. 12) meeting, Councillor Nancy Bepple called the bylaw ‘extreme,’ saying it will criminalize people who are unhoused.

“I see that we will be challenged in the courts [for] basically denying people who are unhoused from any place in public,” she said.

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But Bepple was outvoted 8-1 on first, second and third readings of the bylaw. Final approval is expected at a future meeting.

Councillor Mike O’Reilly says he believes this is one of the only ways the city can put the onus on the provincial government for failing to properly deal with the toxic drug crisis.

“This is one piece that we can push back and say, ‘You need to step up to the table because we do not want [open drug use] in every nook and cranny of our city.’ We need to put our foot down and say, ‘There are areas in our city where drugs cannot be done.'”

Kamloops becomes the latest in a list of B.C. communities that have passed similar bans.