(Image Credit: CFJC News)

By Sydney Chisholm

public drug use

Local governments asking province for funding and regulation around drug decriminalization

Sep 21, 2023 | 5:04 PM

KAMLOOPS – B.C. municipalities want immediate funding and regulation around the drug decriminalization pilot program that was rolled out by the province earlier this year.

Delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) convention in Vancouver passed all three resolutions, which include requests to expand possession and use prohibitions to parks and sports fields. This resolution closely follows a Kamloops bylaw prohibiting the use of drugs in public spaces.

“We are demanding an approach that makes sense and that is reflected back by the general population,” said Kamloops City Councillor Katie Neustaeter. “Most people do not think that it is extreme to say, ‘You cannot smoke meth on a sidewalk in front of a business,’ and that is the message that will keep bringing back.”

During this week’s UBCM convention, provincial officials met with local governments on the decriminalization of illicit drugs.

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“We had an opportunity to hear Dr. Bonnie Henry speak to her position on it. And I can say 99 per cent of the people in the room did not agree with what Dr. Bonnie Henry was saying,” Mike O’Reilly, Kamloops city councillor, told CFJC News. “There seems to be a direct disconnect between the decisions that are being made at the provincial level and the impact that they’re having on communities and on the ground and that all the municipalities are feeling in our towns.”

During the conference, the delegates voted in favour of a resolution, asking the provincial government for direct funding of addiction services. They also requested more funding to train community service officers to deal with drug use in B.C. communities.

“I hope that, if there’s one thing that’s come back loud and clear, it’s that we are asking for more,” Neustaeter said. “For somewhere like Kamloops, really our bylaw was much further reaching than the provincial legislation. I believe we will continue down that path and many other municipalities will as well until our needs are reflected in the legislation.”

The Ministry of Health declined to comment, saying the issue is not within their jurisdiction.