Toronto’s bid to decriminalize the possession of illegal drugs for personal use has been plunged into uncertainty in recent days, as drug policy experts suggest political debates over British Columbia’s backtracking on the issue have hurt the city’s application.
The city made a request to Health Canada in early 2022 for an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. That application was put back under the spotlight recently after British Columbia scaled back its own decriminalization pilot program.to recriminalize public drug possession, a major climb down for the first-of-its-kind pilot in Canada.
Toronto Public Health did not respond to questions about the statement from Saks’ office and declined a request for an interview with the chief medical officer of health, Dr. Eileen de Villa. “We know that police forces and communities across the country and across the world already know that criminalization does not work,” Larkin said.
The city sent a preliminary request to Health Canada in January 2022 and, after more consultations, updated its submission in March 2023. The proposal calls for decriminalization to be paired with a host of more direct public health responses, including scaled up harm reduction and mental health services.