On May 27, New Westminster city council voted 4-2 against a motion that would have seen the City of New Westminster asking the provincial government to terminate “the failed decriminalization experiment” in British Columbia.
In response to the discussion and decision in council chambers on Monday night, the Record has received the following letters on the issue:
Editor,
At last night’s meeting, Councillor Nakagawa said we need to make evidence-based decisions, while quoting her experience working at a supervised consumption site. I think it’s important to note her experience is not “scientific evidence” and at best is “anecdotal evidence.”
I agree with the councillor that we need to look at the evidence, which is why I reviewed a study that asked the question: “Was there an association of British Columbia’s safer opioid supply policy with opioid prescribing and opioid-related health outcomes in the first two years of implementation?” which concluded: “Two years after its launch, the safer opioid supply policy was associated with greater prescribing of safer supply opioids but also with a significant increase in opioid-related poisoning hospitalizations.”
Additionally: a decriminalization report to Health Canada, February to October 2023, (published in February 2024). In this report it notes in 2023 there were record deaths at a time when the concentration levels were noted to have remained unchanged.
My interpretation of these reports is the current government policy is not working, and it seems the provincial government agrees, hence the recent changes to decriminalization laws.
If the only defence of these policies is attacking the person questioning them as being uncompassionate, punching down and/or accusations of political motivation, then I am very skeptical of that person’s “evidence.” Such personal attacks would be unnecessary if the facts and evidence supported the councillor’s position.
Until we have evidence of opioid deaths trending downward, we need to continue to challenge our policies and have uncomfortable discussions.
Johnny F
Editor,
Re: New West council rejects motion to halt “failed decriminalization” experiment
New Westminster council is to be commended for its sensible decision not to call on the province to terminate decriminalization of drugs.
It is unfortunate that two members chose the politically expedient root of fear politics, panic, and disinformation—including the notion of decriminalization itself. Drug use is not, in fact, fully decriminalized in B.C.
The broad body of research—from criminology, public health, social work, and medical studies—fairly establishes, and has over decades of work, that criminalization and stigma kill drug users. And they do so for the reasons explained in your article—driving people to use alone and underground, turning people to unsafe supplies, discouraging people from seeking health and social supports.
For some councillors to call for a return or hardening of stigma is both archaic and ignorant of facts. Unfortunately, drug users are still stigmatized and criminalized.
This is a toxic drug crisis and that needs to be addressed. The comparison to smoking is relevant only in the sense that smokers can depend on a safe supply. Drug users cannot.
So, kudos to the majority of council for taking the road of research, best evidence, and community health. Not the road of stigma, criminalization, and punishment. A road that has too often ended in the otherwise avoidable deaths of drug users.
Jeff Shantz
Department of Criminology, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey and Richmond
Editor
I want to thank New Westminster council for not falling for the fearmongering and stigmatization approach to the poisoned drug supply crisis.
By defeating the motion put forward by Councillors Fontaine and Minhas, they demonstrated leadership and compassion. Most importantly, they listened to people who understand the reality of this public health crisis, as validated by the delegate from the Harm Reduction Nurses Association that spoke at the meeting.
When I heard Coun. Fontaine on the CBC Radio program “The Current” on April 30, the host mentioned that Fontaine was working with a public relations firm in a campaign to call for an end to what he falsely terms a “failed decriminalization experiment.” His speaking points on this topic align so tightly with those of BC United members of the legislature that I am left to wonder who the councillor is working for? Now with his failed motion at New Westminster council, it only raises more questions about who is really behind hiring a PR firm to stigmatize people with addictions, to fearmonger about harm reduction, and to promote partisan attacks about an important public health initiative.
We don’t need more PR firms spinning up motions and wasting council time, we need subject matter experts providing facts to elected officials so they can make the best decision for our community. And we need transparency about who is pulling strings and spinning the threads.
We have all been touched by the poison drug crisis; in the last two years I've lost a cousin and a dear friend. I speak up for them, because they deserve justice in the form of good policy led by experts to save others lives. They would both have wanted that, not more stigmatization.
W. Kinna
(Editor’s note: The motion- Encouraging the BC Government to terminate the failed decriminalization experiment – was presented by Coun. Daniel Fontaine. Coun. Paul Minhas supported Fontaine’s motion. You can read the press release, issued on behalf of Fontaine and two other Metro Vancouver councillors, here.)
