Jacob Kennedy, a masters student studying public health at Memorial University in St. John’s, provided the following opinion article. On Jan. 31, British ...
). The overdose rates in B.C. are higher than in any other province in the country, which is why policymakers have been scrambling for solutions.
Health policy should focus on providing the population with equitable and fair access to resources, and our current system is failing in that respect. Harm reduction strategies, including safe needle exchange programs, safe injection sites and drug testing kits have been gaining traction and showing positive results in recent years .
People with addictions will continue to purchase, use and abuse illicit drugs despite the consequences that they may face. With this in mind, we should not punish drug users by locking them in jail, separating them from their families, and fining them money they can’t afford to pay back. First, we can learn from Oregon’s rocky decriminalization program. Oregon was the first state in the USA to decriminalize drugs in February of 2021. Surprisingly, the state saw a 52 per cent increase in opioid deaths in the first year, shocking policymakers nationwide .
Portugal saw the exact opposite outcomes for decriminalization when compared to Oregon. The country decriminalized drugs in 2001 and immediately saw improved health outcomes in the population. Overdose death rates went from some of the highest in Europe pre-decriminalization to a low of six deaths per million compared to the European average of 23.7 deaths per million in 2015/2016 .
Individuals who failed to appear before the commission when summoned could face legal consequences depending on the substance they were caught using .
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