BC’s Attempt to Ban Drug Use in Parks Fails Court Appeal

The Law Courts building, home to the B.C. Supreme Court and the province’s Court of Appeal, is seen in Vancouver on Nov. 23, 2023. The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

B.C.’s top court has upheld a judicial ruling that temporarily paused a provincial law designed to restrict drug use in public areas.

The provincial government’s attempt to overturn the injunction against Bill 34 was struck down by B.C.’s Court of Appeal on March 1.

“It is my view that it is not in the interests of justice to grant the province leave to appeal,” Justice Ronald Skolrood said in his decision.

Following the province’s decision to decriminalize small amounts of hard drugs in 2023, many city officials and residents have complained about drug use in places children gather. The B.C. government passed legislation to ban drug use from many such public places, but drug-user advocates fought it in court and won the injunction.

The law was said to violate the charter rights of drug users, and the current decision upholds that view.

B.C. Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said in a news release that the government is “disappointed” by the court’s ruling and remains “committed to defending this legislation in court.”

The Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act permits fines and potential imprisonment for those refusing police orders not to consume drugs in public places such as playgrounds, beaches, and skateparks. The act was given royal assent last November.

The law was challenged in court shortly after its implementation by the Harm Reduction Nurses Association (HRNA), which argued that the act would “lead to various violations of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

B.C. Supreme Court sided with the HRNA and issued an injunction last December to block the legislation until March 31. B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson ruled that the new law had the potential to cause “irreparable harm” to drug users at risk of overdose.

While a stay was granted against the law, the case has yet to be decided.

Mr. Farnworth said he stands by the law his party passed, adding that it is intended to “help people feel safe in community spaces while also encouraging people struggling with addiction to connect with the services and supports they need.”

“We think it makes sense that laws around public drug use be similar to those already in place for public smoking, alcohol and cannabis,” he said the statement. “Our government remains committed to treating drug addiction as a health-care issue and not as a criminal one.”

When Mr. Farnworth introduced the bill in the legislature on Oct. 5, 2023, he was adamant that the government supported decriminalization. He said this did not mean “it is OK to use drugs everywhere,” adding that the legislation set “clear province-wide standards that communities expect and deserve.”

Drug Deaths

The B.C. Court of Appeal ruling comes on the heels of a report released by the B.C. Coroners Service detailing the number of drug deaths in the province in January.

The chief coroner’s office said it suspected that at least 198 deaths were caused by the use of toxic, unregulated drugs. Seven out of every 10 fatal overdoses in January were men between the ages of 30 and 59.

“The total number of deaths in January equates to about 6.4 lives lost per day,” the report said. “Province-wide, the rate of death in January was about 42 per 100,000 residents, representing a small decrease from the record levels in 2023 but still more than two times the rate reported in B.C. when the public-health emergency was first declared in April 2016.”

No area of the province is immune to the ongoing toxic-drug crisis, but the areas hardest hit continue to be Vancouver, Surrey, and Nanaimo, the report said.

The B.C. Coroners Service described “unregulated drug toxicity” as the leading cause of death for B.C. residents aged 10 to 59, saying it accounts for “more deaths than homicides, suicides, accidents, and natural disease combined.” The report noted that more than 14,000 British Columbians have died of toxic overdose since the public-health emergency was first declared in April 2016.

Chandra Philip contributed to this report.