Fewer Canadians Support Drug Decriminalization Following BC Pilot Project: Federal Report

A man injects drugs on a street in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside on Feb. 6, 2019. The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward

A growing number of Canadians say they think drug decriminalization makes communities less safe, and that they prefer approaches involving the use of law enforcement to deal with substance abuse, according to a federal report.

“The belief that drug decriminalization would make communities less safe increased slightly from 2023, by five percentage points,” said the research report prepared for Health Canada, which was first covered by Blacklock’s Reporter.

The report, which summarized results from a 2024 public opinion survey, found that while a slight majority of Canadians (57 percent) agreed with the statement that decriminalization would make it easier for drug users to access health and social services, this figure had dropped by 5 percent since 2023.

Additionally, the number of respondents who agreed with the statement that decriminalization would “reduce stigma” toward drug users fell from 56 percent to 50 percent.

The survey found that 44 percent of Canadians preferred a focus on health and social services to tackle substance abuse as opposed to police enforcement, while 42 percent that said both approaches were equally appropriate. However, compared to 2023, support for the health and social services approach dropped by 5 percent, while support for combining health and social services with police enforcement approaches increased by 7 percentage points.

The report, which was released in September 2024, said the survey results reflect an updated view of “the knowledge and attitudes of Canadian adults around drug decriminalization and the original exemption in British Columbia” and that the latest public survey results “are important for monitoring key outcomes of the exemption.”

Beginning on Jan. 31, 2023, B.C. took part in a pilot project that decriminalized public possession of 2.5 grams or less of hard drugs such as opioids, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Just over a year into the three-year pilot project, B.C. Premier David Eby asked Health Canada to amend the exemption order to recriminalize the use of those drugs in public spaces such as hospitals, transit, and parks amid increasing public disorder and overdose deaths. The request came after escalating reports of drug use in public spaces across the province, while some police departments and health-care workers said the policy had eroded public safety while doing little to stop drug abuse.