Ottawa urged to decriminalize drugs
Calls for the decriminalization of all drugs are increasing. And this time, it is a Liberal-majority parliamentary committee
that is asking the federal government to legislate accordingly.
The health committee has been studying this winter on the increase in methamphetamine use in Canada. After consultations in Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal, MPs made about 20 recommendations in mid-June. And among these: that the Government of Canada is working to decriminalize the simple possession of small quantities of illicit substances.
"We can not get through this crisis with arrests. We've tried it for decades, and drug use and addiction are as prevalent as before, "said NDP MP Don Davies, who endorsed the recommendation in concert with the six Liberal MPs who also sit on the committee. the health.
The three Conservative members refrained from supporting this proposal. But they support the accompanying recommendation, which calls on the government to study the model of Portugal, which decriminalized all drugs almost 20 years ago. The Health Committee unanimously calls upon Ottawa to undertake "an assessment of Portugal's approach to decriminalizing simple possession of illegal substances
and [determining] how it could be positively applied in Canada" .
Conservative Marilyn Gladu argues that prior to legislating, Portugal had addiction treatment centers, school-based educational campaigns on the harms of drugs, and a universal health care system that included mental health care. "We can not support decriminalization for the moment, because these elements are not in place in Canada," she says.
But the Conservatives are not against that. "We support the idea that it is studied and recognize that having an addiction does not, in itself, represent a criminal offense," says Gladu, who lives with the more progressive Conservatives of the caucus. Andrew Scheer.
Does this mean that the Conservative Party no longer rejects decriminalization? The party has evolved, said the MP, recalling that it has committed not to cancel the legalization of cannabis . "And the fact that we wrote this study and said that we would support the study of the Portuguese model also reflects an evolution," said Gladu, who believed Andrew Scheer the same opinion.
The chief's office has, however, stipulated that Mr. Scheer "does not support decriminalization".
Ditto at the office of the Liberal Minister of Health, Ginette Petitpas-Taylor. "We thank the committee for its work because it is important that we have these discussions. Our government has been clear, however, it is not in our plans. "
Successive calls
This is not the first time that Liberals have been pushing for Justin Trudeau to change the law. Liberal Party activists passed a resolution last year to have the federal government "requalify the possession and use of small amounts of drugs as administrative offenses." In 2017,
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith of the Toronto area made the same call.
These demands are in line with the epidemic of accidental opioid overdoses, which left 4,460 people dead last year and 11,500 since 2016.
And these calls for the decriminalization of drugs have also been shared, for a year, by the public health directorate of Montreal, Toronto, British Columbia and the mayor of Vancouver - where a person dies every day. an overdose of opioids. The director of the Canadian Public Health Association, Ian Culbert, also called on the federal government to make this shift when he appeared before the health committee.
"There are more and more MPs from all parties who say so. And the more we are, the more it increases the pressure on Prime Minister Trudeau to change his position, "hopes the New Democrat Don Davies - whose party defends the idea.
In Portugal, anyone who is in possession of a quantity of drugs equivalent to less than ten days of consumption is summoned before a "deterrence panel" made up of social workers. Offenders may be fined, sent to therapy, or to a rehab center.
that is asking the federal government to legislate accordingly.
The health committee has been studying this winter on the increase in methamphetamine use in Canada. After consultations in Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal, MPs made about 20 recommendations in mid-June. And among these: that the Government of Canada is working to decriminalize the simple possession of small quantities of illicit substances.
"We can not get through this crisis with arrests. We've tried it for decades, and drug use and addiction are as prevalent as before, "said NDP MP Don Davies, who endorsed the recommendation in concert with the six Liberal MPs who also sit on the committee. the health.
The three Conservative members refrained from supporting this proposal. But they support the accompanying recommendation, which calls on the government to study the model of Portugal, which decriminalized all drugs almost 20 years ago. The Health Committee unanimously calls upon Ottawa to undertake "an assessment of Portugal's approach to decriminalizing simple possession of illegal substances
and [determining] how it could be positively applied in Canada" .
Conservative Marilyn Gladu argues that prior to legislating, Portugal had addiction treatment centers, school-based educational campaigns on the harms of drugs, and a universal health care system that included mental health care. "We can not support decriminalization for the moment, because these elements are not in place in Canada," she says.
But the Conservatives are not against that. "We support the idea that it is studied and recognize that having an addiction does not, in itself, represent a criminal offense," says Gladu, who lives with the more progressive Conservatives of the caucus. Andrew Scheer.
Does this mean that the Conservative Party no longer rejects decriminalization? The party has evolved, said the MP, recalling that it has committed not to cancel the legalization of cannabis . "And the fact that we wrote this study and said that we would support the study of the Portuguese model also reflects an evolution," said Gladu, who believed Andrew Scheer the same opinion.
The chief's office has, however, stipulated that Mr. Scheer "does not support decriminalization".
Ditto at the office of the Liberal Minister of Health, Ginette Petitpas-Taylor. "We thank the committee for its work because it is important that we have these discussions. Our government has been clear, however, it is not in our plans. "
Successive calls
This is not the first time that Liberals have been pushing for Justin Trudeau to change the law. Liberal Party activists passed a resolution last year to have the federal government "requalify the possession and use of small amounts of drugs as administrative offenses." In 2017,
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith of the Toronto area made the same call.
These demands are in line with the epidemic of accidental opioid overdoses, which left 4,460 people dead last year and 11,500 since 2016.
And these calls for the decriminalization of drugs have also been shared, for a year, by the public health directorate of Montreal, Toronto, British Columbia and the mayor of Vancouver - where a person dies every day. an overdose of opioids. The director of the Canadian Public Health Association, Ian Culbert, also called on the federal government to make this shift when he appeared before the health committee.
"There are more and more MPs from all parties who say so. And the more we are, the more it increases the pressure on Prime Minister Trudeau to change his position, "hopes the New Democrat Don Davies - whose party defends the idea.
In Portugal, anyone who is in possession of a quantity of drugs equivalent to less than ten days of consumption is summoned before a "deterrence panel" made up of social workers. Offenders may be fined, sent to therapy, or to a rehab center.