EDITORIAL – Experiment in decriminalization isn’t worth continuing

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

SEVEN MORE PEOPLE DIED from drug overdoses in Kamloops last month, bringing the total for the year to 38. You’ve probably heard the numbers.

Throughout B.C., there were 176, with the year’s total now past the 1,000 mark.

More people between the ages of 10 and 59 are dying from illicit drugs than from disease, suicide, accidents or murder.

The NDP government seems to find comfort in the fact that the number of deaths was lower in May than it was in April but the fact is there’s nothing to cheer about.

It’s apparent the decriminalization experiment isn’t going to be a solution. After the latest stats came out Monday, chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said decriminalization won’t stop people from dying from toxic drugs.

Which brings us to the issue of public consumption of legal amounts of those drugs covered in the decriminalization pilot project. After weeks of resistance to opposition calls to listen to municipal concerns about the dangers of public drug consumption under decriminalization, Premier David Eby finally said his government would do “something.”

That was on the last day of the legislative session, five weeks ago. What the “something” means isn’t clear, and he hasn’t elaborated on it. All he committed to was working with municipal “partners” to make sure protections are in place.

Drugs in parks is a different piece of the puzzle than overdose deaths, or crime on the streets for that matter but, of course, they’re all connected. Where did the Four Pillars go?

The government has been trying some things, and some of those things have failed. One of them is decriminalization. If he wants to continue tinkering around the edges, Eby could add public parks and playgrounds to the list of places where public drug consumption is banned.

But if he wants to get serious, he should recognize that the decriminalization experiment is a failure, and end it now. No need to wait six months.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.