Drug Decriminalization & Safe Supply Act
Category: Health — Health
Summary
Expand safe supply programs and treat addiction as a health issue rather than a criminal one.
What this proposal changes
- Decriminalises personal possession of all substances below established threshold quantities, replacing criminal sanctions with a health response.
- Expands provincially regulated safe supply programs — pharmaceutical-grade alternatives to the toxic drug supply — across all health authorities.
- Creates Health Engagement Hubs in high-need communities providing integrated services including safe consumption, harm reduction, and treatment access.
- Establishes a BC Drug Policy Evidence Unit to monitor outcomes and recommend adjustments based on public health data.
Arguments for
- BC's decriminalisation pilot generated evidence that removing criminal penalties does not increase drug use and reduces fatal overdose contacts with the healthcare system.
- Safe supply programs address the root cause of BC's overdose crisis: contamination of the illegal drug supply with fentanyl and analogues.
- Health Engagement Hubs integrate services, reducing the fragmentation that currently causes people to fall between addiction, mental health, and housing systems.
Arguments against
- Federal law governs drug scheduling and criminal penalties; full provincial decriminalisation requires either federal exemptions or constitutional challenge.
- Safe supply programs have faced political opposition on the grounds that providing pharmaceutical-grade drugs enables addiction; evidence on this claim remains contested.
- Threshold quantities for decriminalisation are complex to calibrate and may be used by traffickers if set at levels that cover commercial distribution quantities.
Cost & implementation
Safe supply program expansion: $150–300 million annually. Health Engagement Hubs: $100–200 million annually. Evidence unit and program monitoring: $10–20 million. Compared to $500M+ in annual BC overdose-crisis health system costs.
Jurisdiction & legal authority
Drug scheduling and criminal penalties are federal under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. BC's current decriminalisation pilot operates under a federal Section 56 exemption, which must be renewed.
How to vote
Visit cascadia.vote/questions/pnwc-A23 to cast your vote: Yes, No, or Maybe.
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