A western Canadian province decriminalized as of Tuesday possession of small amounts of heroin, fentanyl, and other hard drugsa drastic change in policy to try to stop the opioid crisis that killed thousands of Canadians.
British Columbia -of five million inhabitants- is the first Canadian province to experience this exceptionapplied so far only in Oregon (United States) and Portugal.
As of this Tuesday and for a period of three years, adults may carry up to 2.5 grams of drugs for personal use.
Until now, the most serious cases of hard drug possession involved fines and prison terms.
“The situation has never been more urgent,” said Carolyn Bennett, Canada’s Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.at a press conference on the eve of the entry into force of the new regulations.
“The effects of this public health crisis have devastated communities in British Columbia and across Canada,” he added, according to the AFP news agency.
Last May, When announcing the development of this measure, the official had specified that the project could be applied in other provinces.
British Columbia, the epicenter of this crisis in Canada, has registered more than 10,000 overdose deaths since it declared a state of health emergency in 2016.
During the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in May 2020, the number of overdose-related deaths in British Columbia exceeded the number of deaths from Covid-19, plunging the province into a double health crisis.
Canada has invested more than C$800 million (about $597 million) since 2017 to respond to the opioid crisis, which was largely responsible for stagnating life expectancy in recent years.
