Drug use in bus shelters, parks, beaches and within a radius of building entrances will be prohibited under new B.C. government legislation. (The Canadian Press)

By Alex Rawnsley

drug use

New proposed provincial legislation targets public drug use

Oct 5, 2023 | 12:22 PM

NANAIMO — The provincial government is stepping forward in an effort to reduce drug consumption in specific public areas.

Premier David Eby introduced legislation on Thursday, Oct. 5 which would ban drug use at parks, beaches and sports fields, as well as within a six metre radius of building entrances and bus stops, and a 15-metre radius ban around playgrounds, spray parks, wading pools and skate parks.

Under the new rules, police would be empowered to move users away from these newly established zones and send them toward treatment or other health-care services.

“We expect [officers] to use their discretion,” Eby said Thursday. “Written into this bill is a series of escalating steps starting with asking somebody to use somewhere else, ideally directing them to an overdose prevention site that they’re able to use.”

Drug use inside these public spaces would be categorized as a “general offence”, opening up avenues for arrests to be made if responding RCMP officers deem it necessary.

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Local governments, under the proposed legislation, would also be required to consult with the local health authority on any bylaws on public drug consumption they wish to enact.

Eby added this new legislation works with the ongoing hard drug decriminalization pilot project in B.C., which sought to steer people consuming drugs to treatment centres or overdose prevention sites.

He admitted there had been “increasing friction” in the months since decriminalization, between different agencies regarding public drug use.

“The recognition that taking someone with an addiction issue, arresting them…sentencing them potentially to jail for struggling with addiction is not going to work, is one that is widely shared. However, our compassion, our understanding that system doesn’t work to address addiction issues does not mean that we need to tolerate public drug use in our communities.”

He said the goal behind decriminalization was to remove roadblocks for people seeking treatment, but fearing arrest as a result of their addiction.

The suggested changes from Eby and the provincial government come amid record high toxic drug deaths, especially on the central Island.

Under existing rules granted by Health Canada for the three-year hard drug pilot project in B.C. which took effect at the end of January, adults can possess up to 2.5 grams of several kinds of hard drugs.

The applicable drugs can’t legally be possessed at schools, licenced child-care facilities, airports and Canadian Coast Guard vessels and helicopters.

The City of Nanaimo has been examining potential solutions to limit the impact of public drug use, with councillors agreeing to wait for a pending B.C. government stance on the issue.

Nanaimo already eclipsed its worst year ever by recording 84 deaths linked to drug toxicity between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31 of this year.

The previous record was 77 fatalities through all of 2022.

If current pace holds, over 120 people will have lost their lives to toxic drugs in Nanaimo alone in 2023, part of a record 200+ fatalities on the central Island.

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