Advocates say changes in criminal prosecution of illicit drugs is step forward, but decriminalization is needed

TORONTO -- Federal prosecutors pursuing charges for illegal drug use are now being urged to only criminally prosecute those with the most serious drug possession offences -- a step towards decriminalization, but not a complete endorsement of it.

It is one of several policy changes that advocates are applauding, even while they increase calls for more to be done to help addicts.

“We have this moment where medical, public health and police officials are all coming together to say the current approach is flawed,” Gillian Kolla, with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, told CTV News. “It doesn't work.”

• Read more: Liberals move toward changing federal drug policy as opioid deaths spike

Canada’s opioid crisis has been getting worse in recent years, and the pandemic has not improved matters. A 2019 report found that almost 14,000 Canadians have been killed by opioids since 2016. In June in B.C., 175 people died of suspected overdoses, breaking a grim record for the most opioid fatalities in a month.

The crisis has not gone unnoticed.

In July, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police even called for a full decriminalization of personal possession of illicit drugs, echoing what advocates and health professionals have repeatedly said: that criminalizing addicts doesn’t solve what is a health problem.

“We've heard from police forces across Canada that they're not generally charging for simple possession any more,” Kolla said.

The pandemic has also impacted drug supply, triggering an increase in tainted products that are cheaper, but more dangerous.

“Over 55 people die every single week due to drug overdoses in Ontario,” Dr. Naheed Dosani, a homeless health advocate from Brampton, told CTV News. “These are unprecedented numbers that get us thinking about the responses that are needed.”

One of the responses announced today was a commitment from the federal government of nearly $600,000 over 10 months for treatment and safe pharmaceutical-grade medication to addicts in Toronto, which is currently experiencing a record spike.

Angela Robertson, with the Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre told CTV News that paramedics in the city “have responded to 1,900 opioid calls in the first half of this year.”

One person who knows firsthand how drugs can devastate a life is Richard Filc, from Hamilton, Ont.

“From the age of 21 to 27, I was using heroin pretty consistently,” he told CTV News.

Now 30 years old, Richard Filc’s been clean for three years.

His journey to get back on his feet began in 2017, when he was hospitalized after an overdose.

“My recovering began when I was able to welcome help from people,” Filc said.

Now he wants to extend that kindness to others, and is happy to speak to other addicts in order to assist them on their personal path to recovery.

He says the new legal and funding measures announced today help, but insists total decriminalization is the only way to curb the crisis.

The federal government has so far rejected the call for decriminalization.

But Health Canada has granted a federal exemption to a Toronto health-care centre to operate an overdose-prevention site until late September at a COVID-19 isolation shelter.

As well, they are conducting a 60-day consultation on supervised injection sites, which have reversed more than 17,000 overdoses since 2017.