The B.C. Supreme Court has blocked new provincial laws against public consumption of illegal substances.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
The British Columbia Supreme Court has issued a temporary injunction blocking new provincial legislation designed to restrict illegal drug use in public places, saying the law would cause irreparable harm to drug users.
In November, the B.C. government passed the Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act, to allow police to fine or imprison people who refuse to comply with orders not to use drugs in certain outdoor locations, including places frequented by children.
The law has not yet come into force. It was intended to roll back some aspects of the province’s three-year drug decriminalization pilot project, which since last January has removed criminal penalties for possession of up to 2.5 grams of illicit drugs such as fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA.
The Harm Reduction Nurses Association, a national non-profit, challenged the new law in court. B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson said in a ruling released Friday that the association had raised serious questions about whether the legislation violates the Charter rights of drug users to life, liberty, and security of person.
He imposed an injunction against the provincial government bringing the law into force until March 31, pending a constitutional challenge.
He noted that the law might drive users to consume potentially fatal doses of drugs in more remote places.
“It is apparent that public consumption and consuming drugs in the company of others is oftentimes the safest, healthiest, and/or only available option for an individual, given a dire lack of supervised consumption services, indoor locations to consume drugs, and housing,” he wrote.
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The ruling says the province’s 47 supervised consumption and overdose prevention sites are concentrated in cities, making it hard for people in rural areas to access them. It adds that these facilities are not always open, and that only 19 of them provide services for people who smoke their drugs, even though 65 per cent of people in B.C. who died from drugs this year were consuming them by smoking.
B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said in a statement that the government is “concerned” by the ruling against a law meant to prevent “the use of drugs in places that are frequented by children and families.’’
The decision, he said, “temporarily prevents the province from regulating where hard drugs are used, something every other province does, every day.”
B.C.’s pilot project made it the first province in Canada to decriminalize small amounts of certain drugs. The goal of the program is to lessen the stigma of addiction and help steer people toward health and social services.
Caitlin Shane, a lawyer and member of the Pivot Legal Society, an advocacy group, represented the nurses association. She said the injunction shows “substance use cannot be legislated without scrutiny.’’
Ms. Shane said most people who use illicit substances in B.C. “live in communities that do not have safe, legal indoor spaces to use drugs.’’ She said she welcomes the injunction, because even though the act hadn’t been brought into effect it was already being enforced by police.
“So this judgment makes absolutely certain and confirms the fact that the law is not enforceable. It is not in effect and it can’t be used against people,” she said.
Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West, whose municipality was one of a handful that drafted their own bylaws banning public drug use earlier this year after the start of decriminalization, said the chief justice’s decision is “out of touch.”
“The rules were very modest, providing just a small restriction on drug use in public places, especially where children are present,” he said. “This judge says there is irreparable harm in not allowing someone to use fentanyl in playgrounds, but ignores the harm to all others.”
Kevin Falcon, leader of the opposition BC United party, said in a statement that the NDP government’s public-use law “fell woefully short and is now subject to a temporary injunction.’’
“As this legislation is now further scrutinized following today’s temporary injunction, it will still be illegal in most communities to enjoy a glass of wine at a picnic in the park while unchecked consumption of potentially lethal drugs such as crystal meth, crack cocaine, and fentanyl in that same park remains the reality under this NDP government,’’ he added.
According to the BC Coroners Service, at least 13,317 people have died because of unregulated drugs in B.C. since a public-health emergency was declared in April, 2016.
With a report from The Canadian Press