British Columbia Should Legalize, Not Recriminalize, Drugs

In January 2023, British Columbia decriminalized possession of small amounts of some drugs. Last month, the province recriminalized possession in public spaces. This is a mistake. An upcoming election has motivated politicians to blame decriminalization for rising public drug use. But it's not clear public use has risen; data are scare, and police officials have said conflicting things about public use trends. Moreover, the death rate so far this year is down relative to the previous three years. Reversing decriminalization is a mistake partly because authorities are not giving the policy enough time to produce the data necessary for its evaluation. Canada began drug prohibition over 100 years ago, and it's clearly not working. Opioid overdoses have claimed more than 42,500 lives in Canada since 2016. Now, less than a year and a half into decriminalization, authorities are abandoning it.