According to Moose Jaw Police Service Chief Rick Bourassa, Saskatchewan police services are keeping a close eye on British Columbia as it moves towards decriminalizing small amounts of hard drugs. 

Bourassa is the president of the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police. 

B.C. is working toward decriminalizing 2.5 grams of hard drugs for anyone 18 years of age and older as of Jan. 31, 2023. These would include opioids, cocaine, methamphetamines and MDMA (ecstasy). 

“We're not talking about legalizing. What we're talking about is taking it out of the criminal area, still regulating as we do with other substances, alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco. They're all regulated substances,” Bourassa said.  

“But, to engage with those substances isn't criminal, so it's about moving it into a different regulatory framework.” 

Bourassa said, here in Saskatchewan, the police would have to work with its partners to make sure support is in place from education to rehabilitation. 

“It's a holistic approach involving multiple agencies and communities. It's a challenge to bring all of that together but it can be done,” Bourassa said. 

“In some jurisdictions, they have tested it and moved with decriminalizing, those possession use of those sorts of substances. With the right supports, some jurisdictions do report that they've had decreases in not only the addictions but also in some of the behaviours that accompany those, the theft, the crimes and those pieces.” 

He said there are many moving parts, including legislation that would be out of the control of the police, but he is hopeful that the decriminalizing of small amounts of hard drugs is successful, adding that producing and selling or trafficking drugs will still be a criminal act. 

He added that another layer to the issue is the stigma that users of hard drugs are criminals. Part of the support for decriminalizing the possession of hard drugs is the fact that having an addiction is not a crime and some are addicted to hard drugs that are not criminals. 

“It's a vicious cycle that people can get caught up in and over time it can appear to too many people that there's no way out. That's the cycle that we would hope to break,” Bourassa said. 

Bourassa said that the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police support the move toward decriminalizing the use of hard drugs and he is looking forward to seeing how it works out in other jurisdiction to learn what works and what doesn’t work.