ANALYSIS: BC’s Journey to Drug Decriminalization and Back Again

British Columbia has taken a step back in its drug decriminalization pilot, the latest twist in its decades-long push for more and more permissive approaches to drugs. Its guiding idea has been that destigmatizing drug use is the key to helping addicts, but it has long faced pushback on this approach due to public safety concerns. History is repeating itself in a way, with current events mirroring the province’s experience throughout the 1990s and 2000s. But the situation has intensified—it’s not just about needle exchanges or designated injection sites anymore. Now, it’s about rampant drug use in all sorts of public places, hospitals included....