To Fight the Opioid Crisis, Canada Tests Decriminalizing Possession

June 1, 2022

(NPR) – In a policy shift aimed at reducing deaths from overdoses, Canada is decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of drugs in the western province of British Columbia. Drug overdose deaths have risen sharply across Canada over the past five years, with opioid-related deaths linked to fentanyl more than doubling.  British Columbia has been the hardest-hit province— it declared fentanyl a public health crisis six years ago — and provincial officials asked for federal permission to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of opioids, cocaine and methamphetamines. The experimental policy, which takes effect in January 2023, will last three years. (Read More)