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Advocates push back on police rejection of drug decriminalization

Last Updated Jan 21, 2022 at 3:17 pm MDT

A police officer finds drugs during the search of drug dealers

After the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police (AACP) pushed back on the idea of decriminalizing possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use, critics say the police services are missing a clear opportunity for innovative thinking as we grapple with an ongoing and worsening overdose crisis.

On Thursday, AACP president and chief constable of the Calgary Police Service Mark Neufeld said they are firmly against the idea, and said there must be other provisions in place to create a wider framework in changing the approach to drug policy.


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“We cannot support a broadly implemented policy of decriminalization until a modernized public policy framework is created involving a thoughtful and integrated approach with all levels of government and across all ministries,” read a statement from the AACP.

“We would want to make sure that anything we do actually addresses the illicit drug market,” Neufeld explained during a press conference. “Because if it doesn’t address the illicit drug market, then people are still going to be accessing toxic opioids, so again, a very, very complex subject that actually requires the attention of stakeholders at all levels.”

Advocates and experts in the field said the chiefs are missing the point though and this can be a vital piece of the puzzle in order to achieve the framework they seek.

“It’s the beginning of transforming it from a criminal justice response to a public health and social response,” said Donald MacPherson, executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition at Simon Fraser University. “There really does need to be an awakening among enforcement.”

Neufeld also made the point that most police in the province already do not charge people just for possession of drugs, but nonetheless pushes back on the actual legislation to put it into law.

This position is being seen as contradictory and confusing.

“If they say it doesn’t work, that means that criminalization works,” said Petra Schulz, co-founder of Moms Stop the Harm. “If you look at the criminalization of substance use overall and people who are remanded and jailed for it, I don’t think criminalization works.”

Schulz said decriminalization can also help shift funding towards different strategies that can address the underlying issues at play, including homelessness, mental health and housing.

The chiefs added that decriminalization could add to existing issues around social disorder, but the advocates want some proof in that statement.

“People are using on the steps of the LRT as it is right now, because we don’t give them safe places to use. And this is under a criminalized model,” said Schulz.


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“If Alberta wants to dig its way out of this terrible situation, they’re going to have to work together. And removing this barrier, of criminalization of people who use drugs, is very important,” MacPherson added.

Neufeld said they wanted to make this statement as conversations about decriminalization gain steam, including a planned discussion next week at Edmonton city council. Similar talks have happened around the country, including in Toronto at the end of last year.

MacPherson said this is not something the police should be afraid of, and it presents opportunities for them to be collaborative.

“This is an opportunity to begin to figure out what decriminalization looks like.”

Schulz said the police also should not be defensive, arguing it gives the impression that decriminalization is a threat to their work and that they rely on criminalizing people who use substances.

She agreed that decriminalization is not a magic silver bullet, but instead likens it to a silver shotgun which can be only a small part of the wider strategies needed right now.

“We need all tools available to us. This is not the be-all, end-all solution. It’s one more tool that can help us go in the right direction.”

She said we also need to be more open to ideas such as safe supply in order to address toxic drugs in society that fuel fatal overdoses, and eventually, all of these things put together can put more people on a path to recovery while also reducing harm.

MacPherson said there’s lots of evidence around the world that this can be beneficial and doesn’t see the logic in police resisting it so strongly.

“We are seeing the results of continuing down a road that we don’t seem to be able to change, and it is devastating for thousands of Canadians,” he said. “The Alberta police, in taking the stance they are taking, are missing out on an opportunity to be part of a transformation of the system and that is very unfortunate.”