Port Alberni city council is hoping to tackle the issue of illicit drug use in public spaces.
The federal and provincial governments announced earlier this year that British Columbians aged 18 and older will be allowed to carry up to 2.5 grams of certain illicit drugs without being criminally charged, provided the drugs are for personal use. In response, on Monday, June 26, Port Alberni councillor Debbie Haggard asked city staff to draft a nuisance bylaw that would prohibit the use of illicit drugs in some public spaces, such as near schools or parks.
Illegal drugs are already prohibited on school grounds and at licensed child-care facilities.
“The purpose of this proposed bylaw is not to undermine decriminalization,” explained Haggard. “However, we need to set an expectation of where those activities can happen.”
Haggard said her intention is not to “punish” drug users but to build relationships with service providers and point substance users towards a safer place to use.
Other municipalities—such as Campbell River—have attempted to ban public drug use, but these attempts have been kibosh-ed by higher levels of government, as bylaws that fall under public health regulation are subject to approval by the BC Ministry of Health and Addictions.
Councillors Todd Patola and John Douglas opposed Haggard’s proposed bylaw, which they both felt would be ineffective and wouldn’t help to reduce stigma.
“The problem with having a bylaw is that a bylaw is only effective if it’s enforceable,” said Patola. “There would be no ability to enforce the proposed bylaw, except by the attendance of an individual in a uniform…essentially bullying the individual to stop their activity, which really does increase the stigma.”
A potential solution, said Patola, would be “peer-assisted care teams” that are civilian-led, rather than led by uniformed officers, and voluntary.
Douglas also recommended lobbying the provincial government to keep the city’s overdose prevention site open 24 hours a day.
“I think we’ve tried enforcement and the war on drugs just hasn’t worked,” said Douglas. “Education and prevention and all those other avenues of approach work more effectively.”
The motion was defeated and Mayor Sharie Minions presented a new motion, directing staff to “explore the implications at a community level” of decriminalization and present recommendations to keep Port Alberni’s public spaces safe and free from drug use. She said there is a “balance” to be achieved between reducing stigma and making sure drug use doesn’t happen around children.
“We want to make sure that our playgrounds and our parks and our public spaces are safe,” she said.
The discussion comes just one week after a committee of the whole meeting on June 19, where members of council heard from Port Alberni’s Community Action Team (CAT) that there have been nine deaths so far in Port Alberni this year related to the toxic drug crisis.
Ron Merk, CAT co-chair, explained that the majority of toxic drug deaths are not taking place in public spaces, but in private residences, and said that bylaws are not a humane way of solving a health problem.
“If people had housing, they wouldn’t be doing it on the street,” said Merk. “So you’re punishing people, not only because they have substance disorder but because they’re homeless too.”
Dr. Shane Longman, a physician in Port Alberni who specializes in addictions medicine, also told the committee that encouraging safer substance use is a more appropriate response than bylaw enforcement.
“Many people that are using are already suffering,” he said. “If they’re impairing other people’s opportunity to enjoy life or their safety, that’s a completely different issue. But if it’s purely a matter of just location I wouldn’t want to make the person’s life even harder simply because of the location that they’re using.”
elena.rardon@albernivalleynews.com
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