The federal courts have rejected an application by 13 drug-user advocacy groups to set aside a previous decision that resulted in the rollback of B.C.’s drug decriminalization pilot project.
The groups, which include the Matsqui-Abbotsford Impact Society and the Surrey Union of Drug Users, had applied for a judicial review of the 2024 decision.
The court proceedings against the federal attorney general and the B.C. minister of health were related to a three-year pilot project that began Jan. 31, 2023 in response to the toxic drug crisis.
The project granted B.C. an exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substance Act which permitted people 18 and over to legally possess up to 2.5 grams of cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA and opioids.
Initially, the program included drug possession and consumption in both public and private spaces, except for locations such as schools, childcare facilities and airports.
But after public backlash, that was changed in May 2024 to broaden the exclusions to all public places.
Counsel for the 13 groups appeared in court last July to argue their case for a judicial review, saying the 2024 decision was “unlawful and rendered in a manner that was not procedurally fair,” according to court documents.
The decision by the courts to deny the judicial review was issued Feb. 26 and posted online Wednesday (March 4).
The advocacy groups argued that the May 2024 decision infringed on individuals’ Charter rights “to life, liberty and security of the person.”
They stated that restricting locations where people can use drugs may lead them to consume in isolated or private settings.
“This practice heightens the risk of death from toxic drugs, as it hinders the timely detection and reversal of overdoses,” the court documents state.
The ruling from Madam Justice Conroy in Ottawa denied the judicial review of the May 2024 amendment, saying the advocacy groups failed to identify a “reviewable error in the decision.”
“It is apparent from the record that the Federal Minister made the decision based on broad considerations of public policy, including how to balance public safety concerns with an overriding consensus amongst governments and others that harms to (drug users) arising from the toxic drug supply are best addressed with public health measures, not criminal ones,” the ruling states.
Other groups involved in the court application include the BC Network of Drug Users, Nanaimo Area Network of Drug Users Society, and the East Kootenay Network and Society of People Who Use Drugs.
The full ruling can be viewed at canlii.org by searching “Matsqui-Abbotsford Impact Society v. Canada”.
B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne announced on Jan. 14 that the province would not be asking the federal government to renew the pilot project, which ended on Jan. 31 of this year.
Osborne said the pilot “hasn’t delivered the results that we hoped for.”
Despite the end of decriminalization, supervised consumption and drug-checking sites will still be able to operate under a separate, previously existing exemption, Osborne said.
– with files from Mark Page, Black Press Media
RELATED: B.C. health minister says decriminalization pilot to end Jan. 31
RELATED: ‘Policy kills’: Drug users advocacy group slams B.C. government reversal
RELATED: Commissioner calls for human rights-based approach to B.C.’s toxic drug crisis