From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

British Columbia premier David Eby announced that his province plans to re-criminalize hard drug use in public spaces after its decriminalization last year led to widespread social disorder.

British Columbia is asking the Trudeau government to roll back its drug decriminalization program after increased violence and continued overdoses.  

On April 26, New Democratic Party (NDP) premier of British Columbia David Eby announced that he is working with Prime Minster Justin Trudeau’s federal government to re-criminalize drug use in public spaces, including inside hospitals, on transit, and in parks. British Columbia, under permission from the Trudeau government, had decriminalized such behavior in 2023.

“Keeping people safe is our highest priority,” Eby explained in a press release. “While we are caring and compassionate for those struggling with addiction, we do not accept street disorder that makes communities feel unsafe.”  

“We’re taking action to make sure police have the tools they need to ensure safe and comfortable communities for everyone as we expand treatment options so people can stay alive and get better,” he continued. 

Under the new regulations, police would be given the power to prevent drug use in all public places, including hospitals, restaurants, transit, parks and beaches.   

However, drug use would remain legal at “a private residence or place where someone is legally sheltering, or at overdose prevention sites and drug checking locations.”  

Eby’s concerns over drug use were echoed by Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth who said, “Our communities are facing big challenges. People are dying from deadly street drugs, and we see the issues with public use and disorder on our streets.”   

“As we continue to go after the gangs and organized criminals who are making and trafficking toxic drugs, we’re taking action now to make it illegal to use drugs in public spaces, and to expand access to treatment to help people who need it most,” he promised.   

Beginning in early 2023, Trudeau’s federal policy, in effect, decriminalized hard drugs on a trial-run basis in British Columbia.   

Under the policy, the federal government began allowing people within the province to possess up to 2.5 grams of hard drugs without criminal penalty, but selling drugs remained a crime. 

While British Columbia has not yet indicated it plans to re-criminalize possession, its decision to clamp down on public drug use presents a major departure from its previous tactics of continually liberalizing its attitude toward narcotic use.

Since being implemented, the province’s drug policy has been widely criticized, especially after it was found that the province broke three different drug-related overdose records in the first month the new law was in effect. 

The effects of decriminalizing hard drugs in various parts of Canada has been exposed in Aaron Gunn’s recent documentary, Canada is Dying, and in U.K. Telegraph journalist Steven Edginton’s mini-documentary, Canada’s Woke Nightmare: A Warning to the West.   

Gunn says he documents the “general societal chaos and explosion of drug use in every major Canadian city.”   

“Overdose deaths are up 1,000 percent in the last 10 years,” he said in his film, adding that “[e]very day in Vancouver four people are randomly attacked.”