Vending machines dispensing free cocaine snorting kits and crack inhalation pipes are under review in British Colombia (BC).
BC Premier David Eby announced the suspension of the kiosks, introduced at three sites on Vancouver Island in October 2023, after concerns were raised about the unsupervised supply of drugs paraphernalia.
Critics have branded the federal Government’s drug policy experiment in the Canadian province a catastrophic failure. Last year, BC recorded 2,511 drug-related overdoses, and the death rate in Vancouver is nearly three times the national average.
‘Irresponsible’
In August, Conservative candidate Gwen O’Mahony posted a video featuring a ‘Care and Connection Kiosk’ outside the entrance to her local hospital emergency room.
She reported: “Free crack pipes & cocaine snorting kits Vending Machine located directly outside the Nanaimo Hospital ER.
“The sound of children playing in background as I shoot this video. Yet another example of enabling addiction instead of offering treatment.”
Free crack pipes & cocaine snorting kits Vending Machine located directly outside the Nanaimo Hospital ER
The sound of children playing in background as I shoot this video
Yet another example of enabling addiction instead of offering treatment#bcpoli pic.twitter.com/hLvx17jay6— Gwen O’Mahony (@gwenomahony) August 27, 2024
Conservative leader John Rustad said it was “appalling and irresponsible” to have a machine “right outside a hospital, where people are supposed to be seeking help for their health, not engaging in self-destructive behaviour”.
Harm promotion
Opponents say the decision by the federal Government to allow British Columbia to decriminalise the possession of certain drugs for “personal use” – such as heroin, fentanyl and cocaine – is causing serious harm.
Under pressure from the police, politicians and the public, Eby has already pledged to ban drug use in public, but not in officially sanctioned drug consumption rooms.
Elenore Sturko, who was Shadow Minister for Addictions until June, previously described decriminalisation as a “dangerous and disastrous” policy failure.
Scotland
Last year, Glasgow officials backed the introduction of a £2.3 million pilot scheme for a so-called safe consumption facility. Due to open this month, it will become the first prosecution-free drug zone in the UK.
Although drugs laws are decided at Westminster, the Scottish Government can set policy on how those laws are applied within the Scottish criminal justice system.
National Records of Scotland reported that 1,172 people died of drug misuse in 2023, a rise of 121 deaths on the previous year. The figures are now almost five times higher than 1996, when records began.
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