B.C. decriminalized drugs. How’s it been going?

In today’s Big Story podcast, at the end of January, British Columbia began a pilot program that decriminalized small amounts of drugs, including cocaine and opioids. It’s the first province-wide program of its kind in Canada and it comes amidst a spiralling overdose crisis. Already, opinions on the program are polarizing and some municipalities in BC are trying to find ways around it.

To discuss the rollout of decriminalization, The Big Story is joined by Dr. Lindsey Richardson, and Associate Professor in Sociology at the University of British Columbia and Canada Research Chair in Social Inclusion and Health Equity.

“Conversations that I’ve had with people in the community are really mixed,” she said, “they recognize that its a really important change that people have been fighting for for a long time … but that its only one piece in a broader puzzle.”

So what do we know about how the program has been working so far? And what does ‘working’ really mean here?

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