Image: File / Canadian Press

By MLA Mike de Jong, Abbotsford West

OPINION

YOUR PERSPECTIVE: NDP fails to learn from Oregon’s failed decriminalization experiment

Apr 10, 2024 | 8:00 AM

It’s been over one year since the NDP decriminalized hard drugs in British Columbia. In that year, the addiction and overdose crisis in our province is worse than ever before – 2023 saw record-high overdose deaths, with a staggering 2,511 lives lost.

We have seen an increase in toxic drug-related deaths since decriminalization in January 2023, along with a deeply disturbing increase in our communities of both public drug use and social disorder.

Many British Columbians are afraid to walk down the street. The fear of finding needles has them stopping their children from playing at the park. The NDP promised that decriminalization would help eliminate the stigma against people who use drugs. Instead, this failed experiment has sown fear and danger for hardworking taxpayers.

The NDP implemented this reckless program without the proper and necessary guardrails in place, as was called for repeatedly by the BC United Caucus and MLAs. South of the border in Oregon state, they had the same kind of decriminalization and the same devastating consequences. Oregon saw a 52% increase in overdose deaths during its first year in force, which led them to take action. Their decriminalization program is now being walked back after widespread acknowledgment of its failure.

Experts and elected officials alike have admitted that there were many issues with the program’s implementation, something all too familiar to us here in BC. The biggest challenge was moving forward with decriminalization without adequate treatment services in place first.

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Ted Wheeler, mayor of Oregon’s biggest city, Portland, called out this failure in implementation, and his comments closely resemble those of B.C.’s Auditor General in his recent report sounding the alarm on the implementation of our province’s decriminalization program. Despite the many parallels between Oregon’s experience and B.C.’s, the NDP government is doubling down on decriminalization, and ignoring these foreboding warnings.

There are many lessons B.C. can learn from Oregon, but only if our government has the humility to admit that they were wrong. If not, it will continue to come at the cost of people’s lives. An average of seven British Columbians die every single day from toxic drug-related overdoses. The NDP continues to ignore and dismiss concerns raised by what’s happened in Oregon – and by B.C. healthcare professionals working in the addictions field.

It’s clearly time for a drastic change in direction, away from decriminalization and towards a recovery-oriented system. BC United is calling for the government to connect those in need with the treatment they deserve. Oregon has shown it possible to change course to save lives – it’s time B.C.’s NDP government does the same.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of Fraser Valley Today or Pattison Media.