Amid significant concern around hard drug use in public places, the B.C. government has introduced legislation to expand areas where police can enforce consumption.
The new bill, dubbed the ‘Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act,’ would give police across the province authority to ask an individual to move on from an area or to stop consuming an illegal substance in the area.
It comes more than eight months into B.C.’s three-year pilot program with drug decriminalization.
According to the public safety minister, the legislation is meant to encourage people who use drugs to do so at overdose prevention sites to keep community spaces free of illegal drugs. It is not intended to result in arrests, but states that enforcement measures may be used if a person refuses.
“Although we have moved away form treating people like criminals, it is not okay to use drugs in areas where children play,” Farnworth told reporters on Thursday. “This is similar to what is in place for smoking, cannabis and vaping.”
If passed, the new restrictions would take effect in parks, sports fields, beaches, and any area within six metres of a workplace or business.
British Columbia’s exemption to the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act took effect on Jan. 31, allowing adults to possess small amounts of certain drugs — opioids, crack, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA — for personal use.
The decriminalization rules took away the police’s ability to arrest people for possessing those illegal drugs in quantities of 2.5 grams or less. The pilot comes to a close on Jan. 31, 2026.
Earlier this month, however, the province received federal approval to add a restriction to its decriminalization policy, prohibiting personal drug use possession in playgrounds, spray pools, wading pools and spray parks. These spaces joined school premises and licensed childcare facilities where the possession of illicit drugs is prohibited.
“We need our province to be a place of empathy for those struggling with addiction,” said Premier David Eby.
“I am really concerned decriminalization was getting conflated with the right to use hard drugs anywhere they like.”
Unregulated drug toxicity has become the leading cause of death in the province for people aged between 10 and 59, accounting for more deaths than homicides, suicides, accidents, and natural diseases combined. More than 12,000 lives have been lost since a public health emergency was declared in 2016.
The legislation stems from feedback from municipal governments, police and members of the public, the province said. It also comes on the heels of the Union of BC Municipalities convention in Vancouver, in which multiple mayors pressed for more support dealing with the overdose crisis in the context of decriminalization and public drug use.
Since decriminalization took effect, municipal bylaws to restrict the areas where drugs can be used have popped up across B.C. — either being considered, in the works, or passed in municipalities like Prince George, Sicamous, Penticton, Port Coquitlam, Kelowna, and Campbell River.
Eby described Thursday’s bill as a “series of escalating steps,” stating that the province can find a balance that provides “livable communities for everybody.”
“We are counting on police, I think rightly, to use their discretion. The fact is, a year ago, the law applied and police used their discretion,” he said.
Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto welcomed the proposed changes, stating the province has “heard the concerns from people and municipalities.”
“This new law will help keep communities safer for everyone while more and more supportive services are offered across B.C.,” she said in a Thursday news release.
Deputy Chief Fiona Wilson, vice-president of the BC Association of Chiefs of Police, said the bill provides important tools and police recognize that they “must apply our discretion and utilize the act only when behaviour is problematic or repeated.”
“Our goal is to not criminalize drug users, but to continue to direct people to alternate pathways of care while at the same time supporting our community’s sense of safety,” she wrote.
The BC United opposition has pledged to end decriminalization in B.C. if elected next year.
The party has also repeatedly called on the NDP government to support businesses affected by open drug use, and to respond to parents upset about drug use in their neighbourhoods.
‘The entire decriminalization pilot project has been a failure. We’ve seen an increase in overdoses during this entire time,” BC United House Leader Todd Stone told Global News on Wednesday.
“It’s pretty disappointing that communities were forced to deal with this on their own for so long.”
— with files from Elizabeth McSheffrey