Why open drug use is no longer just a big city issue

Canada's drug crisis usually makes you think of major cities like Toronto and Vancouver, but that's changing. There's no hiding it anymore. It's not safe to walk at night because there's so much open drug use. Sometimes you walk on the street, you'll see some needles and stuff like that. This is the first time I've lived in a community I don't feel safe. People see people using drugs, but people don't usually use drugs in public because they want to. It's probably because they don't have much of a choice. In small East Coast communities, more people are seeing hard drugs Drugs like cocaine and meth being done out in the open. Police officials across the country say a federal policy change is one reason Canada's drug crisis is shifting dramatically, leaving police and support workers with different ideas about how to tackle the situation on the ground. People in every community in the country are using drugs. It's not just a big city problem. To understand how we got here, we have to go back six years. That's when Canada's Public Prosecution Service told lawyers to avoid prosecuting simple drug possession charges, unless the case is serious. Part of their reasoning is that substance abuse is a health issue. On top of this, Ottawa changed the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in 2022 to say police must look at all other alternatives to charging for possession. It's been somewhat frustrating for police. We can still arrest an individual, but the chances of us actually securing charges are very, very low. Possession cases in Atlantic Canada have plummeted. In Nova Scotia, it's dropped by 92% in the last 10 years. And some small Smaller police forces say it's left them with a big challenge. How to deal with open drug use in public spaces. We have to validate the concerns that people have in the community when they see these behaviors. British Columbia hoped decriminalization would be part of the solution. It ran a three-year pilot project where it was no longer a crime to have small amounts of certain hard drugs. But the province pulled the plug earlier this year. The pilot hasn't delivered the results that we hoped for. Although I am really apprehensive to dial back the clock in terms of arresting people and introducing them to the criminal justice system, For simple possession, I deeply wish that there was an alternative for our police officers. Police in some Ontario communities recently hit a breaking point. In Windsor and London, there was so much frustration from residents that officers started arresting people again, even knowing those cases likely wouldn't go to court. In Cape Breton, Billy Quirk says the threat of charges used to make him think twice about doing drugs in public. I was scared to death. Why? Because I was an addict. I didn't want to go to jail. I wasn't a criminal. I was an addict. But some say policing the problem is not the answer. We've had over 100 years of criminal prohibition of drugs in this country and it's been an abysmal failure in terms of protecting the public health and public safety and protecting communities. So what are the alternatives to arrest? Police in the small town of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia are taking a collaborative approach. The department has a social worker on staff. who can go out with officers and talk to drug users. The police chief says since starting the program six years ago, it's had huge success connecting people with resources in the community. And it has other forces in Canada taking note. So if we're talking about mental health and addictions, it's important that, you know, yes, we recognize that there is a public safety component to that, but the bigger piece is public health and that's where we need to focus. So as more Canadians are seeing the drug crisis firsthand, In bigger cities, we have to remember that it's not just the shift in federal policy that's changing the landscape. The housing crisis, gaps in healthcare, toxicity of drugs, these are all things making the problem worse. And as communities search for answers, one thing is clear, there's no easy fix. Ali Thompson, CBC News, Halifax.