This is Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart's drug decriminalization motion. It will be debated tomorrow: https://council.vancouver.ca/20201124/documents/b4.pdf https://twitter.com/VanCityClerk/status/1331412222950699008

Today, as Vancouver City Council is set to debate a motion to pursue drug decriminalization, BC Coroner announces **more than 5 people a day** are dying from drug toxicity.

November is the fifth month this year with 160+ suspected illicit drug deaths: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/birth-adoption-death-marriage-and-divorce/deaths/coroners-service/news/illicit-drug-news-release.pdf

"We are continuing to see record-breaking numbers of people dying in B.C. due to an unsafe drug supply in our province, and it's taking a toll on families and communities in this dual health emergency" — BC's chief coroner Lisa Lapointe

I'm watching the Vancouver City Council decriminalization motion for @vicecanada

Ok! The decriminalization motion, put forward by the Mayor, is up now.

If passed, Mayor Stewart would proceed with asking the federal government to grant a special exemption so that drugs would be decriminalized in Vancouver.

Watch here: https://csg001-harmony.sliq.net/00317/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20201125/-1/14730

. @sarahblyth is speaking in support of the motion now.

"We can be the leaders, and we have been the leaders in Vancouver, helping to save lives and we can continue to lead the way ... we have to be strong and bold and be able to communicate this to the public."

Blyth said there was an overdose just this morning. The person was freezing out in the cold and also overdosing.

"It's one tragic situation after another."

When asked about recovery, Blyth says there needs to be better and quicker access to recovery for those who want it.

"That needs to be urgent as well ... decrim is definitely an emergency measure, which we need right now ... people are dying."

. @kennedystewart asks Blyth to talk about some of the people who have long been pushing for decrim.

"This is a huge win for a lot of people who have been working towards this" including the folks at @VANDUpeople @crackdownpod.

"It's going to make a huge change."

(Those quotes above are from Blyth.)

@kennedystewart asks whether this push for change, decrim, is the result of grassroots efforts.

Blyth: "Absolutely."

Next speaker is Tara Taylor, co-chair of the board of the Overdose Prevention Society, in support of the motion.

Taylor: Decrim would help dismantle stigma around drug use and allows people to access supports.

"I plead with you to please pass this motion"

Taylor says those on the frontlines are burnt out and suffering, asks for 1-minute of silence to honour those who have died during the overdose crisis.

Next speaker is @Caitlin_Ona, drug policy lawyer from @pivotlegal, in support.

She cautions against adding amendments that would add administrative penalties or structures to decrim. She says Vancouver should not adopt things like dissuasion commissions, etc., found in Portugal.

Shane: Drug users in Portugal (which decrimed in 2001) have reported that the most marginalized ppl in Portugal are still experiencing harms by police who search, seize their drugs, etc.

Shane: Police should NOT be point-persons or liaisons between ppl who use drugs and health/social services.

Shane on police: "At a time of global reckoning with racism and prejudice in our police forces, it would be both counterproductive and tone-deaf to continue to use police or law enforcement as point persons or liaisons for people who use drugs"

(As an aside, I love talking about the flaws with the Portuguese model, having witnessed it myself, and am happy to hear these points raised.)

Shane: "Decriminalization, yes, it's not a silver bullet...this is not going to solve everything...and that includes a toxic drug supply that will require other services and supports."

But, nonetheless, decrim is STILL a critical measure to save lives.

Shane: Decrim removes much of the stigma from drug use that flows from criminalization...removing stigma encourages PWUD to access health supports and services.

"Decriminalization and safe supply really do go hand in hand."

Shane says, if this motion passes, the federal government ultimately has the discretion to grant an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The city would apply for this, @PattyHajdu would then make the decision whether to approve this.

Shane says she's cautiously optimistic that approval from the minister of health would be forthcoming.

Says Vancouver needs an exemption that also ensures that cops are aware that a lot of the harm they cause is a result not from possession charges, but from SEIZING drugs.

Shane calls for decrim in Vancouver to be explicit that cops should no longer be able to seize drugs from ppl. Read more about that here in @TheTyee: https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/09/18/Police-Drug-Seizures-DTES/

Shane is asked whether she thinks Portugal model doesn't work.

"The Portugal model did have many benefits...[but] if we look at the feedback from ppl who have been directly affected...clear that partial decrim with administrative sanctions continues to perpetuate harms"

Shane on Portugal's model and its Dissuasion Commissions: Continues to preserve fear, and fear drives people underground.

Next speaker is @scott_bern from @CANdrugpolicy in support of the motion.

Says he's grateful to see Vancouver taking this step. Says decrim is essential, but harm reduction, safe supply, affordable housing, etc. still needed.

. @scott_bern: "decriminalization cannot mean fines, mandatory health interventions, including mandatory treatment...or confiscation of drugs."

. @scott_bern: Decrim should also allow for greater access to the **beneficial** uses of drugs, such as psychedelic drugs, including psilocybin for therapeutic treatment of depression and end-of-life.

Mary Kelly, a volunteer in the Downtown Eastside, speaks in support of the motion.

Kelly says a lot of people use alone due to fear of police and fear of paramedics (who they fear might get cops involved).

City Council is now in recess. It will reconvene at 3:30PM PST, 6:30PM EST.

And we're back. Vancouver City Council has resumed and we're hearing from speakers on the Mayor's decriminalization motion.

Live here: https://csg001-harmony.sliq.net/00317/Harmony/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20201125/-1/14730

. @garthmullins is speaking now in support of the motion (unsurprisingly!)

He speaks about decrim in Portugal, and how he interviewed and met with people who use drugs there.

He says they told him that any decrim should involve input/collaboration from people who use drugs.

. @garthmullins: "The metric for success will be as we decriminalize ppl, that the police budgets should be going down...they should be spending less money."

Mullins says people face having their drugs seized in Vancouver, even if they don't get charged. This is also the case in Portugal.

"If we all build a system that doesn't replicate [criminalization]....it's an invitation from society to welcome us back."

Committee chair says Mayor Stewart (who put forward the decrim motion) is currently away due to a medical issue that he was dealing with earlier (something to do with his eye), and he's not there, but will be back later.

Next speaker is Christopher Livingstone; he mentions BC psychologist Bruce Alexander's Rat Park experiment.

"It's all about assisting those other determinants of health and making life have some hope."

Speaking now is Nicole Luongo, who previously spent years living in the Downtown Eastside, struggling with homelessness and drug use, and is now doing her PhD in medical sociology.

"My entire life has been defined by the war on drugs."

Says she supports the decrim motion with some caveats.

"The social disorder we see on the Downtown Eastside is not a result of drug use or mental illness. It's a manifestation of extreme poverty and over-surveillance by the police and by nonprofit and medical agencies..."

Luongo argues against any type of mandatory treatment, any measures under decrim. that would replace one coercive social institution for another.

. @guyfelicella, peer clinical advisor with the @BCCSU, is speaking now in support of the motion.

"Criminalizing people who use drugs is a failure of policy. The scientific evidence to support the criminalization is overwhelming."

. @guyfelicella, who lived in the DTES for years: I've lost countless friends to overdoses after living years of isolation and pain.

When asked what else Council could do re: overdose crisis, @guyfelicella says decrim is an important first step, but safer supply needed, too, also treatment options.

"It seems like we just plug one hole and we don't look at the whole system of care."

Next speaker is lawyer Daniel Snyder (hope that's correct spelling) in support of motion. As lawyer who works with asylum seekers, he says he'd like to see police budget redirected to helping those with trauma and those who are going through refugee claim process.

As a lawyer, he apologizes for his "profession's role in sustaining the status quo" re: the war on drugs.

Should note that none of the speakers so far have opposed the decrim. motion; all are in support.

Another recess. Council will be back at 6:05 PST, 9:05 EST.

They're back.

You can watch the discussion over Mayor @KennedyStewart's drug decriminalization motion here:

. @donaldmacmac with @CANdrugpolicy is on the line now in support of the motion.

He recommends that no administrative sanctions, involuntary interventions, or other punitive measures be brought in with decriminalization.

. @donaldmacmac: "We've made our 2 top priority policy goals working towards achieving decriminalization of all currently illegal substances for personal use, and eventually the legal regulation of all drugs."

"We urge you to pass this motion and we will work with other processes in the future...to ensure that decrim remains in its purest form" — @donaldmacmac

. @kennedystewart asks @donaldmacmac if council can call on him as they proceed with the exemption. MacPherson says of course.

"I really applaud the courage of you, Mr. Mayor, and Council, who have struggled so hard over the years to push towards a better outcome for all of us."

. @donaldmacmac asked about Portugal's drug decrim, which allows only for 10-day personal supply.

MacPherson: There are lots of ppl whose use varies ... some have a larger supply than others. "It's really complicated and we don't want to make it worse for people."

Council is moving onto discussion about the motion.

Again, it's here: https://council.vancouver.ca/20201125/documents/cfsc6.pdf

There's a suggested amendment here regarding treatment and therapy options #vanpoli:

That amendment, from @sarahkirby_yung, is receiving support from @kennedystewart

Amendment to the amendment being proposed; referring to the "poisoned drug crisis" instead of "opiate overdose crisis" — Interesting to watch this in real-time.

That amendment to the amendment passes unanimously.

It's been changed to "poisoned drug supply crisis."

Now back to discussion re: the motion itself.

Councillor @RebeccaleeBligh: "We need to see everybody in their own choices, and love them anyway ... this is not a silver bullet ... but it is absolutely necessary"

. @RebeccaleeBligh: "I'm very proud to be on this council ... at this moment."

. @councillorwiebe: "I really appreciate this council for having this discussion. I will be very supportive of the work that's happening here. I recognize that the stigma has hurt so many."

. @LisaDominato: There are enormous barriers to the individuals who are struggling with addiction and we need to have a different way of moving forward.

. @JeanSwanson_: "Anything that we can do to reduce the stigma is great."

Swanson cites @kwardvancouver who told Council that decrim. could encourage more doctors to prescribe safer supply.

. @AdrianeCarr: "We have a poisoned drug supply crisis... decriminalization, to me, is about justice... it is about a logical route forward to decrease and start to mitigate this poisoned drug supply."

. @AdrianeCarr: "I'm just very proud to be on this council ... we will once again put Vancouver in the lead on this crisis."

Mayor @KennedyStewart: "I also think that this council is really leading the country, and if not the continent, in terms of addressing this horrible plague that we have, which is causing so much trauma."

Ok. The vote is finally happening on the decrim motion.

BREAKING: Vancouver City Council passes drug decriminalization motion with unanimous support

Next: Mayor Kennedy Stewart will make a formal request to the federal health minister to grant a special exemption to allow for the decriminalization of personal possession of illicit substances within the City’s boundaries

And: The Mayor will also write to all other B.C. local governments urging them to consider pursuing their own federal exemptions to decriminalize the personal possession of illicit substances within their municipal boundaries

Another and: the Mayor will also write to the Union of BC Municipalities and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities "seeking their support for decriminalizing
personal possession of illicit substances"

I reached out to Federation of Canadian Municipalities the other day about this.

They told me: "we are unfortunately not able to provide comment to the topic you are covering, as FCM does not have a formal policy position on decriminalization of illicit substances."

Alright - story coming soon. This is a big deal and I'm really glad to have witnessed it.