British Columbia is ending its three-year pilot program that decriminalized possession of small amounts of drugs, the province announced.
Health Minister Josie Osborne said Wednesday the province is not seeking an extension of an agreement with Canada’s federal health agency that allowed decriminalization of small amounts of drugs for personal possession.
Osborne said the goal of the three-year pilot project, which was slated to end Jan. 31, was to make it easier for people to come forward and seek help. She said it “hasn’t delivered the results” officials hoped for.
With the decriminalization set to end, Osborne said the government is focused on “strengthening the approaches that are helping people get timely, appropriate care.”
In a statement, Osborne said British Columbia is building a more complete and comprehensive system of mental-health and addictions care, including prevention, treatment and recovery, harm reduction and aftercare.
British Columbia’s decriminalization project began in January 2023 after Health Canada granted the province an exemption under the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The initial approach allowed adults to possess up to 2.5 grams cumulatively of opioids, crack and powdered cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA.
The exemption was amended in 2024, restricting possession to private homes and places where homeless people are legally sheltering, as well as designated health-care clinics and overdose prevention, drug checking and supervised consumption sites.
The decision follows the experience of other jurisdictions. Oregon’s first experiment with drug decriminalization in the United States ended in 2004, when possessing small amounts of hard drugs became a crime again. Oregon later voted in 2020 to decriminalize.
The broader policy debate has often pointed to Portugal’s earlier changes. In 2001, Portugal became the first country in the world to decriminalize the consumption of all drugs.