Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow calls drug-decriminalization debate a diversion

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow told the Globe and Mail the provincial and federal governments should 'stop debating' the decriminalization issue. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says the debate over her city’s application to decriminalize small amounts of hard drugs has distracted from the urgent need for provincial and federal governments to address the overdose crisis and spend more on supportive housing and addiction treatment programs.

“You can politicize it and have a big fight over it, but at the end of the day, people continue to die,” Ms. Chow said, noting the 500 overdose deaths Toronto recorded in 2022. While she said she supports the idea of doctors prescribing hard drugs as part of a treatment program, she said the blanket decriminalization of small amounts of drugs wouldn’t make a real difference without more supportive

In an interview with The Globe, Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health, Eileen de Villa, said she stands by her recommendation that formal decriminalization for simple possession would reduce the stigma that surrounds drug use and encouraging people to either get help or to avoid using drugs alone – a common factor in overdose deaths.

The federal government has clearly tried to distance itself from Toronto’s application in recent days. Asked about it on May 3, Prime Ministermade it sound like the proposal did not exist: “The City of Toronto has no active application right now, so there’s nothing to consider.” Just days earlier, his government had issued a statement saying the request was “under review” by Health Canada.

Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)

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