Toronto board of health to push feds to decriminalize all drugs

The board of health in Canada's most populous city decided Monday to push the federal government to decriminalize all drugs and is calling on Canadians to turn their recommendation into a national movement.

"The only way that federal laws are going to change is if we provoke that national conversation," said board chair Coun. Joe Mihevc, moments before an amended version of the recommendations was unanimously accepted.

"We will be the first to do it, but we can't be the one andonly," he said.

De Villa said she wasn't aware of any other boards of health in Canada that had made similar recommendations to the federalgovernment.

The board of health will now send a letter to Ottawa, informing the government of its recommendation.

'Humans have always used drugs'

The board also recommended de Villa send the report to Ontario-based public health boards, the boards of health in Canada's10 largest cities, the Ontario Public Health Association and othersimilar groups "for their information and endorsement."

"What we are saying here is drug use has always been with us," de Villa said. "Humans have always used drugs in one way, shape orform.

"The potential harms associated with any of these drugs is worsened when people are pushed into a position where they have to produce, obtain and consume those drugs illegally," she said.

"That's what we're trying to address through this particular report and this recommendation."

The move comes as a direct response to an overdose epidemic that has swept the country, starting in British Columbia and moving east.

In 2017, there were 303 opioid overdose related deaths inToronto, which the report says marks a 63 per cent increase compared to the previous year.

According to a Health Canada report last month, nearly 4,000Canadians died from an apparent opioid overdose in 2017.

But the federal agency said the government is not currentlylooking at decriminalizing or legalizing all drugs.

"We are committed to a compassionate and evidence-based approachto drug policy, which requires a public health approach whenconsidering and addressing drug issues," said Health Canada spokeswoman Maryse Durette, before the city accepted de Villa's recommendation.

"We are aware that decriminalization, as part of a comprehensiveapproach to substance use, seems to be working in places like Portugal, but more study would be required as the circumstances are very different in Canada."