The city of Vancouver and the province of British Columbia have asked the federal government for permission to decriminalize possession of up to 4.5 grams of illegal substances within the province. This week, Toronto’s board of health authorized Dr. Eileen de Villa, the city’s chief medical officer, to also seek the same exemption from Health Canada. It’s a proposal that many police forces support. This week, it also introduced a bill ending minimum mandatory sentences for some drug offenses. But this week 21 organizations — a mix of public health, drug policy and drug users’ groups — published a joint plan that urged the government to go much further.

Source: New York Times December 11, 2021 01:26 UTC