By Cheryl Jahn

BCASW blasts Bill 34

Oct 12, 2023 | 2:03 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – That was the stance taken by the government earlier this month, when legislation was introduced to restrict where drugs could be used publicly. No more could drug use be allowed within six metres of building entrances, bus stops, within 15 metres of playgrounds, spray, and wading pools, and skate parks; and at parks, beaches, and sports fields. But that legislation has earned the wrath of the BC Association of Social Workers.

“The B.C. Association of Social Workers has concerns about the results that are going to happen if we continue to respond by criminalizing people with mental health and addictions rather than providing them the support that they need to be safe in the first place,” explains Kayla Walker with the BC Association of Social Workers.

In a release, the Association writes: “In June 2022, the BCASW cautioned the BC government that their decriminalization plan was insufficient and called the plan performative. The personal exemption of two and a half grams of illicit substances was criticized by many professional and user groups as too low.”

But Walker says the legislation in question only serves to further stigmatize the addicted by, in a sense, herding them away from certain locations and “forcing them to use in the shadows.”

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“The B.C. Association of Social Workers would like the government to withdraw Bill 34 and I think what we want is really to be a part of coming up with a way to support these people instead of having the decisions made for them, including people that are experiencing this epidemic and the opioid crisis and the people that actually work on the front lines supporting them and are in this every day.”

The Association says it would also “… like to see the province significantly increase the number of safe injection and inhalation sites and move forward quickly to deliver a secure and safe supply of drugs to users”