Federal prosecutors told not to seek criminal penalties for minor drug charges

OTTAWA — Canadians found with small amounts of illegal drugs will rarely be prosecuted under new guidelines for federal prosecutors.

Director of Public Prosecutions Kathleen Roussel issued the new guidance this week, encouraging Crown prosecutors to look for other ways to deal with drug possession and divert people from the criminal justice system.

Roussel’s guidance on the issue is arm’s length from government, and she sets the rules on how cases are prosecuted independently from Justice Minister David Lametti.

The new guidelines say that in many cases jail time or fines are not the best way to deal with people caught with illegal drugs. They were published in the Public Prosecution Service of Canada Deskbook, a guide for prosecutors and for lawyers contracted to work for the federal government.

“Criminal sanctions, as a primary response, have a limited effectiveness as specific or general deterrents and as a means of addressing the public safety concerns when considering the harmful effects of criminal records and short periods of incarceration,” the guidelines say.

Instead prosecutors are being directed to use drug treatment courts and other programs with the goal of trying to spare people criminal records for simple possession.

The new policy does still allow prosecutors to pursue cases criminally but recommends limiting them to certain specific cases, including drug possession near children, in jails or prisons or when related to impaired driving.

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The policy states that drug possession alone is rarely a public safety issue and it would be better for prosecutors to focus on other issues.

“Consideration must be given as to whether the public safety concerns associated with the substance use are more readily addressed through the prosecution of the other criminal activity,” reads the policy.

On Thursday, the federal government announced a new program in Toronto, providing $582,000 to a variety of groups led by the Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre to create a safer supply of drugs.

The program will provide pharmaceutical grade drugs to users in an attempt to wean them off of ilegal drugs that have become even more toxic during the pandemic. Overdoses deaths have risen considerably during the pandemic, with several jurisdictions reporting grim new records.

In Toronto there were 27 deaths in July alone, the highest number the city has recorded since it began collecting the data.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu said the goal of the program is to save lives.

“It is devastating to see that the COVID-19 outbreak has worsened the situation for Canadians struggling with substance use disorders, including those living in Toronto. Each life lost is someone’s family member, friend or co-worker,” she said. “The life-saving initiatives announced today are part of the Government of Canada’s efforts to help people at risk of overdose stay safe during the outbreak.”

The safer supply project in Toronto comes a few weeks after a similar program was introduced in British Columbia, which has also seen record numbers of fatal overdoses this year.

Hajdu also announced a round of consultation Thursday aimed at looking at ways to improve supervised injection sites in an effort to ensure they remain open.

Donald MacPherson, executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, said COVID-19 has closed borders and the illegal drug supply on the street is more toxic.

“The overdose crisis is much worse under COVID and health authorities across the country, where fentanyl is an issue, are scrambling,” he said. “The numbers are just through the roof. The drug supply is more toxic than ever.”

The Canadian Association of Chief of Police recently called for a more health-focused approach to drug possession and for a review of the criminal legislation.

MacPherson said when an organization like that is changing its stance he thinks the debate around drug policy is changing.

“You have organizations like the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police coming to the conclusion that that’s not a good use of police resources. It’s not a good public health response to continue to criminalize people, especially in the middle of an overdose crisis and a global pandemic.”

MacPherson said it is clear Canadians don’t want drug addiction treated as a criminal problem.

“Criminalizing possession is not productive. We need to be putting our resources in different places.”

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