A recent Supreme Court of Canada ruling captures how dramatically the country’s drug laws have shifted over the past decade.
In October, the court upheld the acquittal of a man found with methamphetamine, illegal guns and fake IDs — because police had searched him in violation of the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act.
That 2017 law offers limited legal protection to people who possess illegal drugs in cases where they seek emergency help for an overdose.
For police, decisions like this one reflect a growing set of carve-outs around drug possession — measures intended to reduce harm, stigma and barriers to treatment. But they have also complicated what frontline officers can do in situations involving public drug use or disorder.
“Substance use disorders should be approached from a health perspective,” said Chief Constable Fiona Wilson of the Victoria Police Service. “However, we also have a significant responsibility to every one of our citizens to ensure that they can walk down the street unobstructed … [by] street disorder.”
Good Samaritan
The 2017 Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act was one of several Trudeau-era laws that emphasized reducing the harm and stigma associated with drug use.
The government also legalized cannabis, and set up a process to enable individuals with criminal records for possessing cannabis or other hard drugs to have those records effectively expunged.
In addition, it approved 39 supervised consumption sites to allow people to use otherwise illegal drugs under supervision. Today, 31 are still operating across six provinces — the highest number of federally sanctioned sites in the world.
And in late 2023, Ottawa authorized B.C. to broadly decriminalize the possession of small amounts of some hard drugs as part of a three-year pilot project.
“The intention of that [B.C. exemption]… is to not put up any barriers for people to call police when they themselves, or a loved one, or a friend or family member is experiencing an overdose,” said Wilson.
“We don’t want to be throwing people in jail by virtue of a substance use disorder.”
Enforcement in flux
These policy moves have been accompanied by significant shifts in drug crime enforcement.
Over the past decade, enforcement of drug possession laws has dropped sharply, driven largely by cannabis legalization but also lax enforcement of other — still illegal — substances.
In 2014, drug possession made up three-quarters of all drug crime, but by 2024 accounted for less than half, according to Statistics Canada.
Sources said the prosecution of drug possession offences has also dropped.
In 2020, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada published guidelines directing prosecutors to prioritize serious drug cases affecting public safety. The guidelines also encourage prosecutors to favour alternative measures or diversion over court proceedings for simple possession.
“We’re seeing a very low percentage of any possession … [offences] being prosecuted, and we fully understand why,” said acting Deputy Chief Keith Johnson of the Edmonton Police Service.
“We have these community members … [who] have severe addiction issues, severe mental health issues … [and] we have to get these people assistance.”
‘No lawful authority’
Alexander Caudarella, CEO of the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, a federally funded research and advisory non-profit, says the shift in drug policy over the past decade reflects a move away from a punitive, “‘tough on crime’ mentality.”
But the pushback against punitive drug policies — which was part of broader defund-the-police movements — can swing too far in the other direction, he says.
“[Like a] pendulum swinging, to say, ‘Okay, law enforcement has no role in dealing with the drug crisis — both extremes are problematic,” said Caudarella.
Wilson, of the Victoria Police Service, says B.C.’s drug decriminalization project highlighted the challenges created by too little enforcement.
“Our police officers had no lawful authority to approach somebody [using drugs in public] unless they were in an exception to [Ottawa’s drug-law] exemption, or … engaged in other unlawful activities,” said Wilson, who is also co-chair of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police’s Drug Advisory Committee.
She said this led to visible public safety issues.
“There were some really significant … public street disorder, public safety concerns as a result,” Wilson said. She noted that police were not permitted to prohibit drug use in widely-trafficked public spaces such as beaches, bus shelters and sidewalks.
In May 2024, Ottawa rolled back its drug-law exemption at the request of the province, which faced a public backlash over safety and disorder concerns. Now, within B.C., possession of hard drugs remains permissible, but only in private residences, legal shelters, supervised consumption sites and addiction clinics.
Wilson says this has closed some enforcement gaps.
“We’ve gone back to empowering [police] to use their authority … to address some of those really concerning situations where people are using illicit drugs in public spaces.”
She adds that recent police recruits have had to be retrained to enforce the laws.
“I have a whole host of police officers at Vic P.D. who were hired during [B.C.’s pilot project], and now I’ve had to retrain them that indeed you can approach somebody who is smoking fentanyl on a sidewalk, and you can arrest them,” said Wilson.
“You do not necessarily have to take them to jail and request charges from Crown counsel. But you have all the law authority in the world to approach them and to send a very clear message that that behaviour is no longer tolerated on our streets.”
Pendulum swing
B.C.’s aborted decriminalization project may have curbed widespread disorder in B.C. But incidents of public disorder near supervised consumption sites continue to complicate policing.
Federal drug-law exemptions shield people who use drugs within these sites from arrest. Internal guidance in some police forces instructs officers to exercise discretion around supervised consumption sites, recognizing police presence may deter access to these sites.
Johnson, of the Edmonton Police Service, says this discretion can make policing challenging on the ground.
Edmonton’s three supervised consumption sites only accommodate injection drug use. That leaves people who inhale drugs to do so outside the sites, affecting the surrounding community.
“We’re in a catch-22 situation,” said Johnson.
Caudarella, of the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, says Canada needs a policing model that affords officers non-punitive options and the ability to implement solutions tailored to the local community.
“It’s never going to be one [solution],” he said. “Even the public disorder or safety issues vary dramatically from one community to another.”
Edmonton police, for example, had struggled to deal with entrenched encampments until recently.
When police tried to enforce drug-possession laws, it often achieved little, says Johnson. Few possession offences were being prosecuted due to the charged individuals’ severe addiction and mental health issues.
“[The public would say], ‘Thank goodness you arrested that person.’ But I’d arrest, write up a piece of paper, hand it to the person, then we leave,” said Johnson. “We’re not removing the person from the area.”
But in January 2024, the city opened a Navigation and Support Centre, which offered shelter and support services to people affected by encampment removals. Now, officers can direct individuals to shelter or services instead of releasing them back to the street, he says.
“It’s not all about resourcing police officers — it’s about resourcing those support structures,” said Johnson.
In Edmonton, EMS paramedics are also embedded within police teams to assist with responding to overdoses and street-level drug interactions. “Police officers on the street, they need options, and you’ll see that nationwide,” said Johnson. “The paramedics alone, they’re worth their weight in gold.”
Perception of safety
One consequence of a decade of harm reduction policies is social norms have shifted around drug use, making public drug use more common.
“Pre-COVID, you wouldn’t really be wanting to smoke a cigarette on a transit bus — it was frowned upon,” said Johnson.
However, the open use of drugs has had a cost.
“Now, with the open air drug use in these public spaces and in transit spaces — those are things that are causing a lot of our perception of safety concerns … [and] we’re seeing a lot of compassion fatigue,” Johnson added.
In a September Leger poll, half of Canadians said they worry about safety in their neighbourhoods, and slightly more than half said they feel the justice system works against citizens’ interests.
The Carney government has so far said little about its overarching vision for drug policy and law enforcement. But Health Canada told Canadian Affairs the government plans to adhere to the 2023 Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy.
“The strategy is anchored on four pillars: prevention and education resources for Canadians; substance use services and supports … substance controls to manage public safety risks; and evidence to support research,” a spokesperson said in an email.
The agency said it has “no plans to fund new prescribed alternatives projects,” a reference to supply supply projects that dispense prescription opioids to individuals as an alternative to toxic street drugs.
In March, the federal government ended funding for the City of Ottawa’s safer supply pilot project. Its sudden retreat from that program — which continues to operate — has left community groups concerned about oversight and accountability, Canadian Affairs previously reported.
Absent significant changes to Canada’s drug laws and enforcement policies, police are likely to continue operating in a complex policing environment.
“I’m always very cautious about the notion of us arresting people if we have very clear, compelling information that charges are absolutely not going to be approved, and this is one example of that,” said Wilson, referring to the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Good Samaritan case.
The Saskatchewan RCMP, who had charged the man found in possession of meth, guns and fake IDs, declined to comment on the court’s ruling, deferring to their national office.
“It would be inappropriate for the RCMP to comment on a decision rendered by the Supreme Court of Canada,” an RCMP spokesperson said.
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