Heroin legalized in Vancouver, Canada as part of massive drug harm reduction experiment

Heroin, morphine, fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA are now legal to possess in Vancouver, Canada’s third-largest city.

You can wear up to 2.5 grams of substances for personal use (originally offered 5), they are still forbidden to sell. Police officers have already been trained to work under the new rules. The new law on decriminalization came into force yesterday and will remain in effect for another three years. So the government of British Columbia continues their big drug harm reduction project. And what is its meaning?

The new drug policy should bring substance use into the realm of health care, not the criminal code, and break the stigma against drug users. That is, instead of long terms, they will be offered social adaptation programs and treatment (if they ask for it). Local authorities allocated $500 million for the experiment: these are services related to the treatment of addiction, mental disorders, and the prevention of overdose. This is not the first such project in the western province of Canada: back in 1959, the first methadone clinic was opened here, and four years ago Canada legalized recreational marijuana.