Eby must find a way to undo damage of failed experiment
FORT ST. JOHN – The illicit drug decriminalization experiment has been a failure from the start, according to local politicians, who have spent years calling on the government to rescind the policy.
The pilot program, supported by both provincial and federal governments, started in 2023, and removed criminal penalties for possession of 2.5 grams or less of illicit drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl. Public use of illicit drugs was recriminalized in May 2024.
Premier David Eby admitted the failure of the decriminalization experiment during a press conference on January 6, when a reporter from Global News asked where the government stands on the pilot project, which ends on January 31.
Eby replied that he’s working with the federal government on how to proceed when the pilot expires at the end of the month.
“But let me be clear, we’re not going back to the old policy of decriminalized public drug use in British Columbia,” Eby said. “It didn’t work and we ended that.”
He added later in the press conference that the province intends to release the data collected on the impacts of the three-year pilot program by health officials in BC and at the federal level.
“What’s worse is, the amount of people that it’s killed, you can’t bring them back.”
Peace River North MLA Jordan Kealy
Fort St. John city councillor Trevor Bolin, who proposed a bylaw in April 2023 to “prohibit the use of narcotics in public places in the City” told the broken typewriter that the experiment has been a failure from the start.
“Zero public consultation before implementation, missed regulations and laws, leaving municipalities and stakeholders to deal with, and now when the Premier finally has an opportunity to do the right thing, he again fails British Columbian families,” Bolin said.
The right thing for Eby to do, says Bolin, is admit the failed experiment on people’s lives in BC is over.
“Work with the federal government to criminalize drugs, use and possession once again, and give the RCMP the power to clean up the streets of every community suffering from the NDP’s failed ‘experiment’ across BC’s communities.”
Peace River North MLA Jordan Kealy agrees with Bolin and sees the government’s role going forward as finding a solution to the problem it created with the ill-fated experiment.
The government isn’t looking out for British Columbians, Kealy said. By decriminalizing hard drugs, the province put a strain on the healthcare system. Like paramedics who, instead of going to pick up someone who’s had a heart-attack or stroke and take them to the hospital, are having to deal with someone who’s had an overdose.
Kealy said that “to destigmatize hard-core drugs and allow them to flood our province is just ludicrous and it’s also increased the workload on our healthcare system substantially.”
“What’s worse is, the amount of people that it’s killed, you can’t bring them back.”
Since the pilot program began on January 31, 2023, 6,442 unregulated drug deaths were reported by the BC Coroners Service to October 31, 2025. Of these 539 were in Northern Health. Northern Health also recorded the highest drug death rate per 100,000 population in the province.
By allowing drugs in the province, Kealy believes the premier has opened the door for gangs and cartels.
“He’s pretty much allowed every illicit drug to come into our province, and be put into the hands of people, including children.
“So even if he does take away the federal exemption, people are addicted to it, they’re still going to turn to it, and the dealers are still going to be there. Now he has to come up with a way to rectify the damage that he’s done.”
Two milligrams of fentanyl is enough to kill 10 grown men, Kealy pointed out, but the government still made possession legal.
“Overall, I think it’s great that he admits his mistake. Why didn’t he get rid of it a year ago? I think it’s one thing to admit you made a mistake, but doing nothing to correct it once you’ve admitted that I think that’s just negligence. And then to actually show that he has no plan to fix the problem he’s created, makes it even worse, and it’s led to people dying.”
Both Bolin and Kealy say that they hope Eby learns from his mistake.
“I think is a great example of a government having no common sense and seeing the repercussions and ramifications of what will happen if you do something stupid like this,” Kealy said.
It’s not just local politicians who are looking for common-sense from the premier and the provincial government. Interim leader of the BC Conservatives, Trevor Halford says British Columbians are suffering under the NDP, and that Eby has lost touch with what’s important to families by allowing the drug decriminalization pilot to continue long after admitting it wasn’t working.
“British Columbia needs certainty, accountability and a government that learns before people get hurt, not after,” Halford said in a Jan. 6 press release.
The BC Conservative critic for Mental Health, Addictions and Housing Supports, Claire Rattee agreed:
“The government now admits its ideological decriminalization experiment didn’t work, but that admission came after years of denial, harm and community suffering,” Rattee said.
“British Columbians deserve accountability and a clear path forward focussed on treatment, recovery and public safety, not more hesitation and harmful test experiments.”