B.C. Conservatives promise to end open drug use and expand policing and treatment

Lorne Doerkson, leader of the Conservative Party of B.C., announced a public safety plan promising to end open drug use in the province’s towns and cities. In a statement, the party said it would “take back our streets from hard drugs and disorder” and restore safety across British Columbia. Its proposals include sending more police to the hardest-hit neighbourhoods, expanding psychiatric services, crisis response and residential treatment, and introducing what it calls “compassionate intervention” to move people with severe addiction, mental illness or brain injury off the street and into care. The party also said it would amend the Mental Health Act so police officers could connect people with involuntary care.

The Conservatives said they would expand the JIBC Police Academy to hire and deploy 250 more officers. They also promised to add 500 RCMP officers and 150 civilian staff over five years to increase policing in rural and regional communities. The party plans to hire 50 Crown prosecutors, work with Ottawa to fund 20 additional trial judges, and increase sheriff and court capacity, saying the changes would prevent criminals from walking free because of delays.

“After a decade of the NDP, our communities have been devastated by crime,” Doerkson said in a statement. “People don’t feel safe going downtown anymore. Families have to share parks and walking paths with chronic drug users who have been captured by horrific drugs like fentanyl.” The Conservatives said open drug use and disorder have kept customers, families and small businesses away from main streets.

The party pointed to the three-year drug decriminalization pilot that the BC NDP ended earlier this year. Health Canada had granted B.C. a three-year exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, allowing people aged 18 and older to possess up to 2.5 grams of MDMA, methamphetamine, cocaine or opioids for personal use. During the pilot, people could not be arrested for possession, and police could not seize the substances. The program was intended to address the deadly toxic drug crisis, based on the idea that people who fear law enforcement over possession may hide their drugs and avoid treatment.

Before the pilot began in 2023, the B.C. government said criminalization had caused “visible harms,” including overdoses and deaths, stigma and shame, the costs of processing people through the criminal justice system, and users turning to unfamiliar drug sources after a seizure. The policy was controversial, with some people blaming it for rising crime in Vancouver and elsewhere in the province. B.C. began rolling it back in 2024, making illicit drug use illegal in public spaces. The province worked with the federal government to change the rules on possessing drugs in B.C., giving police enforcement powers in public places.

On Oct. 2, the BC Greens released their toxic drugs policy with candidate Lisa Lapointe, the province’s former chief coroner. Lapointe said the crisis “will only be solved” if regulated alternatives and voluntary treatment are available, and people who use drugs have the same access to resources, medical care, housing, dignity and respect as anyone else. The Green Party said expanding a punitive system would lead to more overdoses and less trust in health services, and that unnecessary involvement in the criminal justice system would not solve the crisis. The BC NDP has not yet released its drug policy platform. The provincial election is scheduled for Oct. 24.