Memo to Mamdani: Overdose deaths surged after British Columbia legalized drugs, as pol admits 'I was wrong'

"The premier of British Columbia - a Canadian province that's a mecca of open-air drug use and supervised injection sites - has admitted decriminalizing drugs was a mistake. "I was wrong on drug decriminalization and the effect it would have," David Eby said at a Vancouver talk organized by the Urban Development Institute earlier this month. "It was not the right policy. "What it became was a permissive structure that . . . it was okay to use drugs anywhere that resulted in really unhappy consequences.""

"Since the state of emergency was declared, more than 16,000 people have lost their lives to drugs in the liberal west coast province of 5.7 million people. British Columbia decriminalized drugs in January 2023. That year, 2,511 people - almost seven a day - died of drug overdoses, the most ever reported by the province's coroner. That's 47 deaths per 100,000 people - compared to 32 for New York State that same year."

Premier David Eby said he was wrong to support drug decriminalization, calling it permissive and causing "unhappy consequences." British Columbia declared a public health emergency in 2016 and has seen more than 16,000 drug-related deaths since then. The province decriminalized drugs in January 2023, and recorded 2,511 overdose deaths that year, the highest on record. The 2023 overdose death rate equaled 47 per 100,000, compared with 32 per 100,000 in New York State. Open-air drug use and supervised injection sites remain widespread in parts of the province. Critics warn that proponents in other jurisdictions still pursue similar policies despite these outcomes.

Read at New York Post