CISUR study shows largest drops in Victoria drug charges happened pre-decriminalization
The biggest declines in drug-related offences and charges in Victoria came well before BC implemented its decriminalization pilot, according to a new analysis from researchers at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR).
The study, published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, examined data from the Victoria Police Department. In January 2023, BC began a three-year pilot project decriminalizing the personal possession of a cumulative total of 2.5 grams or less of certain types of drugs: opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA. The policy meant that in most circumstances, adults found with drugs under the 2.5 gram threshold would not face criminal charges, while trafficking, as well as possession over the threshold or in certain prohibited locations, remained criminal offences. Researchers analyzed Victoria Police data on offences and charges for trafficking (which remained a criminal offence) and possession, as well as drug seizures, from January 2020 to December 2023.
The team found that drug-related offences and charges had been steadily declining since 2020, well before decriminalization was implemented or even announced. When decriminalization came into effect in January 2023, drug seizures, as well as possession charges and offences, continued to decline slightly, while offences and charges related to trafficking remained steady. At the same time, the average amount of drugs seized per incident increased, and the proportion of seizures involving lower weights (for example, under 4.5 grams) fell. When the data were adjusted for trends and seasonality, the declines in charges and offences seen during decriminalization’s first year were no longer statistically significant, suggesting that most of the reductions had already occurred before the policy was implemented.
“The largest reductions we saw in drug-related offences in Victoria happened in 2020 and 2021, before decriminalization was being openly discussed by the provincial government as a policy,” says Alexander Kuzma-Hunt, the paper’s lead author who was a CISUR researcher at the time of the study. “This may be due to shifting attitudes within the police force around pursuing drug offences, effects of COVID on policing and/or drug use patterns, early anticipation that a policy change might be coming, or changes to federal law, such as the introduction of the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act in 2017 and subsequent federal guidance on possession prosecutions.”
CISUR researchers are continuing to conduct research about the impact of drug decriminalization in BC and how it is playing out locally in Victoria. One ongoing project is a study asking police officers and people who use drugs in Victoria about their impressions of the policy’s rollout and impact, and another analyzes more Victoria Police Department data on trafficking and possession offences and charges during the latter two years of BC’s three-year decriminalization pilot.
“There was a significant change in BC’s decriminalization policy in 2024, when the province introduced new rules restricting drug use and possession in many public spaces,” says Tim Naimi, CISUR director and co-author of the study. “We are curious to see how this policy change will impact data on drug charges and seizures in Victoria over the remainder of the pilot period.”
Read coverage of the study in the Times Colonist.