Whereas the Province of BC was granted an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for the personal possession of small amounts of certain illegal drugs for a trial period beginning January 31, 2023 until January 31, 2026; And whereas communities have seen increased pressure on RCMP and first responders since the implementation of the decriminalization pilot program; And whereas no statistics or reporting dashboard has been provided to support the continuation of the program or demonstrate the decrease in harm associated with decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of illegal substances: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions to create a workable dashboard which reports statistics of the impact decriminalization has had on reducing the harm of criminalization and demonstrates whether the continuation of the pilot program is of benefit to communities.
