B.C.’s drug decriminalization experiment didn’t change overdose deaths: study

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The 2.5-gram policy expired on Jan 31, 2026, and wasn’t renewed. “The pilot hasn’t delivered the results we hoped for,” Josie Osborne, then B.C.’s health minister, told reporters in announcing the experiment was over.

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Osborne said it was “difficult, if not even (impossible) to attribute certain changes or increases directly to decriminalization,” including the number of people who sought treatment.

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The shifts in policy — off-again, on-again criminalization — allowed researchers to look at different outcomes using data that captured police-recorded drug incidents nationally, and drug-related hospitalizations and deaths in B.C., Alberta and Ontario.

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They compared monthly changes in B.C. to the rest of the country between August 2020 and March 2025.

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Over the five-year study period, researchers counted a total of 97,630 instances of police encounters for drug possession, 75,485 for drug trafficking, 161,278 opioid-related hospitalizations, 113,747 stimulant-related hospitalizations in Canada, and 29,730 drug toxicity deaths in B.C., Ontario and Alberta.

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As predicted, B.C. saw a significant (39 per cent) drop in monthly rates of police-reported drug possession incidents after decriminalization, followed by a rapid uptick (68 per cent increase) following partial re-criminalization in public spaces.

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But after decriminalization, B.C. didn’t differ significantly from other provinces and territories for changes in opioid-related hospitalizations or deaths, according to the study.

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Hospitalizations and deaths fell during partial re-criminalization in B.C., but, again, similar declines occurred across the rest of Canada, as well as the U.S, and were more likely driven by “broader factors” such as changes in the drug supply and its toxicity, Myran and his co-authors wrote.

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“It is important to recognize plausible reasons behind these non-effects; crucially, the decriminalization policy was not combined with additional interventions or services that could have effectively reduced exposure to toxic drugs or related risk behaviours to improve drug-related mortality and morbidity outcomes for people who use drugs,” the researchers wrote.

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There are compelling reasons to decriminalize minor drug possession and increase support for people who use drugs, Myran said. A criminal record carries implications for education, housing and employment “and it’s not necessarily the case that it’s helping someone to enter recovery or use fewer drugs,” he said.

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Decriminalization was associated with a large fall-off in both police encounters and police charges for minor drug possession. From that perspective, the policy worked, he said.

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“The problem was that there was a promise saying that we’re going to do this, and it’s going to have these criminal justice benefits, but it’s also going to have major health benefits. We are going to see these big reductions in overdoses. And the data are not supporting that.”

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Officials risk eroding public trust “if the thing you promised doesn’t materialize.”

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The study wasn’t designed to look at other outcomes, like public drug use or community safety.

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But Myran isn’t convinced that the criminal status of minor drug possession is a major driver of the overdose crisis. “There are other very meaningful drivers that are worth understanding and acting on. But it doesn’t seem to be the criminal status.”