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May 11, 2021 9:47 PM -

Coalition of 15 groups wants City of Vancouver and federal government to rethink plans for drug decriminalization

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Minister of Health Patty Hajdu responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

A coalition of 15 groups wants the City of Vancouver and the federal government to rethink plans for drug decriminalization.

The coalition says users have been excluded from discussions with the federal health department about decriminalization, meaning current proposals, if adopted unchanged, could do more harm that good.

In a letter to Health Minister Patty Hajdu, the coalition says police have too much input in developing what is being called the ``Vancouver model'' of decriminalization covering simple possession of small amounts of drugs.

The Vancouver model suggests people should be allowed to carry a three-day supply of their illicit drugs without consequences, but critics say that's too low and could disqualifying long-term drug uses from legal protection.

Vancouver has been the epicentre of an opioid crisis that saw British Columbia record 1,176 illicit drug overdose deaths in 2020, the highest ever in a single year, and more than 7,000 deaths since a public-health emergency was declared in April 2016.

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