In response to the opioid epidemic, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police is calling on federal lawmakers to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of illegal drugs for personal consumption.
Professor Bill Bogart reacted to the recommendation in sixteen media interviews to date, stating: "The report talks about initiatives in safe supply where under very safe conditions doctors are able to prescribe medical grade drugs in substitution for the street drugs the dependent person is going after."
"While [decriminalization] doesn't take away the wrongs of the past it certainly would be at least a partial solution on a go-forward basis to issues surrounding discrimination," says Professor Bogart.