BC ends decriminalization pilot, effectiveness remains unclear
On Saturday, January 31, 2026, BC will end its three-year pilot program on drug decriminalization. Josie Osborne, BC’s Minister of Health, said that the program “hasn’t delivered the results that we hoped for” and that “it is difficult, if not even possible,” to credit changes in people accessing treatment to decriminalization.
The financial cost
On January 12, 2023, in anticipation of the program’s launch on January 31, the province pledged a $500 million investment to “build a system of mental health and addictions care,” with $132 million earmarked for “treatment and recovery across the full spectrum of care.” This included “adding hundreds of new treatment and recovery beds across the province” and “enabling registered nurses to prescribe addiction treatment medications.”
According to data provided by the BC government in the 2025 budget, funding over the last eight years for mental health and addiction treatment has gone from $19 million to $35 million.
Information retrieved from the BC government. Figures expressed in millions ($).
Academic studies, however, contradict these investments. A research paper, published in BMC Public Health, a peer-reviewed scholarly journal, found that although policymakers hoped decriminalization would increase client engagement and retention by reducing stigma and fear of criminal penalties, providers did not observe meaningful increases in service use. A major reason cited was that the policy lacked additional funding, staffing, or resources.
Decriminalization isn’t a cure-all
As British Columbia prepares to end its drug decriminalization pilot, the program’s impact remains unclear.
Despite significant funding commitments, provincial officials have acknowledged the difficulty of linking improvements in care directly to decriminalization. Studies indicate that without sufficient staffing, resources, and system capacity, the policy fell short of its intended goals. The program’s end showcases the limits of decriminalization as a standalone response to the overdose crisis.
