Inside the Canadian city where opioids, methamphetamine and cocaine have been decriminalised
As a bitter wind gusted down East Hastings Street, an addict wearing shorts despite the snow was selling his Liverpool FC shirt. “I’m sick, man, I need money,” he said, asking for C$20 (£12) as he eyed his next fix.
Not far away on Vancouver’s East Side yesterday, there was a free-for-all of drug use taking place — users huddled in small groups as they freely abused heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine. None of them, however, was breaking a single law.
Today, British Columbia introduced a measure that decriminalises possession of hard drugs in the Canadian province.
