Operating Grant: Evaluation of the British Columbia Exemption to Allow for Personal Possession of Small Amounts of Illegal Drugs
Progress Report Lay Summary – April 2024

Nominated Principal Investigator: Jürgen Rehm, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH); Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Matters (CRISM) – Ontario Node

Background

Background information can be found here: Progress Report Summary – April 2023

Progress Report Lay Summary: October 2023 - April 2024

During this reporting period, the team completed two qualitative studies, recruited and interviewed 100 people who use drugs and 30 police officers from across B.C. They have drafted and submitted a protocol paper outlining the goals and methods of the evaluation, as well as a paper weighing the potential impacts of Bill C34 (Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act). The team also launched the health service study and public opinion survey, and submitted Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to police departments across B.C. to access drug seizure data. They have further presented the evaluation design and preliminary results to various audiences.

The next update is expected in Fall 2024.

For more information

Additional information about this project can be found on the OCRINT webpage as well as the CIHR website.

More information on CIHR's Research in Substance Use initiative can be found online or email rsu-rst@cihr-irsc.gc.ca.

For more information, visit CIHR's Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction or email INMHA-INSMT@cihr-irsc.gc.ca.

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