Published Thursday, January 28, 2021 3:20PM EST TORONTO - The scourge of overdose deaths underscores the need for Canada to decriminalize simple possession of hard drugs, the head of the national chiefs of police association said on Thursday. In urging action, Bryan Larkin noted that overdose deaths are outpacing those from the COVID-19 pandemic and homicides in British Columbia and likely Ontario. “Over the last six years, 18,000 Canadians have lost their lives to drug addiction,” Larkin said. “If 18,000 people lost their lives in traffic collisions, our country and our communities would not accept that. There would be outcry.” Larkin, president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, made his comments at a virtual forum called “Policing 2021.” The issue of decriminalization - as was the case with cannabis - is “polarizing” both within society and within police ranks, he said.
Op-ed: Kicking Toronto’s addiction to big police budgets
The political fear of being seen as “soft on crime” often runs so deep that it overtakes more sensible and less expensive community safety responses to policing By Abby Deshman and Akwasi Owusu-Bempah
Jan 26, 2021
We’re asking our police to do too much. And Toronto city council has the opportunity to put in place better – and cheaper – ways to keep people safe.
A report released in early January provided a roadmap to alternatives. It outlines numerous ways for the city to reallocate resources now used to send police into settings they aren’t adequately trained for and refocus those funds on providing emergency response and support services that are proven to produce better outcomes. The report, called Rethinking Community Safety, brings forward non-police alternatives that are already well established in other cities and can readily be implemented here.
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For more than a decade, Perth OPP officers have been dealing with the devastating impact methamphetamine has on the community.
It’s now one of the most prevalent substances in the Canadian illicit drug market with an increase in the use, trafficking, importation and production of methamphetamine.
Perth OPP collaborates with local health agencies and community partners on a continual basis to educate the public on the dangers associated with the use of meth.
And now, the service is partnering with Crime Stoppers Canada and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police to launch a national public awareness campaign about the threat posed by methamphetamine.
As COVID-19 cases spike in some regions, public health officials say more needs to be done to ensure people are complying with health measures meant to slow the spread of the virus, but experts say the role of police should be examined.