Regina police outline 3 options for decriminalizing drugs
The road to decriminalizing drugs in Regina is being paved.
On Tuesday, the Board of Police Commissioners met to discuss the possibility of decriminalizing personal illicit drug possession in the city of Regina.
In August 2021, a motion was passed asking the Regina Police Service (RPS) to look into what the impacts of decriminalizing drug possession would have in Regina, and if it would be feasible to facilitate.
In response, the RPS worked alongside the Saskatoon Police Service and Barbara Fornssler, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan, to see what options could be available for Regina.
Fornssler presented a report outlining three potential options on Tuesday:
- Status quo: choose not to explore decriminalization and see if changes in overdose deaths, incarceration rates, etc., change
- De facto decriminalization: law enforcement officers would refrain from imposing criminal charges to those possessing personal amounts of a substance.
- De jure decriminalization: simple drug possession is decriminalized.
Fornssler’s research suggests that if people are not threatened by criminal charges, they are more likely to seek help, especially when it comes to substance abuse.
Decriminalizing possession of personal amounts of drugs is not turning a blind eye to illicit drugs, the meeting notes stated, but ensuring those people who possess them are not threatened by being arrested.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Calgary police shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers dealt with a distraught individual. The incident lasted almost 20 hours.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.