This is Vanese Ferguson with Coffee Talk.

British Columbia has been granted a federal exemption to remove criminal penalties for people who possess a small amount of some illicit substances for personal use. The issue hinges on the complexity of addiction, which includes stigma, marginalization of drug users. Decriminalization is seen by those who are in favour as a way to provide an increase in access to drug treatment and it keeps people who have a problem, out of jail. The BC exemption does not apply to those who produce and traffic drugs.  Some feel it is a chicken and egg issue. We decriminalized cannabis and marijuana use as long as it is obtained from outlets supplying product approved by Health Canada. Did this cut back on the black market marijuana production, I would suggest not at all. But I would also suggest it has opened up drug use, approved drug use, to a whole plethora of people who may not have imbibed if it was a criminal act. And the number of people using cannabis and driving, at least those now being caught, is definitely up.  The Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners has been contemplating the issue and in April a report to the Board indicated that many drug possession charges never make it through the courts with about 78 per cent of those sorts of cases last year either being stayed, dismissed or withdrawn. So while Saskatoon may be home to the province’s first safe injection site, no decision has been made as to what is next in this province. However, the information presented to the police commission in April will now be shared with stakeholders including the Saskatchewan Drug Task Force, but don’t expect a decision anytime soon.