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Public drug use is now banned in Kamloops as the city responds to decriminalization across the province, but some on council expect legal challenges.

Councillor Nancy Bepple was the only council member to voice opposition to the bylaw before the vote this afternoon, Sept. 12. She's concerned the bylaw banning public drug use would only create more danger for drug users.

"I just see it as extremely problematic," she said. "I can't accept that we take this approach that every place in Kamloops that's public is going to be banned. We will be forcing people into dark alleys and washrooms, in places where they will still use, but they will be unsafe."

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The bylaw has been discussed since March when councillor Katie Neustaeter proposed a notice of motion that would ban the use of now-decriminalized drugs from public areas. The proposal was refined to a final vote today, which will now only give exemptions to drug use in publicly-operated safe consumption sites.

As Bepple voiced her opposition, she acknowledged that it's "difficult" to see people using in public, but she drew parallels to a BC Supreme Court ruling that blocks municipalities from restricting homeless people from setting up their own shelter on public property.

"The (Point in Time homeless) count said 80% of unhoused people have a substance use issue, so we know this bylaw will be targeting them," Bepple said, adding that she expects there will be a legal challenge to the City's new bylaw.

She and Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson also noted there are no safe consumption sites that allow for inhalation, although that is the most common way of using illicit drugs in BC.

Others largely spoke in favour of the new bylaw, with one councillor encouraging a legal challenge.

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"We were going softer earlier," councillor Bill Sarai said. "I'm saying hell, let's get it to the courts because the more we push back, the more attention the government gets that what it's doing is not working."

Decriminalization of certain illicit drugs started in January and is set to continue until 2026 across BC as the province faces continued record-breaking overdose and toxic drug deaths.

While the new provincial policy allows for possession of up to 2.5 grams of certain drugs, like cocaine and methamphetamine, the new bylaw restricts the use of those drugs across the city. Bylaw officers or RCMP will have the authority to remove someone from a property and potentially issue tickets.

Coun. Bepple spoke about similar bylaws passed in other cities like Nelson and Pitt Meadows that largely restrict drug use in parks, while the Kamloops bylaw applies to anywhere not exempted as Crown or health authority property.

Acting bylaw manager Will Beatty said the community service officers will first try to educate drug users about the bylaw and where they should go, rather than jumping to an enforcement approach.

"We don't instantly go up rough with the vulnerable population. We're there from a compassionate end to make sure they understand where these safe consumption sites are and how to get to them," he said.

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