The city of Toronto has officially voted to decriminalize drugs.
This is the follow-up to last week’s news of a report from Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health recommending that the city should formally apply for the federal exemption to decriminalize possession of small amounts of illegal drugs in Toronto. Last week’s news also showed a serious move up the levels of bureaucracy, with city-wide decrim being supported by both the Toronto police chief, the national association of police chiefs, and Mayor John Tory.
So after months of hard work and public lobbying, yesterday we got the final vote — and Toronto’s Board of Health voted unanimously to request that the federal government give Toronto the right to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of drugs.
The board has requested that the city’s medical officer submit an application to Health Canada for an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. This is the final step from the city’s end — a major achievement to get city-wide support. The final decision now rests with the federal government.
Toronto joins Vancouver as Canadian cities that’ve requested this exemption.
The decrim movement just took another solid step forward. Stay tuned.