Opinion: Criminalizing drug use won't solve addiction

The following article by Guy Fellicella was originally published in the Calgary Herald's online opinion section on Oct 1, 2025 before being removed over the Oct 11-13th long weekend. It is reprinted here with the permission of the original writer.

I almost spit out my coffee when I read the headline and premise of last week’s opinion column by Marshall Smith, the former chief of staff to the premier of Alberta: “Banning public drug use is bold, courageous and obvious.”

I’ve been sober for more than 12 years. Before that, I spent three decades on the streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, struggling with my mental health, in and out of recovery for heroin use, and sent to jail and drug court more than once for the things I did to feed my addiction. I can tell you: there’s never been an unwillingness in this country to criminalize people who are struggling, but in my 40+ years of addiction and recovery, I see that it’s easier now than ever to punch down on our most vulnerable.

Take, for example, comments made recently by Fox News host Brian Kilmeade on how to deal with people who are homeless and mentally ill. “Involuntary lethal injection or something,” he suggested. “Just kill ’em.” The other Fox hosts on the couch didn’t bat an eye. After a mild backlash, Kilmeade filmed a smooth apology video, and all was forgiven. It was a notable pass since people were being fired at the same time — even in Canada — for admitting they hadn’t agreed with slain political activist Charlie Kirk. But I wasn’t surprised, given how often I’m called a junkie and told I should have died, or the way politicians like Pierre Poilievre and B.C. Conservative John Rustad label overdose prevention programs “drug dens.”

So no, it does not take courage to suggest banning public drug use; it’s a popular hot take among pundits. The silliest part about these “bold, courageous” calls for drug prohibition? Public drug use is already banned everywhere in Canada. Our federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act criminalizes possession and use of illicit substances, including in public spaces, across the country. In B.C., we had a blink-and-you’d-miss-it trial of decriminalizing possession of small amounts of illicit drugs. But the 14-month pilot was rolled back before we could even assess whether it encouraged people to come out of hiding and seek help.

So while Smith’s simplistic solution might seem obvious, it’s not. Like others who seek to politicize this crisis, he leaves out the critical defining detail: the contaminated and unpredictable illicit drug supply.

Today’s illegal drugs are not the comparatively unproblematic heroin or cocaine of the past — heroin isn’t even available anymore. Instead, we have a dangerous soup of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, carfentanil and nitazenes, mixed with benzodiazepines and vet tranquillizers. They are far more potent, deadly and addictive. Some combinations are almost impossible to quit; detox requires 24-hour supervision to prevent death.

As Smith points out, addiction is a health issue, yet he wants to criminalize it further. Two parts of his threefold plan — punishing drug users, and ensuring police and peace officers have more tools to punish them with — will only drive people back into secrecy. That isn’t compassion, it’s a death sentence. Work is already underway on the third part of his plan, access to treatment and recovery is being scaled up in Alberta and B.C. … but you can’t treat people who are dead.

Courage is about doing the hard thing in the face of adversity. In today’s political climate, it’s easy to cheer for more enforcement against drug users and for abandoning them to deadly consequences if they don’t comply.

The hard thing is to seek and support solutions that keep people alive, to advocate for a full spectrum of programs — from outreach and harm reduction, to detox, recovery, mental health care, housing and employment. And then to be willing to provide it all again if they fail the first time. That’s courageous. That’s bold. That’s what we need to solve this crisis.

Guy Felicella is a peer clinical adviser in harm reduction, a recovery advocate and public speaker based in Vancouver.