Media Critique: (15%) The purpose of this assignment is to link concepts learned in class with “real world” examples. In comparison to a term paper assignment, this is an informal writing exercise. Yo

Judd, A., & Robinson, K. (2023, January 31). B.C.'s 3-year experiment with drug decriminalization starts Tuesday. Global News. Retrieved March 21, 2023, from https://globalnews.ca/news/9446093/bc-drug-decriminalization-tuesday-update/  

In this article the B.C. government outlines the three-year trail for the drug decriminalization, which explained how adults with up to two-and-a-half grams of drugs will not be arrested or charged. The goal for them doing this is to help save lives because since 2016 toxic drugs have killed up to 11,000 people. Some of the things the province has done is expanded counselling services, opened 14 foundry youth centers, and invested more into treatment and recovery centers. Global News spoke to a former addict who said that illicit drugs should not be available on the streets since it could cause more deaths. Another step they are doing is with the Vancouver police which will be working with them to focus on violent and organized crime instead of addicts. NDP Mental Health and Harm reductions Critic Gord Johns says that the decriminalization approach should be all across Canada which will help with our health care system due to the fact that emergency rooms are full of addicts and mental health patients which is turning other people away. So, the main thing I see in the article is that we need way more focus and money on mental health and addiction services but taking this step to decriminalize is a good first step.  

I chose this article because I personally believe what B.C. is doing is a really good idea. I struggled with addiction for years and while in my addiction i went to treatment three times throughout those thirteen years and got a criminal record along the way due to my addiction. I know for a fact if I wasn’t in my addiction trying to get my next fix I would have never committed any crimes and I know many others who have been convicted of drug possession even when it was for personal use. I have lost so many friends due to overdoses these past years due to the fact they were waiting months to get into treatment centers or months to get mental health support. So I think with B.C. taking this step will help reduce the stigma and shame around drug use and help people access services that will save their lives. I am looking forward to following this the next few years and seeing if this really will save more lives but at this point I think anything they do will help our society and save the lives of B.C. residents. 

In class when we talked about chapter one, we talked about The Conflict Perspective and how in society we have many different social groups and how in each group their definition of right or wrong is different from other groups. So when we look at addicts who live on streets for example and see how different their right and wrong is and how its all about survival. We see how high the crime rate is down there but it’s the life down there. In class we also talked about why people commit crimes and if there circumstances were different if they still would. In class we also talked about the legalization of hard drugs and if it should happen. We talked about what deviant behaviour is and how it means people actively violating social norms and addiction is a good example of that. We also talked about who’s responsible the individual or society and when we look at how many people we have lost just in B.C. not all of Canada we need to see that it isn’t all about the individual, society has a huge role to play. When we look at victimization and how it effects individuals and how society has deemed people good or bad, we notice that society has counted these people out. 

I believe that with this step the government took with decriminalization of hard drugs will help with the crime rate and not flooding our court and jails with addicts that are committing crimes under the influence and instead help them get into treatment and mental health support they need. This is just the first step the rest we need to do is get more housing, treatment, rehabilitation after being incarcerated. We need to start looking at these offenders and see all the aspects that are making them do the crimes they are doing. I still have some questions when it comes to this new law and how they will enforce it and what other steps they have in place?