Saskatoon’s Board of Police Commissioners will seek more information on the decriminalization of personal possession for illicit drugs.

This comes after a nearly two hour discussion last week after Superintendent Patrick Nogier  and Barb Fornssler with the University of Saskatchewan’s School of Public Health presented a report.

The board had asked last year for a report looking into more options and ways to expand harm reduction programs.

Superintendent Nogier says they have been in touch with authorities in Vancouver on what decriminalization means to the community and the importance of having law enforcement take part in the initiative.

“Some of the feedback we got from Chief (Adam) Palmer with respect to the necessity and need to have law enforcement participation because you start talking about threshold quantities, trying to get your head around what does 4.5 grams of fentanyl versus 4.5 grams of cannabis mean to an individual. What does it mean to a community when you consider trafficking charges and the impact those drugs are having in your communities.”

The information from the report will now be shared with stakeholders including the Saskatchewan Drug Task Force.

It was noted in the report that many drug possession charges never make it through the courts with about 78 per cent of those sort cases last year either being stayed, dismissed or withdrawn.

In 2021, 101 people were charged with drug possession in Saskatoon.

Both Vancouver and Toronto have formally made requests to the federal government to be excused from simple possession laws.

The report from Nogier and Fornssler recommends that the City of Saskatoon apply to the federal government to receive a municipal exemption from the country’s national drug laws to decriminalize possession of illicit substances.

Decriminalization will be discussed by the board again in the coming months when a new report is presented.