A report to the Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners states that charging people for simple drug possession is ineffective in deterring them from using substances. The report suggests decriminalization of drug possession helps to reduce overdose deaths and doesn’t lead to increased drug use.

There were 67 confirmed overdose deaths in Saskatoon in 2020, with the numbers rising since the onset of the pandemic. Between May 25th and 30th of this year, Medavie reported responding to 21 overdose calls. Compare that to 11 overdose calls in total for the month of May in 2019.

The report states that criminalizing drug possession encourages less safe use of substances and if you want to look at it from the economic point of view, it can save money. In Portugal, the per capita social cost of substance use dropped by 18 per cent following decriminalization efforts. In a more local example, the average cost to the government for an individual being in prison for a year, as of the 2018/2019 fiscal year, is almost $65,000.