Earlier this month, Research Co. conducted a survey on behalf of the Save Our Streets (SOS) Coalition. Some of the findings were not surprising, such as having a majority of the province’s residents (55 per cent) say that criminal activity has increased in their community or seeing more than four in five (84 per cent) favour investing in new and enhanced facilities for the care of people experiencing mental health problems.

Two aspects of the survey are decidedly eye-opening: A clear province-wide consensus on specific matters related to addiction and treatment, and an extremely low level of confidence in the justice system.

More than four in five British Columbians (82 per cent) describe addiction to opioids as a health issue and just over two thirds (67 per cent, up six points since May 2023) say the current situation related to the use of prescription and non-prescription opioid drugs in their community is a “major problem.”

The issue of decriminalization has long been discussed along partisan lines. More than half of British Columbians (58 per cent, up eight points) disagree with carrying on with a process that would essentially allow any drug to be readily available for personal use. This includes majorities of respondents who voted for the BC Liberals (59 per cent), the BC Green Party (52 per cent) and the BC NDP (51 per cent) in the 2020 provincial........

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