Parliamentary Committee Notes: Law Enforcement Of Opioids
Date: 2022/04/26
Classification: Unclassified
Fully releasable (ATIP)? Yes
RCMP
Proposed Response:
- The Government of Canada is committed to protecting Canadians from the devastating harms associated with the opioid overdose crisis. Canada’s response to this crisis, and problematic substance use in general, is guided by the federal Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy that is both comprehensive and evidence-based.
- The Government has put in place concrete resources to interdict and stop the flow of illegal drug trafficking at our borders. For example, to detect drug smuggling, CBSA officers use proven indicators, advance information, intelligence, technology and information-sharing to carry out their mandate.
- The Government has increased the CBSA’s capacity to intercept these substances, including:
- equipping ports of entry with equipment to examine toxic goods;
- launching regional drug screening facilities staffed by field chemists in high-risk locations; and,
- deploying more detector dog teams to identify fentanyl.
- As Canada’s national police service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police detects, investigates and disrupts criminal threats to public safety by targeting transnational serious and organized crime groups involved in the production and trafficking of illegal substances, including opioids.
- The RCMP has strong partnerships and works closely with foreign and domestic law enforcement partners to curtail the opioid threat.
- At the same time, Public Safety Canada has invested $4.5 million on two key initiatives:
- first, drug stigma awareness training specifically for law enforcement, which is helping to reduce stigma-related barriers that prevent people who use drugs from accessing care and supports.
- second, a series of national Law Enforcement Roundtables on Drugs, with a particular focus on the opioid overdose crisis to make sure that law enforcement have the information they need and knowledge of best practices to address the crisis.
- As we continue to respond to the opioid overdose crisis, our Government remains committed to addressing the illegal drug supply and targeting the organized criminal networks involved in this market to keep Canadians healthy and safe.
Background:
The opioid overdose crisis is a complex and multi-faceted issue that has devastating consequences for people who use drugs, their families and communities. Between January 2016 and September 2021, 26,690 Canadians died of an apparent opioid-related overdose. While Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario account for 88% of all of the opioid toxicity deaths that occurred during this period, all provinces and territories reported higher rates of opioid toxicity harms throughout 2020 and 2021.
The Government of Canada is committed to addressing substance use through the Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy, which is a comprehensive, collaborative, compassionate, and evidence-based approach coalescing on four pillars: prevention, treatment, harm reduction and enforcement. Enforcement is a critical pillar that targets illegal drug production, supply and distribution, and the smuggling of opioids across borders. This is a whole-of-government approach to better meet the needs of people struggling with problematic substance use and prevent the harms associated with the increasingly toxic illegal supply of drugs, as well as challenges associated with accessing treatment and harm reduction services.
Reports indicate that the street-level drug supply is increasingly contaminated and toxic, as potent poly-drug combinations are introduced into the market. While the drug supply is commonly contaminated with fentanyl, it may also be contaminated with cocaine, methamphetamine, etizolam, or other substances. Moreover, carfentanil and other highly potent fentanyl analogues are also increasingly available at the street-level, even as drug traffickers introduce new and equally potent synthetic opioids into the supply. The COVID-19 pandemic has also affected the modus operandi of drug traffickers as they have adapted to the impacts of border and travel restrictions and increased use of other conveyances and methods for trafficking drugs (e.g., postal/courier services, surface and dark web, commercial trucks etc.).
Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC) assesses that there are likely more than 2,000 organized crime groups (OCGs) involved in illegal drugs in Canada, with the majority relying upon illegal drug markets as their primary source of revenue. While most OCGs are implicated in multiple subsets of the market (cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, cannabis), distribution remains the most prevalent role. Since 2015, the number of OCGs involved in the fentanyl market has risen to over 250 (increase of over 1,500%), and evolved from fentanyl importation networks to ones involved in the domestic manufacturing of fentanyl. Relatedly, the number of fentanyl-related precursors imported into Canada and the amount of fentanyl produced in laboratories dismantled by Canadian law enforcement currently exceeds estimated domestic consumption levels, suggesting that Canada is becoming an exporter of fentanyl.
To address opioids and other harmful substances, the RCMP’s Federal Policing program is committed to detecting, investigating, and disrupting the most significant criminal threats to public safety in Canada, including the illegal fentanyl market. The RCMP’s intelligence and investigative efforts target all aspects of the illegal drug market to disrupt the involvement of key transnational serious and organized crime groups in the production and trafficking of drugs, including fentanyl, which is a key driver of the opioid overdose crisis.
Public Safety Canada (PS), the RCMP and the CBSA also work closely with domestic and international partners to counter opioid threats through numerous forums and initiatives. Key operational and strategic collaborative forums include the National Precursor Chemical Diversion Program, Canada-U.S. Action Plan on Opioids, and North American Drug Dialogue.
PS continues to work to address the increasingly toxic supply of illegal substances, including fentanyl. This work involves supporting law and border enforcement to address the import, production and distribution of illegal drugs and engaging with its Portfolio and international partners to advance policies to mitigate the harms posed by these substances. For example, this work includes developing policy responses to address the trafficking of illegal substances via the domestic postal system, as well as through the surface web, which is exploited by organized crime and criminal entrepreneurs to traffic illegal drugs, including opioids.
The Province of British Columbia, the City of Toronto, and the City of Vancouver have submitted applications to the federal Minister of Health to exempt adults 18 years of age and older from the simple possession offence in section 4(1) of the of the Controlled Drug and Substances Act. The PS Portfolio is working with Health Canada as part of the consideration of this request. PS is also compiling key considerations that speak to the anticipated impact of such alternatives on public safety and law enforcement through a federal/provincial/territorial working group.
Contacts:
Prepared by: Andrea Howard, Executive Director, Strategic Policy, 343-573-5285
Approved by: Alison Whelan, Chief Strategic Policy and External Relations Officer, 613-808-7517
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