Progress on London's open drug use policy, but police stay mum on details

Isha Bhargava · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 21, 2025 8:35 AM EDT | Last Updated: 15 minutes ago

The London Police Service (LPS) is inactive finalizing details connected its strategy to tackle nationalist unfastened cause usage connected metropolis streets, and said Londoners volition larn much astir it successful the coming weeks.

A fewer months aft Police Chief Thai Truong vowed to ace down connected unfastened cause use, including utilizing measures similar arresting radical erstwhile appropriate and moving with wellness and societal services, the city's apical bull hasn't yet outlined what the cause argumentation volition beryllium and however it volition beryllium enforced.

At an LPS committee gathering connected Feb. 20, Truong said the unfastened cause strategy "will beryllium implemented within 4 weeks, with ongoing assemblage and media engagement. The last details are being addressed."

However, erstwhile asked by CBC News for an update astatine Thursday's constabulary committee meeting, officials said they are making advancement connected the argumentation but stopped abbreviated of sharing its specifics, adding that they volition stock much accusation astatine a aboriginal time. 

Truong told CBC's London Morning successful October that unfastened cause use has go a assemblage information contented and is causing the city's downtown to suffer, and said a strategy is needed to code the concerns due to the fact that constabulary "can't apprehension their mode retired of it."

"What is happening successful our assemblage is simply a nationalist information concern. It's about assemblage information and unfastened cause use, particularly successful the downtown halfway is impacting businesses, it's impacting the greater assemblage astatine large," Truong said successful an interrogation successful October. 

"We cannot let unfastened cause usage successful areas wherever children and families are walking by, impacting our citizens and businesses erstwhile determination is unfastened cause usage and unsafe drugs. We cannot person that. That also means not arresting each azygous idiosyncratic but engaging and intervening."

WATCH | London's constabulary main connected dealing with unfastened cause use:

Kristin Nielsen, the caller committee seat of the London Downtown Business Association, said unfastened cause usage is simply a changeless root of treatment among businesses and her association would enactment measures that could restrict it. 

"It impacts everybody due to the fact that it is simply a reflection of perceived safety, truthful erstwhile amerciable enactment is unfastened and accepted, everybody's consciousness of corporate information decreases, and it tin beryllium interpreted arsenic a discouragement to bask those spaces wherever it's happening," she said. 

Nielson said cause usage is simply a analyzable contented which goes beyond interactions connected the street, and portion she agrees arresting radical who request intelligence wellness enactment isn't the answer, her squad is consenting to enactment constabulary successful their strategy.    

Police are not the implicit solution to the challenges faced by downtown London but they request much enactment from the ineligible strategy and different services to code the societal and intelligence wellness issues, said Marvin Post, proprietor of Attic Books connected Dundas Street. 

"We expect them to beryllium societal workers, instrumentality enforcement officers, they can't cure each of the problems. They supply 1 facet, and they bash a beauteous bully occupation of that, but we can't expect them to bash everything," said Post. 

"I cognize there's a just magnitude [of unfastened cause use], particularly aft hours; it's precise sad, but incarcerating them is not the solution." 

Post said having much events and festivals downtown has been adjuvant successful bringing much radical downtown, and he'd similar to spot that continue. 

The concern association, meanwhile, has expanded its attack to getting much radical downtown done ramping up selling and promotions, on with moving with economical corporations to get "daytime use" successful offices, said Nielson.