Despite admitting decriminalizing drugs was the “wrong” move, and reversing much of it under public pressure, the B.C. government is still refusing to say whether it will ask Ottawa for permission to keep the experiment alive.

The three-year pilot project expires Jan. 31. B.C. requires a federal exemption to continue allowing people with small amounts of illegal drugs like cocaine, meth and fentanyl, to possess those drugs without the threat of criminal prosecution.

Yet with less than a month to go, the same government that publicly disowned the policy says it has yet to make up its mind on if it should continue.

“At this point no decisions have been made regarding the future of the decriminalization pilot,” the Health Ministry said in a statement.

That alone is a surprising statement from the administration of Premier David Eby.

He’s admitted publicly that decriminalization was a failure. His government begged Ottawa to recriminalize drugs in public places barely 18 months into the experiment. And there are virtually no allies left for the idea, after police, municipalities and businesses pulled their support following a public backlash over rising open drug use in parks and on city streets.

Despite all that, the government insists it has made “no decisions” on whether it wants........

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