For all the general talk about destigmatizing opioid use, it’s mostly related to one particular sub-set of users.

It’s the ordinary citizen — working taxpayers who are using quietly and ­surreptitiously. The worry is that fear of charges by police and ­incurring revulsion from their family stops them from admitting their problem. So when they overdose in crisis, that shame stops them from calling for help. So they die from trying to avoid humiliation, as much as toxic drugs.

Decriminalization arose from the view that ­destigmatizing was essential. But the NDP government was forced to abandon it by the much more obvious cohort of people with ­addictions. It consists of those so entrenched in addiction they are inhaling dangerous drugs in restaurants, parks and on public transit, sometimes oblivious to their surroundings. (Officials have been stressing permanent brain damage lately as another side-effect of the increasing toxicity.)

“We had some unintended consequences,” Premier David Eby said this week, discussing the difference in the two types of users.

With decriminalization now abandoned, it makes you wonder if the principle behind it is up for discussion.

The Michael Smith ­Foundation for Health Research commissioned a research paper........

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