In potentially groundbreaking decision, B.C. judge says jail no answer for addicts who traffic fentanyl

A Vancouver Island judge says the province's courts need to reconsider sentencing ranges that make it almost a certainty addicts caught dealing fentanyl to support a drug habit are sent to jail.

In a ruling likely to send shockwaves through B.C.'s justice system, Campbell River Provincial Court Judge Barbara Flewelling broke with years of precedent set by B.C.'s top court last week — suspending sentence for a woman who was facing up to three years in jail for trafficking in fentanyl, placing her on probation instead.

Sarah Runyon, the defence lawyer who won the case, said the ruling has the potential to be groundbreaking.

"It's really just forcing the court to step back and say, 'Wait a minute, are we really just playing whack-a-mole here?' Taking one marginalized street person, throw them into custody, somebody else pops up, and what problem are we really solving?" Runyon told the CBC.

"It's important because it's re-evaluating our approach to punishing people who use drugs and sell drugs to survive."

The decision centred around the harrowing testimony of Tanya Lee Ellis, a 43-year-old addict who sold spitballs containing fentanyl to an undercover RCMP officer in late 2019.

The Crown was asking for a three year prison sentence.

According to Flewelling, Ellis testified candidly about her life and her addiction. She grew up watching her father assault her mother. She was introduced to crack cocaine by an older man in Grade 8, and she started using heroin in her 20s.

The father of her two daughters spent significant time in jail before dying of a suspected overdose two days after they had both completed treatment at a five-day residential facility. She was heartbroken.

She told the judge what it's like to be addicted, arms scarred so badly she has to wear long sleeves.

"My veins are collapsed … I ... have to go in my feet sometimes which is painful …its horrible ... then try to smoke and ... it just doesn't do it.  I try and try for hours, sometimes bleeding everywhere … in the hot bath to try and bring my veins out, drink water, whatever I can do.  But still it's …  absolutely disgusting," Ellis said.

Ellis had one prior conviction for trafficking almost 20 years ago and numerous busts for shoplifting since. She has spent a total of 240 days in jail spread over two decades and has been on constant probational supervision.

"When asked why time in jail hasn't stopped her from being addicted, she testified that she cleans up but comes back to the same problems and the same struggles," Flewelling wrote.

"She appeared very sad and defeated."