About the Pill Press and Related Equipment Control Act

The Pill Press and Related Equipment Control Act is designed to address British Columbia’s unique position in the nationwide opioid crisis by disrupting criminal access to equipment used to make tablets and capsules.

The Act sets out comprehensive legislation to help law enforcement address the fentanyl crisis in British Columbia. The Act:

• Restricts the ownership, possession, use, and sale of equipment that has the potential to be used to make counterfeit pills and provides a definition of “Controlled Equipment” to that effect
• Permits the Registrar to establish a registry for each piece of Controlled Equipment which tracks it throughout the equipment’s life cycle, including its ownership and location
• Creates three categories of owners: Authorized Owners, Registered Sellers¹, and Waiver Holders
• Sets record keeping and notice requirements applicable to each owner category
• Establishes application, grant, refusal, suspension, cancellation and reconsideration processes for waivers and registrations
• Provides administrative and enforcement authority for implementation of the Act
• Grants inspectors powers to seek and gather information, monitor compliance and seize Controlled Equipment in certain circumstances while exercising a power of inspection or enforcement under the Act, another enactment of British Columbia, an enactment of Canada or a court order
• Creates penalties for offences which may result in fines, terms of imprisonment, or both; and
• Includes transitional provisions regarding the ownership and sale of Controlled Equipment before and after the Act comes into force