VANCOUVER, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The western Canadian province of British Columbia on Tuesday began a three-year pilot program to stop prosecuting people for carrying small amounts of heroin, meth, ecstasy, or crack cocaine, as part of an effort to fight a drug overdose crisis.

The province says the exemption is intended to reduce the stigma associated with substance use and to make it easier for people to approach authorities for guidance.

Robert Schwartz, a professor at the University of Toronto, said the measure was commendable as a first step, but that more needed to be done to tackle the drug problem.

Many health experts argue decriminalization would encourage drug users to use them in safer spaces where they can access medical care.

Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa and Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto Editing by Deepa Babington

[1/5] Dave Hamm, an ethical substance peer navigator with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), weighs a piece of rock cocaine as the province of British Columbia decriminalized the possession of small amounts of cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA and opioids like heroin, fentanyl and morphine, in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada January 31, 2023.