Category: Advocacy

Vancouver model for decriminalization Vancouver model for decriminalization

We write now to urge you to develop a “Vancouver Model” for decriminalization that is appropriately broad and responds to the aspirations and needs of people who use drugs: principally, an exemption must apply to all substances scheduled under the CDSA, to all quantities of substances where possession is for personal use (regardless of the amount possessed), to all instances of transferring drugs (e.g,. splitting, sharing, selling) of quantities below specified thresholds, and must not include other unnecessary restrictions or conditions (administrative or otherwise) that would undermine the benefits of decriminalization.

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decriminalizing drugs in vancouver decriminalizing drugs in vancouver

open letter to alberta government, open letter to alberta government

Add your name to the form below to sign on to the open letter.

READ MORE: Canada’s busiest supervised consumption site shuts its doors on International Overdose Awareness Day

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chiefs of police call for decriminalization, chiefs of police call for decriminalization

Yesterday, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) released a report calling for an end to the criminalization of simple drug possession (i.e. possession for personal use). Police chiefs across the country “agree the evidence suggests, and numerous Canadian health leaders support, decriminalization for simple possession as an effective way to reduce the public health and public safety harms associated with substance use.” The report affirms that a “compelling case” has been made for “transformative change” to Canada’s current approach to drug possession. We welcome this important acknowledgement by law enforcement and urge the federal government to decriminalize now.

Support for change is growing. Public health experts and civil society organizations across the country have long called for drug decriminalization. Now the CACP has publicly added its voice to the call to end the criminalization of simple possession. The way forward is clear: We need full decriminalization that leaves behind any and all criminal sanctions and other penalties for the offence of possession.

Our current system of criminalization causes myriad harms to public health and to racialized communities, including the over policing and prosecution of Black and Indigenous communities. Criminalization is rooted in, and also drives, stigma and racism. This is wrong and must end.

In Canada, there is a simple and immediate remedy to the harms of punitive drug policy. Federal Minister of Health Patty Hajdu can effectively decriminalize simple drug possession by granting a nation-wide exemption from this offence under section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. There is no need, nor any excuse, for delay, particularly amid unprecedented overdose deaths. We call for greater investment in health services, including culturally sensitive harm reduction and treatment options, and for action to ensure a safer supply of drugs than the toxic illegal market. But these measures must happen in addition to — not instead of — immediate decriminalization. We can and must remove all penalties, whether criminal, administrative, or other, for simple drug possession now.

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Bill 22 letter, bill 22 letter

We write with urgency regarding Bill 22 – 2020: Mental Health Amendment Act, introduced in the Legislative Assembly of BC last week and scheduled for second reading on July 6, 2020. As BC-based organizations whose mandates include furthering evidence-based drug policy and ending the harms of drug prohibition, Pivot Legal Society and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC) urge you to do everything in your power to stop the passage of Bill 22 into law.

Bill 22 directly undermines the public health, safety, and rights of youth who use drugs. It rolls back BC’s progress in responding to the ongoing opioid crisis, particularly during increased public health risks due to COVID-19 that have exacerbated the impact of a poisoned drug supply. As BC’s Chief Coroner already brought to your attention, “there is the potential for serious unintended consequences as a result of [Bill 22’s] legislative amendments, including the potential for an increase in fatalities.” Pivot and CDPC echo this caution and offer additional context for the health harms that Bill 22 would present, if enacted…” [Read More]

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drug decriminalization covid 19 drug decriminalization covid 19

Sign on to the letter

“The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed stark health inequities and the many structural factors that increase people’s vulnerability to the virus. People who use drugs, and particularly those who are homeless or precariously housed, are more likely to have chronic health issues that will increase their risk of experiencing severe complications should they contract COVID-19. To minimize the risk of transmission and other drug-related health risks, public health officials have urged people who use drugs to continue using harm reduction services, including overdose prevention sites and supervised consumption sites.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 has forced many harm reduction sites across the country to close or reduce the scope of their services, and people who use drugs are navigating new gaps not only in the drug supply chain but also in the resources and supports they rely on, increasing their risk of HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) infection, overdose, and other harms to their health. Moreover, it is well established that continued police enforcement of simple drug possession laws and the attendant fear of arrest pushes people who use drugs to do so in isolation and compromises their ability to take critical safety precautions. This includes by deterring access to harm reduction services, to which people who use drugs cannot legally travel while in possession of the substances they wish to use there.”

bc yukon open letter bc yukon open letter bc yukon open letter bc yukon open letter

There is growing concern among people who live and work in high-risk and high-density settings in the province that not enough is being done to prevent a deadly outbreak of COVID-19 amongst these populations. Marginalized communities, including people who use drugs, those affected by homelessness, and those who are incarcerated will disproportionately bear the burden of the virus, while receiving the fewest supports to ensure their health and safety.

BC Yukon Association of Drug War Survivors, along with many other groups from around the province including the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, Pivot Legal Society, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, Disability Alliance BC, BC Government and Service Employees’ Union and health professionals are calling on the Province to use its emergency powers to do the following:

1. ensure that the level of Provincial attention and resources provided to prisons, homeless shelters, reserves, and high-density and high-risk hubs such as the Downtown Eastside is the same as that being offered to the rest of the population, including in long-term care settings;
2. recommend that the Minister of Health order the immediate suspension of municipal bylaws that sanction the displacement of people sheltering in public spaces;
3. recommend that the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General direct police forces immediately, and for the duration of both public health emergencies (overdose and COVID-19), to cease the enforcement of simple possession and related offences; and
4. ensure that prescribers and their colleges are following the new Guidelines for Risk Mitigation in the Context of Dual Public Health Emergencies to saving lives.