Lynne Belle-Isle

Canadian AIDS Society

Steering Committee Chair

Lynne Belle-Isle, PhD, is a National Programs Manager with the Canadian AIDS Society and a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Addictions Research of BC. Her work and research focuses on harm reduction programs and practices in Canada, the inclusion of people who use drugs in decisions that affect them, and policy and regulation of cannabis for medical purposes. She headed a project on Learning from Each Other: Enhancing Community-Based Harm Reduction Programs and Practices in Canada (2008), with Walter Cavalieri, Director of the Canadian Harm Reduction Network. She was involved in consulting community-based service organizations to determine how best to assist them in Enhancing Capacity to Provide Services to People who Use Substances (2010). She headed a project and published the results in AIDS Care on “Barriers to access to medical cannabis for Canadians living with HIV/AIDS” in April 2007. This work led to collaboration on future surveys as part of the Cannabis Access for Medical Purposes (CAMPS) Study (2014) and the ongoing Cannabis Access Regulations (CANARY) Study. This work has been used in various court cases challenging the constitutionality of the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations. She has been working with the Canadian Association of People who Use Drugs (CAPUD) to help them organize at the national level. Their document, Peerology: A guide by and for people who use drugs on how to get involved (2015), offers tips on how to include people who use drugs in decisions that affect them.