On April 10, 2026, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC) submitted recommendations to the Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement on the disproportionate harms that Canada’s drug laws and enforcement practices inflict on Black people and people of African descent. The submission outlines how prohibition, rooted in settler colonialism and anti-Black racism, contributes to discriminatory policing, overincarceration, elevated rates of drug-related harms, and exclusion from democratic processes, particularly where criminalization intersects with poverty and homelessness.
The submission calls on federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments to take urgent action to address these inequities by decriminalizing drug possession, expunging criminal records for drug possession offences, repealing laws that target people who use drugs in public spaces, and strengthening protections against discrimination based on social status. It also recommends implementing mandatory collection and publication of disaggregated race-based data across policing, corrections, and health systems; expanding equitable access to a regulated safer supply; and ensuring Black people who use drugs are meaningfully consulted in the development of drug policy, harm reduction services, healthcare, and housing responses.
Together, these recommendations urge governments to replace punitive drug policies with evidence-based approaches grounded in racial justice, health equity, and human rights.
Read the full submission: