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  • Overview of the Charter challenge of Ontario’s Community Care and Recovery Act 

    Overview of the Charter challenge of Ontario’s Community Care and Recovery Act 

    Le français suit

    The Community Care and Recovery Act, passed by the Ontario government on Dec. 4, 2024, introduced location restrictions on supervised consumption services, prohibited municipalities and local boards from applying for federal exemptions to decriminalize personal drug possession, and restricted them from establishing or supporting supervised consumption services or participating in federally-funded prescribed alternatives programs without approval from Ontario’s Minister of Health.   

    As a result of the Act, 10 supervised consumption sites that collectively offer overdose prevention, connection to supports, services and treatment to people at risk of death from toxic drugs have received notice from the province to halt operations as of April 1, 2025.  The Act prohibits the establishment and operation of supervised consumption sites within 200 metres of schools and childcare facilities, in addition to other premises that may be prescribed. If left unchallenged, it will severely curtail harm reduction service delivery in Ontario, putting more people at risk of drug poisoning, reducing community safety, increasing stigma towards people who use drugs, and eliminating proven lifesaving services amid a public health crisis.   

    The Neighbourhood Group Community Services, alongside two individuals who access supervised consumption services, have filed a Charter challenge regarding the constitutionality of this legislation. The applicants argue the Act violates: 

    • Section 7 rights to life, liberty and security of the person due to the denial and restriction of access to services that save lives and reduce transmission of infectious disease; 
    • Section 12 rights to not be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment due to the risk of increased death, disease and other harms in a degrading and dehumanizing manner incompatible with dignity; and  
    • Section 15 rights to equality and freedom from discrimination due to denial of medical treatment for people with substance use disability.  

    The applicants also argue the Act perpetuates stigmatizing and discriminatory stereotypes about people who use drugs and people diagnosed with “substance use disorder” that suggest they are not worthy of care needed for survival. 

    On March 24-25 2025, the court will be asked to consider whether the Community Care and Recovery Act unduly violates the Charter rights of people who use drugs. As part of this, the court will be asked to consider whether closing and restricting the availability of supervised consumption services will actually further the Act’s stated purpose to “protect children, families and people struggling with addiction by restricting supervised consumption sites, in line with its belief that addictions treatment is the best way to achieve lasting recovery.” Further, the court will be asked to consider how stigma against people who use drugs may impact this assessment. 

    Supervised consumption services are an evidence-based initiative that reduce fatal and non-fatal overdoses and increase engagement with health and social services for people who use drugs. Since 2018 in Ontario, there have been 23,596 suspected drug-related deaths. Equity-denied groups such as Indigenous people and people who experience housing precarity are disproportionately represented in toxic drug overdose deaths. Supervised consumption sites in Ontario have successfully managed more than 23,965 overdoses without any fatalities, despite the increasingly toxic composition of the unregulated drug supply. People accessing supervised consumption services in Ontario have received 589,962 service referrals for other forms of health and social support, including addiction treatment, withdrawal management, primary healthcare, HIV and Hepatitis C testing and treatment, housing, and administrative support such as securing identification.  

    For additional information and background see: 

    In 2011, a Supreme Court ruling found that the refusal to grant legal amnesty for supervised consumption services was a violation of Section 7 Charter rights. 

    ___________________________________________________________

    La contestation judiciaire de la Loi sur les soins et le rétablissement en milieu communautaire de l’Ontario en bref

    La Loi sur les soins et le rétablissement en milieu communautaire, adoptée par le gouvernement de l’Ontario le 4 décembre 2024, met en place des restrictions relatives à l’emplacement des services de consommation supervisée, interdit aux municipalités et aux conseils locaux de demander des exemptions fédérales visant à décriminaliser la possession personnelle de drogues et les empêche d’établir ou de soutenir des services de consommation supervisée ou encore de participer à des programmes fédéraux de prescription de médicaments remplaçant certaines drogues sans l’approbation de la ministre de la Santé de l’Ontario. En raison de l’adoption de cette loi, 10 sites de consommation supervisée qui assurent collectivement la prévention des surdoses, la mise en relation avec des ressources ainsi que la fourniture de services et de soins à des milliers de personnes risquant de mourir à cause de drogues toxiques ont reçu l’ordre de la province de cesser leurs activités dès le 1er avril 2025. La Loi interdit d’ouvrir ou de faire fonctionner des sites de consommation supervisée à moins de 200 mètres d’une école ou d’un centre de garde d’enfants ainsi que d’autres types de lieux prescrits. Si rien n’est fait, cette loi entravera gravement la fourniture de services de réduction des méfaits dans la province, ce qui aura pour effet d’augmenter les risques de décès par intoxication aux drogues, de réduire le sentiment de sécurité dans la population, de renforcer les préjugés sur les personnes qui consomment des drogues et d’éliminer des services éprouvés qui sauvent des vies, en pleine crise de santé publique. 

    Les services communautaires du Neighbourhood Group, avec deux personnes qui ont recours aux services de consommation supervisée, contestent la constitutionnalité de la Loi. Selon eux, la Loi contrevient aux articles suivants de la Charte canadienne des droits et libertés : 

    • L’article 7 – Droit à la vie, à la liberté et la sécurité de la personne, étant donné l’interdiction ou la restriction de l’accès à des services qui sauvent des vies et qui préviennent la transmission de maladies infectieuses. 
    • L’article 12 – Traitements ou peines cruels et inusités, étant donné le risque accru de décès, de maladie et d’autres préjudices dégradants et déshumanisants, incompatibles avec le maintien de la dignité. 
    • L’article 15 – Droit à l’égalité, sans discrimination, étant donné le refus de traitements médicaux à des personnes ayant un handicap lié à l’usage de substances psychoactives. 

    Les demandeurs font également valoir que la Loi perpétue des stéréotypes stigmatisants et discriminatoires au sujet des personnes qui consomment des drogues et de celles qui ont un diagnostic de « trouble lié à l’usage d’une substance psychoactive », stéréotypes qui encouragent la croyance selon laquelle ces personnes ne méritent pas les soins nécessaires à leur survie. 

    Les 24 et 25 mars 2025, nous demanderons à la Cour de déterminer si la Loi sur les soins et le rétablissement en milieu communautaire enfreint indûment les droits des personnes qui consomment des drogues. Dans le cadre de cette contestation, il sera demandé à la Cour d’établir si la fermeture des services de consommation supervisée et les restrictions d’accès à ces services répondent réellement à l’objectif de la Loi, à savoir « protéger les enfants, les familles ainsi que les personnes qui luttent contre la toxicomanie en limitant les sites de consommation supervisée, conformément à [la] conviction que le traitement de la toxicomanie est le meilleur moyen de parvenir à un rétablissement durable ». Il sera également demandé à la Cour de tenir compte de l’incidence potentielle des préjugés concernant les personnes qui consomment des drogues dans son analyse. 

    Les sites de consommation supervisée sont des initiatives fondées sur les faits qui réduisent le nombre de surdoses mortelles et non mortelles et qui améliorent la relation des personnes consommatrices de drogues avec les services de santé et les services sociaux. Depuis 2018, en Ontario, il y a eu 23 596 décès soupçonnés d’être liés à la drogue. Par ailleurs, il est à noter que les groupes en quête d’équité comme les Autochtones et les personnes en situation de logement précaire sont surreprésentés dans les décès par surdose de drogues toxiques. Les sites de consommation supervisée de la province ont pris en charge plus de 23 965 cas de surdose sans que survienne un seul décès, malgré la composition de plus en plus toxique des drogues non réglementées. Les personnes qui fréquentent les services de consommation supervisée de l’Ontario ont reçu 589 962 recommandations à d’autres services de santé et de soutien social, notamment pour le traitement des dépendances, la gestion du sevrage, les soins de santé primaires, le dépistage et le traitement du VIH et de l’hépatite C, la recherche de logement et les démarches administratives comme l’obtention de pièces d’identité.  

    Pour en savoir plus : 

    En 2011, un jugement de la Cour suprême du Canada a établi que le refus d’accorder une exemption juridique à des services de consommation supervisée constituait une violation de l’article 7 de la Charte canadienne des droits et libertés. 

  • Media Advisory: Organizations seek to clarify Good Samaritan Law at the Supreme Court of Canada

    Media Advisory: Organizations seek to clarify Good Samaritan Law at the Supreme Court of Canada

    Le français suit

    MEDIA ADVISORY 

    Online | January 9, 2025—On Monday, Jan.13, media are invited to attend a short online briefing with a coalition of organizations who will intervene at the Supreme Court of Canada on Jan.14 in the case of R. v. Wilson. This case considers the application of what is commonly referred to as the “Good Samaritan” law, which provides immunity from prosecution for drug possession and some other offences for people at the scene of a drug-related medical emergency. 

    The Supreme Court of Canada will be asked to consider:

    Does the Criminal Code authorize the arrest of an individual at the scene of a “drug overdose” for the offence of simple drug possession even if the individual may ultimately be immune from being charged or convicted for that offence?

    Speakers: 

    • DJ Larkin, lawyer, executive director, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
    • Corey Ranger, president, Harm Reduction Nurses Association
    • Louis Letellier de St-Just, lawyer, president, l’Association des Intervenants en Dépendance du Québec
    • Maxime Bédard, lawyer, Daniel Brown Law LLP

    WHAT: Joint online briefing with a coalition of organizations who will intervene in R. v. Wilson at the Supreme Court of Canada on Jan. 14. There will be time for media questions.

    WHEN: Monday, January 13, 2025 | 10:00-10:45 a.m. Pacific | 1:00-1:45 p.m. Eastern

    WHERE: Online – Register Here

    WHY: The Good Samaritan provision was enacted as part of Canada’s public health approach to substance use. It is intended to encourage people to stay at the scene of a drug-related medical emergency, provide first aid, and ultimately, save lives and prevent injuries. Interveners will ask the Supreme Court to ensure this law fulfills its purpose: to prevent the devastating and avoidable consequences of drug-related medical emergencies. To do so, it must prioritize harm reduction, promote clarity in the law’s application, and ensure that any examination of its purpose is devoid of latent bias.

    -30-

    Background:

    Media contact: Jessica Hannon: [email protected]

    ___________________________________________________________

    AVIS AUX MÉDIAS

    Des organisations cherchent à clarifier la législation sur les bons samaritains à la Cour suprême du Canada

    En ligne | Le 8 janvier 2025 – Le lundi 13 janvier, les médias sont invités à assister à une brève séance d’information en ligne présentée par une coalition d’organisations qui interviendra à la Cour suprême du Canada le 14 janvier concernant le jugement R. c. Wilson. Dans ce cas, on considère l’application de ce qu’il est convenu d’appeler la loi sur les « bons samaritains », laquelle accorde aux personnes qui se trouvent sur les lieux d’une urgence liée aux drogues une immunité en matière de poursuites judiciaires relatives à la possession de drogues ou à d’autres infractions. On demandera à la Cour suprême du Canada de répondre à la question suivante :

    Le Code criminel autorise-t-il l’arrestation d’une personne qui se trouve sur les lieux d’une « surdose » pour un délit de possession simple de drogues même si cette personne peut en définitive être à l’abri de toute inculpation ou condamnation liée à cette infraction?

    Les présentateur·trice·s :

    • Maxime Bédard, avocat, Daniel Brown Law LLP
    • DJ Larkin, avocat, directeur général, Coalition canadienne des politiques sur les drogues
    • Corey Ranger, président, Association des infirmiers et infirmières en réduction des méfaits
    • Louis Letellier de St-Just, avocat, president, Association des intervenants en dépendance du Québec

    QUOI : une présentation conjointe en ligne d’une coalition d’organisations qui interviendra à la Cour suprême du Canada le 14 janvier concernant le jugement R. c Wilson. Une période de questions pour les médias est prévue. La présentation sera en anglais et français avec traduction simultanée.

    QUAND : le lundi 13 janvier 2025 | de 10 h à 10 h 45 HNP | de 13 h à 13 h 45 HNE

    OÙ : en ligne – cliquez ici pour vous inscrire 

    POURQUOI : La disposition sur les bons samaritains a été adoptée dans le cadre de la démarche de santé publique du Canada à l’égard de l’usage de substances. Elle a pour but d’encourager les personnes à demeurer sur les lieux d’une urgence médicale liée aux drogues, à fournir les premiers soins et, ultimement, à sauver des vies et à prévenir des blessures. Les personnes intervenantes demanderont à la Cour suprême de veiller à ce que cette loi remplisse son objectif, soit de prévenir les conséquences dévastatrices et évitables des urgences médicales liées aux drogues. Pour ce faire, la Cour doit accorder la priorité à la réduction des méfaits, promouvoir la clarté en ce qui a trait à l’application de la loi, et s’assurer que tout examen de l’objectif de la loi est exempt de biais latents. 

    -30-

    Document d’information :

    • Explication du jugement R. c. Wilson
    • Sommaire des arguments de la coalition d’intervenants

    Contact média : Jessica Hannon : [email protected]

  • Talking Drug Policy at the Holiday Dinner Table

    Talking Drug Policy at the Holiday Dinner Table

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    Tips for a Tricky Topic

    1. Know Your Audience
      • Is Grandpa firmly set in his views? Or is he open to hearing new ideas? Understanding whether the person you’re speaking with is curious, uncertain, or defensive can help guide your approach.
    2. Shift Your Goal
      • Think of each conversation as an opportunity to plant a seed of curiosity. It is unlikely that someone will change their perspective in a single exchange, but it is possible to create a bit of space to consider other perspectives.
      • How can you create a learning environment, rather than a debate? Shift your focus from winning the conversation to fostering a thoughtful exchange.
    3. Connect on Shared Values
      • Look for something you can agree with, no matter how small. No one wants to feel disrespected or dismissed.
      • Even if someone expresses a belief or assumption you don’t agree with, is there a value, a concern, or a need behind it that you do? Highlighting that commonality can help pave the way for a more respectful and productive conversation.
    4. Answer Briefly and Factually
      • Instead of getting drawn into a heated back-and-forth over misinformation, calmly correct inaccuracies with clear, fact-based information.
      • Keep your response brief and pivot back to the larger conversation you want to have.
    5. Pivot to What’s Important
      • After addressing the facts, steer the conversation toward what matters most to you: the values, the impact, and the real-world consequences of drug policies.
      • Focus on what’s at stake and the changes that could lead to a more just and compassionate approach.
    6. Know When to Step Back
      • Sometimes, the best way to ensure a conversation stays on track is knowing when to wrap things up. Remember, your goal is to plant a seed of curiosity and create a learning environment.
      • Pause and revisit the discussion another time—especially if things have become unproductive.

    Now, how about some of that pie?

  • FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Province repeals public use law previously blocked by B.C. Supreme Court for irreparable harm  

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Province repeals public use law previously blocked by B.C. Supreme Court for irreparable harm  

    Joint Statement from the Harm Reduction Nurses Association, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition and Pivot Legal Society 

    ​​xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, sḵwx̱wú7mesh & səlilwətaɬ lands Vancouver, BC |​ December 20, 2024 – Yesterday the B.C. provincial government repealed Bill 34: the Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act. This represents a small but hard-fought victory against politically-driven laws and policies that inflict harm upon those made most vulnerable by oppressive systems. 

    The Act was initially passed last November, but a temporary B.C. Supreme Court injunction filed by the Harm Reduction Nurses Association and supported by the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition and Pivot Legal Society prevented it from coming into force until the court could assess whether it violated Charter rights. Rather than proceed through this process, the province has repealed the legislation.  

    It is important to recognize the harms the Act would have codified into law, and the harm prevented by its repeal. In repealing this legislation, the province has tacitly admitted that the Act would not have withstood the court’s scrutiny of its harmful consequences. We can count this as a victory. But ultimately, until evidence and ethics guide public policy in B.C., we fear we will be forced to continue these fights.       

    In its injunction ruling, the court agreed that in severely restricting public drug consumption, the Act would cause irreparable harm to people at risk of injury and death amid a public health crisis. Chief Justice Hinkson said, “Given the evidence before me, I find that there is a high degree of probability that at least some of the harm set out by the plaintiff will in fact occur. Centrally, but not exclusively, the Act will promote more lone drug use, which carries incumbent risks to [people who use drugs] and also the plaintiff’s members.”  

    This piece of legislation, which was not time-limited to the duration of B.C.’s decriminalization pilot, would also have enabled an increase in policing scope to specifically target unhoused people. The law would have had outsized impacts on Indigenous and racialized people, recreating and intensifying the existing harms of colonization and systemic racism. There was widespread opposition to the Act, including from the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, the Surrey Union of Drug Users, the BC Association of Social Workers and CMHA BC. 

    Though the BC government has repealed Bill 34 in light of the court injunction and significant community backlash, some of the Act’s insidious elements exist within the province’s Apr. 2024 amendment to the decriminalization pilot. This politically-driven amendment circumvented the injunction against the Act and codified some of its most harmful facets through other means. We stand by our colleagues who have filed a judicial review of this egregious sidestepping of justice.  

    While the end of this harmful legislation represents a win for human rights, we continue to exist within a prolonged public health emergency. Criminalizing drug use is a far downstream intervention that lacks evidentiary support. More than a century of criminalization has demonstrated that enforcement has not decreased drug availability or use, is an ineffective use of public funds, and is clearly linked to an increased risk of overdose and cycles of homelessness. Criminalization drives further toxicity and unpredictability in the unregulated drug supply and signals to a significant portion of B.C.’s population that their deaths are acceptable. Once again, Chief Justice Hinkson reminds us, “I have already set out that British Columbia is in a Public Health Emergency. As part of these circumstances, the plaintiff argued, and I accept, that the unregulated nature of the illegal drug supply is the predominant cause of increasing death rates in British Columbia.” 

    We know the drivers of more than five preventable deaths per day in B.C.: stigma, isolation, and a poisoned drug supply. All three are made worse by criminalization. We implore the B.C. provincial government to stop playing politics in a public health emergency; we want to work together to end this crisis, with a shared understanding that every single death by the unregulated drug supply is preventable. 

    -30- 

    Links and Resources:  

    • Bill 34 – Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act 
    • December 29, 2023 B.C. Supreme Court Ruling on Injunction Application  
    • April 26, 2024 HRNA Press Release in response to B.C.’s decriminalization pilot amendment request 

    To arrange interviews, please contact Jessica Hannon, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition [email protected]

  • Canadian Drug Policy Coalition/ Doalition canadienne des politiques sur les drogues

    [WEBINAR] Getting to Tomorrow: 7 Actions to End the Unregulated Drug Crisis

    Join the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition for our upcoming webinar “Getting to Tomorrow: 7 Actions to End the Unregulated Drug Crisis” where we’ll launch the final report of the three-year cross-country dialogues project, Getting to Tomorrow.  

    When? December 4th, 2024
    Time? 10am PST | 11am MT | 12pm CT | 1pm ET | 2pm AT
    Where? Online registration

    Register here

    This is the final report from a series of dialogues held across Canada, from New Brunswick to the Yukon. More than 800 people across 13 communities came together to discuss the impacts of our current drug laws and envision solutions to end the unregulated drug crisis.  

    You’ll hear from a panel of experts working in communities across the country. Together we’ll discuss the themes that emerged from this work, delve into the recommendations in today’s context, and explore how we can collaborate to build stronger, safer communities for everyone. 

    We hope you will join us online to learn from those working in communities across the country.

  • Canadian Drug Policy Coalition/ Doalition canadienne des politiques sur les drogues

    Government of Ontario Attempting to Force Through Deadly Drug Policy Bill

    This statement can be attributed to the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, the Drug Strategy Network of Ontario, and the HIV Legal Network.

    November 27, 2024 — Toronto, ON | We are watching with grave concern as the Government of Ontario attempts to force through radical legislation that will eliminate life-saving supervised consumption services (SCS) and prevent access to other evidence-based responses to an unregulated drug crisis that is killing 10 people in Ontario every single day. 

    We appeal to the government to withdraw their time allocation motion. Experts in the care for people with substance use disorder and other people who use drugs are anxious for the opportunity to speak to Committee about this bill and the devastating effects it will have on Ontarians. The opportunity for such expertise to inform the contents of this Bill is an opportunity afforded by our parliamentary democracy for good reason. It ensures that our laws are informed by evidence and lived experience.

    “The government’s attempt on Tuesday to force this devastating bill through the legislature — without debate or committee study — sent a very clear messages to all people in this province: democratic process doesn’t matter, evidence doesn’t matter, and the workload of health, medical, social service and first response workers doesn’t matter,” says Michael Parkinson of the Drug Strategy Network of Ontario. “Most frighteningly, the government is saying that people’s lives in Ontario do not matter.”

    The Premier and Health Minister are well aware of the appalling consequences that will follow if these vital health services are prohibited. “The government has been warned by their own internal counsel of the devastation expected to occur in communities across Ontario, particularly among Black, Indigenous, and low-income people,” says Beeta Senedjani of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. “This bill would legislate an increase in deaths of our loved ones, public drug use in our neighbourhoods, and healthcare costs that will affect all taxpayers.” In bypassing debate and committee review, the Ontario government would silence elected representatives, community members, and public health and scientific experts who would have provided the evidence that SCS are, unequivocally, in the public interest.

    According to both internal government advice and independent evaluations, it is widely expected that this proposed law will:

    • Kill, injure, or otherwise harm people in Ontario by removing their access to life-saving harm reduction services in the event of an overdose emergency; 
    • Increase drug use in public places such as parks and school yards; 
    • Increase the chances of people, including children, witnessing overdose emergencies; 
    • Increase the amount of discarded drug use equipment in public spaces; 
    • Increase the workload for already overburdened first responders, hospital emergency rooms, and other frontline staff; 
    • Reduce ambulance availability for all members of the public; and 
    • Increase costs to taxpayers.

    There is near-unanimous consensus about the negative impacts these impending closures will have, of which the Government of Ontario is aware and is willfully choosing to ignore. Ample studies, including internal government reports and independent evaluations, consistently demonstrate the public health and safety benefits of SCS. Ontario’s supervised consumption services have recorded 1.12 million visits from 178,000 unique clients since March 2020, according to a recent report, and have successfully reversed 22,000 overdoses and facilitated more than 530,000 service referrals to housing, case management, substance use treatment, and more. Additionally, data from Toronto demonstrate that neighbourhoods with supervised consumption services subsequently experienced 67 per cent reductions in overdose mortality, while other neighbourhoods showed no significant decreases. These services are desperately needed. 

    SCS also reduce public drug use and discarded drug use equipment. Contrary to the Ontario government’s claims that crime has increased in neighbourhoods with SCS relative to other neighbourhoods, a recent study found decreases in rates of homicide, assault, and robbery in the vicinity of an SCS after opening.

    If passed as drafted, Ontario would soon see the dire impact of government officials determining health policy based on opinions, ideology, and political calculations instead of public interest. “Our loved ones will die. Our communities will suffer. The Government of Ontario knows this, and is proceeding with reckless abandon,” says Sandra Ka Hon Chu of HIV Legal Network. “Our organizations — and many others across the province, country, and globally — will continue to advocate for SCS to remain open.” 

    -30-

    Media Contacts: 

    For more information about SCS and the current state of the law in Canada, see this recent report from the HIV Legal Network: https://www.hivlegalnetwork.ca/site/scaling-up-supervised-consumption-services-what-has-changed-in-canada/?lang=en

  • Canadian Drug Policy Coalition/ Doalition canadienne des politiques sur les drogues

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Province of Ontario Preventing Efforts to Reduce Deaths and Harms for People Who Use Drugs

    Ontario stonewalls health and human rights groups seeking support for evidence-based supervised consumption services

    Ontario, Canada | Aug 7, 2024  

    A coalition of more than fifty organizations continue to await a response from the provincial government about Ontario’s alarming unregulated drug poisoning fatalities and the forced closure of three supervised consumption sites. In their most recent letter, released today, the coalition is once again calling on the Government of Ontario to immediately support communities desperate for these life-saving services; written communications to Ontario have thus far been met with silence despite the fact that one person in Ontario dies every 2.5 hours due to toxic unregulated drugs. 

    More than 21,000 people in Ontario have died from unregulated drug poisoning since the current government was elected in 2018, many of whom did not have a diagnosis for substance use disorder. Applications to the province for funding for community-based supervised consumption services have languished for years in an opaque process that has left site operators and local municipalities frustrated and dangerously under-resourced. The province has frozen all new funding for supervised consumption services across Ontario since 2023, placing the blame on a critical incident that occurred near a Toronto site more than one year ago.  

    Today, the coalition again requested emergency funding to re-open sites in Sudbury and Timmins, two areas hard-hit by the drug poisoning crisis. Until March and June of this year, these sites offered witnessed consumption of pre-obtained drugs so that trained staff could respond to overdose emergencies and connect people to health and social supports, including treatment. These closures highlight a significant inequity in care in the North, with a gap in supervised consumption service access spanning over 1,400 kilometers between Thunder Bay and Toronto. The group is also calling for funds to re-open the site in Windsor, which was forced to shut down services in December. 

    “The provincial government has stonewalled us,” says Amber Fritz, Manager of Outreach and Education at Réseau Access Network in Sudbury. “We heard months ago from the Opposition that funds were available in the provincial budget to run our supervised consumption site, so this silence is a deliberate, deadly choice. Bureaucracy and stigma have no place in a public health crisis.” 

    “It’s evident that our community is in dire need of additional resources to support people who use substances. During the almost two years of having the Safe Health Site Timmins, our community saw a reduction in EMS calls for opioid-related injuries and a significant reduction in opioid-related mortality rates,” says Dr. Julie Samson, physician at Timmins and District Hospital. “We are trained to save lives. If we want to keep people alive during the ongoing and worsening drug poisoning crisis, supervised consumption sites are an essential part of the equation.” 

    The Drug Strategy Network of Ontario and numerous other organizations have been calling for on-demand evidence-based addiction treatment for many years, alongside other harm reduction solutions that benefit both people managing addiction and those who consume unregulated drugs episodically. 

    Supervised consumption sites offer a space where people who use drugs are treated with acceptance, empathy and respect, which is even more important in an increasingly hostile public and political environment that targets people who use drugs and those who care for them.  

    “It is heartbreaking that the Ministry of Health is dragging its feet when so many lives are at stake,” says Christine Nayler, advocate of Ryan’s Hope and Moms Stop the Harm in Barrie, where a supervised consumption site application was withdrawn due to a lack of response and clear timelines from the Government of Ontario. “Harm reduction is healthcare. It is about respect, dignity, and saving lives. Our beloved son Ryan may still be alive today if he had been able to access a supervised consumption site. How can our political leaders ignore our suffering?”  

    The coalition’s joint letter urges officials to introduce transparency and expedited timelines in the application process, and immediately scale up and re-open supervised consumption services across the province.  

    “This crisis requires a full range of supports to save lives, including harm reduction, withdrawal management and evidence-based, voluntary treatment,” says Nicholas Boyce, policy director with the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. “We have seen emergency services become overwhelmed due to overdoses and poisonings from the unregulated drug supply. We have seen communities declare states of emergency. We desperately need to get in front of this, and supervised consumption services are a key part of a humane and fiscally responsible response.” 

    -30- 

    Documents and links available: 

    • [Recording] March 5 2024 Online Briefing on Open Letter RE: Ontario Supervised Consumption Services with speakers from the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, Pozitive Pathways in Windsor, Reseau ACCESS in Sudbury, Safe Health Site in Timmins and the Drug Strategy Network of Ontario. 
    • Reseau Access the Spot – Key Messaging (includes visit data) 

    Media Contacts: 

    Ryan Do

    Social Media Specialist, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition

    [email protected]

    About the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition:  

    Founded in 2010, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition works in partnership with more than 60 organizations and 7,000 individuals working to support the development of a drug policy for Canada that is based in science, guided by public health principles, respectful of the human rights of all, and seeks to include people who use drugs and those harmed by the war on drugs in moving towards a healthier society. Learn more at www.drugpolicy.ca  

    About Moms Stop the Harm    

    Moms Stop the Harm challenges laws and policies that cause harm, including those laws that continue to drive the unregulated drug poisoning emergency in Canada. We call for an end to the failed war on drugs through evidence-based prevention, treatment and policy change.  Learn more at www.momsstoptheharm.com  

  • OPEN LETTER: Supervised Consumption Services site closures due to lack of funding from Ministry of Health

    OPEN LETTER: Supervised Consumption Services site closures due to lack of funding from Ministry of Health

    August 7 2024 

    The Honourable Sylvia Jones
    Ministry of Health
    [email protected] | [email protected]
    777 Bay Street, 5th Floor
    Toronto, ON M7A 2J3 

    The Honourable Michael Tibollo
    Ministry of Health
    [email protected] | [email protected]
    7 Queen’s Park Crescent
    Toronto, ON M7A 1Y7

    Dear Minister Jones and Associate Minister Tibollo, 

    RE: Supervised Consumption Services site closures due to lack of funding from Ministry of Health

    This is a follow up to our letter dated March 4 2024 regarding the need to implement emergency funding for supervised consumption services, to which we have received no response. Ontario’s drug poisoning death rate – now approximately one Ontario resident dying every 2 ½ hours – is dire. 

    We reiterate our urgent request that the Ministry of Health provide immediate funding for supervised consumption services (SCS) in Ontario, and to act collaboratively and with transparency to deliver life-saving services for existing and future applications for SCS under the provincial Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) model. We urge the Ontario government to respect the needs of local municipalities, end the deadly and discriminatory delays, and provide relief for emergency responders in establishing evidence-based health and social supports via SCS. 

    While treatment and recovery options must be made available to all who wish to access these services, it is paramount that a spectrum of harm reduction services and other health and social supports are immediately scaled up. We remind the government that hundreds of people have died who were not diagnosed with a substance use disorder and would not have been eligible for addiction treatment services. The Ontario government’s ongoing delays further entrenches stigma and discrimination while contributing to needless and preventable deaths, injuries, grief and trauma. 

    Tragically, since our previous letter, supervised consumption services sites in Timmins and Sudbury, where applications have been awaiting a response from the province for 16 months (Timmins) and 33 months (Sudbury), have been forced to shut their doors in June 2024 and March 2024 respectively, along with the Windsor site (application submitted 21 months ago) which was forced to shut down in December 2023, leaving an increasing number of local communities without the necessary services to prevent overdose-related death. In Barrie, applicants have been forced to rescind their application submitted two and a half years ago due to the unsustainability of maintaining rental payments for a location without having any confirmation of funding nor timelines from your government. It is unacceptable that the provincial government is acting as the central roadblock in establishing urgently needed life-saving services, despite local support and significant local investment into these services that will all go to waste. 

    The 2023 annual report of the Chief Medical Officer of Health recommended that Ontario increase access to harm reduction services, like supervised consumption services, as part of a fulsome response. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the Association of Local Public Health Agencies, and Addictions and Mental Health Ontario are among the many, many organizations urging immediate action establishing new SCS sites. Data shows that there were an estimated 3,812 drug-related deaths in 2023, and an additional 1,842 suspected-drug toxicity deaths in the first six months of 2024. In Timmins, Windsor and Sudbury, the opioid toxicity mortality rate is nearly three times the provincial average. There is a dearth of supervised consumption services in northern Ontario contributing to service inequities between the north and south. 

    This crisis has worsened under the current provincial government, with deaths totaling more than 21,000 Ontario residents since 2018. Given the inordinate delays and lack of transparency in providing timely funding for simple, life-saving services, we are concerned about this government’s unwillingness to adequately implement a successful holistic and comprehensive provincial drug strategy. 

    We reiterate our calls to: 

    1. Immediately provide direct emergency funding to supervised consumption services (SCS) sites that have submitted their Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) applications to the province and have closed due to lack of provincial funding.
    2. Urgently provide, improve, and sustain uninterrupted provincial funding for SCS, including inhalation, and ensure equity in regional service availability, particularly in northern communities. 
    3. Phase out the Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) approach to funding SCS, which requires additional and overly stringent conditions over and above Health Canada’s requirements. 
    4. In the interim, immediately remove the cap on the number of funded SCS sites and the prohibition on inhalation services under the provincial CTS model. 
    5. In the interim, introduce transparency and an expedited 30-day timeline for responding to applications under the provincial CTS model. 
    6. Introduce a low-barrier process by which community organizations can seek provincial funding for SCS. 
    7. Integrate SCS into Ontario’s core funded healthcare system with ongoing, integrated funding and resources. 
    8. Meet with us by September 13. 

    Signed by, 

    DJ Larkin, Executive Director, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition 

    Heidi Eisenhauer, Executive Director, Réseau ACCESS Network 

    Janet Butler-McPhee & Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Co-Executive Directors, HIV Legal 

    Network 

    Dr. Julie Samson, Co-Lead of the addiction medicine consult service, Timmins and 

    District Hospital 

    Michael Brennan, Executive Director, Pozitive Pathways Community Service 

    Michael Parkinson, Coordinator, Drug Strategy Network of Ontario 

  • Canadian Drug Policy Coalition/ Doalition canadienne des politiques sur les drogues

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Grieving mother urges honesty and action at federal toxic drug crisis committee  

    Ottawa, ON | April 29, 2024 – On the eve of the tenth anniversary of her son Danny’s death from unregulated drugs, Petra Schulz, co-founder of Moms Stop the Harm (MSTH), will testify before the federal Standing Committee on Health (HESA) today on the “Opioid Epidemic and Toxic Drug Crisis.” 

    Since MSTH’s founding in 2016, drug toxicity deaths have skyrocketed and show no signs of abating. In a tragic reflection of the human toll of the crisis, MSTH has grown to almost 4,000 members in that time, emerging as a national leader advocating for evidence-based drug policy intervention. Danny Schulz’s story is one of too many painful losses, and an important point of reflection today.  

    Moms Stop the Harm urges the federal government to implement a full and equitable spectrum of harm reduction and recovery supports to save lives and give hope to families across the country. The HESA Committee has caught attention and news headlines in previous weeks as elected officials have heard from policy experts, healthcare workers, law enforcement, service providers, and more. MSTH, alongside the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC) and the HIV Legal Network, has criticized the Committee’s exclusion of organizations representing people who use drugs, a decision seen as hindering a holistic understanding of the crisis. It is only through the experience and expertise of those with lived experience that we can truly end this lethal crisis.   

    “It is so upsetting and infuriating to see the deaths of our loved ones politicized with misinformation and outright lies,” says Schulz, “I urge members of Parliament to stop the angry, harmful and polarizing rhetoric and social media posts, and to listen to people who use drugs when developing drug policy. Like my son, people who use drugs are valuable and loved. I miss Danny every day, and I do this work to prevent families across Canada from feeling this same devastation.”   

    MSTH asserts that Canada’s criminal-legal approach to drugs and the significant gaps in available supports and services have created a flawed and dangerous system, driving the mounting death toll. “Tens of thousands of Canadian families are bereft, with empty seats at their tables,” says Schulz. “We are in this terrible situation because of policy choices. I am asking our elected officials to make different choices, choices that will save lives.”   

    “We tried everything in our power but, ultimately, the system failed my son,” says Traci Letts, also of Moms Stop the Harm, whose son died in February of this year. “Our loved ones need autonomy and choice in their lives and in their healthcare decisions. We need harm reduction, regulated alternatives to the toxic drug supply, and evidence-based, voluntary, and accountable treatment, as well as significant investment into healthcare, education, food security, and other social determinants of health.”   

    “All levels of government need to work together. The HESA study is an opportunity for Members of Parliament to better understand these issues and implement fundamental changes that are desperately needed,” says Nick Boyce of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition.   

    “While some governments are moving backwards in their support of progressive drug policy, we need leadership grounded in science, evidence, and compassion to end these needless deaths,” says Sandra Ka Hon Chu of the HIV Legal Network.  

    Schulz will testify before the HESA Committee this afternoon. While this Committee is meeting, an estimated 22 people in Canada will die today from the toxic, unregulated drug supply in this country, underscoring the urgent need for sound policy decisions and political courage.  

    -30-  

    Links and Resources:   

    About Moms Stop the Harm   

    Moms Stop the Harm challenges laws and policies that cause harm, including those laws that continue to drive the unregulated drug poisoning emergency in Canada. We call for an end to the failed war on drugs through evidence-based prevention, treatment and policy change.  

    About the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition  

    About the HIV Legal Network  

      

    Media Contact:  

    Jessica Hannon   

    [email protected]