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Author: Canadian Drug Policy Coalition

  • Des groupes juridiques et des organisations de la société civile saluent le travail de la ville de Vancouver sur la décriminalisation des drogues

    Des groupes juridiques et des organisations de la société civile saluent le travail de la ville de Vancouver sur la décriminalisation des drogues

    Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories – Today, the Mayor of Vancouver, supported by Vancouver Coastal Health, announced a motion that could lead to the decriminalization of simple drug possession in Vancouver. If the motion is passed, Vancouver City Council will request an exemption from the federal government — under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act — that would protect all people in Vancouver from the enforcement of simple drug possession as a criminal offence. If implemented properly, this could eliminate all criminal consequences for possessing drugs for personal use. Decriminalization would be a critical move towards addressing record overdose deaths and rampant stigma against people who use drugs, reducing barriers to accessing services, and avoiding ineffective and unnecessary use of public funds.

    In May, Pivot Legal Society, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC), and the HIV Legal Network called on the federal government to use this same exemption power to decriminalize simple drug possession. To date, more than 170 civil society organizations have endorsed this call. Following their October release of a report on drug decriminalization in Vancouver, Pivot launched an email petition urging Vancouver’s Mayor and Council to apply for a local exemption and take more meaningful action than simply calling on other levels of government to do the right thing. Last week, the HIV Legal Network released a primer for municipal and provincial governments on why and how to request an exemption from the federal Health Minister to effectively decriminalize simple drug possession.

    READ MORE: The City of Vancouver announcement on decriminalization

    Pivot, CDPC, and the HIV Legal Network welcome Vancouver’s leadership in seeking to curb an ineffective and deadly war on people who use drugs. We urge City Councillors to quickly and unequivocally adopt the proposed motion as presented, without proposing administrative sanctions or other amendments that would weaken its positive outcomes. In addition, we urge cities and provinces across the country to take similar action. Inaction will only lead to more preventable deaths and infections. Caitlin Shane, Drug Policy Staff Lawyer at Pivot Legal Society, says all municipalities and provinces must urgently tackle the drug policy crisis ravaging communities across the country: “Overdose fatalities have ballooned during COVID-19, far surpassing the number of fatalities caused by the coronavirus itself. Criminalizing people who use drugs is a public health disaster that causes untold harms to poor and racialized communities. Decriminalization is a key step towards reducing over-policing and rampant incarceration, and re-allocating funds to health, harm reduction, and safe supply efforts.”

    READ MORE: Pivot Legal Society’s Report: Act Now! Decriminalizing Drugs in Vancouver

    Scott Bernstein, Director of Policy at CDPC, calls the announcement bold and necessary:

    “A growing chorus of civil society and rights organizations, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, public health officers, and people who use drugs across the country have decried the failure of drug prohibition and significant harms caused by treating a public health crisis as a criminal law issue. We are pleased that Vancouver is heeding these calls.”

    Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Director of Research and Advocacy at the HIV Legal Network, urges other cities, provinces, and territories to follow Vancouver’s lead and apply for a similar exemption:

    “Policymakers have a responsibility to adopt measures that uphold the health and safety of people who use drugs in their respective jurisdictions. Requesting an exemption from the federal Minister of Health is simple and vital. Municipal and provincial actors can take concrete actions now to move from harmful, failed criminalization to evidence-based public health approaches that respect human rights.”

    READ MORE: HIV Legal Network’s Report: Decriminalizing People Who Use Drugs: A Primer for Municipal and Provincial Governments

    Download PDF Version

    — 30 —

    Media Contacts

    Sozan Savehilaghi, Pivot Legal Society Email: [email protected] Direct: 604-255-9700 ext. 154

    Peter Kim, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition Email: [email protected] Direct: 604-787-4043

    Janet Butler-McPhee, HIV Legal Network Email: [email protected] Direct: 647-295-0861

    About Pivot Legal Society

    Pivot Legal Society is a leading Canadian human rights organization that uses the law to address the root causes of poverty and social exclusion in Canada. Pivot’s work includes challenging laws and policies that force people to the margins of society and keep them there. Since 2002 Pivot has won major victories for sex workers’ rights, police accountability, affordable housing, and health and drug policy. http://www.pivotlegal.org/our_story

    About Canadian Drug Policy Coalition

    The Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC) is a coalition of over 60 organizations and 7,000 individuals working to support the development of progressive drug policy grounded in science, guided by public health principles, and respectful of human rights. CDPC operates as a project within Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Health Sciences. CDPC seeks to include people who use drugs and those harmed by the war on drugs in moving toward a healthier Canadian society free of stigma and social exclusion. https://drugpolicy.ca/

    About HIV Legal Network

    The HIV Legal Network, formerly the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, promotes the human rights of people living with, at risk of or affected by HIV or AIDS, in Canada and internationally, through research and analysis, litigation and other advocacy, public education and community mobilization. http://www.hivlegalnetwork.ca/

  • Prelim. patterns around opioid-related deaths in ON during COVID-19

    Prelim. patterns around opioid-related deaths in ON during COVID-19

    overdose deaths in ontario during covid overdose deaths in ontario during covid

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    “The rising rate of opioid-related deaths across Canada has been an ongoing and significant national public health crisis for over a decade.1 In just the first three months of 2020, there were 1,018 opioid- related deaths recorded in Canada, the vast majority of which (96%) were accidental.2 In the midst of this ongoing crisis, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario led to the provincial declaration of a state of emergency on March 17, 2020.3 Within Ontario, the first wave of the pandemic was addressed with public health restrictions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, which included physical distancing measures that resulted in reduced capacity for pharmacies, outpatient clinics, and harm reduction sites providing care to people who use drugs. Despite the intention to reduce the impact of COVID-19, there is concern that these measures could lead to unintended harms.”

    Source: Ontario Drug Policy Research Network

  • La Coalition canadienne des politiques sur les drogues lance une série nationale de dialogues sur la crise des surdoses et la COVID-19

    La Coalition canadienne des politiques sur les drogues lance une série nationale de dialogues sur la crise des surdoses et la COVID-19

    Vancouver, C.-B. — Jamais auparavant dans l’histoire du Canada les collectivités n’ont été confrontées à deux catastrophes de santé publique simultanées, comme la crise des surdoses, nourrie par un approvisionnement en drogues toxiques, et la pandémie de coronavirus qui a perturbé les routines quotidiennes et la société. Au cœur de ces crises convergentes se trouvent les personnes qui font usage de substances, dont la situation s’est aggravée à tous les égards en raison de la COVID-19. Alors que les décès par surdose augmentent au pays, leur santé et leur sécurité sont plus précaires que jamais.

    En réponse à cette période sans précédent, la Coalition canadienne des politiques sur les drogues de l’Université Simon Fraser, en partenariat avec le Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, lance Aller de l’avant : mettre fin à la crise des surdoses—18 dialogues sur la santé publique prévus aux quatre coins du Canada, au cours des deux prochaines années, afin d’identifier des solutions à la crise des surdoses dans le contexte de la COVID-19 et de s’approcher de leur mise en œuvre, par le développement de consensus et d’une compréhension commune.

    « La pandémie de COVID-19 a exposé la crise des décès dus à la toxicité des drogues illégales comme étant un échec catastrophique de l’approche actuelle du Canada en matière de drogues. Les gouvernements ont déplacé des montagnes pour répondre à la pandémie de COVID-19, mais n’ont pas encore établi d’approche pancanadienne cohérente après plus de 16,000 décès par surdose au cours des quatre dernières années et demie », a signalé Donald MacPherson, directeur général de la Coalition canadienne des politiques sur les drogues.

    « Nous espérons que la série de dialogues Aller de l’avant informera, engagera et inspirera les Canadiens et Canadiennes à s’impliquer davantage dans l’élaboration d’une nouvelle approche face aux drogues, fondée sur des principes de santé publique et sur les droits de la personne, et conduisant à l’amélioration de la santé et de la sécurité de tous et toutes, dans nos communautés. »

    ~Donald MacPherson, Coalition canadienne des politiques sur les drogues

    Plus précisément, Aller de l’avant comporte trois objectifs principaux :

    1. Accélérer l’adoption de lois et politiques fondées sur la santé publique et les droits humains pour guider les réponses gouvernementales du Canada aux drogues
    2. Donner aux décideur(-euse)s et au public des moyens de poser des actions fondées sur les données probantes, en présentant les plus récentes recherches sur les politiques pouvant faire cesser la crise des surdoses
    3. Impliquer le public dans un dialogue sur les enjeux liés à la consommation de substances et aux politiques sur les drogues

    Les dialogues se dérouleront virtuellement (dialogues réservés aux participants invités seulement) et inviteront des leaders de diverses communautés, notamment des personnes qui font usage de substances, des leaders du secteur communautaire et du monde des affaires, des responsables gouvernementaux, des membres des Premières Nations, des responsables de la santé publique et des représentant-es des forces de l’ordre à partager leurs histoires sur la façon de répondre aux défis de la crise des surdoses en contexte de pandémie et d’instabilité mondiale. En partageant leurs perspectives et leurs histoires, les communautés pourront arriver à reconnaître les points communs qui nous unissent plutôt que les différences qui nous séparent. Cela pourrait jeter les bases d’un changement transformateur.

    Aller de l’avant débutera le 7 octobre à Montréal, avec notre partenaire communautaire, l’Association des intervenants en dépendance du Québec (AIDQ).

    « Montréal étant l’un des épicentres de la COVID-19 au Canada, la vie des personnes qui font usage de substances est plus que jamais en danger, alors que le nombre de surdoses est en forte hausse », a affirmé Sandhia Vadlamudy, directrice générale de l’Association des intervenants en dépendance du Québec.

    « La tenue d’un tel dialogue à Montréal, et dans toute autre ville, nous aidera à comprendre nos points de vue respectifs et à collaborer à l’adoption de meilleures solutions à long terme afin que tout le monde y gagne. »

    ~Sandhia Vadlamudy, Association des intervenants en dépendance du Québec

    Le projet Aller de l’avant est financé par Santé Canada par le biais du Programme sur l’usage et les dépendances aux substances.

    www.gettingtotomorrow.ca/fr

    Contact

    Peter Kim
    Strategic Communications Manager
    Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
    [email protected]
    604-787-4043

    Download PDF Version of Release

    – 30 –

    À propos Coalition canadienne des politiques sur les drogues

    La Coalition canadienne des politiques sur les drogues (CCPD) représente 50 organismes et 4 000 individus qui s’efforcent de soutenir l’élaboration de politiques progressistes en matière de drogues, fondées sur la science, guidées par des principes de santé publique et respectueuses des droits de la personne. La CCPD fonctionne en tant que projet au sein de l’Université Simon Fraser, sous l’égide du Centre de recherche appliquée en santé mentale et en toxicomanie. Elle cherche à inclure les personnes qui consomment des drogues et qui ont subi des préjudices de la guerre aux drogues dans la quête d’une société canadienne plus saine, exempte de stigmatisation et d’exclusion sociale.

    À propos Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue

    Le Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue de l’Université Simon Fraser génère un impact réel en réponse aux défis les plus urgents de la société, par le dialogue et l’engagement à co-créer des solutions, à échanger des connaissances, à soutenir l’apprentissage communautaire engagé et à renforcer les capacités des autres dans la connaissance et la pratique du dialogue. Nous nous efforçons de rassembler diverses voix, histoires, perspectives et expériences, dans le but d’élever la compréhension des autres et de nous-mêmes. Ce processus conversationnel se veut un outil pour nous aider à élucider des problèmes complexes auxquels personne ne détient la réponse.

    À propos Association des intervenants en dépendance du Québec

    L’AIDQ est un organisme à but non lucratif qui regroupe les intervenants de tous les milieux intéressés au domaine des dépendances au Québec, soit les milieux publics, communautaires et privés, ceux de la santé publique et des services sociaux, de l’éducation, ainsi que les milieux universitaire, de la recherche, de la sécurité publique et du monde du travail. L’AIDQ a pour mission de valoriser et de soutenir l’intervention dans la prévention, la réduction des méfaits, le traitement et la réinsertion sociale des personnes aux prises avec une dépendance et celles à risque de le devenir, par le développement des compétences, l’information, la concertation et la mise en commun des expertises.

  • Canada’s busiest supervised consumption site shuts its doors on International Overdose Awareness Day

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

    ARCHES closes on international overdose awareness day, ARCHES closes on international overdose awareness day

    International Overdose Awareness Day began in Australia in 2001 as a bold and public call to combat stigma around drug use, honour the lives that have been lost to overdose, and educate society on the life-saving value of harm reduction. It has grown every year, with a record 874 global events and participation from 39 countries, including Canada, in 2019. These are all encouraging signs that society is waking up to (and communities are mobilizing around) the truth that drug prohibition has failed and a new human rights- and public health-based approach to drug policy is desperately needed. 

    (Interactive)

    But it’s hard to sense this shift from the actions of the Alberta government, which recently cut funding to Canada’s busiest supervised consumption site, ARCHES, which forced its closure. The doors close today, International Overdose Awareness Day—a time when we should be moving towards progress through compassionate, evidence-based drug policy by embracing more harm reduction, not less. Instead, Alberta, in darkly ironic fashion, is sliding backwards—a regress that erodes the public health and safety of one of Canada’s hardest hit provinces when it comes to overdoses.

    Since opening in March of 2018, ARCHES, located in Lethbridge, Alberta, saw an average 663 visits per day. “That’s more daily visits than the busiest sites in Toronto—a city of more than two million, and Vancouver—where Canada’s first supervised consumption site was founded in 2003,” according to the Star Edmonton. The number of lives saved and positive impact to the greater community is immeasurable, so it is both baffling and dangerous to shut the doors on such a vital health service. Research from chief coroners across Canada makes it clear that using drugs alone is extremely risky at a time when the drug market is so toxic. People will likely die without the supervised consumption services ARCHES provides and the supportive environment it affords.

    In the first quarter of 2020, there were 127 fatal overdoses related to fentanyl in Alberta, an increase from the previous quarter where there were 105. 85% of the deaths this year occurred in larger urban centres like Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, and yes, Lethbridge1.

    In such a climate of death and human suffering, governments should be expanding harm reduction, not scaling it back. Alberta’s provincial government decided to pull funding after a financial audit found suspected financial irregularities around spending and expenses. But this is no reason to punish the marginalized clients who use the facility daily—whose very lives depend on its services and the community of care that has formed around them.

    TAKE ACTION: Sign the open letter to restore funding to ARCHES

    The Government of Alberta announced a mobile site will replace the services lost with the closure of ARCHES. But advocates warn that this can in no way replace the scale of services and community building a site like ARCHES provided. They’ve done the math, and the numbers are a cause for deep concern.

    Across Canada fatal overdoses are climbing, fuelled by the stress and public health strictures of COVID-19. In July, deaths hit a grim milestone in Toronto, claiming more lives than the coronavirus. Saskatchewan recorded more fatal overdoses in the first eight months of this year than all of 2018, “meaning the province may have set a new record for the number of people who have lost their lives to overdoses. The Saskatchewan Coroners Service says there were 40 confirmed and 139 suspected drug toxicity deaths between Jan. 1 and Aug. 6, for a total of 179,” writes Zak Vescera of the Chronicle Herald.

    (Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users memorial march; Vancouver; August 15, 2015)

    And in British Columbia, two consecutive months of record-breaking overdose deaths have both shattered and enraged the spirits of affected communities. This May there were 171 fatal overdoses; in June, 177; and in July, 175. Across Canada, grief, fatigue, and rage surface in equal measure as frontline communities fighting two public health crises (COVID-19 and overdoses) also battle hostile local governments threatening their ability to save lives.

    READ MORE: COVID-19 harm reduction resources

    Now more than ever, International Overdose Awareness Day is needed to affirm the value of harm reduction and the policy changes needed to stem the tide of fatal overdoses: decriminalization and a safe supply of drugs. At a federal level, there is slow and incremental progress. It is not nearly good enough, but better than the backwards direction we’re seeing from a provincial government that seems driven by ideology and out of touch with the science and evidence supporting harm reduction.

    Though drug policy is a federal matter, provincial governments have the power to alleviate some of the harm created by prohibition—which is fuelling overdose death—by, for example, deprioritizing police enforcement of certain drug laws (de facto decriminalization) and choosing where to spend money. Their funding decisions can also create serious harm for affected communities, as will likely be the case in Lethbridge.

    [1] https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/f4b74c38-88cb-41ed-aa6f-32db93c7c391/resource/45e03e51-0fa8-49f8-97aa-06b527f7f42c/download/health-alberta-opioid-response-surveillance-report-2020-q1.pdf

  • LETTRE OUVERTE : Le gouvernement de l’Alberta doit rétablir les fonds pour ARCHES et les services de réduction des méfaits à Lethbridge

    LETTRE OUVERTE : Le gouvernement de l’Alberta doit rétablir les fonds pour ARCHES et les services de réduction des méfaits à Lethbridge

    Inscrivez-vous dans le formulaire ci-dessous pour ajouter votre nom à la lettre ouverte.

    Ressources pour la réduction des méfaits pendant la COVID-19

  • Convergent risk of COVID-19 and bacterial and viral infections among PWUD

    Convergent risk of COVID-19 and bacterial and viral infections among PWUD

    viral and bacterial infections and covid-19, viral and bacterial infections and covid-19

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    Click HERE for more resources

    “Without adequate access to harm reduction interventions, PWUD are potentially at greater risk of acquiring blood-borne viruses (BBVs) and severe bacterial infections. Individual, social, and structural determinants of health (e.g., unstable housing, incarceration, poverty, drug criminalization) associated with increased risk for bacterial infections and BBVs will likely place PWUD at greater risk of COVID-19 disease and death.”

    Source: International Journal of Drug Policy

  • Impact of COVID-19 on people who use drugs

    Impact of COVID-19 on people who use drugs

    impact of covid-19 on people who use drugs, impact of covid-19 on people who use drugs

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    “All respondents discussed the interconnected effects COVID-19 has had on their lives. Pandemic response measures such as physical distancing and social isolation have disrupted the healthcare and support services that people who use or have used substances and their communities typically rely on. As a result, best practices that existed before the pandemic to promote well-being, such as not using substances alone and having peer responders for accidental overdose, were now seen as putting people at risk. These effects of COVID-19 have exposed or aggravated health vulnerabilities for those who use substances, but have also encouraged creative, resilient responses to care for their well-being during this time.”

    Source: Canadian Centre on Substance Use

  • COVID-19 Graphics and Posters

    COVID-19 Graphics and Posters

    For JPGs and PNGs, right click to download image

    More COVID-19 Harm Reduction Resources
  • Self-care and Mental Health Resources for the Harm Reduction Community

    Self-care and Mental Health Resources for the Harm Reduction Community

    mental health and self-care resources for harm reduction, mental health and self-care resources for harm reduction

    Resources

    Articles

    Studies

    More Harm Reduction Resources

    Want to connect with other folks in harm reduction? Consider joining us for Happy Harm Reduction Hangout. Hangout is an opportunity for drug policy and harm reduction folks to check in with others, build community and mutual support each Wednesday in a causal, safe atmosphere.