Category: communiqué de presse

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. 

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Links and Resources:  
- Standing Committee on Health (HESA) study: “Opioid Epidemic and Toxic Drug Crisis”
- April 28, 2024 3:30-5:30 pm meeting To watch, click “Watch on ParlVu”  
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] 
April 29, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Province moves to circumvent B.C. Supreme Court, harm reduction nurses slam “recipe for preventable death”
Victoria, B.C. | April 26, 2024 — The Harm Reduction Nurses Association is profoundly frustrated and disappointed to hear the British Columbia provincial government’s announcement that they have sought permission from the Federal government to recriminalize all people who are at risk of dying from the unregulated drug crisis who lack access to housing or 24/7 safer use spaces in their communities.

“The B.C. government’s actions today will put people who use drugs and people who rely on public space at further risk of harm and death,” says Corey Ranger of the Harm Reduction Nurses Association. “We all want and deserve communities where all people, whether they use drugs or not, can access safety and well-being. By imposing these restrictions on the decriminalization pilot without offering real solutions like expanding overdose prevention services and access to housing, the province has declared some lives unworthy of saving.”

The BC Supreme Court injunction to prevent Bill 34, the Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act, from coming into force found that the province’s proposed restrictions on decriminalization would lead to irreparable harm. The Harm Reduction Nurses Association has previously reached out to the Province with an offer to collaborate to address concerns without causing further harm, through a range of legal and policy changes that would better protect the lives of people currently at risk of overdose and increase public safety.

“Rather than focus on solutions appropriate to the eight-year emergency we are in and thousands of lives lost, the Province has chosen to do an end-run around that court decision,” says DJ Larkin, co-counsel for HRNA and executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition.

“This pushes people who use drugs out of sight, to covert and isolated use. Combined with a toxic and unpredictable drug supply, that is a recipe for preventable drug poisoning death. We don’t want people to die hidden in alleyways,” says Ranger. “We don’t want any more families to have to grieve their loved ones. We want effective solutions. And we know that criminalization is no solution. This is a step back.”

HRNA members say B.C.’s actions directing healthcare workers in hospitals to follow policies that “prohibit drug possession, use and purchasing of illicit drugs,” will further impede nurses’ ability to ethically provide compassionate and life-saving care to people who use drugs.

“Principles of equity, autonomy and justice are embedded within nursing regulatory professional practice requirements,” says Michelle Danda of HRNA. “These policy directives will further marginalize and stigmatize people who use drugs and create division between nurses and patients as opposed to a community to support care. We need nurses to unite around compassionate, evidence-informed care.”

“To keep everyone safer – including nurses and all healthcare workers – we need widespread access to safer use spaces, including inhalation services,” says Ranger. “We can achieve safety without resorting to punitive measures.”

HRNA has outlined a number of actions the Province could take that would help, not harm, including:
- Rapid scaling-up of supervised consumption sites wherever they are needed
- Exploring options to responsibly regulate the drug supply for safety
- Scaling up access to regulated, evidence-based voluntary non-profit treatment
- Investing heavily in affordable housing and poverty reduction
More than a century of prohibition has demonstrated that enforcement has not decreased drug availability or use, is extremely expensive, and is clearly linked to an increased risk of overdose and cycles of homelessness.

“The decriminalization pilot has its drawbacks, and ultimately does not address the unregulated toxic drug supply that continues to drive this crisis,” says Larkin. “Even so, it is an important part of a broader shift. To be effective in reducing harm and supporting healthy communities, it must be accompanied by additional actions. Blaming the decriminalization pilot for systemic issues of rising homelessness and visible poverty scapegoats those already suffering. When we see public drug use, it is because people do not have housing, services or safe places to go – and because people want to stay alive, not die alone and out of sight.”

Today’s announcement is a direct circumvention of the Bill 34 injunction and poses the very same risk for irreparable harm.

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Links and Resources:
- B.C. Supreme Court Ruling on Injunction Application
- Bill 34 – Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act
- April 16, 2024 HRNA Press Release
- December 30, 2023 HRNA Press Release
Media Contact:

[email protected]
April 26, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Silence from Ontario Ministry of Health as Time Runs Out to Save Supervised Consumption Sites
Ontario, Canada | March 18, 2024

Two weeks have passed since 51 groups from across Ontario sent an open letter calling on the provincial government to immediately fund and support supervised consumption sites. But despite the coalition’s request for an emergency meeting by March 13, Minister of Health Sylvia Jones and Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Michael Tibollo have not responded.

The groups are speaking out to secure emergency funding and prevent impending closures of sites in Sudbury and Timmins. More than 500 people have died from drug poisoning in Ontario so far this year.

“I am horrified. This is a life-and-death emergency, and we are being ignored,” says Rev. George Bozanich of the Windsor CTS Advocacy Coalition. “Without these services, Ontarians die. These are our children, parents, siblings and neighbours. I cannot imagine the Ministers and the Premier ignoring a similar lifesaving request on any other issue.”

Since the current provincial government came to power in 2018, unregulated drug deaths have surged. “Toxic drugs killed nine people every day in the first two months of this year,” says Beeta Senedjani of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. “The dead would fill every seat on at least eleven school buses. This is an emergency. The province needs to start acting like it.”

Supervised consumption sites are a proven health intervention where trained staff respond to overdose emergencies and offer supports and connections to health and social services. Evidence consistently shows the sites save lives and significantly reduce emergency calls and hospital visits.

“The province’s actions have put municipal governments, local health boards and even the public in the impossible position of having to either foot the bill for a provincial responsibility or watch their communities suffer,” says Matthew Shoemaker, Mayor of Sault Ste. Marie. “This crisis is a foremost challenge for municipalities, who don’t have the resources or the mandate to fund health care. We badly need stable support and action from the Government of Ontario and we need it now.”

“The entire years-long process has been an irresponsible use of public funds,” says Michael Brennan of Pozitive Pathways in Windsor, whose site was forced to close in December. “Supervised consumption sites are a proven lifesaving intervention that reduce costs and burdens across our public systems, on police, paramedics and emergency departments. We have complied with every requirement. We cannot wait any longer.”

Last fall, the Province of Ontario put all supervised consumption site applications on indefinite hold pending a critical incident review for one site in Toronto. The decision came after a bystander was tragically killed in the vicinity of a Toronto site last summer.

“A lengthy review of a tragic, isolated incident is preventing desperate communities across the province from implementing lifesaving services amidst a public health emergency,” says Michael Parkinson of the Drug Strategy Network of Ontario. “Critical incidents occur frequently in other settings, such as hospitals. But they never result in freezing funding or site approvals.”

Several communities have waited for approval since long before the review. Barrie and Sudbury applied over two years ago. Citing the province’s pause, a Hamilton application was withdrawn after two years. In Sault Ste Marie, a site application is instead being directed to the federal government. Windsor’s only site shut its doors at the end of December after waiting over a year. Without immediate provincial funding, sites in Sudbury and Timmins will close in two weeks.

“When I think about losing Safe Health Site Timmins, I am afraid for our community,” says Jason Sereda of DIY Community Health in Timmins. “We are running out of time.” Premier Doug Ford has said the review results will be released this month, too late for those who have already died of drug poisoning.

The open letter calls for the elimination of unnecessary barriers and immediate sustained provincial funding for supervised consumption sites, including inhalation services, to meet the urgent needs of communities. The coalition emphasizes that these demands require immediate provincial action to prevent further loss of life and harm to communities across Ontario.

“Minister Jones, please listen to us. This is an emergency,” says Amber Fritz of Réseau ACCESS Network in Sudbury. “We need your leadership. You have a choice: you have the opportunity to save lives and costs to the system, or you can continue to do nothing. If our loved ones die, that will be your legacy.”

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Documents and links available:
- Open Letter
- [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.
Media Contact:

Jessica Hannon for the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition [contact to arrange interviews]
- [email protected]
March 18, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Ontario Braces for Loss of Vital Services as 51 Organizations Demand Province Act on Supervised Consumption Sites
Ontario, Canada | March 5, 2024 — Fifty-one community groups from across Ontario are calling on the provincial government to immediately fund and support supervised consumption services amidst the worsening toxic drug crisis. In an open letter released this morning, the coalition called for eight urgent actions, including direct emergency funding, with a deadline of March 29. Citing recent and imminent closures of sites in Windsor, Sudbury, and Timmins, the group demanded swift intervention to prevent further deaths.

In Ontario, seven to 10 people are killed every day by toxic unregulated drugs. An estimated 3,644 people lost their lives in 2023 alone. Supervised consumption services are a proven health intervention where trained staff can respond to overdoses, offering supports and connections to health and social services. Evidence consistently shows the sites save lives and significantly reduce emergency calls and hospital visits.

Last fall, the Province of Ontario put all supervised consumption services funding applications on indefinite hold pending a lengthy review period, adding to the already years-long wait for some jurisdictions. The decision came after a bystander was tragically killed by an incident of gun violence in the vicinity of a Toronto site last summer. Results of the review are expected this month, but come too late for those who have died of drug poisonings in the interim.

Citing the province’s pause, an application in Hamilton was withdrawn in October 2023. In Sault Ste Marie, a site application is instead being directed to the federal government. Windsor’s only site shut its doors at the end of December. Without provincial funding, sites in Sudbury and Timmins will close at the end of this month.

The open letter highlights how these funding delays have impacted communities already reeling from the effects of the toxic drug crisis.

“We want to ensure that people who use substances continue to have self-determination over their health outcomes,” says Michael Brennan of Pozitive Pathways in Windsor. “And that, just like anyone else, they have the tools, resources and support available without barriers.”

The first supervised consumption sites in Ontario opened in 2017. Within months, 20 sites were operating throughout the province. In June 2018, the current provincial government was elected. Since then, the unregulated drug supply has become increasingly volatile and dangerous. “Instead of scaling up sites, the current government added layers of bureaucracy, put an arbitrary cap of 21 sites across the entire province, and has delayed and impeded approval and funding of new sites,” says Nick Boyce of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. “Some applications have sat waiting for over two years, while people are dying.”

There are currently only 17 provincially-funded supervised consumption sites in Ontario. There is just one site in northern Ontario, which has among the highest drug-related death rates in the country. Data indicates Timmins and Sudbury have an opioid toxicity mortality rate nearly three times the provincial average.

Some sites, including Windsor, Timmins and Sudbury, have had to temporarily rely on municipal funding and public donations to operate. “This is a health issue. These sites should be funded by the Ministry of Health,” says Dr. Julie Samson of Timmins and District Hospital. “Why are municipalities, local health boards, and even the caring public having to step in to do the province’s job?”

“With overdose alerts across Ontario, state of emergency declarations from several municipalities and hundreds of needless prevented deaths and injuries each month, we encourage elected officials to prioritize the safety of residents by expediting outstanding requests and eliminating the political red-tape blocking consumption services,” says Michael Parkinson of the Drug Strategy Network of Ontario.

Local organizations worry the decision will lead to more deaths and set back efforts to connect people to supports.

“In the 16 months that The Spot has been open, we have seen the incredible impact it has had on those who access the service,” says Amber Fritz, Manager of Supervised Consumption Services at Réseau ACCESS Network in Sudbury. “It is a place of safety, self-determination, community and support. The drug poisoning crisis has shown no sign of abating; drugs have become more toxic, volatile and deadly. Members of our communities deserve better. Using drugs should not be a death sentence.”

“The Safe Health Site Timmins is saving lives, reducing demand on emergency services and actively connecting people with withdrawal management and treatment services,” says Samson. “The risks associated with closing of this site are significant and have the potential to negatively impact our entire community.”

Safe Health Site Timmins has directly contributed to the dramatic reduction of opioid-related fatalities in our community,” says Timmins Mayor Michelle Boileau. “Quite simply, it saves lives. Northern Ontario suffers from higher rates of hospitalization, overdose and death from opioid use compared to communities in the south. These sites give us a fighting chance to mitigate the negative effects caused by drug use. We need immediate and sustainable funding for Safe Health Site Timmins. It is imperative to the continued safety and well-being of our community.”

The letter calls for the elimination of unnecessary barriers and the immediate provision of sustained provincial funding for supervised consumption sites, including inhalation services, to meet the urgent needs of communities. The coalition emphasizes that these demands require immediate action from the provincial government to prevent further loss of life and harm to communities across Ontario.

“Our community has been fighting for a supervised consumption site since 2019,” says Reverend Christine Nayler of Ryan’s Hope in Barrie. “In the five years since our fight for this life-saving site began my son Ryan and my nephew Josh both lost their lives to toxic drugs, along with over 215 other community members. If those in power, whose desk these applications sit on, were the ones who had to deliver the heartbreaking news to the families left behind or if they had to attend each funeral, I don’t think they would still be stalling. These are not numbers; these were our children, our siblings, our nieces and nephews, neighbours and friends.”

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Documents and links available:
- Open Letter
- Recording of Online Briefing will be available this afternoon at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeEOlqVBeDx8g0BinFA2EWw
Media Contacts:
- Jessica Hannon for the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
  - [email protected]
At time of publication on March 6, 2024, the following organizations have sent the open letter:

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, MD, CCFP (EM), Co-lead Addiction Medicine Consult Team, Timmins and District Hospital
Michael Brennan, Executive Director, Pozitive Pathways Community Service

Michael Parkinson, Coordinator, Drug Strategy Network of Ontario

And the following organizations have endorsed the open letter:

Adrian R. Betts, Executive Director, AIDS Committee of Durham Region (ACDR)

Alyssa Wright, Co-Lead, Supervised Consumption Saves Lives – Barrie

Andrea Sereda, Dr., London Intercommunity Health Centre

Avery, PFAC Member, WEOHT

Brooke Rorseth, Crisis Worker (MSW, RSW), Hotel Dieu Grace Healthcare

Dane Record, Executive Director, PARN

Denise Baldwin, Administrator, Indigenous Harm Reduction Network

Dr. Dan Werb, Executive Director, Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation

Dr. Doris Grinspun, RN, BScN, MSN, PhD, LLD(hon), Dr(hc), DHC, DHC, FAAN, FCAN, O.ONT., Chief Executive Officer, Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO)

Eric Cashmore, Executive Director, The Seeking Help Project

Farihah Ali, Manager and Scientific Lead, Ontario CRISM Node

Heather Johnson-Dobransky, Director of Operations, Hiatus House

Holly Gauvin, Executive Director, Elevate NWO

Jackie Barrett-Greene, Director, Positive Living Niagara

Jason Sereda, President, Board of Directors, DIY Community Health Timmins

John Maxwell, Executive Director, ACT

Julie Nobert-DeMarchi, Executive Director, Timmins & Area Women in Crisis

Karla Ghartey, Member; Assistant Professor, Sudbury Temporary Overdose Prevention Society; Nipissing University

Kate Fairbairn, Patient, Family & Caregiver- Partnership Council, Windsor Essex Ontario Health Care team

Khaled Salam, Executive Director, AIDS Committee of Ottawa

Lindsay Jennings, Reintegration Specialist, Incarcerated Voters of Ontario

Lisa Toner, Team Lead, Ontario Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy

Liv Delair, Co-Chair, Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy

Luciano Carlone, Interim CEO, Canadian Mental Heath Association, Windsor Essex County Branch

Marie Morton, Executive Director, CAYR Community Connections

Meghan Young, Executive Director, Ontario Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy (OAhas)

Mike Murphy, Addiction Medicine Physician, NOSM U

Mika Wee, Steering Committee Member, Shelter & Housing Justice Network

Mona Loutfy, Maple Leaf Medical Clinic

Michelle Boileau, Mayor, City of Timmins

Nadine Sookermany, Executive Director, Fife House

Olivia Mancini, Registered Social Worker / Co-Founder, Student Overdose Prevention and Education Network

Patty MacDonald, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Mental Health Association – Sudbury/Manitoulin

Rebecca Robinson, Violence Against Women’s Services Coordinator, Sudbury and Area Victim Services

Reverend Christine Nayler, Co-founder/ Director, Ryan’s Hope

Rita Taillefer, Executive Director, Windsor Essex Community Health Centre

Ruth Cameron, Executive Director, ACCKWA

Ruth Fox, Regional Director, Ontario, Moms Stop the Harm

Seamus Murphy, Deputy Chief of Standards and Community Services, Cochrane District Paramedic Service

Shelley Muldoon, Director, Mental Health and Addictions, Woodstock Hospital

Suzanne Paddock, Executive Director, Toronto People With AIDS Foundation

Thierry Croussette, Board President, Seizure and Brain Injury Centre

Tiffany Pyoli York, Co-Chair, Greater Sudbury Anti Human Trafficking Coalition

Toronto Overdose Prevention Society

Victoria Scott, Director, Engage Barrie Organization
March 5, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: On the Anniversary of Decriminalization, Coalition Releases Vision for BC Drug Policy
British Columbia, Canada | January 31, 2024

Frustrated by insufficient responses to escalating toxic drug deaths, today a coalition of civil society organizations and people who use drugs unveiled a comprehensive policy platform aimed at ending the unregulated drug crisis and fostering healthy communities.

Released on the one-year anniversary of the launch of British Columbia’s decriminalization pilot, To End a Crisis: Vision for BC Drug Policy outlines a roadmap for transforming the province’s drug policies.

It has been nearly eight years since the province first declared a public health emergency due to overdose deaths. Seven people die each day in British Columbia from unregulated drugs: 2023 saw 2,511 lives lost, the highest on record in a single year. Community-led efforts and frontline responses have mitigated some harm caused by unregulated drug toxicity, but advocates argue government support for these actions has been inadequate given the urgency, magnitude and scope of this crisis.

In the year since BC launched its three-year pilot project decriminalizing the simple possession of small amounts of some drugs in some locations, a wave of politicized rhetoric has threatened to undermine its potential impacts. The Vision for BC Drug Policy aims to articulate a clear path forward, addressing the roots of the crisis through evidence and shared values, not stigma and fear. Endorsers, including drug policy organizations, people who use drugs, and a range of civil society groups representing labour, poverty reduction, health, justice and civil liberties, argue that transformational change is necessary.

“In the BCCLA’s view, the use of involuntary drug treatment, police presence during wellness checks, closure of overdose prevention sites, and provincial and municipal laws to recriminalize drug use in B.C. are not reasonable methods of preventing harm and saving lives during an ongoing drug poisoning crisis,” says Safiyya Ahmad of the BC Civil Liberties Association. “It is our hope that the Vision will provide a foundation from which social justice groups, legal advocates, people directly affected and government actors can take inspiration to refocus on harm reduction practices and human rights approaches to drug policy.”

“As an organization representing 60,000 workers from over 90 affiliated unions, we know how deeply the unregulated drug crisis has affected our members, as it has all British Columbians,” says Stephen von Sychowski of Vancouver District Labour Council. “Working people have been hit hard, and we know we need a new approach. That’s why it is important for us to take a stand on this.”

“Our Coalition, comprised of over 80 organizations and community mobilizations, endorses the Vision because this is the change our communities desperately need. We know that centring living expertise and evidence-based approaches are the keys to solutions,” says Rowan Burdge, Provincial Director of the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition. “By addressing the roots of the crisis, we’re not just talking about policy change—we’re talking about saving lives, humanizing people, and building a future where everyone, regardless of their circumstances, can thrive.”

The BC Vision for Drug Policy outlines four key areas for reform:
- Drug Regulation: The Vision advocates for responsible regulation of drugs to displace the toxic unregulated drug supply
- Decriminalization: Emphasizing the need to separate policing from substance use, the Vision aims to empower individuals to seek support without fear of criminal sanctions.
- Addressing Substantive Equality: Recognizing the intersectionality of drug-related issues, the Vision seeks to tackle root social problems perpetuating cycles of poverty, homelessness, family separation, and social exclusion.
- Detox, Recovery, and Treatment: Focusing on voluntary choices, the Vision calls for evidence-based programs and services to reduce the trauma and death associated with the current unregulated treatment landscape.
Anchored in three guiding principles: autonomy, choice, and compassion, the Vision challenges stereotypes by asserting that drug use is morally neutral, and urges policies grounded in contemporary best practices and empirical evidence.

“The thousands of deaths of our families, loved ones and neighbours are largely preventable. Nearly eight years into this emergency, we must not become numb to the scale of this suffering,” says Nicole Luongo of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. “Moving from broken policy towards a vision grounded in autonomy, choice, and compassion is not only essential; it is an act of love and care for all.”

Organizations and individuals can learn more and endorse the Vision for BC Drug Policy: drugpolicy.ca/visionforBCdrugpolicy

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Images, documents and links available:
- Full Text: To End a Crisis: Vision for BC Drug Policy
- Executive Summary: Vision for BC Drug Policy
- Website: www.drugpolicy.ca/visionforBCdrugpolicy
Media Contact:

Jessica Hannon for the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition

[email protected]

At time of publication on January 31 2024, the following organizations have endorsed To End a Crisis: Vision for BC Drug Policy:

Canadian Drug Policy Coalition

Pivot Legal Society

British Columbia Civil Liberties Association

B.C. Health Coalition

B.C. Poverty Reduction Coalition

Surrey Newton Union of Drug Users (SNUDU)

Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 5536

SOLID Outreach

Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU)

Vancouver District Labour Council (VDLC)

Workers for Ethical Substance Use Policy (WESUP)

B.C. Association of People on Methadone (BCAPOM)

Coalition of Peers Dismantling the Drug War (CPDDW)

Care Not Cops

Nanaimo Community Action Team

Nanaimo Area Network of Drug Users (NANDU)

Mountainside Harm Reduction Society

Living Positive Resource Centre

Prisoners’ Legal Services

Coalition of Substance Users of the North (CSUN)

Chilliwack Community Action Team

Rural Empowered Drug Users’ Network (REDUN)

Harm Reduction Nurses Association

Dudes Club Society

AVI Health and Community Services

Moms Stop the Harm

Kilala Lelum Health and Wellness Cooperative

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 the BC Civil Liberties Association

The BCCLA works to promote, defend, sustain, and extend civil liberties and human rights in British Columbia and Canada. We achieve this mandate through four core programs: litigation in court; law and policy reform; public legal education; community-based information assistance and advocacy. Relentless in our pursuit of justice, we have grown from a small group of academics and activists to a non-partisan and non-profit organization of people who continue to fight for civil liberties and human rights. Learn more at www.bccla.org

About the Vancouver District Labour Council

The VDLC represents 60,000 workers from over 90 affiliated unions in our community. Labour council members work at food stores, on the docks, in public services, construction and much more. We work to advance the rights, common interests, and welfare of working people through political action, education, community service, and active solidarity. We unite to build just, affordable, and resilient communities. We are a chartered body of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), representing 3.5 million unionized Canadians. The VDLC was founded in 1889 as the “Vancouver Trades and Labour Council”, making it one of the oldest labour organizations in the country. Learn more at www.vdlc.ca

About the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition

The BC Poverty Reduction Coalition is comprised of over 80 organizations and community mobilizations that come together to advocate for public policy solutions to end poverty, homelessness and inequality in B.C. We aim to improve the health and well-being of all living in British Columbia. The Coalition advocates for a targeted and comprehensive poverty reduction strategy that prioritizes equity-seeking groups, and a whole government, cross-ministry approach to ending poverty. Our work is grounded in the foundation of universal human rights. Learn more at www.bcpovertyreduction.ca
January 31, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: National Organizations Deeply Concerned with Saskatchewan’s Health Policy Shift

People who use drugs will suffer the consequences of backward-thinking and restrictive policies

January 26, 2024 | Two leading national human rights organizations have addressed the Saskatchewan provincial government to express profound concern over changes that restrict access to vital harm reduction supplies and safety information. The HIV Legal Network and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition sent the letter yesterday, urging the government to reverse the changes and ground policy in evidence, human rights and best practice.

On January 18, Saskatchewan’s provincial health ministry announced it would stop providing clean pipes and require people to exchange a used needle to receive a sterile one, as well as stop distributing education resources on safer pipe use practices. Third-party organizations would also not be permitted to used provincial funds for these purposes. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Tim McLeod said providing information to people who use drugs on how to stay safer, “sends the wrong message to people who we want to help.”

The HIV Legal Network and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition contend these restrictions pose a severe threat to the health and safety of people in Saskatchewan, particularly those at risk of contracting hepatitis C and HIV, as well as drug poisoning and overdose.

“If the Saskatchewan government is concerned about sending messages with its policies, let’s be clear. The message this sends is that if you use drugs or live with addiction, the government does not care about your safety,” says DJ Larkin, executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition.

The HIV Legal Network stresses the vital role that harm reduction information and supplies play in mitigating the spread of HIV and hepatitis C. “Saskatchewan already has by far the highest rate of new HIV infections in Canada,” say Sandra Ka Hon Chu and Janet Butler-McPhee of the HIV Legal Network. “This is a reckless move, and a terrible use of public health dollars. Limiting access to cost-effective interventions proven to keep people safer – and alive – is counterproductive. Anyone who loves someone who uses drugs in Saskatchewan should be very alarmed by this backwards shift in policy.”

Saskatchewan is already facing disproportionately high rates of HIV and hepatitis C cases. The province has the highest rate of new HIV diagnoses in Canada, according to 2022 data from the Public Health Agency of Canada. While the rate of new diagnoses of HIV in Canada is 3.8 per 100,000 people, in Saskatchewan, the rate is more than five times that, at 20.3 per 100,000 people. Hepatitis C surveillance data from 2021 shows Saskatchewan had 38.3 reported cases per 100,000 population, versus the national rate of 19.7 new cases per 100,000.

Information available on the government of Saskatchewan’s website recognizes the importance of sterile supplies to reduce harm, encouraging the public to “protect yourself from HIV [and] hepatitis C…use new, clean needles each time you use drugs, and do not share supplies with other people.”

The policy announcement comes as the Saskatchewan Coroners Service has indicated the number of drug toxicity deaths in 2023 is likely to set a provincial record, with a possible 484 lives lost.

“This approach is completely unsupported by any evidence,” says Larkin. “None of this will stop people from using drugs. It will only stop people from getting the information and supplies they need to stay safer. People in Saskatchewan will be hurt by this decision.”

Local organizations offering programs and services to support those actively using or affected by substance use worry the decision will harm marginalized communities, hamper efforts to connect people to supports, and put further strain on grassroots organizations already providing life-saving services on shoestring budgets.

“Our funding already falls short of what’s needed to support the 300 people who regularly access our services,” says Kayla DeMong of Prairie Harm Reduction. “We’re not willing to abandon people, so we’ll have to find a way to fund the supplies on our own. The fact that the government is making our work harder is so disheartening.”

The joint letter urges officials to reverse the changes, and engage in open dialogue with the organizations, people with lived and living experience, public health experts, frontline workers, and other stakeholders to explore approaches grounded in evidence that prioritize the health and safety of all Saskatchewan residents.

Read the open letter here.

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Media Contact:

To arrange interviews, email: [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 HIV Legal Network

The HIV Legal Network promotes the human rights of people living with HIV or AIDS and other populations disproportionately affected by HIV, punitive laws and policies, and criminalization, in Canada and internationally. We do this through research and analysis, litigation and other advocacy, public education, and community mobilization. Learn more at www.hivlegalnetwork.ca

About Prairie Harm Reduction

Prairie Harm Reduction is a community based non-profit organization, in the heart of the inner city of Saskatoon, whose mission is to improve the quality of life for all members of our community through gold standards in harm reduction, emphasizing local action with national impact. www.prairiehr.ca

January 26, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: BC Supreme Court rules in favour of Harm Reduction Nurses Association, pauses coming into force of BC’s public drug consumption law

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: BC Supreme Court rules in favour of Harm Reduction Nurses Association, pauses coming into force of BC’s public drug consumption law

xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, sḵwx̱wú7mesh & səlilwətaɬ lands | Vancouver, BC | December 29, 2023

Today, the BC Supreme Court granted a temporary injunction to the Harm Reduction Nurses Association (HRNA), suspending the coming into force of BC’s Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act until March 31, 2024. The court granted the injunction on the grounds 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.

This temporary injunction provides time for the Court to assess whether the law violates Charter rights and is outside of BC’s constitutional jurisdiction.

The province passed the Act in November, imposing sweeping restrictions on the decriminalization pilot that launched January 31, 2023, which removes criminal penalties for the possession of small amounts of some illegal drugs. The proposed Act would prohibit drug use in most public spaces. The Harm Reduction Nurses Association, represented by lawyers Caitlin Shane of Pivot Legal Society and DJ Larkin of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition argued this would exacerbate many harms decriminalization aims to reduce through increased interactions with law enforcement, displacement, drug seizures, fines and arrests.

BC Supreme Court Chief Justice Hinkson agreed, concluding that, “It is apparent that public consumption and consuming drugs in the company of others is oftentimes the safest, healthiest, and/or only available option for an individual, given a dire lack of supervised consumption services, indoor locations to consume drugs, and housing.”

British Columbia initially launched the decriminalization pilot to reduce police and criminal justice involvement with substance use, in an effort to reduce harm, destigmatize drug use, and prevent fatal overdose in the context of a public health emergency that causes 7 unnecessary deaths each day. Evidence shows enforcement has not reduced drug availability or use, is costly, and is linked to an increased risk of overdose and cycles of homelessness.

The BC Supreme Court ruling determined that the province’s proposed ban on public drug consumption cannot come into force until at least March 31, 2024, due to the irreparable harm it could cause to people at risk of death or serious injury from the unregulated toxic drug crisis. In his judgement, the Honourable Chief Justice Hinkson concluded, “I am satisfied… that there are serious issues to be tried [and] that irreparable harm will be caused if the Act comes into force.”

The decision preserves the status quo of the law in BC. The province’s decriminalization pilot project remains in effect, allowing for the possession of small amounts of some drugs. The restrictions to the pilot also remain in effect, including that drug possession remains illegal on the premises of elementary and secondary schools, playgrounds, child-care facilities, around splash pads and skate parks, and for anyone under 18 years old.

HRNA is a non-profit national organization comprised of nurses who work alongside people at severe risk of overdose and death due to Canada’s toxic unregulated drug supply. “We’re concerned this proposed law would threaten the lives, health, and safety, and Charter rights of our clients, many of whom live in communities that lack safe, indoor locations where drug use is permitted,” said Corey Ranger, HRNA President. “This law would drive our clients into more remote and isolated locations away from services and emergency care.” The application was filed alongside a Charter challenge to the law, which is likely to be heard in the new year. A statement from HRNA regarding its decision to take legal action is available online.

Since BC’s decriminalization policy took effect, there has been no documented increase in public drug consumption. Instead, concerns highlighted in government documents released through access to information requests mention recent “media frenzy” driving anti-poverty/anti-homeless sentiment, the spread of misinformation about the decriminalization pilot, and the province’s continued treatment of drug use as a criminal rather than a health matter.

If brought into force, BC’s law would have authorized displacement, fines, arrest and imprisonment for people who use drugs in public, regardless of the availability of safe, legal spaces to use drugs or people’s housing status.

“This law cannot be compared to laws restricting alcohol, nicotine or cannabis consumption in public. Because our governments have refused to regulate the drug supply itself, the contents and potency of the drugs are unknown. That is at the core of why so many people are at risk of overdose,” says DJ Larkin, one of HRNA’s lawyers and Executive Director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. Chief Justice Hinkson’s judgement states, “I accept that the unregulated nature of the illegal drug supply is the predominant cause of increasing death rates in British Columbia.

“Ultimately, legislation outlining where people can and can’t ingest drugs of any kind likely makes sense,” says Larkin. “But we must start from regulating what is in the drugs, how they are packaged, and who, where and how they are purchased. That would provide the safety that people need.”

“Today’s decision recognizes that substance use cannot be legislated without scrutiny,” says Caitlin Shane of Pivot Legal Society and one of HRNA’s lawyers. “At a time when nearly 8 people die each day in BC alone due to a toxic unregulated drug supply – and as a 2016 Ministerial Order requiring the establishment of overdose prevention services province-wide remains unfulfilled – it is critical that BC lawmakers be guided by evidence rather than fear.”

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Media contact:

[email protected]

604-341-5005

December 29, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: National and International Support Grows for Safe Supply Advocates Arrested in Vancouver

xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, sḵwx̱wú7mesh & səlilwətaɬ lands Vancouver, BC | November 3, 2023

Last week’s police raid and arrests of Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) members in Vancouver have triggered an outpouring of local, national, and international support for DULF and the urgent expansion of nonmedical safe supply in response to the ongoing unregulated drug crisis.

Building on a series of safe supply protest actions, DULF launched a compassion club in 2022 to offer non-prescription safe supply to 43 people at risk from the unregulated drug market. After a year of operation, the compassion club’s preliminary findings showed significant health and safety benefits for members. DULF’s intervention demonstrates a viable grassroots model to address the devastating consequences of the unregulated drug market, led by people who use drugs.

The necessity of DULF’s nonmedical safe supply framework was affirmed this week with the release of the BC Coroners Service Death Review Panel Report: An Urgent Response to a Continuing Crisis. The report calls on the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions to seek a federal exemption for opioid and stimulant drug access without a prescription. “The consensus of the panel is that with a proper system of checks and balances in place, the substances can be provided in a safe and responsible manner,” said Michael Egilson, chair of the death review panel.

The criminalization of DULF has ignited widespread national and international support. Communities in Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria held public solidarity rallies today, with an event planned in Ottawa for Sunday. These rallies in support of DULF advocate for the scaling up of community-based compassion clubs, rather than criminalization.

“Governments and police are scapegoating those bold enough to disobey unjust laws and save lives – like our DULF colleagues. We didn’t set out to be outlaws. But we realized that nobody was coming to save us, so we’ll have to save ourselves.” said Garth Mullins, host of Crackdown Podcast and community organizer.

An open letter in support of DULF has received endorsements from over 200 organizations and 1,700 individuals. The letter calls for the immediate halt to criminalization of community-regulated safe supply, restoration of DULF funding, and a formalized commitment to create a framework to uphold and protect community-regulated safe supply in BC.

“Businesses are seeking solutions that keep their staff, operations and neighbours safe,” said Euan Thomson, letter signatory and executive director of EACH+EVERY, a national coalition of businesses supporting harm reduction approaches to unregulated drug poisoning. “It’s well past time that grassroots initiatives led by people who use drugs were provided the space to operate without being criminalized.”

DULF’s small, community-led model of safe supply, has demonstrated how access to safety-tested drugs with known potency and contents can reduce overdose, keep people alive, reduce hospitalizations and stabilize lives. DULF’s work has support from leading researchers, physicians and health care providers, public health officials, and community groups.

“People in places of institutional power and policy-making must not hide behind the word illegal. Instead, they must focus on the law and policy that forces people and organizations like DULF to take action at great personal risk,” said DJ Larkin, executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. “A compassion club that is saving lives every day is only illegal because the law and policy is unjust.”

In the words of members of the DULF Compassion Club, “We speak out in support of their actions with DULF, actions that opened up possibilities for us, for our community, and for drug users and people everywhere. The possibility to stay alive, and even to thrive. Today our survival hangs by a thread.”

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Media Contacts:

Jessica Hannon for Canadian Drug Policy Coalition

[email protected]

604-341-5005

Euan Thomson, executive director, EACH+EVERY

[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

November 3, 2023
For Immediate Release: Nationwide Support Rallies as Vancouver Police Target Safe Drug Supply Program
Vancouver, BC | October 27, 2023 —

Advocates, community organizations and concerned members of the public across the country are adding their names to an open letter condemning the October 25 arrests of members of the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF).

Please see below for our response to the criminalization of the Drug User Liberation Front’s heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine compassion club in Vancouver, and view the live document which will be updated continuously with new signatories.

Media are invited to contact organizations listed among the signatories directly for comment.

Canadian Drug Policy Media Contact: [email protected]

RE: Vancouver Police Press Release, “VPD executes search warrants in Downtown Eastside drug investigation”

To:

Vancouver Police Department

City of Vancouver, and

Province of British Columbia:

The signatories of this letter condemn the criminalization of community-regulated safe drug supply distribution in Vancouver on October 25, 2023, executed through search warrants, arrests and interrogations by Vancouver Police Department.

Unregulated drug toxicity is the leading cause of death in BC for persons aged 10 to 59, accounting for more deaths than homicides, suicides, accidents and natural diseases combined. In this urgent context, the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF) operates a compassion club to save lives and reduce the harms of the unregulated drug market.

DULF has been public about its activities since its first safe supply action on April 14, 2021. Its second action in July 2021 was conducted in plain sight of a Vancouver Police Department station with officers in attendance. In 2022, the City of Vancouver issued a business license to DULF. That year, the Province of BC initiated a $200,000 grant through Vancouver Coastal Health to help cover DULF’s overhead costs.

DULF was transparent in its application for a Controlled Drugs and Substances Act exemption to the Government of Canada, publishing both its application and the Government’s denial of the exemption for public examination.

DULF has conducted formal evaluation of its compassion club in partnership with qualified researchers at the BC Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU). The data show the program is keeping people alive and in better health, with lower reliance on criminal activity. The removal of funding not only hinders DULF’s compassion club, it closes down a critical overdose prevention site – an outcome with legal precedent to be reversed.

The statement issued by Vancouver Police on October 26, 2023 is an apparent attempt to distance governments and police from the active and passive roles that each have played in DULF’s activities while political backlash builds against safe supply more broadly.

International reporting on DULF includes articles in Time Magazine and The Guardian. It is inconceivable that any institution operating in drug policy or enforcement could have remained unaware that DULF operates a compassion club.

If political institutions took issue with DULF’s activities, carried out with a clear aim to minimize harms to its community while more than 2,000 people are killed each year in BC by policy inaction, they had ample opportunity to respond when DULF distributed regulated drugs in front of a Vancouver Police station in 2021, requested a business license from the City of Vancouver, and approached Vancouver Coastal Health for funding.

Given the transparency with which DULF has operated, it is fair to conclude that these institutions are disingenuously betraying people who are at risk of death while a seven-year unmitigated public health emergency persists.

In solidarity with DULF, the signatories of this letter demand that Vancouver Police, the City of Vancouver, and the Province of BC:
- Immediately cease criminalizing community-regulated safe supply in BC;
- Restore DULF funding cut by Vancouver Coastal Health;
- Formalize a commitment to create a framework to uphold and protect community-regulated safe supply in BC.
To view the growing live list of signatories, including individuals, click here.

MEDIA: Please engage organizations directly from the list below.

Signed:

National Organizations

Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs

Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy

Canadian Drug Policy Coalition

CATIE: Canada’s Source for HIV and Hepatitis C Information

Drug Policy Alliance (USA)

EACH+EVERY: Businesses for Harm Reduction

Harm Reduction Nurses Association

HIV Legal Network

International Network of People who Use Drugs

Moms Stop The Harm

Regional Organizations

4B Harm Reduction Society, Edmonton, AB

Alberta Alliance Who Educate and Advocate Responsibly, AB

Bonfire Counselling, Vancouver, BC

Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy – Vancouver, Vancouver, BC

Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy – Calgary, Calgary, AB

Coalition of Substance Users of the North (CSUN), Lhtako Dene Nation, BC

Corporación ATS / Echele Cabeza, Colombia

Disability Arts & Activism Archive, BC

Harrogate Psychological Services, Edmonton, AB

HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario (HALCO), ON

Kootenay Independent Safe Supply Society, Nelson, BC

Kootenay Insurrection for Safe Supply, Nelson, BC

Kykeon Analytics Ltd, Victoria, BC

Langley Community Action Team: We All Play a ROLE, Langley, BC

Medicine Hat Drug Coalition, Medicine Hat, AB

Metzineres – Refuge Environments for Drug Users, Barcelona, Spain

PAN, Vancouver, BC

Sure Shot Harm Reduction, Ottawa, ON

People For Reproductive Rights and Freedoms, Edmonton, AB

Pivot Legal Society, Vancouver, BC

Prairie Harm Reduction, Saskatoon, SK

Project SAFE, Philadelphia, USA

REMA Feminist & Antiprohibitionist Network, Spain

Ryan’s Hope, Barrie, ON

SafeLink Alberta, AB

SAFER Victoria, Victoria, BC

Solid Outreach Society, Victoria, BC

Student Overdose Prevention and Education Network, Hamilton, ON

The POUNDS Project, Prince George, BC

Toronto Overdose Prevention Society, Toronto, ON

Tri-Cities Community Action Team, Tri-Cities, BC

United For Change Edmonton, Edmonton, AB

Vancouver Community Action Team, Vancouver, BC

We Care Substance Use Resource Society, BC

Workers for Ethical Substance Use Policy, Vancouver, BC

Whistler Community Services Society, Whistler, BC

WILD collaborative harm reduction association, Vancouver Island, BC

Your Journey, Airdrie, AB

Youth RISE, Edmonton, AB

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October 27, 2023