Overview
In Canada and other countries, drug use and dependence are treated largely as criminal law concerns — and people who use drugs are vilified and subjected to routine and often horrific human rights abuses.
Yet extensive evidence shows that doing the reverse would be more productive. The overreliance on criminal law enforcement (a.k.a. “the war on drugs”) is not only ineffective, it is hugely wasteful, carrying enormous financial costs and taking a terrible human toll on people who use drugs and their families and loved ones. Furthermore, criminalizing and incarcerating people for drug use, and denying access to effective health services, only fuels the spread of infections such as HIV and hepatitis C (HCV). Instead, all available evidence indicates that protecting and promoting the human rights of people who use drugs is necessary and effective in upholding their human rights, including their right to health.
We’re committed to reducing the harms caused by harsh, misguided drug laws. Instead of prohibition and punishment, drug policy must be grounded in sound evidence, and in the principle of the universality of human rights — rights to which all people are equally entitled, including people who use drugs.
We advocate for:
- increased access to harm reduction and other evidence-based health services, such as needle and syringe programs, supervised consumption and overdose prevention services, a safe, regulated drug supply, and drug dependence treatment;
- criminal legal system reforms that respect the human rights and promote the health of people who use drugs and reduce their chances of incarceration, with a focus on the impacts of such reforms on Black, Indigenous and other racialized communities;
- drug policy that is evidence-informed, human rights–based, culturally appropriate and gender-sensitive; and
- international standards on drug policy, including harm reduction and drug dependence treatment, that are consistent with human rights norms.
What is the drug poisoning crisis and what are supervised consumption services?
Canada is now fully immersed in a drug poisoning crisis — fueled by a contaminated drug supply — that is killing at an alarming rate. From 2016 to 2021, more than 29,052 people have died. In 2021 there were approximately 21 drug poisoning deaths in Canada every day — and it’s not getting any better.
Watch Decriminalize Now: Akia’s Story, a short first-person narrative film about the drug poisoning crisis — and daring to dream of a better future for people who use drugs. We can get there by rethinking repressive drug policy, in Canada and beyond.
Learn more:
Submission on Proposed New Regulations under the Measures Respecting Premises with Illegal Drug Activity Act, 2025
The HIV Legal Network and HALCO strongly oppose the Measures Respecting Premises with Illegal Drug Activity Act, 2025 (MRPIDAA), which risks further destabilizing access to housing and deepening the harms experienced by people who use drugs. By introducing new provincial offences that will expose landlords to significant penalties where they are found to have “knowingly … Read more
Submission regarding Ontario’s Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act
In this submission, the HIV Legal Network and HALCO urge the Ontario government to repeal the Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act and reject new proposals to extend coercive arrest and enforcement authority to transit constables.
Letter to CSC Health Services OAT Policy Changes – October 1, 2025
This letter – co-signed by the HIV Legal Network and other organizations that work directly with or advocate for the rights-respecting treatment of people in federal custody – shares serious concerns about the impacts of the October 1, 2025 changes to Correctional Services Canada’s Opioid Agonist Treatment policy, including the delisting of Suboxone and the … Read more
Submission to the United Nations Human Rights Committee: Review of Canada at 145th Session
The HIV Legal Network made this submission to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee (“Committee”) in advance of its review of Canada’s periodic report, detailing our concerns about Canada’s implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). This submission provides information on violations of Articles 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, and … Read more
Urgent Concerns Regarding CSC’s Recent Opioid Agonist Treatment Policy Changes – Open Letter
Sign the letter here. 15 December 2025 Via email Anne Kelly, Commissioner, Correctional Service Canada (CSC) Marie Doyle, Assistant Commissioner, Health Services, CSC cc: Bassem Guirguis, National Pharmacist, CSC; Darcy Stoneadge, Director, Health Policy and Programs, CSC; Dr. Asim Masood, Chief Medical Office of Health, CSC; Dr. Guy Hébert, National Physician Lead, CSC; Dr. Nader … Read more
Media Release – Ontario cuts back on proven prevention tools as HIV transmissions rise in Canada
More than 600 medical and legal experts issued an open letter today calling on the Government of Ontario to allow the distribution of syringes at HART Hubs Toronto ON – The Ontario government is endangering the health of people who use drugs by prohibiting the distribution of sterile needles and syringes through the province’s newly … Read more
Together we can end the harmful “War on Drugs”
Today — International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) — is not just a day of reflection but a call to action. It is a plea to governments, organizations, and individuals to come together and prioritize life, health, and dignity above prejudice and stigma as we push toward a world where people who use substances are met with … Read more
MEDIA STATEMENT: HIV LEGAL NETWORK CELEBRATES 30 YEARS WITH DIGITAL GROWTH AND A NEW PODCAST
Toronto, ON (April 25, 2023) — This year, the HIV Legal Network celebrates its 30th anniversary. Founded in December 1992 as the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, the organization has spent the past three decades advocating to protect the human rights of all people living with or affected by HIV and AIDS, as well as those … Read more
IT’S TIME FOR DRUG DECRIMINALIZATION – DONE RIGHT – NOW
With no time for half-measures, Canada needs full decriminalization nation-wide, led by lived experience and evidence Monday, January 30, 2023 — This week, we are watching with great interest as the possession of some drugs in small amounts will finally be decriminalized in the Province of British Columbia. While in theory a positive step forward … Read more
WORLD AIDS DAY 2022: IT’S TIME TO EQUALIZE, IN CANADA AND BEYOND
November 30, 2022 — Today, the HIV Legal Network marks World AIDS Day by joining with the United Nations (UN) in a call to governments around the world to reform laws, policies, and practices that create and exacerbate the stigma faced by people living with HIV. With this year’s theme being “Equalize,” we are focused … Read more