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 to the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law
This submission to the Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law focuses on human rights violations against people in Canada of African descent, in the context of Canada’s drug laws.
HIV Legal Network Comments – UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism
This submission responds to key questions that the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism has raised in support of her upcoming visit to Canada. Our responses focus on people who use drugs, sex workers, people without permanent residence or citizenship, and people living with HIV in Canada.
March 2026 OHCHR Submission
The HIV Legal Network (“Legal Network”) submited the following information to assist the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (“OHCHR”) in its preparation of a report on drug policy and its impact on the rights of women and girls. The Legal Network’s submission focuses on the context in Canada.
Video – Hard Time Persists – Immigration
Everyone — including people who have been detained — has a right to the highest attainable standard of health and to healthcare that is at least equivalent to that which is available in the community, whatever their immigration status. The current system — which allows for indefinite and punitive detention without comprehensive oversight — fails … Read more
Alberta’s Decision to Close Supervised Consumption Sites Will Result in Needless Death
This statement can be attributed to the HIV Legal Network and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. As organizations working to advance policies grounded in human rights and public health, HIV Legal Network and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition strongly condemn the decision by the Government of Alberta to close the last remaining supervised consumption sites … 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