Publication Language: English

MEDIA RELEASE: LEADING HUMAN RIGHTS AND PUBLIC HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS RELEASE NATIONAL DRUG DECRIMINALIZATION PLATFORM FOR CANADA

Leading human rights and public health organizations release national drug decriminalization platform for Canada   The bill that the federal government introduced this week to repeal mandatory minimum sentences and offer alternatives to prosecution for simple drug possession is a step in the right direction, but doesn’t go far enough. For immediate release Thursday, December 9, 2021 … Read more

Decriminalization Done Right: A Rights-Based Path for Drug Policy

A CALL TO PUT HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST Punitive drug laws and policies purported to deter drug use have failed — and worse, they have done catastrophic harm. They have fueled deadly stigma; epidemics of preventable illness and death; poverty; homelessness; and widespread, systematic, and egregious violations of human rights. They are rooted in, … Read more

Deputation to Toronto Board of Health re: Toronto’s submission to Health Canada for a section 56 exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act

Today, Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Co-Executive Director at the HIV Legal Network, on behalf of Angela Robertson, Executive Director, Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre, and Jason Altenberg, Chief Executive Officer, South Riverdale Community Health Centre, made this deputation to the Toronto Board of Health regarding Toronto’s submission to Health Canada for a section 56 exemption to … Read more

Letter to Eileen de Villa re: Toronto’s submission to Health Canada for a section 56 exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act

Today, November 29, Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health has proposed a new model for drug policy — you can read more about the Toronto model here: https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2021/hl/bgrd/backgroundfile-173568.pdf We are pleased that drug decriminalization is being considered and that the process is beginning. You can read our assessment of the Toronto model here. It’s time for decriminalization … Read more

Human rights advocates eye legal action against Canadian, German, Norwegian and UK governments over global COVID vaccine inequality

Human rights advocates eye legal action against Canadian, German, Norwegian and UK governments over global COVID vaccine inequality Coordinated legal efforts call on “recalcitrant” governments to support proposed waiver of COVID-related intellectual property monopolies at the WTO 25 November 2021 Human rights lawyers have threatened legal action against the German, Norwegian, and Canadian governments today … Read more

Drug Policy and the Fundamental Human Rights of Women who Use Drugs: Briefing paper to CEDAW

Across the world, women who use drugs endure intersecting forms of discrimination related to gender, drug use, HIV status, mental health conditions, and other factors. They are denied basic rights to equality and non-discrimination, life, the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, family, information, privacy, and freedom from cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. While … Read more

Respect, Protect, Fulfill: Supporting the HIV Legal Network

Respect. Protect. Fulfill. You can help challenge wrongs, advance rights, and transform lives. Denied basic healthcare. Criminalized and vilified for love. Unfairly targeted by police. These abuses, and more, are too often the experience of people living with HIV and of communities affected by HIV. At the HIV Legal Network, our mission has always been … Read more

Human Rights Imperative: The HIV Legal Network in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Respect. Protect. Fulfill. You can help challenge wrongs, advance rights, and transform lives. In countries of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region, people who use drugs are routinely denied basic healthcare and harm reduction services. They are unfairly targeted by police and subjected to torture. Parents face losing custody of their children. There … Read more

Covering Risk: HIV Criminalization and Condoms

In Canada, people living with HIV can be criminalized for not disclosing their status before engaging in a sexual activity where there is a “realistic possibility of HIV transmission.” Although the possibility of HIV transmission when a condom is used ranges from negligible to none, the law remains unsettled about whether condoms are sufficient on … Read more