Publication Language: English

Love and Respect: Q&A on Jamaican TV ad court case

  In 2012, Jamaican human rights activists and AIDS-Free World produced “Love and Respect,” a short, 30-second video advertisement calling for respect for the basic human rights of Jamaican LGBTI people. However, television stations in Jamaica refused to air it as a paid advertisement. prompting this legal proceeding. Jamaican human rights activist, Maurice Tomlinson, is pursuing … Read more

Update: R v. Smith – Supreme Court sensibly strikes down arbitrary restrictions in Canada’s regulations on medical cannabis

June 11, 2015   The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, the Canadian AIDS Society and HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario (HALCO) welcome the decision today in the case of R v. Smith, in which the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously decided that patients with a legal authorization to use cannabis as medicine are entitled to consume … Read more

Needle and syringe programs in prison: Why?

June 10, 2015 When we call on the Government of Canada to protect prisoners’ right to health by introducing prison-based needle and syringe programs, it is essential that the voices of people living in Canadian prisons be heard. Jarrod, a current federal prisoner, writes about how the Canadian government is failing to protect its prison … Read more

Drug policy and human rights: the Canadian context — Submission to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

“Canada is a party to the three main UN drug control conventions, which aim to control illicit drugs by reducing supply and demand, in particular through requiring States Parties to adopt varying degrees of prohibitions and sanctions on a range of designated controlled substances, while also providing some degree of (often contested) flexibility for States … Read more

Prison Health Now: Needle and Syringe Programs in Canada’s Prisons

May 7, 2015 On April 30, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network co-hosted an ancillary event on this topic at the Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research (CAHR), along with the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN), Native Youth Sexual Health Network, Prisoners with HIV/AIDS Support Action Network (PASAN), and Ryerson University’s Department of Criminology. There’s a … Read more

Ontario turning its back on sex workers – Statement

While Ontario Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur has not yet publicly released her review of Canada’s new, misguided sex work law, we understand – according to a reported statement today by Premier Kathleen Wynne – that this review has found “no clear unconstitutionality” in the socalled Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act. We disagree with … Read more

Blocking health services unconscionable: Bill C-2 vote today

As Bill C-2 comes up for a final vote in the House of Commons, organizations across Canada voice their support for life-saving supervised consumption services for people who use drugs. [Click here to read the Statement to Canadian Parliamentarians Opposing Bill C-2.]