November 5, 2018 It’s past time for action by the federal government. On World AIDS Day 2016, the federal Justice Minister declared that Canada must address the “overcriminalization of HIV” that contributes to HIV stigma and undermines public health. She also committed to working with the provinces, affected communities and medical professionals to this end. … Read more
October 31, 2018 Dear Minister Elliott: We write to you as organizations concerned about the health and welfare of some of the most vulnerable Ontarians, in response to the October 22 announcement that your government plans to replace supervised consumption sites (SCS) and low-barrier overdose prevention sites (OPS) with “Consumption and Treatment Services.”
“Dear Minister: Re: Commitment to take action to end “overcriminalization of HIV” in Canada? I write further to our letter of August 3rd and following recent discussions with representatives of your office and of your department regarding measures your government could take to follow through on your previously stated concern about the overly broad use … Read more
October 17, 2018 — Today marks an important step forward in Canada’s drug policy, as the legal regulation of cannabis for non-medical purposes takes effect. The Legal Network welcomes this important development toward sensible drug policy, but more must be done to uphold the health and human rights of people who use drugs in this … Read more
TORONTO, September 24, 2018 — The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network welcomes the new report, Regulation: the responsible control of drugs, published today by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, and calls on the federal government to study it carefully as Canada continues to struggle with an unabated crisis of overdose deaths.
There is an opioid overdose crisis in Canada. In 2017, a record 3,987 people in Canada died of apparent opioid overdoses, an increase of nearly 34% from 2,978 in 2016. As in the community as a whole, an increasing number of prisoners are overdosing — sometimes fatally — behind bars. Naloxone can temporarily reverse an … Read more
Tomorrow, August 31, marks International Overdose Awareness Day. The epidemic of overdose deaths continues to take a staggering toll, underscoring the need to challenge the deadly stigma surrounding drug use and to revisit the failed approach of criminalizing drug use and imprisoning people who use drugs. But in Ontario this year, the government appears intent … Read more
“Exploitation within the sex industry, including human trafficking, is of great concern to sex workers and to allied groups such as the Legal Network working to uphold sex workers’ human rights. However, anti-trafficking policies must be based on evidence and human rights — not ideological positions on sex work or moral panic.”
July 25, 2018 Today we welcome an important development in the ongoing fight against HIV criminalization in Canada and around the globe. At the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018), underway this week in Amsterdam, 20 of the world’s leading HIV scientists published a peer-reviewed “Expert Consensus Statement on the Science of HIV in the … Read more
July 25, 2018 — Today, at the 22nd International AIDS Conference underway in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 20 eminent world scientists — including two leading Canadian researchers — released a groundbreaking Expert Consensus Statement providing their conclusive opinion on the low-to-no possibility of a person living with HIV transmitting the virus in various situations, including via … Read more