TORONTO, August 28, 2017 — The Government of Canada must take immediate steps to implement recommendations by the United Nations’ highest body for combatting racism calling for an end to punitive drug policies that disproportionately impact Black and Indigenous Peoples, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network said today. In its Concluding Observations on its review of … Read more
“The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (“Legal Network”) welcomes this opportunity to provide submissions to the Department of Justice on how the Canadian criminal law should be transformed. “In this submission, the Legal Network sets out its concerns about Canada’s criminal justice system, focusing on (i) the overly broad criminalization of HIV non-disclosure; (ii) the criminalization … Read more
Las minorías raciales son desproporcionadamente acusadas, procesadas y encarceladas en Canadá usando leyes que criminalizan a las personas que usan drogas y quitándoles sus derechos a un trato igualitario en el sistema de justicia, a su seguridad como persona y a los servicios de salud y sociales. El hecho que Canadá no ofrezca a los … Read more
Racialized communities are disproportionately charged, prosecuted and incarcerated in Canada under laws that criminalize people who use drugs, depriving them of their rights to equal treatment in the justice system, to security of the person, and to health and social services. Canada’s failure to provide prisoners, who are disproportionately Indigenous and Black, with equivalent access … Read more
“There is no evidence that mandatory prison time for people convicted of drug offences reduces the problems associated with drug use, or drug use itself. “At the same time, there is a growing body of evidence that mandatory minimum sentences wreak terrible damage on individuals (particularly those who are dependent on drugs), families and communities, … Read more
Toronto, Canada (July 14, 2017) — Against the backdrop of a national opioid overdose crisis and the fracturing of the global consensus on criminalization-based drug policies, over 200 participants met in Ottawa at Canada’s Drug Futures Forum in April 2017 to produce a ten-year agenda for the future of Canadian drug policy. A new report … Read more
“The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network submits this briefing to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in advance of its review of the periodic report of Canada, held during its 93rd session from July 31 to August 25, 2017. “[T]he Legal Network has focused this briefing on its concerns about Canada’s implementation of … Read more
By Nicholas Caivano, Policy Analyst, and Richard Elliott, Executive Director, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network June 29, 2017 As the world again marks the United Nation’s “International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking,” too many UN member states are still missing the point — namely, that drugs are primarily a health issue and not a … Read more
Highlights of our work in Canada and around the world from April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2017.
“We, the undersigned, write to you respecting the recent passage into law of Bill C-37, An Act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to make related amendments to other Acts. As you well know, the intent of this law is to facilitate the scaling up of safer consumption services (SCS) across Canada, … Read more