TORONTO, May 15, 2017 — Today scientists, medical professionals, policy makers, activists and people who use drugs are gathering in Montréal for the 25th Harm Reduction International Conference 2017 (HR17). Meanwhile the opioid crisis rages on and, even as Canada takes an important step forward by legalizing and regulating cannabis, outdated prohibitionist drug policies continues to … Read more
Canada is in urgent need of comprehensive harm reduction policy that jettisons the failed, costly model of drug prohibition that has ravaged so many lives, from fueling the spread of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV), to contributing to over-incarceration, to creating conditions for the ongoing epidemic of overdose fatalities. A harm reduction approach must … Read more
“For the reasons we have noted, we urge you to oppose and remove the Senate committee’s three amendments to Bill C-37, as they are contrary to the spirit and purpose of the bill, creating unnecessary mechanisms for delay in determinations regarding exemptions for SCS [safer consumption services] and reflecting an ongoing stigmatization surrounding people who … Read more
In Canada, Indigenous people experience higher rates of injection drug use and less access to health care than non-Indigenous people. For many Indigenous people, drug use offers a means of coping with traumatic life circumstances, including those related to their experiences with the residential school and child welfare systems in Canada, legacies of colonialism and … Read more
“The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network has therefore welcomed the government’s introduction of Bill C-37 in December 2016 that would go some way toward remedying these deficiencies. “In keeping with the government’s stated commitment to harm reduction and to evidence-based policy, the Legal Network recommends two amendments to strengthen Bill C-37, with a view to ensuring … Read more
“The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network submits this briefing to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in advance of its review of the periodic report of Canada, held during its 17th session from 20 March to 12 April 2017. “In this submission, the Legal Network sets out some selected concerns about the implementation … Read more
“TORONTO, February 21, 2017 — On this first National Day of Action on the Overdose Crisis, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network stands in solidarity with the Canadian Association of People who Use Drugs (CAPUD) and with other groups of people who use drugs, frontline harm reduction workers and other allies. We demand action, by all levels … Read more
“In keeping with the government’s stated commitment to harm reduction and to evidence-based policy, the Legal Network recommends two amendments to strengthen Bill C-37, with a view to ensuring the legislative framework for securing exemptions from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act is simple, straightforward and expeditious.”
With this report we would like to inform the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) about serious violations of Articles 3 and 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
Unsafe injecting drug use is a primary driver of HIV infection in Russia. The inability of current or former injecting drug users to access prevention and treatment services is compounded by the highly punitive measures meted out by law enforcement, including frequent arrest and incarceration. These trying circumstances led three brave individuals to pursue access … Read more