Publication Topic : Drug Policy

Canadian Civil Society Calls for Federal Action on Global Drug Policy

One hundred Canadian civil society organizations are calling on the Canadian federal government to champion progressive and evidence-based drug policy positions at this week’s world forum on drugs. Spearheaded by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC), this civil society groundswell is asking federal Health Minister Dr. Jane Philpott to … Read more

Canada on drugs at the UN: Standing up for a long-overdue policy shift

By Richard Elliott The applause persisted until the chair of the session eventually gavelled it to an end. The occasion? Canada’s statement last month at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna, where countries were negotiating the text of a declaration to be adopted next week at the UN General Assembly’s Special Session on … Read more

Brief to the Toronto Board of Health regarding Supervised Injection Services in Toronto

“The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, HALCO and ARCH appreciate the opportunity to comment on the (March 7, 2016) Report from the Medical Officer of Health to the Toronto Board of Health on the integration of supervised injection services into existing clinical health services and to draw the Board’s attention to certain elements which are particularly … Read more

The UNGASS Outcome Document: Diplomacy Or Denialism? — Civil Society Statement

“We, the undersigned civil society organisations, representing drug policy expertise and affected communities worldwide, express our serious concerns about the preparations and draft Outcome Document for the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the ‘world drug problem’ in April 2016.” Related Publication Promoting Smart Policy on Drugs: Brief to the Minister of Health

Tuberculosis, Stigma and Drug Control: A case from Russia

By Mikhail Golichenko, Senior Policy Analyst, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network February 4, 2016 In December 2015, I attended a judicial workshop on human rights and tuberculosis (TB) organized by the University of Chicago Center in Delhi. It was a great gathering of civil society activists, judges, lawyers and medical practitioners from more than ten countries including … Read more

Six Ways Canada Can Adopt Prison-Based Needle and Syringe Programs Now: Report

TORONTO, February 3, 2016 — A research study has concluded that prison-based needle and syringe programs (PNSPs), which provide sterile injection equipment to prisoners who inject drugs and help prevent the spread of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV), are indisputably feasible in Canada and should be implemented in Canadian prisons without delay. Report: On … Read more

Canada: Drug policy and economic, social, and cultural rights — Submission to the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural 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