FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
\nTuesday, May 11, 2021<\/p>\n
Vancouver, B.C.\u2014A broad-based Canada-wide coalition of human rights, drug policy, community, and drug user organizations are raising serious concerns about a proposed model for drug decriminalization that will be submitted to the federal government for approval. If adopted, the flawed \u201cVancouver Model,\u201d as proposed by the City of Vancouver, could be a precedent-setting policy change\u2014the first of its kind in Canada\u2014that could pave the way for other cities to follow suit, including communities in Ontario, Alberta, and Quebec among others. It is therefore critical that this initial model gets decriminalization right by centering the health and rights of people who use drugs, as well as the needs of their loved ones and communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe mayor personally guaranteed to involve people who use drugs all the way along. But instead, the city met with police behind closed doors and cooked up a restrictive regime. They locked us out and never told us the details until it was a fait accompli,\u201d says Garth Mullins, with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users. \u201cIf I was still using as much heroin as I used to, the mayor’s ‘Vancouver Model’ would re-criminalize me, not set me free. But it\u2019s not too late to fix this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Committed to the health and human rights of people who use drugs and progressive, evidence-based drug policy reforms, the coalition is calling on the federal government to address three critical flaws inherent to the current Vancouver Model. These flaws are outlined in a public statement, Decriminalization Done Right: A Human Rights and Public Health Vision for Drug Policy Reform, released today, and are:<\/p>\n
1. Lack of meaningful engagement of people who use drugs in designing a system that was meant for them. People who use drugs have not been meaningfully consulted, and this has resulted in a proposal that does not reflect the current realities of drug use. This will ultimately diminish the success of the proposed plan to decriminalize personal possession of drugs in Vancouver. A system co-developed by those at the centre of the issue is far more likely to succeed. The coalition is calling on the Government of Canada and City of Vancouver to engage people who use drugs in a substantive and meaningful way.<\/p>\n
2. Drug threshold amounts for decriminalized possession are too low. Health Canada has asked the City of Vancouver to propose threshold amounts for each drug that a person may legally possess. Threshold quantities\u2014depending on how they are set\u2014can provide clarity and advance the health and human rights of people who use drugs. However, if set too low, these thresholds can render a proposal for decriminalization largely meaningless and lead to harm. The thresholds proposed by Vancouver are far too low, failing to reflect the realities of current patterns of drug use. Based on three studies, which Vancouver admits are dated, the proposed thresholds overlook that many people\u2019s drug tolerance and purchasing patterns have dramatically increased and that the drug market itself has changed because of COVID-19. Consultations with people who use drugs only occurred after thresholds were submitted to Health Canada. The coalition is calling on Health Canada and or the City of Vancouver to amend the proposed thresholds to more realistic levels after meaningful consultation with people who use drugs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe inclusion and impact of unrealistic thresholds will partially negate the intent of a decriminalization law, and will keep people in the shadows,\u201d says Leslie McBain, co-founder of Moms Stop the Harm. \u201cThe criminalization of people who use drugs and the stigma that comes with it has long-lasting negative consequences for individuals, including fear within their families and friends. Criminalization causes instability and fear for people who use drugs who often, as a consequence, use illicit drugs alone and die alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
3. Police are dictating the parameters of decriminalization. From the beginning, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) has been involved in the design of this proposal. This is extremely concerning because \u201cde\u201d-criminalization is meant to remove police involvement from a policy intervention, not give them a greater role by allowing them considerable input in its design. As the City of Vancouver has stated, the current model is meant to be a public-health focused, evidence-based policy. Given the extent to which police actions have historically worked at cross-purposes with health and harm reduction efforts, we have significant concerns about the extensive role of the VPD in this process. There is no legal or other basis requiring police to have the input. We call on the City of Vancouver to remove police influence from the process and the form of decriminalization being proposed to Health Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe call for an approach to drugs based on best practices, including the full participation of people affected by drug criminalization. Several municipalities in Quebec have taken steps in this direction and some have urged the federal government to decriminalize simple possession and put an end to the harmful reprisals experienced by drug users and their families,\u201d says Sandhia Vadlamudy, Executive Director of L’Association des intervenants en d\u00e9pendance du Qu\u00e9bec. \u201cQuebec municipalities, including Montreal, must avoid the trap present in the model developed by Vancouver. AIDQ supports efforts to ensure that Quebec adopts an inclusive and non-stigmatizing posture with people who use drugs. We must support and not punish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the proposed model does not adequately address the intergenerational harm caused by the over-policing and structural stigma directed at Indigenous and Black communities and people of colour who disproportionately feel the impacts of prohibition. Any proposal\u2014if it is to succeed\u2014must address this reality. #DecrimDoneRight should be based on evidence and good public policy, not police objectives.<\/p>\n
Finally, the proposed model does not meet the needs of young people, and explicitly excludes youth under age 19 from the benefits of decriminalization. Instead, the model affirms the discretionary power of police, continuing a worrying trend of maintaining police as the primary resource available to youth, who are stigmatized and targeted for their drug use specifically because of their age.<\/p>\n
“There’s no good reason to continue criminalizing people for simple drug possession in Canada, but there is plenty of evidence that our current laws cause significant harm. To realize the benefits of decriminalization, the federal Minister of Health must insist that the thresholds reflect real-world use and the input of people who use drugs,\u201d says Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Director of Research and Advocacy for the HIV Legal Network. “Otherwise, we undermine all the objectives of decriminalization.”<\/p>\n
Contact
\n1. Dr. Thomas Kerr \u2014 Senior Scientist at BC Centre on Substance Use and professor in the Department of Medicine at University of British Columbia: 604-314-7817 (can speak to threshold amounts)
\n2. Garth Mullins \u2014 Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, Crackdown Podcast: garthrmullins@gmail.com
\n3. Jean-S\u00e9bastien Fallu \u2014 University of Montreal (French\/English): jean-sebastien.fallu@umontreal.ca, 514-777-5948
\n4. Leslie McBain (she\/her) \u2014 Moms Stop the Harm: momsstoptheharm@gmail.com
\n5. Marilou Gagnon \u2014 Harm Reduction Nurses Association (French\/English): marilougagnon@uvic.ca
\n6. Sandhia Vadlamudy \u2014 Association des intervenants en d\u00e9pendance du Qu\u00e9bec (French): svadlamudy@aidq.org, 514-287-9625, poste 103
\n7. Scott Bernstein (he\/him) \u2014 Canadian Drug Policy Coalition: scott_bernstein@sfu.ca, 604-500-9893
\n8. Kali Sedgemore (they\/them) \u2014 Coalition of Peers Dismantling the Drug War: 604-220-7165, kalisedgemore@gmail.com
\n9. Sandra Ka Hon Chu \u2014 HIV Legal Network: schu@hivlegalnetwork.ca, 647-295-0861<\/p>\n
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n