{"id":2126,"date":"2013-06-20T15:52:49","date_gmt":"2013-06-20T15:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aidslaw.ca\/newsite\/?page_id=2126"},"modified":"2022-11-04T16:56:59","modified_gmt":"2022-11-04T20:56:59","slug":"drug-policy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.hivlegalnetwork.ca\/site\/our-work\/drug-policy\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Drug Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/h2>\n

In Canada and other countries, drug use and dependence are treated largely as criminal law concerns \u2014 and people who use drugs are vilified and subjected to routine and often horrific human rights abuses.<\/p>\n

Yet extensive evidence shows that doing the reverse would be more productive. The overreliance on criminal law enforcement (a.k.a. \u201cthe war on drugs\u201d) is not only ineffective, it is hugely wasteful, carrying enormous financial costs and taking a terrible human toll on people who use drugs and their families and loved ones. Furthermore, criminalizing and incarcerating people for drug use, and denying access to effective health services, only fuels the spread of infections such as HIV and hepatitis C (HCV). Instead, all available evidence indicates that protecting and promoting the human rights of people who use drugs is necessary and effective in upholding their human rights, including their right to health.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re committed to<\/strong>\u00a0reducing the harms caused by harsh, misguided drug laws. Instead of prohibition and punishment, drug policy must be grounded in sound \u00a0evidence, and in the principle of the universality of human rights \u2014 rights to which all people are equally entitled, including people who use drugs.<\/p>\n

We advocate for:<\/strong><\/p>\n