OTTAWA – A group of organizations, including some that represent drug users and their families, are calling for money to be diverted from police to community agencies that promote safe supply and address mental health concerns. Their framework calls for funds that would flow to police to be invested instead in community-based organizations, services that promote harm reduction and address mental health issues, safe supply programs, and other forms of healing.

Toronto, ON—In the wake of almost 23,000 drug poisoning deaths since 2016, twenty-one civil society organizations across the country, including groups of people who use drugs, families affected by drug use, drug policy and human rights organizations, frontline service providers, and researchers, have collaborated to release Canada’s first civil society-led policy framework for drug decriminalization in Canada.

Toronto, ON — Indignées après plus de 23 000 décès liés à une intoxication aux drogues depuis 2016, vingt-et-une organisations de la société civile de partout au pays, y compris des groupes de personnes utilisatrices de drogues, des familles touchées par l’usage de substances, des organisations de défense des politiques sur les drogues et des droits de la personne, des prestataires de services de première ligne et des chercheuses et chercheurs, ont collaboré à la publication du premier cadre stratégique canadien dirigé par la société civile pour la décriminalisation des drogues au Canada.

The pressure to decriminalize possession of drugs for personal use has gained unstoppable momentum. It includes a letter signed by 70 prominent organizations, a lawsuit launching a Charter challenge, and the reports of a task force of experts appointed by the Liberal government. These three developments in the last weeks alone join a chorus of voices urging the federal government to pass legislation to end the criminalization of possession of all drugs for personal use.

The election is over. The Liberals are back in Ottawa after a Pyrrhic victory. They will now need to address many tough issues including those raised in a lawsuit brought by the Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs (CAPUD) and four individuals. The plaintiffs are asking courts to strike down laws criminalizing the possession of prohibited drugs. This is a drastic but necessary action.

In response to the ongoing overdose epidemic that has killed tens of thousands of Canadians, CAPUD is suing the government of Canada to remove the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) penalties (decriminalize) all forms of drug possession and some forms of drug trafficking. These criminal penalties create various harms for people who use drugs (PWUD) and prevent PWUDs from accessing medical treatment and harm reduction.

In our Agora Media / TOBJ.ca news magazine interview, Natasha Touesnard and Dustin Klaudt provide critical insights and a way forward which promises to save lives and the destruction of communities in the prevailing Opiod crisis. It has been estimated that ever day at least 17 Canadians have passed away as a result of the failure of political will and leadership across Canada. This unique interview provides perspectives which are lacking in so many interviews about the opioid crisis in Canada.

CBC: A group representing drug users has filed a lawsuit against the federal government in British Columbia Supreme Court seeking to decriminalize the possession of illicit drugs, arguing criminalization during the overdose crisis violates charter rights. Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs claims federal laws force drug users into toxic illicit market.

VICE: A group of drug users and drug policy reform advocates are suing the Canadian government because they say the continued prohibition of drugs is unconstitutional. The lawsuit says forcing people to buy drugs from a poisoned drug supply is unconstitutional. It is calling for decriminalization of using and dealing drugs.

Media Release: The Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs (CAPUD) and Four Individuals File Charter Lawsuit Against the Government of Canada Seeking Decriminalization of Drug Possession and Necessity Drug Trafficking.