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Decriminalization of Personal Use of Psychoactive Substances
Background document
CPHA recognizes that criminalization of those who use illegal psychoactive substances remains the principal tool to control their use and is unsucces…
Source : Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA)Format: PDF
Published: 2017
Topics: Health promotion, Decriminalization
Decriminalizing People Who Use Drugs: Making The Ask, Minimizing The Harms
Report
As the COVID-19 pandemic and the overdose crisis sweep across Canada, all policymakers have an obligation to adopt evidence-based measures that uphol…
Source : HIV Legal NetworkFormat: PDF
Published: 2020
Topics: Health promotion, Decriminalization
Decriminalization: Options and Evidence
Policy
A growing body of evidence suggests that decriminalization is an effective way to mitigate the harms of substance use and the policies and practices …
Source : Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA)Format: PDF
Published: 2018
Topics: Health promotion, Decriminalization
Drug Policy and Racism: When it Comes to the War on Drugs, Abolition is the Only Option: End the War on Black Communities
Background document
For those of us involved in research, scholarship, or advocacy around the criminalization of drugs in Canada, the racial reckoning and expanding supp…
Source : Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC)Format: Link
Published: 2021
Topics: Determinants of health, Anti-racism, Health promotion, Decriminalization
Decriminalize Now: Akia's Story
Video
Decriminalize Now: Akia's Story is a short, first-personal narrative film about the drug poisoning crisis — and daring to dream of a better future fo…
Source : HIV Legal NetworkFormat: Audiovisual
Published: 2021
Topics: Health promotion, Decriminalization
Act Now! Decriminalizing Drugs in Vancouver
Report
This report recommends that non-federal orders of government implement decriminalization locally, by applying to the federal government for an exempt…
Source : Pivot Legal SocietyFormat: PDF
Published: 2021
Topics: Health promotion, Decriminalization
International treaties and conventions are not barriers to decriminalization in Canada
Fact sheet/infographic
Canada has total liberty under UN drug control conventions to fully decriminalize possession, purchase, & cultivation of drugs for personal consu…
Source : Pivot Legal Society, Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU)Format: PDF
Published: 2021
Topics: Health promotion, Decriminalization
Decriminalisation: Building a future without punishment for people who use drugs
Background document
Over the past 60 years, governments have embarked on a global ‘war on drugs’ which has entirely failed to achieve its stated goal of a ‘drug-free wor…
Source : International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA)Format: Link
Published: 2022
Topics: Health promotion, Decriminalization
Findings from the 2022 Harm Reduction Client Survey related to BC’s Decriminalization Policy
Report
First administered in 2012, the Harm Reduction Client Survey (HRCS) is a periodic survey of people who use substances (PWUS) accessing harm reduction…
Source : British Columbia Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU)Format: PDF
Published: 2023
Topics: Legalization and policy approaches, Decriminalization
Drug Decriminalisation: Progress or Political Red Herring?
Report
INPUD is excited to present Drug Decriminalisation: Progress or Political Red Herring? This report, like their previous report on Portugal, is intend…
Source : International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD)Format: PDF
Published: 2021
Topics: Health promotion, Decriminalization