Supervised consumption sites provide essential community connections and services for those who use them. By closing them, governments are risking the welfare of people who use drugs.
Research has long shown that criminalising otherwise law-abiding citizens for their drug use is no deterrent. It only damages their life chances, in a discriminatory fashion.
Bathrooms are common settings for overdose but can be made safer.
(Envirotec)
More than 50 overdoses happen in bathrooms every month in British Columbia. Public bathrooms can be made safer for everyone, including people who use substances.
Current supply shortages may also be a problem for people in palliative care or receiving cancer treatment.
B.C. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson holds a copy of exemption documents that enable British Columbia to decriminalize possession of small amounts of ‘hard’ drugs for personal use. B.C.’s bold experiment will be closely watched as a comparator with other progressive jurisdictions.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
British Columbia’s bold experiment provides an opportunity to implement more balance in Canadian drug policy, and a more principled withdrawal from the war on drugs.
Euphoria tackles the status quo head on with an esthetic that transgresses the codes of television, while criticizing several taboos and social issues.
On the surface, sober months like Dry January and Dry February are great. But we need to broaden the discussion around how privilege and policy impact one’s relationship with alcohol and other drugs.
Our results suggest police location groups and pages on Facebook are helping drivers avoid detection for drug driving - with potentially fatal consequences.
New research confirms that unfair police treatment is psychologically damaging and that the consequences are decidedly worse for certain racial and ethnic groups.
People wearing protective masks board a city transit bus during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Feb. 19, 2021.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
COVID-19 messaging frames staying home as a personal responsibility, but for many it’s a luxury they can’t afford. Like the language used for drug addiction, it stigmatizes low-income people.
People gather in Trinity Bellwoods park for a weed bubble blowing event in Toronto on Oct. 17, 2018, the day cannabis became legal in Canada.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
If the goal of cannabis legalization was to protect public health and safety, education and awareness campaigns must normalize safe cannabis use, not stop cannabis consumption.
Decriminalization of simple drug possession would treat drug use as a health issue, not a criminal justice issue.
(Shutterstock)
Around 75,000 New Zealanders have been sentenced for a cannabis-related offence since 1975. With the drug more popular than ever, is it time we let the evidence guide our decisions?