Category Archives: Resources

Peerology

A guide by and for people who use drugs on how to get involved

June 2015

Canadian AIDS Society / Société canadienne du sida

August 28, 2015

Drug Policy, Overdose Awareness, and the Federal Election

It’s been a busy summer for Canadians with federal election campaigns now well underway. Interestingly, harm reduction services, the legalization of cannabis, and drug policy writ large have been prominent issues in the news — and we hope these critical human rights issues will remain front and centre.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be connecting with each of the political parties to see where they stand on many of the issues we work on — the issues you care about — and we’ll be sharing our findings with you shortly. In the meantime, we hope you’ll take a minute to peruse the following resources on drug policy, in Canada and abroad:
• Our Q&A on Bill C-2, the so-called Respect for Communities Act, which recently became law and affects the future operation of supervised consumption services in Canada; and
• The International Centre for Science in Drug Policy’s #CannabisClaims reports.

August 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day, a global event that aims to raise awareness on the stigma that still deeply affects people who use drugs and commemorates the lives lost to the failed war on drugs. You can get involved with International Overdose Awareness Day in your community by attending an event and following the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #OD15.

Wishing you a great end of summer,
The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network

Sign the Dignity Initiative’s Call to Action

Canadian civil society organizations, we need your signature! Read the Call to Action from the Dignity Initiative, “How Canada Can Defend and Promote Fundamental Human Rights for LGBTI People Around the World,” and please add your signature here. The endorsed Call to Action will be released to all political parties in mid-September. For more information, click here

Remembering Pete Collins

We are remembering Peter (Pete) Collins, an important activist for the health and human rights of people in prison. Pete passed away from cancer on August 13, 2015, in Bath Institution near Kingston, Ontario, having been denied compassionate release by the Parole Board of Canada, despite many appeals. Read more about Pete here.

International Harm Reduction Conference

Harm Reduction International and the Malaysian AIDS Council are holding the 24th International Harm Reduction Conference in Kuala Lumpur from October 18-21, 2015. The four-day event will bring together some 1,000 people from 70 countries to participate in a diverse and exciting programme of panel and group discussions, training workshops, and film/video presentations. Read the schedule and register Here
http://www.aidslaw.ca/