Canada-wide coalition calls for end to the toxic drug supply

and decriminalization of possession of currently illegal drugs

Stiumulus Conference October 3rd 2018
We, a coalition of Canadian organizations with legal, human rights, harm reduction and lived experience representation,
call on our provincial and federal governments to accelerate their response to the unprecedented epidemic of overdose
deaths that is devastating our country. There is no time to waste as the body count is mounting daily.

In early September 2018, Health Canada convened a national opioid symposium where the voices of people who use
drugs, their families and civil society organizations called for immediate action to intervene in the ongoing overdose crisis.
At this symposium, the Public Health Agency of Canada brought forward new data indicating that the rate of overdose
deaths this year may surpass that of 2017 when 4000 people lost their lives. One month later, as we gather for Stimulus
2018: Drugs, Policy and Practice in Canada, we are calling on our leaders for an emergency public health intervention.

A responsible intervention could give people who are currently procuring drugs from the illegal market immediate low-
threshold access to a range of pharmaceutical opioids, including injectable and oral hydromorphone and
diacetylmorphine (heroin), expanded methadone and suboxone. This response must also include expanded supervised
consumption services, overdose prevention sites, a full spectrum of substitution treatment options where needed and
requested, and the immediate decriminalization of drugs for personal use. This emergency policy change would have the
immediate effect of saving lives.

Toxicology results across Canada consistantly reveal that opioids purchased on the illegal market are contaminated with
fentanyl and its analogues. The presence of these adulterants has created a toxic drug supply that kills thousands of
Canadian citizens and puts the lives of countless others at extreme risk of overdose each day. Indeed, fentanyl and its
analogues were found in 72% of overdose deaths in Canada in 2017, up from 55% in 2016. In both Ontario and British
Columbia, the provinces hardest hit by this crisis, four people die every day and in Alberta, two people a day are now
dying of overdose.

We need emergency action on the part of our leaders. Specifically, we are calling for the following immediate actions:

1) Provide a safer supply of drugs and the full spectrum of substitution treatment options. We call for immediate
action by all governments to use existing public health tools to replace the poisoned and deadly drug supply with
safer alternatives and provide a full spectrum of substitution treatment options. Hesitation and delay by
governments in providing a safer supply of opioids directly contributes to continued high rates of death from
overdose among people who use drugs.

2) Decriminalize possession of drugs for personal use. We call for governments to immediately decriminalize drugs
for personal use and provide access to health services and supportive housing for those who need them.
Criminalization of drug possession contributes to stigmatization of people who use drugs, thereby creating
barriers to accessing health care and undermining a public health approach to overdose.

3) Expedite and expand implementation of evidence-based harm reduction interventions. We call for all
governments, including municipalities, to expedite and scale-up implementation of supervised consumption
services, overdose prevention sites, naloxone distribution and other proven successful harm reduction
interventions. To date, no deaths have been recorded in hundreds of supervised consumption settings since they
were first implemented in Europe in 1986.

Signatories on reverse

Signatories
Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy
Alberta Community Council on HIV
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
Streetworks
Niagara Area Moms Ending Stigma
Canadian Association of People who Use Drugs
Sweetgrass Youth Alliance
Moms United and Mandated to Saving the lives of
Drug Users
Medicine Hat Drug Coalition
Turning Point Society of Central Alberta
patty’s place
Women’s Wellness Within
AIDS Vancouver Island
Families for Addiction Recovery
Elevate NWO
Boyle Street Services Society
PASAN
AIDS Committee of Toronto
CACTUS
Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation
Open Door Clinic
Halifax Area Network of Drug Using People
Dopamine
HIV/AIDS Resources and Community Health
L'Anonyme
Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy,
Ryerson Chapter
HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario
Asian Community AIDS Services
Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services
YWCA Canada
Women and HIV / AIDS Initiative
Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario
Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development
Canadian Public Health Association
Avenue B
AIDS Committee of North Bay and Area
Breakaway Addictions Services
YWCA Hamilton
Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic
AIDS Coalition of Nova Scotia
HIV North Society
Houselink Community Homes
Street Health
CATIE
Lake Country Community Legal Clinic
Regional HIV/AIDS Connection
HIV Network of Edmonton Society
Health Providers Against Poverty
San Patten and Associates, Inc.
Canadian Treatment Action Council
Gerstein Crisis Centre
BC Centre on Substance Use
WellFrot Community Health Services
HIV Edmonton
Queer Ontario
Regent Park Community Health Centre
AIDS Committee of Windsor
Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation
Pivot Legal Society
Canadian Nurses Association
AIDS Committee of Durham Region
Peel HIV AIDS Network
HIV/AIDS Regional Services
Africans in Partnership Against AIDS
AIDS Committee of York Region
North Peel & Dufferin Community Legal Services
ARCH Disability Law Centre
Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment
Neighbourhood Legal Services London Ontario
Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention
Hamilton Community Legal Clinic
AIDS Committee of Cambridge, Kitchener & Waterloo
Atlantic Interdiscipliniary Research Network on Social
and Behavioural Issues in Hepatitis C and HIV
Mississauga Community Legal Services
Bruce House
Toronto People With AIDS Foundation
Drug Users Advocacy League
Maggie's Toronto Sex Workers Action Project
Overdose Prevention Ottawa
West Neighbourhood House
PHS Community Services Society
Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention
Réseau ACCESS Network
Action positive VIH/Sida
Positive Living Niagara
Alberta Addicts Who Educate And Advocate
Responsibily
Ontario AIDS Network
Ontario Positive Asians
Boyle Street Community Services
Multidiciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies-
Canada
Campaign for Cannabis Amnesty
The Teresa Group