April marks the 10 Year Anniversary of BC’s public health emergency due to unpredictable & unregulated drug supply: 18,180 overdose deaths since 2016, and more every day in BC.
What We Need
MANY PATHS TO WELLNESS
Preserve and expand harm reduction, safe supply (including community based buyers clubs), low-barrier detox and person-centered, culturally appropriate treatment.
THE WAR ON DRUGS HAS FAILED
Scrap the CDSA and create a regulated for-the-people, by-the-people framework for currently illegal drugs.
WE ARE SOMEBODY
End the violent, discriminatory targeting and forced displacement of people who use drugs, indigenous people, the poor and the unhoused, by police, by-law officers, and MCFD..
HOUSING NOT WAREHOUSING
Ensure dignified, non-market, not-for-profit and community controlled housing in communities across the province to address the housing crisis.
Resources
Research
Beletsky, L., Seymour, S., Kang, S., Siegel, Z., Sinha, M.S., Marino, R., Dave, A., & Freifeld. (2020). Fentanyl panic goes viral: The spread of misinformation about overdose risk from casual contact with fentanyl in mainstream and social media. International Journal of Drug Policy, 86, 102951. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102951
Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. (CDPC, 2021). Decriminalisation Done Right: A Rights-Based Path for Drug Policy. https://drugpolicy.ca/decrim-done-right/
Cano, M., Timmons, P., Hooten, M., Sweeney, K., & Oh, S. (2024). A scoping review of law enforcement drug seizures and overdose mortality in the United States. International Journal of Drug Policy, 124, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104321
Ciccarone, D. (2019). The triple wave epidemic: Supply and demand drivers of the US opioid overdose crisis. International Journal of Drug Policy, 71, 183-188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2019.01.010
Daniels, C., Aluso, A., Burke-Shyne, N., Koram, K., Rajagopalan, S., Robinson, I., Shelly, S., Shirley-Beavan, S., & Tandon, T. (2021). Decolonizing drug policy. Harm Reduction Journal, 18(120), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-021-00564-7
del Pozzo, B., Green, T.C., Godvin, M., & Ray, B. (2025). The Police Opioid Seizure Temporal Risk (POSTeR) model of increased exposure to fatal overdose. International Journal of Drug Policy, 139, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.104789
Greer, A., Bonn, M., Ritter, A., Shane, C., Stevens, A., & Tousenard, N. (2021). How to decriminalize drugs: the design features of a non-criminal response to the personal possession of drugs. In CrimRxiv. https://www.crimrxiv.com/pub/8qgki9ur/release/1
International Network of People who Use Drugs. (INPUD, 2021). Drug decriminalisation: Progress of Political Red Herring. https://inpud.net/drug-decriminalisation-progress-or-political-red-herring/
International Drug Policy Consortium. (2022). Publications: Decriminalisation of people who use drugs: A guide for advocacy. https://idpc.net/publications/2022/02/decriminalisation-of-people-who-use-drugs-a-guide-for-advocacy
Keck, M., & Correa-Cabrera, G. (2015). U.S. Drug Policy and Supply-Side Strategies: Assessing Effectiveness and Results. Norteamérica, 10(2), 47-67. https://doi.org/10.20999/nam.2015.b002
Kelsall, T.S., Veark, J., and Beatrice, M. (2025). Criminalizing public space through a decriminalisation framework: The paradox of British Columbia, Canada. International Journal of Drug Policy, 136, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104688
Lasco, G. (2020). Drugs and drug wars as populist tropes in Asia: Illustrative examples and implications for drug policy. International Journal of Drug Policy, 77, 1-7. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395920300098
León-Marín, M.J., Jiménez, M.A., & Arana, I.P. (2024). Exposing police bias against people who use drugs: The particular case of women drug users and keys to reducing discretionary power and discrimination in Colombia. International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations. https://inclo.net/pillars/civic-space/in-our-hands/exposing-police-bias-against-people-who-use-drugs/
Levenson, J., Textor, L., Bluthenthal, R., Darby, A., Wahbi, R., & Clayton-Johnson, M-A. (2023). Abolition and harm reduction in the struggle for “Care, Not Cages”. International Journal of Drug Policy, 121, 1-7. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395923002104
Macevicius, C., Ranger, C., Urbanoski, K., and Pauly, B. (2024) “Decriminalisation of Currently Illegal Drugs in British Columbia (BC): An Evidence Brief.” Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC. https://www.uvic.ca/research/centres/cisur/assets/docs/colab/decrim-evidence-brief.pdf
McAdam, E., Small, W., Mullins, G., Graham, B., Greer, A., Winder, N., & DeBeck, K. (2023). Decriminalisation thresholds for drug possession: A multi-criteria policy analysis framework. International Journal of Drug Policy, 119, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2023.104126
National Safer Supply Community of Practice. (2025). Prescribed Safer Supply Programs: Emerging Evidence. https://www.substanceusehealth.ca/sites/default/files/2025%20Prescribed%20Alternatives%20Evidence%20Brief.pdf
Release. (2016). A quiet revolution: Drug decriminalisation across the globe. https://www.release.org.uk/sites/default/files/pdf/publications/A%20Quiet%20Revolution%20-%20Decriminalisation%20Across%20the%20Globe.pdf
Robinson, I. (2020), "Towards an Abolitionist Drug Policy Reform", Buxton, J., Margo, G. and Burger, L. (Ed.) The Impact of Global Drug Policy on Women: Shifting the Needle, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 259-269. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83982-882-920200035
Talking Drugs. (2025). Drug Decriminalisation Across the World. https://www.talkingdrugs.org/drug-decriminalisation/
United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. (OHCHR, 2023). UN experts call for end to global ‘war on drugs’. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/06/un-experts-call-end-global-war-drugs