Stimulus Connect 16: Thresholds and Necessity Trafficking

Decriminalization Done Right: A Rights-Based Path for Drug Policy was collaboratively developed by 21 civil society groups composed of people who use drugs and their respective organizations as well as non-governmental organizations throughout Canada. The platform was released to the public in December 2021; and since its release, many individuals who share its vision for drug policy reform in Canada have endorsed its call to action.

One of its key recommendations relates to necessity trafficking and drug thresholds, and it has become increasingly clear that there is a lack of understanding in both areas. Why are they misunderstood by so many Canadians yet imperative to people who use drugs? Stimulus Connect 16 aims to clear this confusion.

Our expert panel will explain how thresholds and necessity trafficking preserve life rather than feeding the war on drugs and will answer attendee questions.

Resources

Additions from within the event:

1. Report: Rethinking the Drug Dealer, December 17, 2019
2. Watch: Drug Seller Stories, March 19, 2019
3. Letter: VANDU and Pivot’s position on threshold amounts in Vancouver’s application to decriminalize, March 15, 2021
4. Media: How Police Drug Seizures Are Making Life Worse on the Downtown Eastside VPD claims not to target users. September 18. 2020
5. Organization: Stella 
6. Organization: MAPS Canada
7. Journal Article: Too Many Hats? The Role of Police Officers in Drug Enforcement and the Community, January 2022
8. Resource: Alternative Model to Drug Criminalization in Toronto, January 2022
9. Platform: Decriminalization Done Right: A Rights-Based Path for Drug Policy: Canada’s first civil society platform for the decriminalization of drugs developed by 21 national organizations and people at the centre of the drug poisoning/overdose crisis, December 2021
10. Organizational Sign On: National Civil Society Decriminalization Platform Sign-On 
11. Media: Toronto Board of Health votes to decriminalize possession of small amounts of illegal drugs, December, 2021
12. Blog: R v Ellis: A New Frontier for Sentencing Drug Trafficking Offences. November 2021
13. Podcast: Crackdown
14. Previous Stimulus Connect: Stimulus Connect 14: Drug Decrim Canada, September 2021
15. Resource: Read Between the Lines. September 2021
16. Report: ACT NOW! Decriminalizing Drugs in Vancouver, September 2021
17. CAPUD‘s decriminalization litigation
    • CAPUD Decrim website
    • #DrugDecrimCanada
    • Notice of Civil Claim. August 2021
    • Go Fund Me: Support CAPUD in its Drug Decrim Action
18. Manuscript: How to decriminalize drugs: the design features of a non-criminal response to the personal possession of drugs, August 2021
19. Media: Thresholds for 15 drugs outlined in decriminalization plan sent by Vancouver to Health Canada, June 1, 2021
20. Tool: Comparing models of drug decriminalisation
21. Interactive Map: Drug Decriminalisation Across the World, June 2021
22. Expert Task Force on Substance Use: Reports
    • Report 1: Recommendations on alternatives to criminal penalties for simple possession of controlled substances, May 2021
    • Report 2: Recommendations on the federal government’s drug policy as articulated in a draft Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy (CDSS), June 2021
23. Journal Article: Proposals for Decriminalization of Illicit Drug Use: Considering a Combination of déjà-vu, Diversion and Devil-with-many-details for Health-oriented Policy Reform, May 2021
24. Report: Drug Decriminalisation: Progress or Political Red Herring? Assessing the Impact of Current Models of Decriminalisation on People Who Use Drugs, April 2021
25. Letter: Threshold amounts in Vancouver’s application to decriminalize drug possession (A joint open letter of Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users and Pivot Legal Society), March 15, 2021
26. Journal Article: Policy Brief: CSAM in Support of the Decriminalization of Drug Use and Possession for Personal Use, March 2021
27. Statement: Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users & Pivot Legal Society Joint Statement: We Support a Vancouver Motion to Request a Federal Exemption to Fully Decriminalize Drug Possession, November 2020
28. Tool: Decriminalizing People Who Use Drugs: A primer for municipal and Provincial Governments, November 2020
29. Report: The impact of arrest and seizure on drug crime and harms: A systematic review, September 2020
30. Journal Article: Drug Decriminalization: A Matter of Justice and Equity, Not Just Health, January 2020
31. Guidelines: International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policy, May 2019
32. Report: Is Decriminalisation Enough? Drug User Community Voices from Portugal, September 2018
33. Journal Article: Visual and narrative representations of mental health and addiction by law enforcement, July 2015
34. Resource: A New Approach to Managing Illegal Psychoactive Substances in Canada: Canadian Public Health Discussion Paper, May 2014