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• February 2008: Health Officers Council of British Columbia releases its paper, Regulation of Psychoactive Substances in Canada: Seeking a Coherent Public Health Approach: "Every year, psychoactive substances (alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs, and certain prescription drugs) cost Canadians over $40 billion. They are linked to more than 47,000 deaths and many thousands more injuries and disabilities. Inadequate, inappropriate, and ineffective regulation of these substances contributes in large measure to this terrible toll. Conversely, adequate, appropriate, and effective regulation holds great promise to protect public health and reduce this devastating situation."  
  
  
• December 2006: Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network releases Model Law on Drug Use and HIV/AIDS

• October 16, 2005: Health Officers Council of British Columbia releases discussion paper, A Public Health Approach to Drug Control in Canada (October 2005).   From the paper's abstract:  "Studies support public health harm reduction strategies, but their implementation is hindered by the criminal status of drugs in popular use. Current conditions are right to enter into serious public discussions regarding the creation of a regulatory system for currently illegal drugs in Canada, with better control and reduced harms to be achieved by management in a tightly controlled system.  The removal of criminal penalties for drug possession for personal use, and placement of these currently illegal substances in a tight regulatory framework, could both aid implementation of programs to assist those engaged in harmful drug use, and reduce secondary unintended drug-related harms to society that spring from a failed criminal-prohibition approach. This would move individual harmful illegal drug use from being primarily a criminal issue to being primarily a health issue."

• June 8, 2005:  City of Vancouver report, Preventing Harm from Psychoactive Substance Use, made public in preparation for June 14, 2005, meeting of Vancouver City Council.  To see the report, click here.  Among the many recommendations in the report: "This plan recommends that regulation of currently illegal substances should be considered with the goals of increasing our ability to prevent harm to individuals and communities from substance use and of eliminating the involvement of organized crime in these drug markets. We propose that the Federal Government proceed in this direction by first tackling the regulation of cannabis, next evaluating the results and finally moving incrementally to bring more currently illegal substances into regulatory frameworks."  For related news story, click here.

• Report of the Senate Special Committee on Ilegal Drugs (2002): Cannabis: Our Position for a Canadian Public Policy  (Volume III)  (especially pp. 607-26)

• Considerations for a ‘Public Health’ approach to Cannabis Use Control in Canada, Preliminary Draft of Presentation to Senate Special Committee on Illicit Drugs, 17/09/01, based, in parts, on: Fischer B., Single E., Room R., Poulin C., Sawka E., Thompson H., and Topp J. (1998). Cannabis Use in Canada: Policy Options for Control. Policy Options, October 1998.] Benedikt Fischer, PhD., University of Toronto and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

• Transform Drug Policy Foundation (UK):  After the War on Drugs: Options for Control (October 2004; updated February 2005)

• King County Bar Association Drug Policy Project (Washington State, USA): Effective Drug Control: Toward A New Legal Framework (2005)

•  A Dialogue on the Prevention of Problematic Drug Use: a summary of the proceedings from the symposium visioning a future for prevention: a local perspective, held November 20 and 21, 2003, at the Wosk Centre for Dialogue, Vancouver, B.C. (February 2004) at pp. 15-17.

• September 4, 2002: The Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs releases its report on cannabis.  Among other recommendations, the report called for cannabis to be legalized and regulated, and for criminal records of those convicted of cannabis possession in the past to be erased.   The report and summary are on the Committee web site.  To see testimony and briefs by Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy founding members before the committee, click here.

• The Effective National Drug Control Strategy (1999): The Effective National Drug Control Strategy was prepared by the Network of Reform Groups in the United States in consultation with the National Coalition for Effective Drug Policies.

• The Community Audits and Initiatives Project (an ongoing project).  "Here you will find a) the exact wording of many of the United States' most successful local drug policy audits and municipal medical cannabis and personal possession de-prioritization initiatives; b) much of the research used to justify a shifting of drug policy enforcement priorities; c) links to related press coverage; and d) lists of supportive organizations."
  

• Vienna NGO [Non-governmental organization] Committee on Narcotic Drugs, Final Report of Vancouver Consultation, February 4–5, 2008:  Beyond 2008: An International NGO Forum, Vancouver, Canada, prepared by the Centre for Addictions Research of BC

• Senlis Council, A Fourth International Convention for Drug Policy: Promoting Public Health Policies (prepared for the Senlis Council by David Spivack, The British Institute of International & Comparative Law) March 2004

Updated:Tuesday, 18-Mar-2008 14:44:45 PDT| Accessed:41539times