Prohibition fuels drug war violence: Regulation can undercut it if done right

Intervention and regulation of the drug supply is indeed the only way out of British Columbia’s forever toxic drug emergency. But last week, the BC NDP rejected another high-level recommendation to create frameworks for non-medicalized access to opioids and other drugs.

Why is Vincent Lam distorting drug deaths?

The author and addiction physician continues disguising reactionary talking points as medical fact through Globe and Mail op-eds. In his latest, he misrepresents death rates in Timmins, belittles harm reduction and appears to cozy up to Poilievre's abstinence-focused drug strategy. In his latest of many Globe and Mail

BCAPOM: You call them "kickbacks," we call them our fair share

The BC Association of People on Opiate Maintenance, Surrey Union of Drug Users, Care Not Cops, Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy Vancouver Chapter & Crackdown respond to recent coverage on pharmacy kickbacks, and the repercussions for them and the people they work with.

The agonizing proximity of safer supply in Alberta

Clinicians, parents and people who use drugs recall a recent past before the control-obsessed Alberta government vilified, scapegoated and denied regulated opioid access for those at highest risk. A short film by CATIE. Watch this. Background reading from Drug Data Decoded: * Ophelia Black v. the UCP * What's wrong

Inaugural ticket issued at violent University of Calgary crackdown disappears

Court dates for University of Calgary encampment began this week. With the first issued ticket failing to reach the prosecutor, police dodged evidence disclosure. This should raise questions around police accountability. Update, June 18, 2024: The arresting officer showed up at Euan Thomson's home on June 17 and

Calgary Police violated my Charter rights, brutalized me, and lied about it

Three complaints submitted to Calgary Police Commission and the CPS Professional Standards Section. Warning: this piece contains graphic video of police brutality. Proceed accordingly. Since May 9, Calgary Police Chief Mark Neufeld has worked hard to concoct a narrative that serves his interests and those of the officers and decision

Vancouver Island physicians, healthcare staff sign open letter on political weaponization of workplace safety

The BC NDP are dangerously misrepresenting our workplaces in healthcare settings as an electoral strategy.

DRUG USER LIBERATION FRONT TO PURSUE CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGE, ANNOUNCES FUNDRAISER

The founders of DULF, Jeremy and Eris, were arrested in October 2023 after their compassion club showed extremely promising results. Crown has decided to pursue charges.

Alberta police chiefs organized support for UCP election campaign

Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police built a "Coalition of the Willing" to conduct a public advocacy campaign supporting United Conservative Party drug policy with an explicit timeframe "before the May election" in 2023. The Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police (AACP), an organization comprising Alberta&

Hard Knox Talks & Toronto visit

I had a recent appearance on Hard Knox Talks, where we got into how policy manifests at street level, how government propaganda drives what we are told to call 'polarization,' and why people across the political and drug policy spectrum should unify around reallocating excessive wealth at the

BC NDP are weaponizing drug law to cover their healthcare and housing failures: Nurses & healthcare staff

Eleven staff in BC’s healthcare system outline the realities of frontline care work, the toxic drug crisis and their concerns.

Weaponizing safety in the new Alberta

I was arrested at the University of Calgary anti-genocide protest on May 9 after standing with the students assaulted by Calgary Police. The move reflected an old but expanding reality in Alberta, where threats to the safety of the state dictate police violence. One week ago, I was sitting in