On May 18 VANDU and B.C. Yukon Association of Drug War Survivors (social media site) held a rally in Abbottsford. Abbottsford is a local community which is currently very behind the times with regard to harm reduction services and both organizations are working to change that for the betterment of both the community and the drug users living in it.
VANDU and BCYADWS members are speaking at the rally in these videos:
March for Dignity, Human Rights and Social Justice for People on Welfare
TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2PM
GATHER AT MAIN AND HASTINGS
The latest Provincial Budget made major cuts to welfare including cuts to dietary allowance for people with chronic illness, dental care and the $75 ‘comfort allowance’ (in lieu of rent) for homeless people.
Changes also include legislation to deny welfare and disability to an undetermined number of people who have warrants for indictable offenses. Indictable offenses include minor theft (theft under), drug possession and charges related to immigration and refugee status. Under this legislation people who have been accused (but not convicted!) of criminal offenses anywhere in Canada will be kicked off welfare.
People on welfare in BC are already living in extreme poverty because welfare rates are so low. These changes make us poorer, place strain on already struggling families and communities, and further undermine our ability to participate as full and equal members of society.
Let’s join together to stop the cruel and punitive cuts to welfare and to demand dignity, social justice and human rights for people on welfare!
Organized by VANDU – Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users
Supported by Carnegie Community Action Project, Raise the Rates, Organizing Centre for Social and Economic Justice.
The Urban Health Research Initiative has released a “scientific review”:
The hypothesis was that the existing scientific evidence would demonstrate an association between drug law enforcement expenditures or intensity and reduced levels of violence…
Contrary to our primary hypothesis, 13 (87%) studies reported a likely adverse impact of drug law enforcement on levels of violence. That is, most studies found that increasing drug law enforcement intensity resulted in increased rates of drug market violence…
The available scientific evidence suggests that increasing law enforcement interventions to disrupt drug markets is unlikely to reduce drug gang violence. Instead, the existing evidence suggests that gun violence and high homicide rates are likely a natural consequence of drug prohibition and that increasingly sophisticated methods of disrupting Canadian gangs involved in drug distribution could unintentionally increase violence. From an evidence-based public policy perspective, gun violence and the enrichment of organized crime networks appear to be natural consequences of drug prohibition.
Given the Federal Conservatives’ push for greater enforcement and longer sentencing (Bill C-15) this research demonstrates how the Conservatives are determining policy accoring to a flawed indeological bias rather than by evidence-based consideration.
In light of evidence-based findings, the Transform Drug Policy Foundation in the U.K. has produced a comprehensive document exploring the possibilities of a regulated market non-prohibitionist approach as an alternative to the failed “war on drugs” policy which our federal government still embraces. Visit their website to obtain After the War on Drugs: Blueprint for Regulation
Download a copy of the Urban Health Research Initiative’s report on Drug Law Enforcement and Drug-Related Violence Download PDF
On a positive note, former Police (front)man Sting has spoken out in support for Health-Based Drug Policies and an End to the Failed Drug War at the popular Huffington Post website. He says the drug war is “actively harming our society” and states he considers ending the war on drugs as a struggle for “social justice”. Sting will be demostrating his commitment by serving as a board member of the Drug Policy Alliance.
The Urban Health Research Initiative has released a report on the Drug Situation in Vancouver. Download PDF.
A critical step in the stuggle for a safer injection site in Vancouver was undertaken by users running an unsanctioned user-run safer injection site at 327 Carrol Street in the Downtown Eastside for 191 days beginning in April 2003. A report entitled “Harm Reduction Activism” studies this unique, unprecedented and historic undertaking in the history of drug user activism. Download PDF
on Drug User Activism in Copenhagen, November 2008
Knowing that Howard’s cancer would soon be fatal, in March 2009 there was a tribute gathering for Howard at Sayulita, Mexico, in which Howard was able to participate and present A Story of My Life and Years.
Download Powerpoint
Howard was active in user-focused and drug policy conferences and was the world’s leading non-African proponent of ibogaine treatment for opiate depedency. Howard first discovered ibogaine’s properties in the mid-1960’s when he used it himself and discovered he was able to stop using heroin without any withdrawal symptoms. Download a presentation Howard gave at 2008 Drug User Activism Conference entitled The Ibogaine Community Worldwide – User to User
Download Powerpoint
Howard was the president and founding member of the Dora Weiner Foundation “to encourage and promote public knowledge of research in the study of chemical dependence and substance-related disorders and to advocate for the rights of patients being treated for dependence to drugs”; he was a board member of NAMA (National Alliance for Medication Assisted Recovery); he helped to found and maintain The Ibogaine Dossier, an extensive online library dedicated to providing information on ibogaine, an experimental antiaddictive medication; and he was the recepient of many awards for his work on behalf of medically-assisted treatment for opiate users, such as the Award for Achievement in the Field of Citizen Action at the Drug Policy Alliance Conference in November 2009.
Howard was a wonderful human being, and as such, a sensitive, caring and committed social activist. Download Word document a brief obituary.
Grinding poverty and growing homelessness are happening despite some bold promises to create a positive Olympic legacy — promises such as building more social housing, reducing homelessness, and not displacing poor people to make way for Olympics-driven development.
VANDU was mentioned in a New York Times article entitled “In the Shadow of the Olympics”. Accompanying the article is a slideshow called “Welcome to the Downtown Eastside”.
To view the article and slideshow, click NY Times article
If you are using Facebook, please visit VANDU’s Facebook page and become a Fan.
Safe Games 2010 is a consortium of over 30 Vancouver based organizations who provide harm reduction based services in the community. SafeGames 2010 seeks to educate people who may not be aware of the risks of their own behaviour, to highlight the Vancouver’s reputation as a global leader in innovative harm reduction policies and practices, and to support the ongoing work of the many organisations working to provide solutions to Vancouver’s public health challenges. VANDU is one of the partners in this consortim.
Visit the Safe Games 2010 website
VANDU’s basic pamphlet for handout outlines our mission, what’s going on around VANDU, and how to become a member.
Copies are available at the VANDU office (380 E. Hastings).
Or please Download PDF of our updated pamphlet here
Well documented report about police misconduct towards injection drug users in Vancouver.
Abusing the User: Police Misconduct, Harm Reduction and HIV/AIDS in Vancouver originally appeared in the May 2003 edition of Human Rights Watch journal.
Download Word document
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