Dear CDPC supporters, CDPC’s Executive Director, Donald MacPherson, is retiring. On behalf of the CDPC Steering Committee, I want to recognize his incredible contributions to drug policy and the CDPC, and thank him for his unwavering mission to make drug policy humane, equitable, realistic and just. Before bringing his passion and insight to the creation of CDPC, Donald worked with the City of Vancouver as the Director of the Carnegie Centre, and then as the city’s Drug Policy Coordinator.  In that latter role, he published Vancouver’s ground-breaking Four Pillars Drug Strategy in 20 ..read more

Following a nationwide search, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC) is pleased to announce that DJ Larkin has been chosen as the organization’s new Executive Director. DJ will succeed Donald MacPherson, the founding Executive Director of CDPC, who is retiring later this year after over a decade with the Coalition. DJ currently lives on the unceded Indigenous lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) & səlil̓wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Peoples, and is committed to lifelong learning, self-improvement, and action to dismantle settler colonialism. DJ Lar ..read more

In our drug policy work, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC) acknowledges the colonial ideologies, systems, and processes in which we operate within. We strongly feel that we must emphasize that colonial systems continue to cause harm and that our work is embedded within these systems. CDPC is a part of Simon Fraser University—and large institutions such as these move in ways that are often rigid, culturally insensitive, and uncreative when it comes to working with Indigenous peoples. This is evident when it comes to paying Indigenous people in ways that are culturally respectful. The pr ..read more

Municipal governments, along with federal and provincial governments, have an important role to play in reforming harmful drug policies. To support public health and human rights, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC) advocates for full decriminalization of simple drug possession and necessity trafficking*, investment into social supports such as housing, expansion of safe supply and harm reduction measures, and legal regulation of all drugs under a single regulatory framework. To forward key policy changes such as decriminalization, and to support harm reduction measures such as supervise ..read more

Throughout the country, dozens of events are being held on August 31 to honour those who have been lost to drug overdose and to raise awareness of the toxic drug poisoning crisis. The following list of events are just some of the initiatives our friends and partners and holding to acknowledge this day: ENSEMBLE: In collaboration with John Howard Society, ENSEMBLE is having a free community BBQ on August 31st from 11am-3pm for International Overdose Awareness Day (80 Weldon St, Moncton). We will also be doing free Naloxone training! Individuals can submit names of loved ones lost to the toxic ..read more

Program Overview & Goals  Stimulus: Drugs, Policy and Practice in Canada is a collaborative program of the Canadian Association of People who Use Drugs (CAPUD) and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. Stimulus hosts virtual and in-person meetings, events and conferences to further connections and knowledge translation in harm reduction and drug policy across communities in so-called Canada.  We are looking for a web designer with experience in interactive design and educational websites to design and develop an all-encompassing Harm Reduction Hub website as part of our existing we ..read more

WARNING: This post contains mention of sexual abuse On May 12th, 2022, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC) posted a statement. The CDPC statement, removed from the website drugpolicy.ca on May 20th, addressed concerns involving an incident of sexual abuse that came to light in 2018, within a clinical trial conducted by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies in the United States (MAPS) and also implicated MAPS Canada. The CDPC statement suggested that there were reports that MAPS “ignored, minimized, suppressed and used a participant’s formal account of ..read more

Job title: Executive Director Reports to: Governing Council The Opportunity: Canadian Drug Policy Coalition seeks a skilled organizational leader and advocate to lead our expanded team to meet this important moment in Canadian drug policy development. The Executive Director will bring insight and skills for strategic drug policy advocacy processes, organizational development and change leadership, fundraising, people management, partnerships and public relations, and governance; we seek candidates with the demonstrated ability to bring an intersectional justice, equity, diversity, and inclusio ..read more

So many in our community have been lost to toxic drugs that it’s hard to keep track. That’s a horrible feeling. We want to honour and respect each individual, so forgetting them, even for a few seconds, is such an injustice. It is distressing to admit that so many people have passed that you can’t even remember them all. Who would have known when we were kids playing tag on the school field or skateboarding through the streets, that some friends would not be growing old with us? Who could have predicted that one day they would be alone and no one would be there to help when they needed it most ..read more

Stigma is a mark or characteristic connected to negative attitudes or beliefs about people because of who they are, what they do, or their circumstances in life. Negative attitudes or beliefs could be about race, social class, and even behaviour. Many people who currently use drugs or have used drugs in the past may experience stigma on a frequent or daily basis. Because many of the activities around substance use—like possessing or dealing drugs—are criminalized, people who use substances are often stigmatized as both people who use substances and criminals. Stigma is harmful because it creat ..read more