First, Do LESS Harm - FREE Forum on Drug Policy
Walter Cavalieri
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\\\ FIRST, DO LESS HARM ///
a FREE FORUM on
THE FUTURE OF DRUG POLICY IN CANADA
presented by the Canadian Harm Reduction Network and the
U of T Centre for Community Partnerships
Canada is in the midst of a massive crisis about accidental drug overdose ... but it not just this issue which is in a critical condition. Drug policies that have been in place for years - especially the past ten years - have simply not worked. In fact they have made the situation worse and have been exceedingly costly in terms of lives lost and budgetary waste. That’s why
This is the moment for change!
Join in a discussion of the legalisation of marijuana, how to address the opioid crisis, the thinking behind decriminalising or legalising all drugs ... and much more.
Panellists:
Trevor Stratton | Trevor Stratton is the Coordinator for the International Indigenous Working Group on HIV & AIDS for its host organization, the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network and one of two North American delegates in the NGO Delegation on the Programme Coordinating Board of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS).
Dessy Pavlova | Dessy Pavlova is Vice Chair, Board of Directors Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy and one of the writers of the Youth Speak Roundtable recommendations submitted to the government. She is also a long-standing medical cannabis patient and activist, focussing on cannabis as harm reduction.
Eugene Oscapella | For the past 18 years, Eugene Oscapella has lectured on drug policy in the Department of Criminology at the University of Ottawa and has also lectured and been published widely in Canada and abroad on drug policy issues. In April 2011, he received the Kaiser Foundation National Award for Excellence in Public Policy for his drug policy reform work
Patricia Erickson | Patricia Erickson is Professor of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Toronto and scientist emerita at CAMH. Her current research with colleagues across Canada focuses on the normalization of cannabis and other drugs, and the importance of informal social control (or user norms) rather than criminal laws in mediating harmful forms of use.
Raffi Balian | Raffi Balian is a drug user activist. His perspectives regarding drug issues come from working in the field, and actively using drugs, for twenty-three years. Raffi has authored Harm Reduction at Work and many articles about drugs and illegal drug use. He's also the coordinator of COUNTERfit, one of Toronto’s three harm reduction programs that will host a supervised injection service.
Moderator:
Joe Fiorito | Joe Fiorito is a Toronto journalist and the author of six books, including a best-selling memoir, "The Closer We Are To Dying." His novel, "The Song Beneath The Ice", won the City of Toronto Book Award in 2003. His most recent book, "Rust Is A Form of Fire," is a poetic meditation on the streets of the city. He has written extensively about drug use and about harm reduction issues in Toronto.
Following the presentation there will be an opportunity
to meet the presenters and to network over light refreshments.
31 January 2017
6:00 - 9:00 pm
Multi-Faith Centre
569 Spadina Avenue (1½ blocks north of College Street)
Toronto
– entrance at rear of the building –
https://www.facebook.com/events/771765186307960/