This Community of Interest seeks to build understanding and support stakeholders and decision-makers in pursuing alternatives to the criminalization of people who use/used substances. Together we will tackle stigma associated with substance use, and work to shift the perception of drug use from being a criminal issue to a health issue in need of health-based interventions and responses.
CoI Objectives:
- Provide a forum for people who work in the field of substance use health and harm reduction, and for those impacted by Ontario’s drug poisoning crisis and by the criminalization of people who use substances, to share resources, evidence, and information related to decriminalization efforts in Ontario and beyond.
- Facilitate connection, collaboration and partnership amongst a diverse network.
- Share knowledge, evidence, and guidance to support decriminalization initiatives.
A call-out with an invitation to join the CoI membership will occur in January-February 2023 and CoI start-up will commence in March. Please see contact information below if you are interested in joining the CoI.
Co-leads:
- Sara Tryon, Public Health Promoter, KFL&A Public Health, Sara.Tryon@kflaph.ca
- Shawn Fisk, Systems Stigma Navigator, Community Addictions Peer Support Association (CAPSA), shawn.fisk@capsa.ca
EENet Knowledge Mobilization Community Liaison
Kaye Leatherdale, Kaye.Leatherdale@camh.ca
Check out the rest of EENet's CoIs/CoPs here: https://kmb.camh.ca/eenet/communities.