September 2010 Update from the Canadian Drug Policy Consortium

 

Dear members of the Canadian Drug Policy Consortium,

We are pleased to provide you with an update of our recent activities, to keep you informed about what the CDPC has been working toward. We are also calling for your action on a few items below.

The Interim Governing Council has been busy working on funding proposals. See details below. Once we receive funding, one of our first activities will be to reach out to all of you to convene the Governing Council and launch the CDPC’s structure and work program.

Meanwhile, members of the Interim Governing Council of CDPC have been active in Canadian and International drug policy events including:

·         In November of 2009 several CDPC members attended the International Drug Policy Conference hosted by the US organization Drug Policy Alliance in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where one of the founding members of CDPC, Donald MacPherson,  received a major award, the Richard J. Dennis Drug Peace Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Drug Policy Reform. CDPC representatives met with officials from the Open Society Institute’s Global Drug Policy Fund to discuss funding for international activities.

·         In December of 2009 CDPC had a representative attend a drug policy dialogue in Amsterdam hosted by the Transnational Institute, the Andreas Papandreou Foundation, the Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. CDPC met with officials from the International Drug Policy Consortium to discuss potential organizational models and how CDPC can be connected to this organization.

·         In December of 2009 a CDPC representative testified before the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs regarding concerns about the proposed Bill C-15, An Acto to Amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to Make Consequential Amendments to Other Acts.

·         In March of 2010, CDPC was represented at the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna.

·         In April a representative of CDPC presented at the International Harm Reduction Conference in Liverpool, UK.

·         In June, CDPC attended the Net Change Conference in Toronto that looks at the intersection between social media and technology and social change.

·         Also in June representatives of CDPC attended the Canadian HIV Legal Network Symposium in Toronto.

·         CDPC is also working directly with the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy (http://www.icsdp.org/) to develop a program of knowledge translation to inform public education and dialogue events that CDPC will be organizing in 2011.

·         In July of 2010, members of CDPC attended the International AIDS Conference in Vienna. Global Drug Policy was one of the major themes this year and the Vienna Declaration calling for the end of the War on Drugs was the main document coming out of the conference. Over 12,500 individuals and organizations have signed the Vienna Declaration since its launch in early July. The CDPC has signed on to the declaration. During the conference CDPC members met with the Open Society Institute (OSI) Global Drug Policy Fund Director, Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch who invited us to submit a funding proposal to OSI by September 15^th.

·         CDPC was also invited to submit a proposal for funding to the MAC AIDS Fund. Funding from the OSI and the MAC AIDS Fund will enable CDPC to staff a few key positions and officially launch the organization so that it may be in an even better position to work on drug policy issues. Once the positions are filled, a more formal membership process will be launched.

·         CDPC will be represented at the Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy conference in Toronto November 5-7

·         CDPC will also be represented at the 8th National Harm Reduction Conference in the US November 18-21st 

·         CDPC has endorsed the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network’s letter to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights and the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs expressing concern about the federal government’s modified mandatory minimum sentencing, Bill S-10: An Act To Amend The Controlled Drugs And Substances Act And To Make Related And Consequential Amendments To Other Acts. We will follow this issue closely.

Call for Action

·         If you have not done so already, please consider signing the Vienna Declaration at www.viennadeclaration.com

We trust that this brief summary of CDPC activities provides you with an overview of our commitment to improving drug policy. Look for more updates in the near future!

Sincerely,

The CDPC Interim Governing Council:

Donald MacPherson

Dan Reist

Walter Cavalieri

Gillian Maxwell

Lynne Belle-Isle