Lecture #9: Resisting the War on Drugs (1980s-2000s)

What 3 social supports did governments cut during the 1980s-2000s?

1. Welfare benefits

2. Unemployment protection

3. Spending on housing, education, & health

Which communities were disproportionately impacted by the governments cuts and policies during the 1980s & 2000s?

Poor & working class communities

During the fall of 1986 what Ronald Reagan renewed a War on Drugs by signing what bill?

A bill that expanded law enforcement budgets and approved mandatory minimum penalties for drug offences

How did Prime Minister Brian Mulroney respond to Regan’s 1986 bill signing?

supported the War on Drugs in a speech 2 days later

What was decreasing in both the U.S. & Canada by the mid-1980s?

Drug use

What years did Brian Mulroney serve as Prime Minister?

1984-1993

What did Mulroney establish in 1987?

Canada’s first 5-year National Drug Strategy

The Government introduced legislation to establish what centre in 1988?

The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse

What did Canada and other UN members sign in 1988?

The Convention Against Illicit Trafficking in Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances

What 2 things did the The Convention Against Illicit Trafficking in Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances allow for?

1. Expansion of international efforts to suppress markets for illicit drugs

2. Criminalize a growing list of legal chemicals used to create illegal drugs

What did Mulroney implement in 1992?

Canada’s Drug Strategy, which included the reduction of harm

What did the Controlled Drugs & Substances Act (CDSA) replace in 1997?

The Narcotics Control Act and parts of the Food and Drugs Act

What assembly did Canada participate in during 1998?

United National General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS)

What was UNGASS’s slogan?

A drug free world, we can do it

Who was Prime Minister between 1993-2003?

Jean Chretien

What 2 distinct social movements took place across Canada during the early to mid-1990s?

1. A call for harm reduction services

2. A cannabis legalization movement

Who introduced the idea of harm reduction services?

People who use drugs

Harm reduction services emerged where in the 1980s?

The U.K. & the Netherlands

Which 3 groups opened the first needle exchange programs in Canada between 1987-1989?

1. Alexander Park (Toronto)

2. CACTUS (Montreal)

3. Downtown Eastside Youth Society (Vancouver)

What was there a rise of in DTES Vancouver during the early 1990s? (2 points)

1. Drug overdose deaths

2. HIV/AIDS & Hepatitis C infections

What was the first drug union in Canada?

Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU)

Which 2 people co-founded VANDU in 1997?

1. Bud Osborn

2. Ann Livingston

What were the 3 purposes of VANDU?

1. Advocate for the rights of its members

2. Provide support

3. Lobby for safer injection sites

What was the Portland Hotel Society (PHS)?

Non-for-profit social, health, & housing agency in DTES

Who founded the PHS in 1991?

Liz Evans (+  Mark Townsend, Kerstin Stuerzbecher, Dan Small, & Tom Laviolette)

What was one of the events organized by the PHS?

The Killing Fields during the summer of 1997

What was the purpose of “The Killing Fields”

Protest institutional & government inaction and honor those who died from overdoses and HIV/AIDS

What did the Vancouver-Richmond Health Board declare in 1997?

That the opioid crisis was a public health emergency

Which 2 people spoke at the August 1998 press conference?

1. Bud Osborn

2. Libby Davies (NDP MP)

What 2 solutions were provided during the 1998 press conference by Osborn & Davies?

1. Safer injection sites

2. Heroin-Assisted Treatment (HAT)

What was Donald MacPherson’s 2001 report titled?

A Framework for Action: A Four-Pillar Approach to Drug Problems in Vancouver

What 2 changes to drug policy were recommended by MacPherson?

1. Opening safer injection sites

2. Heroin-assisted treatment

Support from which 2 mayors in 2002 led to MacPherson’s framework being adopted as official drug policy?

1. Mayor Philip Owen

2. Mayor Larry Campbell

What was the Dr. Peter Centre?

An HIV/AIDS health care facility in Vancouver

What did the Dr. Peter Centre integrate into its health program and care residence in 2002?

A nurse-supervised injection site

What was the first official supervised injection site to be opened in 2003?

Insite

What was given federal approval in 2016?

Supervised injection sites

What was Fir Square?

Harm reduction unit at the Women’s Hospital in Vancouver that opened in 2003

What did Fir Square provide?

Allowed pregnant women to stabilize or withdraw from drugs and access non-judgmental supports

Who was Prime Minister between 2006-2015?

Stephen Harper

What 2 things led to child apprehension and threats to women’s reproductive & human rights in Canada?

1. Shifts in the 1980s & 1990s in social services & medical regulation

2. Misinformation about infants born to women suspected of using drugs

Which doctor is credited for helping Fir Square open in 2003?

Dr. Ron Abrahams (+others)

What did Harper introduce in 2007?

The National Anti-Drug Strategy

What major event occured in August 2007?

A constitutional challenged to the Federal Government’s proposal to shut down Insite

Who launched the constitutional challenge against the Federal Government in 2007?

The Portland Hotel Society & 2 Insite Users

What did Supreme Court rule in 2011 regarding Insite and the constitutional challenge?

Closing Insite would be a violation of the Charter of Rights & Freedoms

What ban was lifted by the Federal Government in 1984?

The 1950s ban on approving licenses for heroin importation

Despite the ban regarding heroin importation being lifted, why did suplliers stop providing the drug?

Heroin remained nearly impossible to prescribe due to obstacles & security criteria

In 2005, a HAT trial opened in what 2 locations?

1. Vancouver

2. Montreal

What were research participants provided in the 2005 HAT trial?

Under supervision, daily doses of legal heroin at a clinic for 1 year

What were the results from the year long HAT trial?

Despite proving that HAT is a safe & effective treatment for long-term opioid users who had not benefitted from conventional treatments, no permanent programs were established

What major event occurred on Nov. 13, 2013?

A charter challenge was launched against the Federal Government when federal policy was revised, prohibiting special access requests for heroin

Who filed the charter challenged on Nov. 13th, 2013?

5 plaintiffs & Providence Health Care of B.C.

Who were the 5 plaintiffs from the 2013 charter challenge?

1. Dave Murray

2. Douglas Lidstrom

3. Deborah Bartosch

4. Charles English

5. Larry Love

What was the outcome of the 2013 charter challenge?

Case was withdrawn in Sept. 2016 after Health Canada reinstated the policy

The Opioid Epidemic stems from prohibition, which caused a lack of access to what 4 things?

1. Safe, legal, unadulterated drugs

2. Effective opioid maintenance

3. Stimulant programs

4. Safe injection & smoking sites

Which 3 provinces have been hit the hardest by the opioid epidemic?

1. Ontario

2. Alberta

3. B.C.