CSSDP
The Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy (CSSDP) is a national, grassroots, youth and student network. We provide the necessary education and resources to empower chapters formed by youth and students to work on substance use issues facing their community. Chapters do everything from peer and public education, to drug policy reform and harm reduction projects. In all these areas we support an approach scientifically studied and proven to be effective in decreasing the negative impact of drugs and drug policies on individuals, families and communities.
Harm Reduction Policies
* Drugs are a Health issue
o All policies and programs aimed at reducing the harms associated with drug use in society should address the issue as a public health concern, not as a criminal justice issue. This has been proven to be more effective by studies world-wide.
Education
* Accessibility
o The Centre for Excellence in Youth Engagement has found that drug education and prevention programs that meet young people where they are at, even if they are using drugs and alcohol, are the most effective.
o Education programs like DARE, run by the Police, may be effective in reminding youth that drugs are illegal. However, they have been highly ineffective in seriously reaching young people about drugs in their personal lives.
* Honest, open dialogue
o Drug education is an empowerment. Young people should be provided with all the information available and encouraged to make their own decisions about their physical and mental health.
o All education should acknowledge and respect young people’s personal experience, a discussion that should be approached only in a space of compassion and non-judgment.
CSSDP Bill-C15 Petition
We believe that Bill C-15, An Act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, is step in the wrong direction. Canada faces serious challenges regarding drugs in our society, and Bill C-15 will only make these challenges worse. By introducing Mandatory Minimum Sentences (MMS) the Government will be hurting Canadians of all walks of life, including young people. MMS have already been proven to not impact drug crime, and many American states that have MMS are repealing the ineffective laws. The financial, health, and social costs of MMS are much too great. Therefore, we believe it is time for our government to stop "getting tough" and start "getting smart."
THEREFORE, we, the undersigned, call on all Members of Parliament to vote against Bill C-15, An Act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
CSSDP Podcast
Hello CSSDPers,
Despite lobby efforts, petitions, and the advice of hundreds of organizations across Canada, Bill C-15 has officially been voted through the House of Commons.
This is CSSDP's first podcast episode, featuring a Caleb Chepesiuk and Tamara Kalnins from Ottawa discussing the bill, what it means now that its in the Senate, and what we can still be doing right now to stop the bill.
Podcast: http://cssdp.org/our-campaigns/no-mandatory-minimums/111-c-15-enters-the...
Solidarity,
Jonathan Dickinson
CSSDP Outreach Coordinator
jonathan@cssdp.org
613.565.3041
CSSDP Nation Conference - Vancouver, BC - October 23-25, 2009
Blueprints for Beyond Prohibition:
Dialogue on the New Drug Policy
Vancouver, BC - October 23-25, 2009
The Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy presents its third national conference, hosted by Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia.
Over the past 12 months we have seen some remarkable progress in drug policy around the world. In Mexico, possession of small amounts of narcotics has been decriminalized. In California and around the United States, alternatives to drug prohibition are being discussed with a new urgency and legitimacy by elected officials and mainstream media. Switzerland's heroin prescription program was made permanent in November, 2008. In Canada, the supervised injection facility, Insite, survived yet another constitutional attack from the federal government. However, with each step forward there comes an intensified resistance to the emerging new generation of drug policy. Read more »
