Safer Injection Sites

The Drug Policy Alliance's 2009 International Drug Policy Reform Conference took place in Albuquerque last weekend. It was quite a show. Here's a scene report.

Drug overdoses -- both licit and illicit -- are the second leading cause of accidental death for adults in the US. Now, a member of Congress wants to do something about it, and the Drug Policy Alliance has some ideas.

Canada's Conservative government is hard-line on drug policy issues. It wants mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes and it is in court to try to block Vancouver's safe injection site. But now, it is funding a heroin maintenance pilot project--again.

Safe injection facilities for drug users have proven effective in Europe, Canada, and Australia. Now, harm reductionists and public health advocates are beginning a campaign to bring one to New York City.

There were municipal elections across British Columbia Saturday, and drug reformers continued to hold power in Vancouver, were returned to the mayoralty in Grand Forks, and won a seat on the city council in Victoria.

Australians showed strong support for medical marijuana and harm reduction measures in a national survey. Marijuana legalization? Not so much, at least not yet.

Health officials in Quebec are planning to open a safe injection site in Montreal, then Quebec City, and maybe more.

A former Navy officer and drug fighter turned drug reformer is running for the state House of Representatives in Connecticut. He's calling for safe injection sites, opiate maintenance, and taxed and regulated marijuana sales, and he could use your help.

A Scottish think-tank tasked by Parliament with figuring out how to reduce drug-related harm has called for marijuana legalization, safe injection sites, and opiate maintenance.

In a surprise ruling, the British Columbia Supreme Court has held that Canada's federal drug law is unconstitutional as applied to Vancouver's safe injection site. The site will therefore stay open despite the wishes of the Harper government.