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e-2783 (Health)

E-petition
Initiated by Joanne Hall from Nanaimo, British Columbia

Original language of petition: English

Petition to the Government of Canada

Whereas:
  • The overdose crisis in Canada is a public health emergency, as has already been declared by British Columbia's Provincial Health Officer and several municipalities across Canada;
  • In the first five months of 2020, 554 residents have died from opioid overdoses in British Columbia;
  • Most overdoses in Canada are drug poisonings due to the street drugs being tainted with fentanyl and carfentanil;
  • More than 13,900 individuals have died of opioid-related deaths and there have been 17,050 opioid-related poisoning hospitalizations in Canada since 2016;
  • There is disproportionate representation of Indigenous people affected by the overdose crisis; and,
  • The Canadian Public Health Association, the Global Commission on Drug Policy, the World Health Organization, and the United Nations, have recommended drug decriminalization.
We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:
1. Declare a public health emergency due to overdose deaths in Canada;
2. Reframe the overdose crisis in Canada as a health issue rather than a criminal issue;
3. Take a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach to the overdose crisis, by addressing issues of addiction, poverty, housing, health care, racial discrimination, and economic inequality and instability;
4. Listen to and act on recommendations made by social workers, front-line workers, nurses, doctors, drug users, and individuals directly involved in the drug-using community;
5. End the wasteful and ineffective war on drugs; and
6. Decriminalize personal possession of all drugs in Canada and guarantee a safe supply of drugs in Canada.
Open for signature
August 11, 2020, at 1:59 p.m. (EDT)
Closed for signature
October 10, 2020, at 1:59 p.m. (EDT)
Photo - Paul Manly
Nanaimo—Ladysmith
Green Party Caucus
British Columbia
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