Pivot's mandate is to use the law to address the root causes of poverty and social exclusion. We engage in strategic litigation and other law reform techniques to bring about social change. We take a bottom up approach to our work, working collaboratively with people impacted by poverty and marginalization to develop a vision for change that will make a meaningful difference in their lives. We are committed to providing people living in poverty with opportunities to develop new skills and to speak for themselves about their needs and issues that affect them. Our four campaign areas are: Homes for All, Sex Workers’ Rights, Accountable Policing, and Health and Drug Policy. Pivot’s Health and Drug Policy campaign focuses on protecting and enhancing the human rights of people who use drugs. Currently, we are involved in legal advocacy around supervised consumption in Canada, heroin-assisted treatment, needle distribution services in prison, combatting mandatory minimum sentences for drug offences, and challenging discriminatory bylaws that prevent access to harm-reduction services.

El mandato de Pivot consiste en utilizar la ley para abordar las causas sociales de la pobreza y la exclusión social.

Le mandat de Pivot consiste à utiliser la loi pour résoudre les causes profondes de la pauvreté et de l'inclusion sociale.

Pivot 

Pivot Legal Society et VANDU offrent des conseils en matière d'organisation à l’attention des gouvernements locaux pour mettre un terme aux pratiques mettant en danger la vie des personnes qui font usage de drogues. Pour en savoir plus, en anglais, veuillez lire les informations ci-dessous.


Talking Back to the City: A manual for winning – and resisting – local drug policy

 is a drug policy report authored by Pivot Legal Society and the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU). It calls on local governments to cease practices that jeopardize drug users’ lives.

The 60-page report combines legal information with a framework for grassroots organizing against the drug war. Drawing on decades of Pivot and VANDU’s collective experience, the report aims to “educate local governments about the tools they have (or don’t have) [and] build strength and solidarity with our allies around Turtle Island.”

Though all levels of government have a responsibility to address the drug toxicity crisis, 

 takes aim at the deadly actions and inactions of local governments, recognizing that “it is here on the streets where drug users die from policy at the hands of police, bylaw enforcement officers, city councils, and the public.”

The routine hostility of local governments toward overdose prevention services is a prime example of anti-drug user policy.

“In addition to undercutting BC’s decriminalization policy, cities are routinely responsible for impediments to and closure of overdose prevention services (OPS) across the Province, despite there being a standing 

 requiring OPS “wherever there is need.” Drug user groups (which provide cutting edge harm reduction services and drug policy advocacy) are constantly under threat too, with many having to close their doors due to local governments’ use of zoning restrictions, business licence denials, and nuisance property designations. Talking Back calls for an end to these practices from the ground up.”

Drug user groups... are constantly under threat too, with many having to close their doors due to local governments’ use of zoning restrictions, business licence denials, and nuisance property designations. ~

Caitlin Shane, Staff Lawyer – Pivot Legal Society

In the face of government action and inaction, VANDU has fought against deadly drug policies for more than two decades. The Report highlights lessons learned and best practices VANDU has developed over the decades.

“We want to show other [drug user] groups how to get started. If VANDU had been around more than 25 years ago, maybe my daughter would have been around today, because she would have had clean needles. I’d like to let the world know that just because we’re drug users we’re not failures, we can do whatever we say we’re going to do, we can teach people and the young generation how to do it right and not kill themselves. To be able to teach the new generation the right ways without lying to them and the public, that’s the main thing. Tell the truth.”

To be able to teach the new generation the right ways without lying to them and the public, that’s the main thing. Tell the truth. ~

“We want this report to act as a manual. There’s so many things that are so troublesome to us, it could be hundreds of pages long; it could be a volume. We want to save communities the trouble of going through the brutality that VANDU and other groups have had to go through. We need to share our knowledge and not be greedy. We want to elevate people. Give them some encouragement.”

We need to share our knowledge and not be greedy. We want to elevate people. Give them some encouragement. ~

The Report reflects the philosophy of ‘nothing about us, without us’.

Ultimately, the most profound need to establish such a network [of people who use drugs] arises from the fact that no group of oppressed people ever attained liberation without the involvement of those directly affected by this oppression. ~

The Report also contains a poster insert, “VANDU’s Golden Rules,” which shares top tips and tricks for: direct action and grassroots organizing; working with government; and working with researchers.

Répondre à la ville : Un manuel pour gagner – et résister – dans le domaine des politiques locales en matière de drogues

Réussir la décriminalisation : une voie vers des politiques sur les drogues basées sur les droits de la personne

 a pour but de mettre fin à la criminalisation néfaste et meurtrière des personnes utilisatrices de drogues — une pratique qui a entraîné des décès par surdose comme jamais auparavant au Canada et en Amérique du nord plus largement. Ce projet vise également à protéger la santé et les droits de tous les Canadiens et Canadiennes. En optant pour cette plateforme de la société civile, le gouvernement fédéral a le pouvoir de réduire dès maintenant les préjudices associés à la criminalisation des personnes utilisatrices des drogues.

La société civile et le réseau communautaire canadiens expriment de grandes inquiétudes concernant l'approche de la ville de Vancouver en matière de décriminalisation de la simple possession de drogues. Pour en savoir plus, en anglais, veuillez lire les informations ci-dessous.

As organizations and individuals committed to the liberation of people who use drugs, and progressive, rights-based drug policy reforms including decriminalization, we, the undersigned, call on the City of Vancouver to address three major concerns regarding its current application to the federal Health Minister to decriminalize simple drug possession locally. We also call on Health Canada and the federal Health Minister, Patty Hajdu, to refrain from imposing unnecessary and unjustified restrictions on any exemption issued to enable decriminalization in Vancouver or other municipalities or provinces that may follow suit, and we call on the Vancouver Police Department to stand down, vacate the process of decriminalization, and sign off on community-established thresholds.

We support the City of Vancouver’s initiative as the first jurisdiction in Canada to formally pursue decriminalization of simple drug possession. We are also keenly aware that the process leading to, and the substantive outcome of, this policy change are likely to become a precedent for jurisdictions considering similar initiatives, such as British Columbia. It is essential, therefore, that the “Vancouver Model” of decriminalization proceeds correctly. This means taking the utmost care to consider the lived and living realities of people who use drugs and ensuring the approach adopted does not lead to more harm than good.

Pivot

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Répondre à la ville : Un manuel pour gagner – et résister – dans le domaine des politiques locales en matière de drogues

Réussir la décriminalisation : une voie vers des politiques sur les drogues basées sur les droits de la personne

La décriminalisation bien faite : Une vision axée sur les droits humains et la santé publique pour la réforme des politiques des drogues