Know your rights: On drug laws for African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) people who use drugs

Across Canada, African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) people face state-sanctioned violence that is deeply rooted in the legacy of slavery and the enduring presence of anti-Black racism, which manifests in Canada’s drug laws. Black people are racially profiled and disproportionately criminalized and targeted by drug laws, which are themselves rooted in colonialism and the oppression of Black, Indigenous, racialized, and migrant communities. This has had severe consequences for Black communities in Canada, leading to child apprehension, mass incarceration, and deportation. As Black advocates have long urged, decriminalizing people who use and share drugs is one necessary component of undoing systemic discrimination against Black people.

This pamphlet answers questions about Canada’s drug laws to provide better knowledge of drug offences and the powers of police, prosecutors, and courts.