Know your rights: On drug laws for Indigenous people who use drugs

Drug policy in Canada is rooted in racism and colonialism, and Indigenous communities have experienced long histories of drug policy harms. Among Indigenous people living with HIV, transmissions are attributable to injection drug use at a much higher rate than for non-Indigenous populations, while Indigenous peoples have also suffered a disproportionate proportion of fatal overdoses against the backdrop of a toxic unregulated drug supply. This is due to many factors, including racism and consequent barriers to health care, ongoing and intergenerational trauma, limited access to mental health and drug treatment, and the over-policing and mass incarceration of Indigenous peoples for drug offences.

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