130 search results for
Substance users
Recommendation 77:
Rectify Indigenous women’s exclusion from the economy by:
- Developing equitable and inclusive hiring policy and standards.
- Creating a diversity of low-barrier jobs in the DTES with priority hiring and support for Indigenous women of the community.
- Creating peer-based employment programs including navigation positions throughout the housing, mental health, substance use, and income support systems.
- Ensuring Indigenous women peer workers are paid a living wage, have full benefits, and have the right to unionization.
- Creating jobs that value and compensate skills such as weaving, beading, drum making, food harvesting, and traditional healing, and support the creation of an Indigenous women’s cooperative in the DTES.
- Improving employment supports and workplace accommodations for Indigenous women who are single parents and/or in recovery to ensure that they are not setup to fail in their employment due to systemic barriers.
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- Culture and language ,
- Decolonization and Indigenous rights ,
- Discrimination and hate ,
- Economic inequality ,
- Education and employment ,
- Health ,
- Health, wellness and services ,
- Income insecurity and benefits ,
- Poverty ,
- Poverty and economic inequality ,
- Public education and reconciliation ,
- Public services ,
- Substance use ,
- Workers’ rights
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Recommendation 29:
Recognize the cyclical relationship between poverty and addictions and take measures to ensure that they are addressed simultaneously.
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Recommendation 21:
Rapid easy access to Indigenous women’s detox-on-demand where there is no time limit; Indigenous-run treatment centres; indoor overdose prevention sites and consumption sites for Indigenous women only; access to safer drug supply; and full spectrum of substitution treatment options.
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Recommendation 1:
Pursuant to section 56(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the City of Vancouver should apply to the federal Minister of Health for an exemption that applies to all people in the City of Vancouver against section 4(1) of the CDSA, on the basis that it is necessary for a medical or scientific purpose or is otherwise in the public interest.
In order to address the totality of overdose deaths in Vancouver, the exemption should apply broadly in terms of population, geography, and drug. The exemption should apply:
Support for a broad exemption is also provided by the extent of contamination in Vancouver’s street drug supply. In 2018, approximately 88% of tested street drug samples marketed as opioids tested positive for fentanyl. Fentanyl was found in samples believed to be depressants and stimulants alike. Street drugs themselves are constantly changing, and a static narcotic schedule (like the CDSA) is bound to be eclipsed by the reality of new compounds being formulated and used over time. Decriminalizing the possession of some drugs and not others, or some people and not others, would be arbitrary and illogical during a time when the risks are extreme for anyone who relies on an (ever-evolving) street market, however infrequently.
In order to address the totality of overdose deaths in Vancouver, the exemption should apply broadly in terms of population, geography, and drug. The exemption should apply:
- To any person who possesses drugs for personal use while in Vancouver and;
- In all instances meeting the offence criteria for simple possession, regardless of the substance in question.
Support for a broad exemption is also provided by the extent of contamination in Vancouver’s street drug supply. In 2018, approximately 88% of tested street drug samples marketed as opioids tested positive for fentanyl. Fentanyl was found in samples believed to be depressants and stimulants alike. Street drugs themselves are constantly changing, and a static narcotic schedule (like the CDSA) is bound to be eclipsed by the reality of new compounds being formulated and used over time. Decriminalizing the possession of some drugs and not others, or some people and not others, would be arbitrary and illogical during a time when the risks are extreme for anyone who relies on an (ever-evolving) street market, however infrequently.
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Recommendation 64:
Provide youth with personalized support to transition back into the work-place and transition off of government benefits in a stable way. Youth will need support stabilizing mental health and substance use to be successful in future employment opportunities.
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Recommendation 46:
Provide youth with access to treatment and abstinence-based programs. Ensure they have support workers that can help advocate and transport them to detox or treatment.
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Recommendation 45:
Provide youth with access to in-house substance use counselors and face to face NA/AA meetings. Some youth are not able to access the online meetings or they don’t work for them. Youth benefit from peer-based knowledge groups to de-stigmatize substance use.
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Recommendation 4:
Provide funding to storage facilities in an easily-accessible area.
- Any confiscated belongings must be stored at a facility located within the Downtown Eastside.
- Storage facilities must be secure, easily accessible, of an adequate size, and informed by best practices and cultural safety for people who rely on public space.
- Retrieval processes must respect the limited access unhoused people have to identifying documentation.
- Storage facilities must provide long-term, low-barrier storage space (i.e. 3-6 months).
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Recommendation 9:
Provide funding for case managers and peer navigation staff in community organizations that serve people with mental health and substance use-related disabilities and complex issues such as homelessness to help them gain access to the system. Trained people with lived or living experience should fill these roles wherever possible to ensure low barrier, empathetic and responsive services.
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Recommendation 1:
Provide comprehensive advocacy and support for individuals being released from the hospital towards transition to shelter/housing.
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