441-02725 (Health)

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;
• 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 House of Commons in Parliament assembled to:

• Declare a public health emergency due to overdose deaths in Canada;
• Reframe the overdose crisis in Canada as a health issue rather than a criminal issue;
• 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;
• 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; and
• Decriminalize drugs in Canada.