Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users

PowerPoint presentation by unknown source about harm reduction in the area of substance use. Slides include point form information about the philosophy and principles of harm reduction; harm reduction practices; and issues and barriers that need to be considered in the practice of harm reduction.

The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network collaborated with six Canadian community-based organizations in 2003-2004 for a project to help communities mobilize against HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination. This report describes events leading up to a workshop involving all stakeholders, such as exchanges between participants on a listserv. It goes on to describe the workshop design and process, which involved activities on Day 1 to Understand Stigma; activities for identifying how to make change on Day 2; and developing plans for action by participants on Day 3. Appendices include a list of participants; examples of what participants wrote in the listserv exchanges; a detailed account of the workshop process; and the activities and plans developed by the participants.

This document contains a summary of welcoming remarks, opening and closing plenaries, and edited texts of presentations given at the 2002 Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network Annual General Meeting. Libby Davies, Thomas Kerr and representatives of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) gave presentations about VANDU during the ceremony for the first Award for Action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights (given to VANDU). Joanne Csete of Human Rights Watch, Peter Leuprecht of McGill's Faculty of Law, and Su Zhaosheng (wife of Dr. Wan Yanhai) gave presentations about Dr. Wan Yanhai, a Chinese AIDS activist who received the International Award for Action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights. Other presentations contained in this document include the Keynote Address by David Hoe on continuing human and legal rights challenges for people living with HIV/AIDS and closing presentations by Ralf Jurgens, Director of the Legal Network, and Joane Csete, on the politics of HIV/AIDS and the need for continued activism.

Pamphlet that argues there are fundamental problems with traditional drug education, which emphasizes abstinence, prevention and the idea that experimentation with drugs is pathological or a personality problem in adolescents. The author puts forward a "safety first" alternative which is based in the reality that youth will inevitably experiment with drugs, and that therefore reducing harm should be the educational objective. She argues that safety-first education should equip students with information they trust, which is the basis for them making responsible decisions.