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Pivot Legal Society

Pivot Legal Society is a non-profit policy advocacy organization located in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Pivot is not a legal clinic or legal aid organization. Our mandate is to use the law strategically to achieve widespread social change affecting society's most marginalized. We work with low-income communities to develop legal strategies to address systemic problems affecting large numbers of people, and do not provide drop-in legal services or offer legal advice over the phone.

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Online Resources

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Act Now! Decriminalizing Drugs in Vancouver

Technical brief with 1 main recommendation:that non-federal orders of government implement decriminalization locally, by applying to the federal government for an exemption against the offense of simple possession. ...
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Addiction and Harm Reduction Services

In the context of the current public health emergency, there is an urgent need for the BC Government to take all possible steps to remove legal and other barriers to evidence-based health services for people who use ...
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Adding Social Condition to the Human Rights Code

Social Condition is defined as a rank, a social position or class attributed to someone principally because of his or her level of income, occupation, and education.
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Blueprint For An Inquiry

This report describes mistakes made by the government of British Columbia and the Commission in structuring the Inquiry, with the aim of identifying specific lessons for future commissions of inquiry involving ...
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Decriminalization Done Right: A Rights-Based Path for Drug Policy

#DecrimDoneRight is a civil society platform based on evidence and rooted in public health and human rights approaches to drug policy. It is a product of collaboration from legal, human rights, public health sectors and ...
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Discriminatory Zoning

Municipalities across BC have authority to determine land use and zoning within their jurisdictions. Too often this authority is exercised in a discriminatory and stigmatizing way, which results in the denial of ...
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Evaluating Canada's Sex Work Laws: The Case for Repeal

Analysis of the Criminal Code provisions in the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA) shows that the legislation has resulted in sweeping criminalization of the sex industry, threatening the ...
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Fentanyl Sentencing

There is substantial evidence from a range of jurisdictions which demonstrates that drug prohibition laws and policies, including the use of incarceration, can negatively impact health and social outcomes among persons ...
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Justice Reform for BC

A change in government after 16 years has presented a unique opportunity to call for significant, systemic reform to BC's ailing justice system—changes that will benefit the most marginalized in society along with ...
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Police Attendance at Overdoses

The federal Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act (GSDOA) became law in May 2017. The goal of the Act is to encourage people to call 911 in the event of an overdose without fear of charge or arrest.
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