Opinion
Ontario court’s failure to ensure safe, equitable access to sterile needles blow to prisoners’ rights
By Sandra Ka Hon Chu and Richard Elliott May 21, 2020
A properly designed program would provide prisoners with meaningful access to sterile injection equipment to reduce their risk of infection while also minimizing the risk of accidental needle-stick injuries to staff.
Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says the government is 'committed to reducing the risk' of COVID-19 in prisons. He says 'hundreds' of federal inmates have been released over COVID-19 concerns. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice recently released a disappointing decision in a groundbreaking case for prisoners’ rights in Canada. The judge missed the opportunity to ensure prisoners’ right to effective access to sterile injection equipment, a basic and evidence-based harm reduction measure that is essential health care for people who use drugs.
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