Emily Jenkins

Jurisdictions across the globe are increasingly experimenting with alternative legal and policy frameworks that aim to reduce the harmful effects of prohibition, including the legal regulation of recreational, religious and medical cannabis, legalization of the coca leaf for subsistence and traditional use, decriminalization of drug possession, and expansion of harm reduction services such as supervised consumption and injectable opioid agonist treatment. Each of these legal and policy shifts offers only a partial solution to the unregulated market that flourishes in every part of the world. The goals of the Roundtable are: 1) develop a strategic road map – with concrete steps – for Canada to progress away from the policies of prohibition towards policies that promote public health, human rights, and social inclusion based on the legal regulation of currently illegal substances; 2) outline further research to inform this strategy and identify appropriate regulatory models for the Canadian context; 3) outline a knowledge translation strategy aimed at raising awareness and support for policy change; and 4) identify opportunities for international collaborations that will support further action.

International Critical Suicide Studies Roundtable

This Roundtable was held on-line on June 17-18, 2021.  Researchers brought together a diverse group of scholars, practitioners, artists, activists, and those who have personal experience with suicide, to co-generate a wide range of inclusive understandings of suicide as a means to mobilizing strategies for suicide prevention and bereavement. By drawing on multiple, embodied knowledges and intellectual traditions, we seek to build upon and challenge some of the taken-for-granted positivist and biomedical logics that have come to dominate the study of suicide and the practice of suicide prevention in the modern era. Through a creative dialogical process, we aim to identify new research opportunities and practice approaches to suicide prevention that are creative, socially just, and culturally responsive.

For more information, please see Roundtable report.