Drugpeace

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Notes

I was thinking of using the title, “Drugs as a source of peace”, when I heard Canadian activist Ann Livingston, one of the founding members of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), use the term Drugpeace on 11 October 2011 at an End Prohibition in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver meeting. In this article, I define what the term means.

1. The Conservative party only received 39.6% of the popular vote in the 2011 federal election. Such is our unrepresentative voting system in Canada.

2. For a fuller discussion see Sullivan’s (2007). He introduces his Special Issue, Part I: Drugs, Healing, and the Expansion of Repression of Human Consciousness. Part II, III, and IV of the Special Issue are included in: 10(4); 11(2 and 4). In addition, see the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies at: http://www.maps.org/.

3. For example, VANDU emerged in early 1998. They are an inspirational group of active and former drug users who offer support, advocacy, education and much more to their members and the community at large.