Narratives of Women and Gender-Diverse Individuals as Policy Consultation for Drug Decriminalization

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Abstract

Governments around the world have increasingly implemented decriminalization policies as alternatives to punitive approaches to personal drug use. However, this transition has been less than smooth and prohibition-based narratives persist — as new approaches are often deemed incomplete or rendered ineffective by competing logics of criminalization. A common criticism of such policies is that they fail to fully consider the lived experiences of the people they impact, particularly those of women and gender-diverse individuals as they are uniquely vulnerable to criminalization and less likely to be included in research. This study seeks to mitigate this knowledge deficit and center those with lived experience as consulted parties in Toronto’s ongoing drug policymaking process and potential transition to decriminalization. Recently, the government of Toronto has requested an exemption to Canadian drug law to decriminalize drugs for personal use. To inform the debate surrounding this proposal and connect the experiences of women and gender-diverse individuals with the policymaking process, this research employs a two-part qualitative study of narrative interviews with women and gender-diverse individuals in Toronto criminalized for drug offenses and thematic analysis of political discourse. Learnings will help determine discrepancies in perspective between these two groups and mitigate ineffectiveness in future policies.

Author

• Lauren Ivy Borders, University of Toronto