Doctors for Safer Drug Policy

So naloxone kits will be in BC schools, but education on how to use them will not be. Make it make sense. #bcpoli

Drug User Advocacy Groups Challenge ‘Recriminalization’ in Court | The Tyee Foes of decriminalization wrongly conflated it with poverty and the rise of homelessness, lawyer argues.

thetyee.ca/News/2025/07...

Last week was Edmonton's 26th week in 2025 with ≥100 weekly EMS responses. 4057 EMS opioid responses so far in 2025 (avg 135/wk) compared to 1820 for the same period in 2024 – 123% increase. We lead the province in PREVENTABLE overdose fatalities. #yeg #yegcc #ableg #SafeSupply #HarmReduction

Drug-User Groups Fight BC Recriminalization in Court Health Canada rushed through its approval of recriminalizing possession in BC public spaces without consulting PWUD, lawyers argue.

filtermag.org/drug-user-gr...

Early experiences and impacts of a fentanyl powder safer supply program in Vancouver, Canada: a qualitative study Background: North America is experiencing an unrelenting overdose crisis driven by a volatile and toxic unregulated drug supply. Safer supply programs, which provide individuals with pharmaceutical...

Would sure be nice if we could all prescribe fentanyl powder, instead of it being gatekept behind a teeny-tiny program. We might actually turn this crisis around.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Collateral harms following opioid prescribing standard After reading Panagiotoglou and colleagues’ research article on the effects of a provincial opioid prescribing standard on prescribing for pain in adults, the question that comes to my mind is, who is...

www.cmaj.ca/content/197/...

Greetings to our American colleagues! Who are facing the same things we are, but on a larger scale most likely:

www.asam.org/news/detail/...

We Need Alternatives to Alberta’s Compassionate Intervention Act | The Tyee A doctor calls for better investments in housing and mental health care, not policing.

We Need Alternatives to Alberta's Compassionate Intervention Act via @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/Opinion/2025...

Police in Ontario Increasingly Obstruct Harm Reduction Service Delivery Police surveillance and interference block life-saving care as the province becomes more hostile to harm reduction, our study shows.

filtermag.org/ontario-poli...

"While in some places these informal agreements worked reasonably well in the past, our study shows that they are quickly eroding or have been replaced with outright hostility from law enforcement."

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New is not always better: Why involuntary addictions treatment won’t fix things Why are we turning our focus and resources to involuntary treatment when voluntary treatment remains totally inadequate and inaccessible?

We (all of us, society) are in a fight for the ages to preserve the most basic of human rights: the right to bodily autonomy.

canadianhealthcarenetwork.ca/new-not-alwa...

this is a good article by @michaeljohnlo.bsky.social but I want to add more context:

the safest place to use unregulated drugs is at a safe consumption site.

the next safest place is in public view.

the least safest is indoors alone.

furthermore, “problematic” to whom? and YIKES

So if we housed homeless people, we could help people living on the street, reduce our own housing costs, improve the quality of our housing, and save a huge amount on services.

We could improve everyone's quality of life and save money while doing it.

Worth mentioning that most of the housing referred to here in Vienna is public! Not “market conditions incentivized for developers to make a few social housing units.”

A bunch of fresh Swiss chard

note reading "Thanks for the kale here is some rhubard. From (name redacted) Tiny Town.

I hear from folks really worried about the dangers of living near supportive housing. I live across the street from 36 units of supportive housing & came home last night to find this in my porch — a gift & note from one of the residents. Housing & harm reduction aren't scary things to live close to.

Can you spare a minute to help this campaign? Act now! Tell the Alberta Government we DO NOT support the Compassionate Intervention Act.

chng.it/YNXHnhwQvP

People who use drugs are members of the public. The unhoused are members of the public. Prioritizing their health, safety, and wellbeing might be a good idea.

How about providing sufficient services with long enough operating hours? How about providing enough acceptable housing?

City of Victoria Councillor Marg Gardiner would like more residents of her city to die.

Opinion: There’s no place for politicians in the medical exam rooms of the nation Alberta’s Bill 26 would compromise the patient-doctor relationship

"Bill 26 says that politicians must have a seat in our exam rooms. Doctors may be forced to choose between offering evidence-based care that is in their patients’ best interest, and breaking the law." Et tu @josieosborne.bsky.social ?

www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Episode 54: Get Sober or Get Dead — Crackdown Podcast Alberta is the involuntary treatment capital of Canada. Since 2006, the province has encouraged parents to waive their children's rights and force them into detox as part of the Protection of Children...

Alberta is the involuntary treatment capital of Canada. On episode 54, we meet Angie & her son Brandon. When Brandon got wired as a teen, Angie had a difficult choice to make: should she force him to sober up? If she did, what would happen to their relationship? www.crackdownpod.com/episodes/epi...

A smoking area outside of RJH. The garbage can remains but the sitting benches have been removed.

Is @vanislandhealth.bsky.social engaging in hostile architecture by removing longstanding sitting benches from Royal Jubilee Hospital’s smoking area?

#bcpoli #harmreduction

How many people will avoid care, avoid calling 911, and not be forthcoming about their substance use during care encounters, just because of the POSSIBILITY of being detained?

April sees increase in toxic drug deaths in B.C., as coroner reports 165 fatalities | CBC News The B.C. Coroners Service says April was the first time in six months that more than 160 deaths were recorded due to toxic drugs.

"Overall, it is nice to see the B.C. government validate what we have been saying. Now let us see them put it into practice."

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Happening now!

Location: Online [Zoom]: www.eventbrite.ca/.../care-not....

Speakers from across the country will join us to address a variety of intersecting themes, topics, and communities, including (but certainly not limited to): harm reduction; drug policy; drug user rights and more...

Alberta babies have been born with measles due to outbreaks, worrying doctors | CBC News Alberta's measles outbreaks have led to babies being born with congenital measles, the province has confirmed. Congenital measles can lead to severe complications, including death.

As Alberta's #measles case count approaches 1,000, health experts raising the alarm about babies being born already infected with the virus. Congenital measles can lead to severe complications, including death, by @jenleecbc.bsky.social www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... via @cbcnews.ca

RECLAIM Collective speaks out against forced abstinence In advance of Support. Don't Punish on June 26, the founders of RECLAIM Collective share their thoughts on how the forced abstinence legislation recently passed by the Alberta government will impact t...

drugdatadecoded.ca/reclaim-coll...

Support Don't Punish. Care Not Criminalization. June 26. 1PM Pacific time.

All the many group logos of participating groups: MSTHL, CSSDP, CDPC, HRNA, DSDP, and many others.

@hivlegalnetwork.bsky.social and @hracollective.bsky.social are co-hosting a series of incredible speakers from across the country to mark the annual Global Day of Action!

REGISTER HERE: www.eventbrite.ca/e/care-not-c...

#SupportDontPunish #HarmReduction #CareNotCriminalization

💫 Featuring:

@4bharmredux.bsky.social
Association Québécoise pour la promotion de la santé des personnes utilisatrices de drogues (AQPSUD)
@candrugpolicy.bsky.social
Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy
@dsdp.ca
Frontline Baddies

"the activists pushed too hard and too fast!!!" is a bedtime story that people tell themselves when they fundamentally do not believe the activists in question should have rights

Vancouver city council votes to allow safe inhalation sites Decision to amend city’s health bylaws expands access to harm-reduction measure

Offering inhalation booths in a facility attached to the H2H Clinic, not only saves lives, but engages clients with the health care system.

@andreawoo.bsky.social reports on the impact of Vancouver City Council's decision on the #H2HCentre inhalation rooms.

www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...