The DULF constitutional challenge will continue tomorrow at 10am and a member of the compassion club will be testifying. You can drop in and support/witness at any time. It goes until 4pm with a break from 12:30-2pm. 800 Smithe, floor 5, room 54.

1/3. The December 2025 @megaphonemagazine.com has hit the streets! 🎄🎅 Don't miss this month's cover story looking back at a year of storytelling to find out who's been naughty + who's been nice in the #DTES! Cover photo of Nic + Julie in their holiday onesies by the amazing Tanya Goehring! Also...

“The fact is that this toxic drug crisis won’t be solved without an approach that focuses on safer supply and harm reduction.” For my latest with @filtermag.bsky.social, I spoke with BC Human Rights Commissioner, Kasari Govender, about her position statement on the toxic drug supply crisis.

Regulation saves lives. When drug regulations aren't strict people die. They don't have to die. Alcohol, opioids, stimulants: regulations save lives. In Canada we only strictly regulate alcohol and thankfully a tainted supply doesn't exist. We could regulate more. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Scoop: The CDC is moving to end telework agreements for employees with disabilities — again www.statnews.com/2025/11/21/c...

Apparently 1 in 6 people who get Botox experience adverse effects from the procedure?? Excellent (and troubling) new @healthydebate.bsky.social story by Miranda Schreiber

NEW Two federal expert reviews provided unanimous support in 2023 for rapidly scaling up safe supply, including compassion clubs. Instead of informing the public, the government silenced the reports, and DULF got closed & arrested. Who killed the expert reviews? drugdatadecoded.ca/who-killed-t...

Donate to support Press Progress' legal fund! JournalismDefence.ca

UPDATE: Canada has announced that it has lost its measles elimination status. This is a direct result of the increase in anti-vax disinformation, which has caused large, sustained outbreaks in the country over the last year.

Founders of groundbreaking Vancouver compassion club found guilty of drug trafficking Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum, who sold club members drugs they had tested for safety, plan to launch a constitutional challenge against Canada's drug laws on November 24. pressprogress.ca/founders-of-...

DULF co-founders Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum were found guilty of possession with the intent to traffic this morning for meth, heroin and cocaine. My full story on @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/News/2025/11...

Drug User Liberation Front founders Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum have been found guilty of all charges. A lot people upset in this courtroom right now. Defence going to be mounting a constitutional challenge.

“People who are getting clicks and likes online and [we have] a reactive government that is responding to the moral panic to avoid getting voted out … so we have policymakers with extremely liberal backgrounds doing extremely conservative things to retain their position of power,” Ranger said.

Finally got to cover some good drug policy news for a change! My latest with @filtermag.bsky.social :

AI and the mental health crisis: Can chatbots fill the gap? By @maddidellplain.bsky.social healthydebate.ca/2025/10/topi...

Great takedown of harmful #misinformation about cancer & autism by CBC Marketplace They analyzed "200 of TikTok’s most popular health videos & uncovers a troubling trend: misinformation is not only widespread, it’s thriving." Honoured to help. Investigating Dr. TikTok www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

No amount of alcohol is safe, at least for dementia risk, study finds wapo.st/42DbNdR "...even light alcohol consumption can increase dementia risk."

Rodney Taylor was days away from receiving new prosthetic legs when ICE grabbed him. He’s been detained for more than 8 months. They won’t allow him to get his new legs & put him in solitary confinement. He needs the disability community’s help! His petition just hit 3,000… keep it going!

Gives me the fucking creeps how these people are making fake women using AI and choose to give them extremely child-like faces. 🚩

My latest with @healthydebate.bsky.social

87 people died of drug poisoning in #yeg in March 2025. The highest monthly total recorded. Although we saw a early spike in EMS calls at the end of February there were no efforts to warn the public or put in place any additional preventative measures. #ableg

Climate change is expanding mosquito habitat in Hawaiʻi, threatening endangered birds with avian malaria. So Hawaiʻi is releasing male mosquitoes with a strain of Wolbachia bacteria that make them incompatible with the females so their eggs don’t hatch. 🪶🧪

For my latest with @healthydebate.bsky.social I spoke with several ER docs to find out how they cope with the (increasing) pressures of the job

Managing the Pitt. Experts discuss how to cope with the stresses of emergency medicine, by @maddidellplain.bsky.social healthydebate.ca/2025/06/topi... via @healthydebate.bsky.social

#SaferSupply an effective treatment tool despite political backlash. New study shows safe opioid supply more effective than opioid agonist therapies, by @maddidellplain.bsky.social healthydebate.ca/2025/06/topi... via @healthydebate.bsky.social

Some helpful tips for following the awful news out of Minnesota today.

"A recent study shows safe supply may be a more effective treatment option than methadone for those most at risk." By @maddidellplain.bsky.social healthydebate.ca/2025/06/topi...

My latest for @filtermag.bsky.social digs into a study that shows safe supply was as effective at improving health outcomes as methadone.

“You have a number of different actions by the #Ontario provincial government that really created a hospital funding crisis and that triggered a workforce crisis,” Hollowed Out report author @alonghurst.bsky.social told journalist @maddidellplain.bsky.social. healthydebate.ca/2025/05/topi...

The months-long strike at British Columbia’s LifeLabs has raised questions about foreign ownership of medical services and Canadians’ health data. That such a large part of Canada’s health infrastructure is owned by a massive foreign company is cause for concern, notes one expert.

Thanks for the republish @thetyee.ca! BC's LifeLabs Strike Highlights the Risks of Foreign Ownership thetyee.ca/News/2025/05...

Report reveals ‘alarming trend’ of private staffing agencies in Ontario hospitals By @maddidellplain.bsky.social healthydebate.ca/2025/05/topi...

I don't often get to write about working conditions and pay issues in health care, even though they're massively important to wait times and care quality. It was an honour to work with @maddidellplain.bsky.social, Dr. Sahil Gupta, Nicole Naimer, and Dr. Maria Raveendran on this series.

Grateful to receive two award noms this year for Best Science & Tech storytelling from @canadamediaawards.bsky.social! One for our team's @healthydebate.bsky.social Stitched Together series & the other for this piece I wrote on involuntary drug treatment: healthydebate.ca/2024/06/topi...

🧵 Stitched Together @healthydebate.bsky.social Finalist for Best Science & Technology Storytelling at the 2025 Digital Publishing Awards Congrats @wendyglauser.bsky.social , and team! 🔗 zurl.co/ic05U #DigitalPublishingAwards #DPA25

For my latest with @healthydebate.bsky.social, I dig into why the increasing foreign (notably, U.S.) ownership of Canada's medical labs should be cause for concern. healthydebate.ca/2025/04/topi...

LifeLabs strike highlights risks of foreign ownership in Canadian health care By @maddidellplain.bsky.social healthydebate.ca/2025/04/topi...

"About half of B.C. and Ontario’s respective medical lab sectors are now U.S. owned." By @maddidellplain.bsky.social healthydebate.ca/2025/04/topi...

“Shutting down supervised consumption sites won't make drug use go away, it just makes it more deadly and often more public.” www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Details of which news organizations get how much of the promised Google money through Canada's Online News Act have just been released. Biggest payout ($4.2 million) goes to Postmedia cjc-ccj.ca/en/

first time filing with the Guardian. these are really challenging stories to write, but they also remind you of how powerfully communities support one another www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Trey Helten, an advocate for drug users whose willingness to speak searingly about his own battle with addiction provided hope and inspiration to many in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, has died at 42. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Alberta has tabled its involuntary drug treatment bill. When asked if involuntary treatment would be effective, Smith said "You won't know if something works until you try it." But there IS a lot of research we can draw from. And what we know, doesn't look good: healthydebate.ca/2024/06/topi...

Waging war on our immune systems: Immunologist explains the horrifying toll of measles #ICYMI By @maddidellplain.bsky.social healthydebate.ca/2024/03/topi...

How health care works in Canada: What to know ahead of the federal #election By @maddidellplain.bsky.social healthydebate.ca/2025/04/topi...

How health care works in Canada: What to know ahead of the federal election healthydebate.ca/2025/04/topi... @maddidellplain.bsky.social @healthydebate.bsky.social 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀: CanadaHealthwatch.ca/newsletter 🍁

Not 100% sure how health policy gets made? You're not alone. Here's an explainer I wrote for @healthydebate.bsky.social breaking down the basics ahead of the election: healthydebate.ca/2025/04/topi...

How health care works in Canada: What to know ahead of election day. With voters heading to the polls on April 28, it’s time for a refresher on how health policy is made and where the parties stand, by @maddidellplain.bsky.social healthydebate.ca/2025/04/topi... via @healthydebate.bsky.social

What if COVID doesn't just make sick, but makes us easier to infect? Experts say the virus is chipping away at our immune systems. But some aren’t convinced. I spoke with doctors, scientists, and parents caught in a relentless cycle of illness, and here's what I found: