Hi there @davethompsonvic.bsky.social thetyee.ca/News/2025/09...

The Canadian Medical Association stands with our colleagues at the American Medical Association (AMA) in calling on Florida to reverse its plans to end all vaccine mandates, including those required for school attendance. Our statement ⬇️

Broken record territory rapidly approaching, but once again: Homelessness is not a societal inevitability. It's a policy failure. This is a solvable issue with a known solution, even under capitalism, because that solution is less expensive than the current responses. We just don't want to do it.

One of our founders, Dr. Kelsey Roden, lays out what we need. #bcpoli #IOAD #harmreduction www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS_h...

On Labour Day we closed out the weekend of IOAD events at the BC Legislature, where we hosted an emotional gathering to grieve the loss of so many of our loved ones to bad government policy and to demand better. We heard from former BC Chief Coroner, Lisa Lapointe, and our own Dr. Kelsey Roden.

Die in on September 1, 2025. B.C. legislature. We need an expansion of harm reduction services including more OPS, more sterile equipment, more (not less) access to safe supply. Bring back decrim, but bigger and better. End so-called "involuntary treatment," i.e. forced abstinence.

This #IOAD, we laid the truth, and our bodies, at the BC Government's feet. #bcpoli #harmreduction

Jay Genaille aka Jay the Hoop Dancer aka Jay the Cree gave an incredible performance at our #IOAD event in #Victoria.

🧵Today, Victoria Council voted 7–1 against a motion to end decriminalization. The motion was misguided. It falsely claimed decriminalization has been “especially harmful” without evidence. In reality, the crisis we face is driven by the toxic, fentanyl-contaminated supply—not decriminalization.

Want to shout out @dsdp.ca, Lisa Lapointe, Dr Perry Kendall (PHO before Dr Henry), PEERS, PHS, BC Poverty Reduction, PEERS, Moms Stop the Harm, individual city residents for writing in asking Council to maintain support of decriminalization. I love y'all.

Loughton concludes with an apology to those families/individuals who took the time to write to Council about this motion while having to grieve over International Overdose Awareness Day. Thompson chimes in again specifically to address disinformation pointing to broader social trends and data.

Moving onto Gardiner's Council Member Motion on the BC exemption by Health Canada from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Gardiner: "Addiction is a health issue. But distribution isn't."

Motion fails with only Gardiner in favour.

"Governments would have to permanently fund any program that benefits vulnerable people." Gee.

More than 18,000 British Columbians have died due to unregulated toxic drugs over the last decade. On Sunday, 100 people gathered at Vancouver’s Oppenheimer Park to mourn and celebrate their lives. #OverdoseAwarenessDay

"'The vast majority of illicit drug toxicity deaths happen when people use alone because there is no one to call 911,'” wrote BCEHS. 'BCEHS stresses the importance of not using alone, going slow.'" You know what would help with not using alone and going slow? #decrim www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/ar...

"We want freedom from the unjust laws, prisons and institutions that remind us of prisons, stigmatizing health care," said Samona Marsh, the president of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), on Sunday. "We want safe supply and end of prohibition.” www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

ok hear me out what if The Centre for Improving People's Material Conditions was a thing

There is no standard lethal dose of cocaine. Overdose risk depends on many factors… route (snorted, smoked, injected), body weight, tolerance, health status, and what other substances are on board. Someone can die from a few hundred mg while some use multiple grams daily for years without issue.

Overdose — particularly opioid-related — pushes hundreds of thousands of people into premature death every year.  This loss could be reduced and prevented through health responses, including available and accessible #HarmReduction. https://f.mtr.cool/kzztbjcfrk  #IOAD2025 🧵1/6

Share this material with colleagues, talk about the Act, wear a pin or sticker - let others know where you stand on the Compassionate Intervention Act! If you would like copies of the logo or educational brochures, please send us a message!

Prohibition is the Crisis. For over a century, drug markets have been controlled through ineffective law enforcement. Since the 1908 Opium Act, prohibition has forced trade underground, fueling contamination and organized crime, making everyone less safe.

NEW: Canada’s harm reduction nurses call on Prime Minister Carney to rescind harmful drug policies and fund evidence-based care ahead of International Overdose Awareness Day. A short 🧵 #IOAD #IOAD2025 #cdnpoli #drugsky #cdnmedia #bcpoli #nurse #nurses

Organized by @dsdp.ca Doctors for Safer Drug Policy, @momsstoptheharm.bsky.social Moms Stop the Harm and #Nanaimo Area Network of Drug Users, on Friday, Aug. 29, ahead of International Overdose Awareness Day @overdoseday.bsky.social #VancouverIsland #BC www.nanaimobulletin.com/local-news/m...

Reject reactionary drug policy: Canada must not continue to follow the United States’ path of punitive and moralistic policy choices. B.C. must not continue emulate the regressive course taken by Alberta. #bcpoli #cdnpoli #ioad #harmreduction

Address the root causes of the crisis: regulate the drug supply. Invest in housing, mental health services, and voluntary addiction treatment. Recommit to the decriminalization of substance possession for personal use. #bcpoli #cdnpoli #ioad #harmreduction

End political interference in evidence-based health care and prescribing practices. #bcpoli #ioad

Listen to lived experience: prioritize the needs of people most affected by drug policy by following the lead of people with lived/living experience in decision-making. #bcpoli #cdnpoli #ioad #harmreduction

Scale up harm reduction services, including supervised consumption, drug checking, and access to safer supply, both prescribed and non-prescribed. #bcpoli #ioad #cdnpoli #harmreduction

housing is the only solution for homelessness mayors of many municipalities: send the police police: we need more police general public: I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW THIS IS GETTING WORSE homeless people: are you fucken kidding me homeless service provider: *awareness*

Evidence-based solutions exist. We demand: 1) Legalization and regulation of the entire drug supply. 2) Ready access to detox and treatment services. 3) An expanded decriminalization “pilot.” 4) Abundant public housing for all income levels. #bcpoli #cdnpoli #ioad #harmreduction

Evidence-based solutions exist. We demand: 1) Legalization and regulation of the entire drug supply. 2) Ready access to detox and treatment services. 3) An expanded decriminalization “pilot.” 4) Abundant public housing for all income levels. #bcpoli #cdnpoli #ioad #harmreduction

Criminalization of drug use is killing people. It forces people to use their whole supply quickly and alone, and it entrenches stigma. We oppose criminalization of people who use drugs. This includes forced abstinence policies and the criminalization of homelessness. #cdnpoli #bcpoli #ioad

For over a century, we have refused to regulate drug markets with anything other than ineffective law enforcement approaches. #cdnpoli #bcpoli #ioad #harmreduction

More than 52,544 Canadians have died from unregulated drug poisoning since 2016. Every one of these deaths was preventable. BC’s 9+ year old public health emergency has claimed the lives of at least 16,738 people. It continues to kill more than 5 British Columbians every day. #bcpoli #ioad

It’s not enough to memorialize. We will be making crystal clear demands for a serious change in the direction of substance use policy. #bcpoli #ioad #harmreduction

So, International Overdose Awareness Day. It has been a thing for a long time. This time we're not just marking it, we're pulling off a series of events from August 29 to September 1, where we make our demands heard. It's really simple. We need the evidence-based tools that will save lives.

Updated Nanaimo iOAD info: August 29 St Paul’s Anglican Church 100 Capel street. Meet at city hall at 11:00 March to church. Bring photos of loved ones or signs. Pizza at church at noon. Speakers, info tables, community connection.💜

Come join us! At many cities across B.C., but here is the Victoria event poster. Demand what we all need to keep people alive. #bcpoli #harmreduction

Finally, if you're on Lekwungen territory and looking for ways to mark #IOAD2025, The Docs and The Moms are making space for us to gather on September 1. #YYJ #YYJEvents #VictoriaBC @dsdp.ca @momsstoptheharm.bsky.social

One of the seldom-acknowledged populations that are at great risk of toxic drug poisoning are those in the trades. Here is a great crackdown episode about it. We at DSDP stand in solidarity with the working class, always. Flight attendants rock. #cdnpoli www.crackdownpod.com/episodes/epi...