canada’s prison needle exchange program is a helpful case study in how crucial reforms can be undermined through bad implementation, punitive barriers, conditioning entitlement, or policy sabotage. it provides helpful lessons for other areas of drug policy & law reform-open access in Health&Justice

"thirteen principles for supporting people’s agency, self-determination, dignity of risk, and general well-being." #ResistCriminalization #AbolitionNow

Go see my sister Sarah in this rendition of Anne of Green Gables ❤️❤️❤️❤️ love her and this review!!

“several provincial legislatures are resorting to policies like forced treatment to deflect attention away from their own failures that created these crises in the first place” Great article by @drugdatadecoded.ca & @zoedodd.bsky.social Sask, pay attention! #skpoli breachmedia.ca/media-politi...

This morning, everyone’s least favourite Downtown Revitalization Coalition hosted “A Conversation with Minister of Mental Health and Addiction, Dan Williams.” But right outside, @4bharmredux.bsky.social held a protest all dressed in Dan Williams moustaches, and they deserve a round of applause. 1/

As someone who outsources his thinking to the bluesky brain trust, this is very frightening to me

Ontario strategy to dismantle supervised consumption sites (SCS): fund a vaguely defined service to “replace” SCS, shut down SCS on basis of proximity to kids, get sued and lose, defund SCS anyway, defund sterile supply distribution to amplify damage. Evil.

This is a big deal for CSAM. Unfortunately, nothing in the Liberal platform suggests they’ll protect politically besieged supervised consumption sites. Not one mention of harm reduction period. Their new drug policy ideas amount to empowering cops to tear open mail now with a “general warrant.”

New position statement from the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine urges all levels of government, healthcare providers, and community stakeholders to support the expansion and destigmatization of supervised consumption services. csam-smca.org/wp-content/u... #cdnpoli

April 22 and the supervised consumption sites that are supposed to become “hart hubs” have still not received their funding and are NOT up and running. Province was still messing with the agreements trying to get rid of harm reduction supples distribution and exchange from any partnered site.

🔊 PODCAST: Meet the corporate lobbyists connected to Pierre Poilievre and his inner-circle DeSmog’s @geoffdembicki.bsky.social is pulling back the curtain on the influence of corporate lobbyists on Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives

Patients, medical orgs and physicians are speaking out to say health care should not take a backseat in the federal election campaign, @kkirkup.bsky.social reports. Health care is not listed as a topic in this week's leaders' debates www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Lessons Learned From Drug Decriminalization Remedies in British Columbia jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

The entire National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) team at SAMHSA was terminated today. Do not listen to the platitudes of this administration when they say they care about drug overdose, addiction, mental health, or suicide.

Does this man understand where the drugs killing people even come from? Shocking how he wants to wage war on those of us who have spent our lives supporting people - wants us fired and to escalate even more deaths.

the role of fossil capital in the rise of the far right in the US - and its consequences - are difficult to keep track of given the sheer pace of change. still, we should.

all faculty and eligible university workers should pile into AAUP

Canada’s tainted blood scandal warned against paying donors for blood products. So why are paid-plasma clinics popping up across the country? www.thestar.com/business/can... @thestar.com 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀: CanadaHealthwatch.ca/newsletter 🍁

THREAD🧵 The 68th UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) took place in Vienna last month Key takeaways: 🔹Colombia's historic resolution to review the drug control system 🔹Growing discussions around coca/cocaine regulation 🔹The belligerent & obstructive new US delegation 1/

Colombia’s role is crucial—having suffered decades of drug war violence, corruption, and environmental destruction. They are now leading the call for a rethink of the global drug control system. 7/

Those outside of the field might not appreciate how notable it is that the US voted *against* the draft resolution: 'Promoting comprehensive, scientific evidence-based and multisectoral national systems of drug use prevention for children and adolescents' at CND 2025 docs.un.org/en/E/CN.7/20...

New piece: We need to dig into the nationalism and protectionism that is abound in Canada right now and follow the money. Politicians are just fast-tracking the oligarchy. tinyurl.com/bddf5j6r

If you live in Ontario near any of the closed supervised consumption sites we need you to get trained in overdose response. Yesterday a colleague found someone overdosed in a door way, tried to revive them but they were already dead.

‘It’s classist. It’s racist’: Ontario’s overdose death capital braces for more loss: ricochet.media/justice/heal...

Ford announces #homelessness #addiction hubs replacing consumption sites are open. @zoedodd.bsky.social co-organizer Toronto Overdose Prevention Society (TOPS) says sites have NOT signed funding agreements w/ province + HAVE NOT received any $$ to provide services: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... #onpoli

After the decision was released, there were “five minutes of 'holy shit, we got an injunction,'” Toronto harm reductionist Zoë Dodd tells @godfrey.bsky.social. But that was soon met with the stark reality of continued funding restraints:

🧵DRUG ALERT In its final 24 hours on Mar 31, Red Deer's overdose prevention site reversed 15 opioid overdoses. That's 5X the daily rate of Red Deer's worst quarter on record (422 OD reversals, Q4/2022). The Alberta government permanently closed the site that night. 1/

NEW: The doctor behind breakthrough Parkinson’s research was among the scientists purged from the National Institutes of Health, the US’s leading medical research agency. www.wired.com/story/doctor...

FORTY MILLION DOLLARS to detain 400 migrants at Gitmo. That's $100,000 a person just to hold them for a few days — when they could far more easily be held in the United States! Just a couple weeks ago it was reported to have cost $16 million. So the price tag is skyrocketing.

Despite the injunction 9 out of 10 sites slated to close, closed today. I feel immense dread over what’s going to happen next. Especially in the cities with no other options. Ford government is evil AF www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Unfathomable evil.

This accusation belies the point of my post. We can go one about the virtues of the private market but until we remove profit from housing, we will always have a housing crisis. That's the natural result of creating a housing system that allows people to get rich off of it.

New tremors rattled survivors of Friday’s earthquake in Myanmar, which killed more than 1,600 people. And as rescue efforts continued, the military made clear it would not stop a brutal bombing campaign in a civil war that has ravaged the country.

Organized crime runs on online gambling. It's an incredible way to make and launder billions. After purchasing the Toronto Star, Bitove and friends received an online casino license from the Ford government.

Liu said she was told the slides about Gaza “could be perceived as antisemitic” while the USAID section might be perceived as “anti governmental.”

WE GOT THE INJUNCTION!!!!!

This week’s @chicagoreader.com cover is a long feature about the state’s first & only girl’s prison in Geneva, IL. For decades, it was also one of the most important sites of eugenic “research” in the US. chicagoreader.com/news/feature...

NEW: Dozens of life coaches advertised their ability to treat mental health issues, despite not having the training or permits to do so, Utah researchers found. A new law aims to crack down on the practice by clearly defining what only a therapist can do. With @sltrib.com

Five years after the pandemic began, the neurocognitive effects of long covid are numerous and troubling. And some may extend to people who quickly recovered.

*taps mic* please for the love of all that is holy and good in the world, stop announcing to everyone that "NO ONE IS PRO ABORTION." YOU'RE WRONG. I AM. A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE. ABORTION IS HEALTH CARE. I'M PRO HEALTH CARE. I'M PRO CHEMO. I'M PRO BUTTERFLY STITCHES. STOP SPREADING STIGMA.

Winnipeg police confirm the identity of Mashkode Bizihiki'ikwe (aka Buffalo Woman) as that of Ashlee Christine Shingoose, one of four First Nations victims of a serial killer now serving a life sentence. Hear that story on APTN News Brief: pod.fo/e/2bef16

it's a little funny that the biggest story in Canada today is that a man is willfully avoiding the classified information that the government is trying to give him access to, and in America, the story is about the government showing a different man classified information he didn't want to see

America is creating the conditions for the return of slavery. Ricochet Media's managing editor @dreahouston.bsky.social is calling for a global boycott of the United States: ricochet.media/internationa... #BDS #Trump

In court on Tuesday, the Leslieville neighbours against supervised consumption sites stated that the site brought drug dealers to the area and it got me thinking about the Hells Angels one of the largest drug traffickers in Canada and how their club house was just around the corner for years.

Join us and @tngcommunityto.bsky.social to debrief and discuss this week's Charter Challenge to Ontario's Community Care and Recovery Act today at 12:00 p.m. EDT. To register, please visit: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

There is still time to register to join the HIV Legal Network and @tngcommunityto.bsky.social to debrief and discuss this week's Charter Challenge to Ontario's Community Care and Recovery Act. Today at 12:00 p.m. EDT. To register, please visit: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

“Save our sites or fill your morgues.” “People are afraid. People are very, very scared.” Follow the latest from inside the court c/o @hivlegalnetwork.bsky.social + @tngcommunityto.bsky.social #SaveOurSites #CTSsaves

In contrast, Ontario did not call one expert regarding the efficacy of SCS in Ontario. #SaveOurSites #CTSontario #CTSsavesLives #CTScourtchallenge #SaveCTS #Ontario #ONpoli #SayYesToHealth

Follow here for todays court proceedings

A constitutional challenge being heard today, brought forward by @tngcommunityto.bsky.social and two individual Applicants, will determine whether a number of life-saving supervised consumption sites in the province can continue to operate past the end of this month.