A Toronto hospital network's supportive housing development for homeless patients has saved so much healthcare time and money that it's being doubled. Dr. Andrew Boozary’s team at Toronto’s University Health Network announced a new 54-bed building. Read on:

"Harm reduction and treatment should not be seen as conflicting 'one-or-the other' approaches, but as essential components of holistic care for people who use drugs" - Policy Options Every day, 17 Canadadians are poisoned by opioids, yet harm reduction services are being shut

Governments talk about treatment beds and involuntary care to "absolve themselves of any meaningful action" against the housing and affordability crises - Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. More treatment is not a substitute for poverty reduction & affordable housing, they write

"Ensuring that all people who inject drugs have access to sterile equipment for every injection is a proven, life-saving harm reduction strategy, yet it remains critically underimplemented globally" - medical journal The Lancet. Read it: tinyurl.com/2hhbc285

“Did you do anything to refresh your memory in order to testify meaningfully today?” asked the judge. At a hearing re DULF's constitutional challenge, a senior Health Canada official struggled to reconcile government claims with past statements on safe supply, reports @godfrey.bsky.social:

Last week, I showed how the Alberta government conceals up to 89% of ambulance dispatches to overdoses / drug poisonings in public reporting. Now Mike Parker, president of the Alberta union that includes paramedics, reacts to the data. He's not pleased. READ: drugdatadecoded.ca/how-do-you-r...

Today on APTN National News: Advocates from across the country are calling for more support to help the unhoused during extreme cold conditions.

As some UK politicians seek to end the drug war, it's easy to forget how heroin prescribing existed there for much of the 20th century. It "just works," says Dr. John Marks—who was "vilified" as political pressure shut down his successful clinics in 1995. @sarahlsinclair.bsky.social reports:

Today.

We're hiring nurses to work in the community we serve. Wanted: LPNs to perform the full scope of nursing functions in a primary care setting in the Downtown Eastside. You will get to use your clinical skills and longitudinal relationship-building abilities Apply: www.phs.ca/careers/lpn-vancouver

Grieving mom Tanya McMahon - everyone deserves dignity, respect and love, no matter the battles they face. “Behind those eyes, there is a person there who’s suffering and is trying to cope,” she said. Read more:

It's a myth that supervised consumption sites attract crime. They are frontline medical units that improve neighbourhood public health. Researchers at McGill University researchers crunched the crime data around Toronto site that were closed supposedly for neighbourhood safety: tinyurl.com/2uf4zumj

"Spending doesn’t match the scope of the crisis, and long-term social planning is nonexistent" - Jody Paterson, examining the failed social policy behind the homelessness crisis. Meet some of the people abandoned to street life on Victoria's Pandora Avenue: tinyurl.com/bdea9s2y

Compassion should be the standard. “I’ve had friends lose their feet, lose their legs,” she said. “This is not something I wish on anybody.” https://loom.ly/u1JlKBE

Happening next week: Join us for the first free Foundational Fridays session of 2026! Details & registration below ⬇️ #HarmReduction #HarmReductionSavesLives #HarmReductionIsHealthCare #SupportNotStigma #SyringeExchange #SSPs #PublicHealth #StopHIVTogether #HepC #HepCULater #Hepatitis #EndOverdose

“These peer reporters bring a distinctive perspective to the table: by living and working in the DTES, and actively producing a monthly magazine at Megaphone, they are both reporters and the reported on.“ @megaphonemagazine.com

Soccer sessions for people experiencing homelessness, poverty and social isolation show that we're all neighbours. “It’s about creating community and connection for people who often feel isolated," said Canadian Street Soccer Assoc.'s Brandon Green, who runs Victoria sessions. tinyurl.com/ymdph8da

“Drug users are being scapegoated for all the failures of our broken system. We’re low hanging fruit" - letter from five members of DULF’s compassion club. "It’s easy, you can always blame the drug user. Vilify, criminalize, stigmatize."

"People in the media often portray the Downtown Eastside as a broken place that needs help from people outside to 'fix' it" - Megaphone Magazine. "But framing the area as 'the problem' ignores the fact that these are issues that affect many of us in one way or another."

It is the source of so many of our evils: the astonishing concentration of wealth in the hands of a very few, and the immense political power that gives them. We cannot solve our problems until we tackle it. This week's column. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

This is like an exponential curve inflection point. Houselessness has already doubled in Toronto in the last three years. Where will this put thousands more people on the edge? Ref: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

When someone is taken into custody life is put on pause. Housing,income,health,care,relationships are disrupted with little planning for release. Every sentence ends, reintegration is treated as an afterthought not something that starts on day one. markcherrington.substack.com/p/why-people...

I used to assume that when people who use drugs went online, it was mostly about dysfunction. I was wrong. There is rawness,support, safety, connection. I wrote this piece to challenge our assumptions and share how AI helped push our understanding further. #academicsky #drugsky tinyurl.com/4r7em5wx

Kai’s foster parents believe attacks he’s faced by non-Indigenous peers aren’t merely the result of bullying. His experiences also reflect a history of colonial systems failing to uphold the safety and rights of Indigenous Youth. @amyromer.bsky.social reports. An @indiginews.bsky.social reprint.

Six years ago, "rule of law" was the refrain used to justify and encourage police action against anyone blocking access to the Coastal GasLink pipeline route on Wet'suwet'en territory. But when courts side with First Nations, politicians are more equivocal. @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/Analysis/202...

You don't often get chances to hear an insider account of how authorities react to emergencies - so check out Lisa Lapointe's online discussion of the toxic drug crisis. She's “forever altered” by the emergency. It's at 11 am on Wednesday, Jan. 14. Info: tinyurl.com/bdf89sdy

Failing to address homelessness is not only inhumane, it's an irresponsible waste of public money. That's because it's cheaper to house the homeless than trying to police them away. Stays in prison or hospital cost more than supportive housing.

Involuntary care is not going to sweep away visible homelessness, writes political insider Shane Mills. Supportive housing is both more humane and less expensive. Read on:

🧵We deserve access to #StigmaFree health care & resources to help us make informed decisions about our bodies. The more we know, the better we can care for ourselves & support people in our care. Healthier, safer communities are possible when we have the tools & will needed to make this a reality.

🧵The overwhelming amount of data & folks' lived experiences continues to show #HarmReduction saves lives & improves individual & community health. As outlined in this @inforum.com op-ed, we must let this reality lead the way in how we approach & ultimately end... bit.ly/HarmReductionReducesHarmOpEd

Inside the Battle for the Future of Addiction Medicine "Instead of seeing patients in binaries — addicted or sober, with a positive or negative drug test — she measures progress on a spectrum." kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

So *what is* a public health approach to substance use? Our latest 🧪 paper provides a systematic review of academic and grey literature and outlines a conceptual framework to guide practitioners. link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-025-25402-4

🧵Start the new year off with free learning opportunities, including our upcoming Foundational Fridays session, "Syringe Access 101!" Through this webinar, we'll explore the critical role of sterile syringe access in saving lives, promoting #PublicHealth, & reducing... bit.ly/SyringeAccess1012026

“I’m hoping that the province will realize that there is no way to not pay for the housing crisis” - Pacifica Housing CEO Carolina Ibarra. “You either invest and pay for solutions, or you’re gonna pay even more in homelessness management. “We just need to commit and invest.”

“Seniors homelessness is bad now, and it's about to get much worse" - Laura Tamblyn Watts, CEO of seniors advocacy group CanAge. “We've seen a sharp increase in the everyday costs of goods and services. “Older people simply can't make ends meet on fixed incomes.” Read on:

"Drug users are being scapegoated for all the failures of our broken system" - DULF compassion club members. "We’re low hanging fruit. It’s easy, you can always blame the drug user. Vilify, criminalize, stigmatize: Makes it so you want to crawl away and hide. These are lies."

drugpolicy.ca/our-work/add... “Addiction treatment: what it is, where it currently fails, and how it could meet the needs of people and communities.”

“Canada appears to be the country with the highest average rate of involuntary psychiatric detentions in the western world.” Note this is *before* new forced abstinence measures hit full speed in AB and BC. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

While people capitalize on fears of Aboriginal Title to reinforce anti-Indigenous racism, let's look at something that is *actually* devaluing land in BC: pipelines. ckpgtoday.ca/2025/12/06/r...

we’ve crossed the foggy horizon and have no choice but to navigate the infinite night of the spooky zone

being a part of this has given me a lot of hope. But i object to the people involved being labeled “activists”. They’re just neighbors. “Activist” is only ever applied to leftists as a way to make them seem less normal. These people are normie AF. www.startribune.com/inside-the-o...

"An organization that began 30 years ago as a peer group for sex workers has grown into an operation with over 50 employees to support more than 2,000 sex workers a year in #Victoria" #VancouverIsland #BC #BritishColumbia www.timescolonist.com/christmas-fu...

Good analysis of the connection between #addiction and other #mentalhealth disorders. thebulletproofpoet1.godaddysites.com/blog/f/the-c...

The team from Softchoice Vancouver collected and packaged toiletries and little luxuries to create 240 travel hygiene kits for our shelter guests. They joined forces with Kits For A Cause to source and bag the items at a teambuilding kit-packing event. Thank you for your generosity and support.

Don't tell me there isn't enough money in the world to feed and house everyone. The money is there, it's the will that isn't.

"Unhoused people in #Parksville #QualicumBeach are looking at another cold, wet winter season without an overnight shelter. Many of the area’s #unhoused are working people who simply cannot afford market rent" #VancouverIsland #BC #homelessness #housing vancouverislandfreedaily.com/2025/12/29/p...

Special thanks to the Ribbon Community for providing Christmas gift bags of food necessities and luxuries to some PHS residents. Formerly known as AIDS Vancouver, Ribbon is Canada's original AIDS service organization, helping people overcome the impacts of HIV and HIV stigma.

It means a lot when people reach out this time of year to offer thoughtful and practical gifts to the community we serve. Two students at Stratford Hall School, Ella and Stephanie, arranged care packages for people staying at our shelters over Christmas. (Stephanie not photographed.)