By Harm Reduction Educators Steff Pinch and Marissa Martins Many community health centres that serve people who use drugs distribute harm reduction kits. One example of these kits are “stem” kits, also known as crack kits. These kits are available for free and are meant to give folks safe, sterile supplies to reduce infection transmission, […]
Drug Fact of the Week: Drug Checking Saves Lives
By Harm Reduction Educators Steff Pinch and Marissa Martins Current drug laws have created a high demand for substances with little oversight or quality control. When a controlled substance is bought, like alcohol, there are regulations and laws that make sure consumers know what they are taking. Labeling is required to tell people what kind […]
Drug Fact of the Week: The Case for Needle Exchange Programs
By Harm Reduction Educators Steff Pinch and Marissa Martins WHAT IS A NEEDLE EXCHANGE PROGRAM (NEP)? A needle exchange program is a harm reduction initiative that that provides injection drug users with sterile hypodermic needles and safer injection supplies (alcohol swabs, sterile waters, medical-grade tourniquets, etc.) at a reduced cost, or for free. NEPs also […]
Drug Fact of the Week: Fentanyl, Unpacked
By Harm Reduction Educators Steff Pinch and Marissa Martins Fentanyl has been a big buzzword in the wake of the overdose crisis. The government of Ontario has even funded an ad campaign championing Naloxone, an opioid antidote, as a response to an increasing number of reports of fentanyl appearing in people’s street drugs and playing […]
Drug Fact of the Week: Cannabis and Psychosis
By Harm Reduction Educators Steff Pinch and Marissa Martins According to the 2017 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey, 19% of all students grade 7-12 have used cannabis. Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug by Canadian youth and, according to a 2013 UNICEF report, Canadian youth have the highest percentage of cannabis use […]
Community Contributions by Jacob Nagy
This means war By Jacob Nagy We all want to quit something Majority of the time Whether it’s a person Or a place Or a Thing. The thing though It’s manageable; It’s actually constructive- And trust in yourself, It’s productive. No longer a world of hate we’ll live in. A dream I don’t want to […]
Drug facts : The Faces of Meth Debunked
By Harm Reduction Educators Steff Pinch and Marissa Martins The Faces of Meth anti-drug campaign originated in Multnomah, Oregon in 2002. The campaign featured dozens of mugshots of people charged with methamphetamine (crystal, ice, speed) possession, in an attempt to scare youth from trying the drug with graphic before and after shots. While methamphetamines can […]
Drug facts: All about Naloxone
By Harm Reduction Educators Steff Pinch and Marissa Martins WHAT IS NALOXONE? Naloxone is an opioid antagonist. When someone has done too much of an opioid (like heroin, fentanyl, morphine, etc.) to the point of overdose (which can look like slowed or stopped respiration, poor circulation, unconsciousness, chest wall rigidity), the administration (intranasal or intramuscular) […]
Our Interpretation of Harm Reduction
By Raffi Balian, 1956-2007 COUNTERfit coordinator and Harm Reduction champion June 21, 2016 Systems, ideas and theories are always evolving and the definition of harm reduction is not immune to change. Over the years, there have been as many definitions of harm reduction as the number of people trying to make sense of it. As […]