Safe Injection Sites and Peer Support Initiatives
Photo by: DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO By: Melanie Davis Safe Injection Sites face a lot of uncertainty as power changes hands, and public perception on the opioid crisis changes. One factor that remains is that these sites save lives....
CSSDP AGM 2019 – Nov 14th 2019
The Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy’s Annual General Meeting is happening in just a couple of weeks! We’ve done a lot since the last AGM – from creating our Cannabis Education Toolkit to our most recent project, the election drug policy...
CSSDP Open Positions – National Board of Directors Call for Applications
Are you a student or young person who is passionate about drug policy reform? Want to gain leadership experience in policy advocacy and social change? Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy (CSSDP) has openings for multiple positions on our national Board of...
Drug Policy Report Card
As Canadians get ready to head to the polls on October 21st, we realize how far drug policy has come, yet also how much there is left to do. We look with pride at the fact that federal parties are directly addressing harm reduction in their platforms – something we...
The Sensible Cannabis Education Toolkit
The CSSDP cannabis education project will help educators and parents have more effective dialogue with young people.
Upcoming Cannabis Education Roundtables
CSSDP is looking for chapters and volunteers to host a 2 hour Youth Roundtable to workshop our Cannabis Education Toolkit in December and early January. Roundtable Facilitation Training CSSDP is working with the Youth Wellness Network to develop: a facilitation...CCSA Hosts 7th Harm Reduction Conference
One of the largest harm reduction conferences is being held, recently. It was in Calgary, Alberta. This is the seventh conference devoted to issues and concerns around substance use and addiction. It is being hosted by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA).
Homeless, in Winnipeg, and Indigenous Populations, in Canada, at Higher Risk of Substance Associated Deaths
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons. By Scott Douglas Jacobsen Harm reduction is an important part of the prevention of deaths associated with drug use, overuse or abuse. In Winnipeg, the vulnerable are the main victims of the opioid crisis. Throughout the country, the...
Fentanyl Positive Sample Tests Increase 2,000%
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons. By Scott Douglas Jacobsen There has been a surprising increase in the number of positive tests for fentanyl in samples of heroin, which have been seized by the law enforcement agencies throughout the country. It was less than 1% in...
Abuse of Opioids Does Not Discriminate
Image Credit: Flickr. By Scott Douglas Jacobsen Jesse Stein from The Link wrote about the hard lessons from overdoses (Stein, 2017). Amélie Goyette, who has worked at CACTUS for 13 years (a harm reduction service), described the learned lesson. The lesson that...
New Device to be Piloted in British Columbia
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons. By Scott Douglas Jacobsen In the midst of the opioid crisis in British Columbia, and arguably across Canada, Vancouver is testing a first-of-its-kind drug examination device. The drug testing device may help in the reduction of opioid...
Red Zones Block Harm Reduction Service Access
Image Credit: Pexels. By Scott Douglas Jacobsen Henry Tran, a Contributor to Simon Fraser University’s The Peak, reported that a new study found the bail conditions on alleged offenders including substance users can prevent overall access in Downtown Eastside...
The Public Have Concerns About Discarded Needles
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons. By Scott Douglas Jacobsen Harm reduction continues to grow throughout Canada. With this, there is the provision of Naloxone kits, harm reduction trailers and sites, as well as clean needles for injection drug users. But there have been...
Harm Reduction Trailer Approved for Murray Street
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons. By Scott Douglas Jacobsen Health Canada approved the supervised injection site in Ottawa, recently. CBC News reported that the trailer was approved for the Shepherd’s of Hope in Byward Market (Trinh, 2017). This nearly another...
Harm Reduction Tent No Longer Usable in Moss Park
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons. By Scott Douglas Jacobsen A, technically, illegal overdose prevention site in the Moss Park of Toronto halted use of a its heated medical tent (Giovannetti, 2017). The heated medical tent was provided by the provincial government, or...
Overdoses in Abbotsford
Canadian citizens have been losing family members, friends, colleagues, and fellow Canadians to the ongoing opioid crisis (CBC Radio, 2017).
Ottawa Vending Machines, Success Plus Concern
Image Credit: Wikipedia. By Scott Douglas Jacobsen Ottawa’s program for harm reduction, which is a pilot, for needle and pipe vending machines as well as safe injection sites has been a success while make one resident feel unsafe in the neighbourhood now. There...Regina Harm Reduction Advocates Call for Safe Injection Sites
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen Harm reduction advocates are looking to have safe injection sites in Regina (Knox, 2017). Many of them or make-shift in places such as homes and alleyways. Saskatchewan, as a province in Canada, has the highest per capita opioid overdose...Toronto Board of Health Considering New Measures
The Toronto Board of Health is considering a set of measures in order to push back against the crisis of overdoses. There was a plea from Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne for immediate declaration of a health emergency in the public.
FDA Considering New Enforcement With Implicit Focus on Harm Reduction
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen According to the CSP Magazine’s Angel Abcede, the FDA is considering new enforcement policy, which would include harm reduction policy. One aspect of the policy is geared around nicotine addiction as one core strategy. The research will...Nikki Sullivan, of the Cape Breton Post, on Harm Reduction
Nikki Sullivan, of the Cape Breton Post, reported on harm reduction. She described this as something possibly confusing for those were not more familiar with the philosophy, methodology, and the practice. It was a way to help people with substance abuse disorders.
Ottawa’s Move for Harm Reduction via Vending Machines
It has been reported that Ottawa has installed new machines. The vending machines are for needles and crack pipes. These are sterile devices for use to reduce the probability of non-sterile ones being used. This is intended to reduce the number of infections related...
Youth and International Overdose Awareness Day
Students and youth represent a unique group with distinct needs during the opioid crisis. Attend an International Overdose Awareness Day event in your city.