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  • Talking Drug Policy at the Holiday Dinner Table

    Talking Drug Policy at the Holiday Dinner Table

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    Tips for a Tricky Topic

    1. Know Your Audience
      • Is Grandpa firmly set in his views? Or is he open to hearing new ideas? Understanding whether the person you’re speaking with is curious, uncertain, or defensive can help guide your approach.
    2. Shift Your Goal
      • Think of each conversation as an opportunity to plant a seed of curiosity. It is unlikely that someone will change their perspective in a single exchange, but it is possible to create a bit of space to consider other perspectives.
      • How can you create a learning environment, rather than a debate? Shift your focus from winning the conversation to fostering a thoughtful exchange.
    3. Connect on Shared Values
      • Look for something you can agree with, no matter how small. No one wants to feel disrespected or dismissed.
      • Even if someone expresses a belief or assumption you don’t agree with, is there a value, a concern, or a need behind it that you do? Highlighting that commonality can help pave the way for a more respectful and productive conversation.
    4. Answer Briefly and Factually
      • Instead of getting drawn into a heated back-and-forth over misinformation, calmly correct inaccuracies with clear, fact-based information.
      • Keep your response brief and pivot back to the larger conversation you want to have.
    5. Pivot to What’s Important
      • After addressing the facts, steer the conversation toward what matters most to you: the values, the impact, and the real-world consequences of drug policies.
      • Focus on what’s at stake and the changes that could lead to a more just and compassionate approach.
    6. Know When to Step Back
      • Sometimes, the best way to ensure a conversation stays on track is knowing when to wrap things up. Remember, your goal is to plant a seed of curiosity and create a learning environment.
      • Pause and revisit the discussion another time—especially if things have become unproductive.

    Now, how about some of that pie?

  • Intimate partner violence, substance use, and COVID-19

    Intimate partner violence, substance use, and COVID-19

    covid 19 intimate partner violence covid 19 intimate partner violence

    “During COVID-19 and its aftermath it is important to consider the impacts of the pandemic and social and physical isolation on women’s health. This sheet explores adaptations to practice for service organizations and frontline workers, to respond to concerning trends in intimate partner violence (IPV) and substance use in the COVID-19 context.” Source: CCSA

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    Click HERE for more COVID-19 resources

  • Reducing transmission of respiratory illness through improved indoor air quality

    Reducing transmission of respiratory illness through improved indoor air quality

    Improving ventilation for covid-19 Improving ventilation for covid-19

    “The following is an edited summary of a conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Siegel, Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto. Dr. Siegel is an expert on indoor air quality and ventilation. The conversation took place in late December, 2020. Some information was also added following the conversation by MAP.

    Respiratory illnesses like COVID-19 are spread in a few ways, including through the air. When people are together indoors, infections can spread more easily. But there are things you can do to improve indoor air quality and help reduce transmission. While this is particularly urgent during the COVID-19 pandemic, improvements to indoor air quality are important long-term investments at any time. For example, these improvements can help reduce transmission of long-standing respiratory illnesses such as flu and tuberculosis.

    Please note, the below focuses on airborne transmission, and does not address or replace other infection control measures such as masks, hand washing and the disinfection of surfaces.”

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    Click HERE for more COVID-19 resources

  • Prelim. patterns around opioid-related deaths in ON during COVID-19

    Prelim. patterns around opioid-related deaths in ON during COVID-19

    overdose deaths in ontario during covid overdose deaths in ontario during covid

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    “The rising rate of opioid-related deaths across Canada has been an ongoing and significant national public health crisis for over a decade.1 In just the first three months of 2020, there were 1,018 opioid- related deaths recorded in Canada, the vast majority of which (96%) were accidental.2 In the midst of this ongoing crisis, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario led to the provincial declaration of a state of emergency on March 17, 2020.3 Within Ontario, the first wave of the pandemic was addressed with public health restrictions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, which included physical distancing measures that resulted in reduced capacity for pharmacies, outpatient clinics, and harm reduction sites providing care to people who use drugs. Despite the intention to reduce the impact of COVID-19, there is concern that these measures could lead to unintended harms.”

    Source: Ontario Drug Policy Research Network

  • Convergent risk of COVID-19 and bacterial and viral infections among PWUD

    Convergent risk of COVID-19 and bacterial and viral infections among PWUD

    viral and bacterial infections and covid-19, viral and bacterial infections and covid-19

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    “Without adequate access to harm reduction interventions, PWUD are potentially at greater risk of acquiring blood-borne viruses (BBVs) and severe bacterial infections. Individual, social, and structural determinants of health (e.g., unstable housing, incarceration, poverty, drug criminalization) associated with increased risk for bacterial infections and BBVs will likely place PWUD at greater risk of COVID-19 disease and death.”

    Source: International Journal of Drug Policy

  • Impact of COVID-19 on people who use drugs

    Impact of COVID-19 on people who use drugs

    impact of covid-19 on people who use drugs, impact of covid-19 on people who use drugs

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    “All respondents discussed the interconnected effects COVID-19 has had on their lives. Pandemic response measures such as physical distancing and social isolation have disrupted the healthcare and support services that people who use or have used substances and their communities typically rely on. As a result, best practices that existed before the pandemic to promote well-being, such as not using substances alone and having peer responders for accidental overdose, were now seen as putting people at risk. These effects of COVID-19 have exposed or aggravated health vulnerabilities for those who use substances, but have also encouraged creative, resilient responses to care for their well-being during this time.”

    Source: Canadian Centre on Substance Use

  • Medications and clinical approaches to support physical distancing for PWUD

    Medications and clinical approaches to support physical distancing for PWUD

    physical distancing for people who use drugs, physical distancing for people who use drugs

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    “This document is one in a series of six national guidance documents, developed rapidly by the CRISM network at the request of the Government of Canada. Collectively, the six documents address urgent needs of people who use substances, service providers, and decision makers in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. The urgent nature of this work required rapid development and dissemination of this guidance. This, and the continuing evolution of the knowledge base regarding COVID-19, precluded CRISM from conducting a comprehensive review of the relevant literature. However, a significant number of works were consulted in drafting this guidance; a list of works consulted is provided in Appendix 1: Works Consulted on page 31.

    The guidance provided in this document is subject to change as new information becomes available. Readers should note that the intent of this document is to provide general guidance rather than detailed procedural and logistical advice. Readers are advised to consult local public health and medical authorities for specific input on navigating their own unique regulatory and policy environments, as necessary.”

    Source: CRISM

  • Telemedicine support for addiction services

    Telemedicine support for addiction services

    telemedicine support for addiction services, telemedicine support for addiction services

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    “This document is one of a series of six national guidance documents, rapidly developed by the CRISM network at the request of the Government of Canada. Collectively, the six documents address urgent needs of people who use substances, service providers, and decision makers in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. The urgent nature of this work required rapid development and dissemination of this guidance. This, and the continuing evolution of the knowledge base regarding COVID-19, precluded CRISM from conducting a comprehensive review of the relevant literature. However, when available, scientific evidence is cited in support of the expert advice offered herein.

    The guidance provided in this document is subject to change as new information becomes available. Readers should note that the intent of this document is to provide general guidance rather than detailed procedural and logistical advice. Readers are advised to consult local public health and medical authorities for specific input on navigating their own unique regulatory and policy environments, as necessary.”

    Source: CRISM

  • Expanded Response Options to Opioid Harms: Case Study from Four Cities

    Expanded Response Options to Opioid Harms: Case Study from Four Cities

    CCSA case study, CCSA case study

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    “Canada is facing an urgent challenge to reduce the harms associated
    with the problematic use of opioids. More than 14,700 lives were lost to deaths apparently related to opioids between January 2016 and September 2019. During that same period, there were 19,490 hospitalizations for poisoning related opioid to opioids (Special Advisory Committee on the Epidemic of Opioid Overdoses, 2019). The COVID-19 pandemic compounds this ongoing public health crisis. There is a heightened need to reduce avoidable pressures on healthcare systems and support people who use opioids who may be at increased risk or unable to self-isolate during the pandemic.”

    Source: Canadian Centre on Substance Use