British Columbia #decriminalized #drugs for personal use earlier this year.

This is a 3 year, time limited exemption granted by Health Canada.

The issue? The # of grams for personal use approved is not high enough for the majority of #PeopleWhoUseDrugs (only 2.5 grams or less 🙄).

How about this! Make it ILLEGAL to create policies without consulting AND listening to the population most impacted ✊️

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/overdose/decriminalization

#DrugPolicy #SocialJustice #WarOnDrugs #SupportNotStigma

Hey.

Wear purple tomorrow 💜 (August 31)

Join me to imagine a world where a substance use disorder is TRULY viewed as a health issue.

Let's change the narrative. People who use drugs must be seen to truly be heard for real policy change.

Show others you see them by busting out your best purple duds.

It would make my heart happy.

#WeSeeYou #DrugPolicy #SocialJustice #IOAD #DrugPoisoning

I love someone who is a person who used drugs. Every drug. All the drugs.

Did they deserve to suffer for 30+ years in silence with a substance use disorder? No, they did not.

Did they deserve to be failed by every system imaginable? No, they did not.

They were someone who went unseen.

For anyone struggling with substance use, I see you. For anyone who loves or supports them, I see you, too.
💜

#WeSeeYou #IOAD #DrugPolicy #Drugs #SocialJustice.

I should mention -

I used the term "drug posioning" instead of overdose intentionally.

Due to stigma, it is wrongfully assumed that drug "overdoses" take place at the fault of the person who uses drugs.

In reality, it is because of the unregulated drug supply.

Advocates refer to this as a drug poisoning because the contents and/ strength does not align with what was intended.

#DrugPoisioning #DrugPolicy #WarOnDrugs #Stigma #PeopleWhoUseDrugs

Gift link (not paywalled) to an interesting WaPo book review: https://wapo.st/3Qw2ver.

#DrugPolicy #WashingtonPost

Thanks for nothing, DEA. Fifty years later, drugs are deadlier and more abundant than ever

https://www.salon.com/2023/07/09/thanks-for-nothing-dea-fifty-years-later-are-deadlier-and-more-abundant-than-ever/

#DEA #DrugCrisis #DrugAbuse #PublicHealth #WarOnDrugs #DrugPolicy #Politics #News

#Scotland #DrugPolicy #Cannabis

Scottish politicians have the courage to decriminalise drugs, but Westminster is too timid to let them
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/10/westminster-scotland-proposal-decriminalise-drugs-brave-enough?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

RI House OKs bill to legalize ‘magic mushrooms’ statewide

https://www.wpri.com/news/politics/ri-house-oks-bill-to-legalize-magic-mushrooms-statewide/

#WPRI #RhodeIsland #MagicMushrooms #Legalization #Psychedelics #DrugPolicy #Politics #News

@bethlinas @statesdj

I have only started hearing about xylazine recently, but a few articles caught my attention, especially around the new classification of fentanyl mixed with xylazine as an emerging threat in the US.

It’s just really tragic that people are dying from not knowing what drugs they’re taking.

Just sharing here in case of interest to others.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2303120

https://www.nist.gov/blogs/taking-measure/nist-partnership-helps-communities-manage-unknown-dangers-common-street-drugs

#DrugPolicy #HarmReduction #Opioid #PublicHealth

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/26/singapore-executes-man-over-plot-to-smuggle-1kg-of-cannabis
This seems very heavy handed and unnecessary. What about big pharma peddling opiates which are far more dangerous? A case of moralism interfering with evidence and pragmatism. There is little evidence the death penalty is a deterrent and more that innocent people get killed. A terrible injustice.
#HumanRights #DeathPenalty #Singapore #DrugPolicy #Legislation

Germany wants EU cannabis law changes, waters down own legalisation plans https://www.euractiv.com/section/health-consumers/news/germany-wants-eu-cannabis-law-changes-waters-down-own-legalisation-plans/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #Berlin #cannabis #dope #drugpolicy #ganja

Germany wants EU cannabis law changes, waters down own legalisation plans https://www.euractiv.com/section/health-consumers/news/germany-wants-eu-cannabis-law-changes-waters-down-own-legalisation-plans/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #Berlin #cannabis #dope #drugpolicy #ganja

Global News BC: U.S. eats into Canada’s Ozempic dose supply. Here why it’s an issue https://globalnews.ca/news/9618159/ozempic-diabetes-weight-loss-drug-policy/ #globalnews #britishcolumbia #news #howdoesozempicworkforweightloss #OzempicprescriptionCanada #OzempicsupplyCanada #drugpolicyloophole #OzempicsenttoU.S. #weight-lossdrug #OzempicCanada #diabetesdrug #DrugPolicy #Ozempic #Canada #Health

Video online ▶️ #GIGAForum on #DrugPolicy: An issue of #PublicHealth rather than #CriminalPolicy. Discussion with Catalina Niño, Maximilian Funke, Yulia Vorobyeva and #GIGA’s Rafael Castro Alegría.
➡️ Catch up on the event here: https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/events/giga-forum/after-war-on-drugs-new-approaches-old-challenges

Advocates are pressing for a bill that would remove marijuana odor as the basis for reasonable suspicion for a police investigation.

Commentary: The smell of marijuana and the stain of racism
https://www.marylandmatters.org/2023/03/15/commentary-the-smell-of-marijuana-and-the-stain-of-racism/
#news #maryland #drugpolicy #racism #policereform

https://highandmighty.substack.com/p/silver-tea-and-opium

#drugs #drug #salt #tea #opium #heroin #fentanyl #silver #money #economics #politics #drugpolicy #history

Preview of txt in linked post:

"whoa. CO's got a bill to... make opioids more available to chronic pain patients, by ensuring providers can't be punished solely for prescribing opioids to patients for chronic pain conditions? dang"

https://tech.lgbt/@pikhq/109961307276756482

#DrugPolicy #WarOnDrugs #ColoradoPolitics
#USPolitics #USPol #Politics

Kudos to RTE for amplifying the voices of recovery drug addicts for the upcoming #CitizensAssembly #CADrugs.

Their stories are powerful reminders of the need for compassionate and effective drug policies. #DrugPolicy

https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22218273/

"Sending Gardaí clubbing will not reduce drug harms, minister!" At a critical moment for Irish #DrugPolicy, Minister for Justice Simon Harris announces new policing campaign and blames consumers for gangster violence. It’s the 1980s-esque, Reaganite rhetoric demonising drug users that's been floating around.

Opinion: 'Sending Gardaí clubbing will not reduce drug harms, minister’

https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/drug-policy-in-ireland-6002603-Feb2023/

Paul Reid, the former CEO of the Health Service Executive has been appointed as the independent chairperson of the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use in Ireland. #CitizensAssembly #DrugUse #DrugAddiction #DrugPolicy
https://www.rte.ie/news/2023/0228/1359310-paul-reid/