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Harm Reduction

Harm Reduction Subtopics:
Methadone & Other Opiate Maintenance
Needle Exchange
Overdose Prevention
Pill Testing
Safer Injection Sites
bill-clinton-vienna.jpg
bill-clinton-vienna.jpg

Bill Clinton Calls for Harm Reduction

Three new videos from the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, filmed at the Vienna AIDS 2010 conference this month. In one of them, former US President Bill Clinton calls for harm reduction, an approach to substance misuse and other social issues of which the most well-known example is needle exchange programs.

Harm Reduction Coalition After Party Launch Event and Fundraiser

The Harm Reduction Coalition is hosting this launch event and fundraiser to premiere our new online social marketing campaign, After Party! After Party is a smart and sexy music video-style HIV prevention campaign addressing the link between alcohol and drug use and unsafe sex. The After Party campaign is directed towards young adults, including African Americans, Latinos, and men who have sex with men of all races/ethnicities. Come to the After Party Launch Event and celebrate with us as we start our campaign!

To register, see https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1627/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=61395

For more information, contact Erica Poellot at [email protected].

Drug War Allies: Russia, Cuba, Pakistan… USA?

Tell our United Nations delegation to stop opposing harm reduction.

http://ssdp.org/unitednations/act

Friend,

President Obama recently announced that his administration would no longer allow ideology to trump science in policy-making decision. Yet, the very same week, the Obama administration publicly supported worn out Drug War ideology over harm reduction practices that have been proven to save and improve the lives of drug users.

I was back in Vienna, Austria last week to witness the United Nations' final deliberation over a new political declaration and action plan that will guide global drug policy for the next ten years.

Unfortunately, despite recommendations made by 300 Non-Governmental Organizations form around the world, including SSDP, the declaration included no mention of harm reduction.

(Harm reduction is like contraceptives, but for drugs. It's a scientifically proven set of policies and practices that keep drug users alive and healthy, without relying on abstinence-only messaging.)

After final approval of the declaration, 26 nations including Great Britain, Germany, and Australia, courageously spoke up to register their support for harm reduction in the official UN record, setting off a firestorm of debate on the floor of the United Nations.

While most countries chose to remain silent on the issue, a handful chose to speak up and denounce support for harm reduction.  These included Russia, Cuba, Pakistan… and the United States!

We must send a message to President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton that the American people will no longer stand idly by as they allow 20th century Drug War ideology to trump science and evidence!

Please visit this action page to send a message to President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton, read the final approved U.N. declaration, and watch video of SSDP participating in a protest and press conference outside the United Nations.

Thank you for your support of SSDP's efforts to bring science and reason to national and global drug policies.

Sincerely,

Kris Krane
Executive Director
Students for Sensible Drug Policy

P.S. Like the work SSDP is doing to influence President Obama and the United Nations to change drug policy? If so, please let us know by making a donation today. http://www.ssdp.org/donate

7th National Harm Reduction Conference: Towards A National Policy

[Courtesy of Harm Reduction Coalition] 7th National Harm Reduction Conference: Towards A National Policy, November 13-16 2008, Hilton Hotel - Miami Florida, www.harmreduction.org Letter from Allan Clear Dear Friends, Every two years at this time I write an inspirational letter of greeting for this conference announcement. This year the letter writes itself. The Seventh National Harm Reduction Conference is taking place within 9 days of the national elections. There is reason for optimism. With some mobilization, the purveyors of eight long years of lies, corruption, hypocrisy, destruction, nepotism, greed, callousness, con-passion, and debt creation will be shuttled off into a deep, dark, disused uranium mine. We will have an end to the worst presidency in our history. The characters that have lurked, like Harry Potter's death-eating foes, in the White House will be no more (although we all know that people like Cheney exhibit a Voldemort-like quality of never quite going away). A Democrat in the White House will not guarantee that a change is going to come in any significant fashion. But taking a harm reduction approach of "meeting politicians where they are" and embracing any positive change, what can we reasonably expect? An end to the morale-crushing, exodus-inducing politicization of institutions such as the CDC, NIDA and SAMSHA should be on the score sheet. An open dialog with the scientific community about harm reduction-based interventions, such as naloxone and syringe exchange, could be held without the straitjacket of censorship. Local authorities would actually be encouraged to start and expand syringe exchange. A new administration might work with Congress to increase funding for viral hepatitis, eliminate racialized sentencing disparities for crack cocaine, direct SAMSHA to launch a national overdose prevention strategy, and formulate goals to make drug treatment on demand ?including buprenorphine for those at the margins of the health care system?a reality. Global AIDS funding through PEPFAR would be expanded for countries with injection-related HIV epidemics and restrictions on abortion providers, abstinence requirements in HIV prevention, and anti-prostitution "pledges" would be eliminated. Communities and health officials could pursue establishing safe injection spaces and heroin prescription without having to look quite as rigorously over their shoulders for the goon squad to come beating down the doors. And the federal ban on the funding of syringe exchange will ultimately become a footnote in the history of failed governance. Maybe by the year 2013, the feds will actually provide some money for syringe access. We've done the groundwork and the evidence exists to support our efforts, but we will not have an easy path, no matter who is in Congress or the White House. The Seventh National Harm Reduction Conference will have an eye firmly on the national scene. There is no reason why compassion, science and common sense cannot prevail, nor any reason why the United States could not adopt a harm reduction framework to address drug and alcohol problems. Join us in Miami and be part of the direction, planning and brainstorming. See you there. Allan Clear Executive Director

Petition to Free Iranian Harm Reduction Doctors

Good morning, I am reaching out this morning to my broad network of friends, family, and colleagues and asking that you consider signing onto the attached petition to the Government of Iran on behalf of Drs. Kamiar Alaei and Arash Alaei, physician brothers who have been working on HIV and drug use in Iran for many years. They have been detained without any charges by Iranian security forces since late June. We are concerned that their detainment may be related to their harm reduction work and leadership. The petition calls on the government of Iran to either charge or immediately release them. Please consider signing PHR's petition and let me know if you would like me to keep you informed of progress in the case. The petition is online at http://actnow-phr.org/campaign/iran_free_the_docs. Thank you. Paola Paola Barahona, MPH Global Health Policy Associate Physicians for Human Rights 1156 15th Street NW, Suite 1001 Washington, DC 20005 (202) 728-5335 (ext.300) [email protected] www.HealthActionAIDS.org www.physiciansforhumanrights.org 20 years of advancing health, dignity and justice

Report on Harm Reduction in Canada

[Courtesy of Canadian Harm Reduction Network] The Canadian Harm Reduction Network and Canadian AIDS Society Launch a New Report on Harm Reduction in Canada 18 June 2008 The Canadian AIDS Society and the Canadian AIDS Society, in partnership, have launched a new publication entitled "Learning from Each Other: Enhancing Community-Based Harm Reduction Programs and Practices in Canada." The report is the culmination of a 17-month-long study based on the findings of a harm reduction symposium and a series of focus groups, site visits and community walkabouts in nine medium-sized cities across Canada. The study was funded by the federal government's Drug Strategy Community Initiatives Fund. "The recent judgment on the operation of Insite, Vancouver's safe injections site, reminds us that harm reduction services are fundamental healthcare rights and that to deny such services is in effect an infringement of the right to life, liberty and security of the person. Our report shows how Canadian harm reduction programs are vital to our communities through their service to a population that is often marginalized and alienated," says Monique Doolittle-Romas, Executive Director of the Canadian AIDS Society. "These programs are making a valuable difference in people's lives and to society by helping protect the health and well-being of those most in need. They typically do this under the constraints of insufficient or insecure funding." Targeted to health care professionals, outreach workers and service providers working in the field of harm reduction in Canada, the report highlights how various programs were developed and implemented, the challenges encountered and the lessons learned along the way. It also provides in-depth testimony from people with drug-use experience about what works well, what does not, the impact that harm reduction programs and services have on their lives, and what can be done to improve programs. "People who work in harm reduction and people who use drugs told us at various meetings that they don't know what is happening in other cities. The need for information sharing is critical," says Gail Flintoft, Chair of the Board of the Canadian AIDS Society. "We took this project on so that people don't have to recreate the wheel. Sharing this information will enhance harm reduction services by enabling people to learn from each other's experiences." "Service providers and service users alike told us that having information about the 'unknown' harm reduction - what goes on outside the major cities across Canada - would help them save both lives and money, said Walter Cavalieri Director of the Canadian Harm Reduction Network. "Now they have it." The report shows how community and health care organizations prevent harms related to drug use, primarily the transmission of HIV and hepatitis C. It also portrays the holistic underpinnings of the programs which cater to both the basic health and emotional well-being of people who use drugs. Most importantly, the report shows the human side of harm reduction, including the perspectives from the many people harm reduction programs serve, in their own words. It's a celebration of the dedicated harm reduction pioneers and proponents who are working to protect the lives of people who use drugs. Often discussing issues beyond harm reduction, it also provides a compelling glance at societal challenges, including poverty, homelessness and gentrification in urban centres. The report can be accessed, in English and French, on the websites of the Canadian Harm Reduction Network at www.canadianharmreduction.com/project and the Canadian AIDS Society at: www.cdnaids.ca/learning_from_each_other.

INPUD Congress: Program and Registration

[Courtesy of INPUD] Dear fellow activists, This is a call to register for all DU Activists who want to attend the 3rd INPUD Congress. The 3rd annual INPUD Congress takes place in Barcelona on Sunday May 11, 2008. You don't need to be registered for the IHRA Conference to be able to attend the INPUD Congress. Registration for the INPUD Congress is free of charge. The registration is needed to be able to estimate the needed translation equipment and to order some food and drinks. If you plan to attend the congress, please send an email to [email protected] Your name: Country: Are you registered for the IHRA conference? O Yes O No Are you presenting in one of the sessions during the IHRA conference? If yes, please provide the name and time/date of the session Session title: Time and date of the session: Please copy and paste the above and email to [email protected] Hope to see you all in Barcelona! Stijn Goossens Executive Director International Network Of People Who Use Drugs INPUD vzw GuldensporenStraat 88/2 2140 Borgerhout Belgium Phone: +32 3 297 8451 Mobile: +32 479 982 271 -- DrugUsersNeverQuit www.Inpud.org www.HarmReduction.be (DrugWarLog) www.HarmReduction.eu (ArtCoreFromTheHardCore) www.HaRdCOREhARMREdUCER.be

Draft Program International Drug User Activist Congress, May 11, Barcelona

[Courtesy of INPUD & APDO] 

Dear Friends & Activists,

INPUD and fellow activists from the local patient and drug user activist organization APDO are organizing for the 3th International Drug User Activists Congress. The INPUD congress is organized as a satellite to the International Harm Reduction Conference (May 11-15) and takes place on Sunday May 11, from 10am until 3.15pm in room 3 of the Conference venue La Fira .


The congress will address some practicalities related to the Harm Reduction Conference and many issues concerning INPUD and International Drug User Organizing:


What we did last year and what are our plans for the year coming, presentations on DU activism by Spanish, Ukrainian and US Activists, a session to prepare for the General Assembly taking place later that week with also a presentation/proposal on INPUD and regional departments to be decided on during the GA, etc.

I've copied here below the draft program proposal for the 3th International Drug User Activists Congress. There still is a lot to work out by me, members of the INPUD board and the other volunteer activists involved.

I'd like to have your input on the proposed congress program. I welcome your proposals to have the best possible content for the congress.

You can email me your feedback (mail too: [email protected] This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and you can also post it on the forum for group discussion. (Link to the forum)

I'll contact you back soon with other, more practical, issues concerning the congress.

Stijn Goossens
The International Network Of People Who Use Drugs

Draft Program

International Drug User Activists Congress, Barcelona, Spain, 2008 Sunday May 11


Opening: 10.00am, Lunch, Closing: 3.15pm


10am

Opening 10min.

  • Welcome by INPUD

  • Welcome by APDO representative, the Barcelonian DU/patient group, also introducing:

  • Welcome by Grup Igia/Catalan government/IHRA representative

The State of INPUD: 2007-2008 (by Anan, Luiz, etc.)

  • What we've done the year past and future plans: INPUD Asia, Beyond2008 UNGASS on Drugs, CND, EU Forum on Drugs, CSTF UNGASS on AIDS, etc

INPUD activism, presentations on DU Activism by INPUD Activists

  • Presentation on APDO and Spanish DU organizing

  • Konstantin Zverkov ('Era of Mercy', Odessa/Ukraine) about DU organizing in Ukraine

  • Jason Farrell (HRCS/INPUD) DU Organizations, Advisory Committees and NGO's: Who's Listening?

Lunch


The IHRA Conference and Barcelona

  • Available medical facilities, access, guidelines for DU, etc. (Howard Lotsof?)

  • Introduction on aspects from the Barcelona DU scene (APDO/Satxa?)

INPUD administration (by the INPUD board)

  • Explanations on the GA later that week

  • INPUD Statutes

  • Board Mandate

  • Nominations for Board Members

INPUD development: explanation and proposal on regional departments (Milena Naydenova)

  • regional departments, responsibilities, regional directors, INPUD structure

3pm Closing

  • Decision on date and time of INPUD General Assembly in the week coming

  • INPUD presents/highlights the DU Activists speaking in sessions at the IHRC

  • Closing remarks, end of the Congress, goodbye

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