Buprenorphine with naloxone (also known as Suboxone) and methadone are two of the most widely used medications prescribed as opioid agonist therapy (OAT) to treat opioid use disorders in Canada. The aim of OAT is to replace the use of unregulated opioids with a safe and legal therapeutic medication that can prevent opioid cravings and withdrawal symptoms. This can in turn reduce the risk of overdose and other potential harms of opioid use disorder but it is not meant for everyone. In addition to these treatments, we also need greater access to safe supply, which is defined as a legal... Source ..read more

CATIE spoke with Shohan Illsley, executive director of the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network, about the peer advisory councils they coordinate across the province, and how this model is helping improve access to harm reduction within rural and remote communities. What are peer advisory councils and how do they fit into the work of the Manitoba Harm Reduction Network? The Manitoba Harm Reduction Network is basically a network of networks. We have 11 networks in the province and nine of them work in rural and remote communities. Everywhere we have a network, we have a peer advisory council (PAC ..read more

In Canada, recent estimates show that people who inject drugs continue to be disproportionately affected by high rates of hepatitis C and HIV. They are also less likely to be tested, connected to care or receive treatment. To prevent hepatitis C and HIV, as well as improve outcomes for people who inject drugs, it is important to gain a better understanding of how changes in the drug supply and related trends impact vulnerability to these infections and how we can improve supports. To identify where these additional supports are most needed, the following three important points can help us to ..read more

What aspects of SCS are most important for people who use drugs? And how do we know if SCS are working well for the communities they serve? These were questions we set out to answer as part of a community-based project in Toronto funded by the Ontario HIV Treatment Network. Source ..read more

“Good Samaritan” laws aim to protect people who witness, act on or experience a substance-use-related overdose from being arrested or criminally charged. This type of legislation has been implemented across Canada and the United States as a response to the increase in fatal drug poisonings, but it varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Source ..read more

At PASAN, we serve people with lived and living experience of incarceration and drug use. Many of our clients have been diagnosed with hepatitis C during their intake at a correctional institution. M Source ..read more

People who are incarcerated (PWAI) are identified as a priority population for hepatitis C care, as they are 40 times more likely to be exposed to the virus than Canada's general population. Source ..read more

For a few years now, our team at Clinique médicale l’Actuel has noticed an increase in patients using crystal meth. At the start of the pandemic, to address our patients’ distress and increased substance use, we secured private funding to set up a support program for our patients who use crystal meth and practise chemsex, also called PnP or party ‘n play. We also convinced the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services to carry out a pilot project with this population at the clinic. The program that was rolled out is based on three pillars: peer involvement, capacity building... Source ..read more

Cassandra Smith is Black CAP’s harm reduction specialist. CATIE recently spoke with Cassandra about how her lived experiences as a community member and parent have informed her harm reduction work, and how harm reduction programs and services can meet the needs of racialized parents who use substances. What has motivated you to work in harm reduction? I’ve been working in harm reduction on and off since I was 17. There is something about the work that resonates with me. I feel like I have a place in harm reduction and can connect with community in a unique way. I bring... Source ..read more

For harm reduction programs across Canada, the distribution of injection, smoking and snorting/sniffing supplies remains a crucial activity to reduce drug-related harms. While estimates of the number of people who use drugs from unregulated markets are imprecise, the evidence that does exist suggests that more than 170,000 Canadians inject drugs and 730,000 used cocaine or crack in the past year (1). Population estimates of the number of Canadians who used crystal methamphetamine are not available. The rates of needle/syringe sharing in Canada have dropped in the past 20 years to just over 10 ..read more