Harm Reduction

The Express-Times, 20 May 2013 - The Bangor Area School Board tonight approved a random drug testing policy for all of its employees, but it won't go into effect unless the teachers union agrees to it. The district already screens potential new hires before making a job offer, and state law allows testing of employees who seem to be intoxicated on school grounds. Earlier this year, district administrators agreed to undergo random testing and now officials wish to expand testing to all employees.

The Observer, 19 May 2013 - European governments and the Obama administration are this weekend studying a "gamechanging" report on global drugs policy that is being seen in some quarters as the beginning of the end for blanket prohibition. Publication of the Organisation of American States (OAS) review, commissioned at last year's Cartagena Summit of the Americas attended by Barack Obama, reflects growing dissatisfaction among Latin American countries with the current global policy on illicit drugs. It spells out the effects of the policy on many countries and examines what the global drugs trade will look like if the status quo continues. It notes how rapidly countries' unilateral drugs policies are evolving, while at the same time there is a growing consensus over the human costs of the trade. "Growing media attention in many countries, including on social media, reflects a world in which there is far greater awareness of the violence and suffering associated with the drug problem," Jose Miguel Insulza, the secretary general of the OAS, says in a foreword to the review.

The Observer, 06 May 2013 - A groundbreaking 'consumption room' keeps drugs off the streets, with staff on hand to help victims. The next may open in Brighton 'We can't change people. People can change themselves, and we can be there when they want to' Ivan Christensen, drug worker

Toronto Star, 05 May 2013 - Chanting "we're here, we're high, get used to it," about 250 activists gathered at Queen's Park and marched on city streets asking Toronto and the province to rethink the rules around marijuana. Many attendees wore colourful costumes or carried flags and signs emblazoned with marijuana leaves or with logos supporting legalization. They also lit up joints and passed around pot-infused baked goods in plain sight during the afternoon event.

Colorado legislators approved not one, but two measures aimed at reducing the harms of drug use this week. Both a syringe exchange bill and a naloxone provision bill passed the legislature and now head for the governor's desk.

[image:1 align:left caption:true]The first measure, Senate Bill 208, expands on the Clean Syringe Exchange bill passed in 2010, which exempted staff and volunteers -- but not exchange participants -- from drug paraphernalia possession charges. That left actual injection drug users making use of the exchange at risk for being arrested for carrying clean or used syringes.

This year's bill adds participants to the categories of the protected. Now, participants in the state's six syringe exchange programs -- in Denver, Boulder, Grand Junction, and Fort Collins -- will be able to carry clean syringes and return used ones for proper disposal without fear of arrest.

The second bill, Senate Bill 14, authorizes anyone who might witness an opiate overdose to be prescribed and administer the opioid overdose reversal drug Naloxone. Naloxone has been shown repeatedly to safe lives by reducing the number of opioid drug overdose deaths.

Both bills were supported by the Denver-based Harm Reduction Action Center, the state Department of Public Health and Environment, and the Drug Policy Alliance. The syringe exchange bill was also supported by the, Denver Colorado AIDS Project, Boulder County Public Health, and the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, while the Naloxone bill was also supported by the Colorado Medical Society, the Colorado Psychiatric Society, the Colorado Provider's Association, the Colorado Behavioral Health Council, and Mental Health America of Colorado.

Metro, 02 May 2013 - Insite-Style Model. Debate Over Whether City Should Spend Money on Treatment or Harm Reduction Rages On Any decision on whether Ottawa should have a safe injection and inhalation site for drug users is up to the community, not the police, according to Chief Charles Bordeleau.

Ottawa Sun, 01 May 2013 - No. It's as simple as that. Ottawa does not need a supervised injection site. Got it? Some groups in Ottawa don't.

Last fall, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) vetoed the Good Samaritan Emergency Response Act (Assembly Bill 578), which would have provided limited legal protection to people who witness a drug overdose and summon help. But on Tuesday, Christie changed his tune, reaching an agreement with legislative leaders to include Good Samaritan language in another overdose prevention bill that is sitting on his desk.

[image:1 align:left]The legislature had meanwhile passed Assembly Bill 3095 to expand access to the opioid overdose antidote naloxone. Under the agreement with legislators, Christie conditionally vetoed that bill and agreed to add the Good Samaritan language. The legislature then reconvened, passing the amended measure by votes of 24-1 in the Senate and 68-2 in the House.

The Good Samaritan language Christie agreed to is less broad than envisioned in AB 578, but advocates said it still contains the most important protections for an effective Good Samaritan bill -- it would protect individuals from arrest and prosecution for drug possession charges as well as protection from revocation of parole and probation.

"My family and I are so thankful for this compromise," said Patty DiRenzo of Blackwood, whose son Salvatore died of an overdose at age 27. "We, and the other families who have lost loved ones to overdose, look forward to the day that Governor Christie signs this life-saving bill. It's extremely important that we prevent future overdose deaths and spare other families the grief that mine has endured."

 "We are incredibly grateful to the governor and legislative leadership and sponsors of these bills for working so hard to reach an agreement on this life-saving legislation,” said Roseanne Scotti, New Jersey state director for Drug Policy Alliance.

As prescription drug overdose numbers have mounted in the past decade, an increasing number of states have adopted measures such as Good Samaritan laws and widening the availability of naloxone in a bid to reduce the death toll. California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Washington have all passed both kinds of law, while Colorado and Florida have passed Good Samaritan laws and Virginia has passed a naloxone law.

Ottawa Sun, 29 Apr 2013 - A group advocating a supervised injection site in the ByWard Market is canvassing the neighbourhood Sunday seeking support from residents. "This is clearly a health crisis. We're offering an alternative," said Campaign for Safer Consumption Sites co-ordinator Chris Dalton.

Abbotsford Times, 25 Apr 2013 - Abbotsford council voted unanimously on Monday to amend its controversial bylaw prohibiting any harm reduction measures in the city. The current anti-harm reduction bylaw enacted in 2005 bans such programs or measures such as the distribution of condoms, needle exchanges, marijuana dispensaries or supervised injection sites.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP -- the drug czar's office) released its 2013 National Drug Control Strategy Wednesday. The strategy is being billed as a "21st Century Approach" to drug use and trafficking, but despite some rhetorical softening maintains the US hard-line approach to the issue.

[image:1 align:left]"The president has outlined his vision of an America built to last -- where an educated, skilled workforce has the knowledge, energy and expertise to compete in the global marketplace. Yet -- for far too many Americans -- that vision is limited by drug use, which not only diminishes the potential of the individual, but jeopardizes families, communities and neighborhoods," ONDCP wrote on a blog post announcing the strategy's release and touting reductions in cocaine and prescription drug abuse as progress made.

"Today we are releasing a science-driven plan for drug policy reform in America to build upon this progress," ONDCP continued. "This 21st century drug policy outlines a series of evidence-based reforms that treat our nation's drug problem as a public health issue, not just a criminal justice issue. This policy underscores what we all know to be true: we cannot arrest or incarcerate our way out of the drug problem."

The strategy emphasizes treatment and prevention, but despite the rhetoric, the Fiscal Year 2014 federal drug budget it accompanies continues to be imbalanced, with 58% of federal anti-drug spending directed at law enforcement and interdiction efforts. That figure does mark a decline from previous years, but only a marginal one.

And even its emphasis on treatment also includes punitive criminal justice elements, such as its embrace of the drug court system, where drug-addicted people are subjected to legal sanctions for such addiction-related behaviors as failing a drug test or missing an appointment. That has some drug reformers calling foul.

"The administration says drug use is a health issue but then advocates for policies that put people in the criminal justice system," said Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. "Until the drug czar says it is time to stop arresting people for drug use, he is not treating drug use as a health issue no matter what he says. I know of no other health issue in which people are thrown in jail if they don't get better."

While much of the strategy is little more than the same old same old, the strategy does call for expanded access to naloxone, a low-cost antidote that can reverse the effects of opioid overdoses. That is in response to the rapid growth in prescription drug overdose deaths in recent years.

"Director Kerlikowske should be applauded for taking steps to reduce drug overdose fatalities, but he's not doing much to reduce drug arrests or the many other problems associated with treating drug use through the criminal justice system," said Piper.

But while the drug strategy shows flexibility in its efforts to deal with fatal drug overdoses, it maintains a staunch opposition to marijuana reform and includes attacking outdoor and indoor marijuana cultivation as one of its key goals.

"The administration's continued opposition to marijuana law reform shows they're not serious about reforming US drug policy," said Piper. "At the very least they should stop getting in the way of states that are trying to improve public health and safety by regulating marijuana like alcohol."

Kamloops Daily News, 24 Apr 2013 - Academy Helps Potential Growers Navigate Process Protesters called out a familiar refrain from a blue haze at Riverside Park last weekend, but never before have the words "legalize pot" been taken so seriously.

Globe and Mail, 18 Apr 2013 - It's not the "did you inhale" question many politicians have been asked, but a lobby group will be questioning want-to-be politicians on their position over a regulated marijuana market in British Columbia. Stop the Violence BC - a coalition of police, doctors, lawyers, politicians and academics - argues a regulated and taxed marijuana market could choke the flow of funds going to organized crime, reduce the proliferation of illegal grow-ops in B.C. and fund drug awareness and harm prevention campaigns.

Evening Standard, 15 Apr 2013 - Lady Neidpath, Who Once Drilled a Hole in Her Own Head, Is Dead Serious About Drugs. Nick Curtis Hears Why Our Fear of Illegal Highs Means We Could Be Missing Out on Cures for Depression I DO NOT doubt for one moment the absolute sincerity of the drugs campaigner Amanda Feilding, aka Lady Neidpath, Countess of Wemyss and March. Nor the good sense in her argument that narcotics should be scientifically studied, decriminalised, and licensed and regulated by the state for medical or recreational use as appropriate - a "sensible" alternative to the vast waste of lives and money in the unwinnable War on Drugs. But I can see how easy it is for her opponents to demonise the 70-year-old as a batty aristo.

Toledo Free Press, 11 Apr 2013 - Former Cincinnati Police Captain Howard Rahtz, who spoke in Toledo on April 10 about legalizing drugs, has seen two sides of the war on drugs - what he called the country's largest failed policy. "I do have an unusual background. I mean I've basically had two careers: one career in the addictions field and then at age 42, I became a Cincinnati cop," Rahtz said in an interview with Toledo Free Press.