#harm reduction works
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A study conducted by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control has found that prescribing medical-grade opioids dramatically reduced the rates of deaths and overdoses for drug users living in B.C.
The study, published in the British Medical Journal, is described as "the first known instance of a North American province or state providing clinical guidance to physicians and nurse practitioners for prescribing pharmaceutical alternatives to patients at risk of death from the toxic drug supply."
Researchers looked at anonymized health-care data of 5,882 people between March 2020 and August 2021, all of whom had opioid or stimulant use disorder.
Those individuals filled a prescription under the B.C. Risk Mitigation Guide — clinical guidance developed in March 2020 to allow for physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to reduce deaths through harm reduction.
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Tagging @politicsofcanada
#cdnpoli#canada#canadian politics#canadian news#british columbia#public health#harm reduction#drug usage#harm reduction works#overdose#research
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would people be interested in a post about DIY hrt from a harm reduction perspective
#personal#funnily enough this is something that the org im starting to work with specializes in#harm reduction#diy hrt#trans#transgender
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20s vs 30s
#river dipping#matthias evanoff#theodore doe#echthroi#ts4#ts4 edit#the older they get the more i need to [redacted] them...#matthias is already 26 so. not much changing going on in his face. his hair just starts receding a bit before he gets it under control#but theo’s in his early 20s so his cheeks definitely lose some baby fat in his late 30s#MIND YOU! matthias is really vain. so. he has a skincare routine and he's very serious abt it along w/ regular dermatologist visits#and injections/surgeries probably... so he is someone who will age very gracefully thanks to money lmao...#theo on the other hand is just blessed with beautiful skin <3 well that plus he rlly doesn't emote often... not many lines on his face#until he's in his mid-forties probably. but like fr... theo isn’t someone who puts a lot of work into his appearance like matthias does#and he uses and smokes like. his skin looking so good is just the result of a genetic lottery#i do think he quits both by the time he’s 30#but while he doesn’t go back to cigarettes… hm. he probably continues to relapse w/ drugs every few years#not with anything hard—he’s off the stuff for good i think past 28-ish#i think when he relapses he’s usually safe with matthias who helps him by focusing on harm reduction so. lighter ones.#…just got a bit emotional thinking about that but anyway#kisses for theo 🫂#i was going to post this last night before bed but decided that i wanted to actually edit them first so! here take this <3#i've gotta get ready to go get my novavax shot in a few hours but then i'm going to start editing again#seriously rlly enjoying my editing process rn... like it makes me so happy!! to finally really like the way i edit and how things look#but yeah........................ mattodore are so sexy as they age god.#i gotta redo that old family lineage post i made now that mattodore look different... and i need to redo their parents for sure#…anyway cross your fingers for me 🧎 i’m hoping my side effects aren’t too bad this time around
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So long as the political and economic system remains intact, voter enfranchisement, though perhaps resisted by overt white supremacists, is still welcomed so long as nothing about the overall political arrangement fundamentally changes. The facade of political equality can occur under violent occupation, but liberation cannot be found in the occupier’s ballot box. In the context of settler colonialism voting is the “civic duty” of maintaining our own oppression. It is intrinsically bound to a strategy of extinguishing our cultural identities and autonomy.
[...]
Since we cannot expect those selected to rule in this system to make decisions that benefit our lands and peoples, we have to do it ourselves. Direct action, or the unmediated expression of individual or collective desire, has always been the most effective means by which we change the conditions of our communities.
What do we get out of voting that we cannot directly provide for ourselves and our people? What ways can we organize and make decisions that are in harmony with our diverse lifeways? What ways can the immense amount of material resources and energy focused on persuading people to vote be redirected into services and support that we actually need? What ways can we direct our energy, individually and collectively, into efforts that have immediate impact in our lives and the lives of those around us?
This is not only a moral but a practical position and so we embrace our contradictions. We’re not rallying for a perfect prescription for “decolonization” or a multitude of Indigenous Nationalisms, but for a great undoing of the settler colonial project that comprises the United States of America so that we may restore healthy and just relations with Mother Earth and all her beings. Our tendency is towards autonomous anti-colonial struggles that intervene and attack the critical infrastructure that the U.S. and its institutions rest on. Interestingly enough, these are the areas of our homelands under greatest threat by resource colonialism. This is where the system is most prone to rupture, it’s the fragility of colonial power. Our enemies are only as powerful as the infrastructure that sustains them. The brutal result of forced assimilation is that we know our enemies better than they know themselves. What strategies and actions can we devise to make it impossible for this system to govern on stolen land?
We aren’t advocating for a state-based solution, redwashed European politic, or some other colonial fantasy of “utopia.” In our rejection of the abstraction of settler colonialism, we don’t aim to seize colonial state power but to abolish it.
We seek nothing but total liberation.
Voting Is Not Harm Reduction - An Indigenous Perspective
#indigenous action#2024 elections#voting#on one hand i think if one opponent is a mask off fascist white people have an obligation to vote against them As The Least We Can Do#but if that's all we're doing? that and bullying other people who see a futility in participating in a colonial institution of 'democracy'?#sorry but um. shut the fuck up#if we spent half as much energy on direct action to support each other in ways that help people REGARDLESS of who wins what election#as we did on yelling at Other Leftists about voting i think we would get a hell of a lot more actual shit done#and sure as hell help more actual real life people who we claim to be helping by yelling at other people to vote#i'm talking to me here like#our current blue harm reduction candidate actively supporting a genocide should make you feel like maybe this shit doesn't fucking work#because it doesn't <3#harm reduction as the least we can do needs to be a call to action via vote AND actual action or it's not a call to anything at all#the least we can do needs to be motivating AND convicting#it's the least we can do so fucking do it. it's the least we can do so if that's All you do sit the hell down or stand the fuck up#for people who the status quo serves it needs to be the ballot AND the bullet or our ballot means fuck all for real liberation
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I think being on the internet has given a lot of leftists a drastically skewed view of how popular our beliefs are.
Most politicians support Israel because most Americans support Israel - only 8% of the population thinks the US should publicly criticize Israel.
Bernie didn't lose the primaries because the Democrats were just too scared of having a real progressive in office so they rigged the election, he lost because socialists are the least-electable people in America and because fewer people voted for him. That's how elections work. ( In b4 'but everyone else dropped out in a coordinated effort to concentrate votes behind biden!' - yeah, if your candidate can only win when the vote is split eight ways that's not a viable candidate. And I voted for Bernie!)
As of 2021 only about 15% of Americans support defunding the police, 47% would like to see increased police funding, and the number of people who think violent crime is a "very big" problem jumped 20 percentage points up to 61% in one year.
And it's just really frustrating to see internet leftists being super condescending as though everybody should already know everything and be on board with this stuff or else they're a Bad Person, driving people away from leftist ideology or making people too afraid to ask questions lest they be branded as a Centrist or worse, a Liberal, or refusing to engage in politics until they're being specifically catered to even though that would be political suicide (and would therefore not accomplish anything anyway.)
And like. It's fine to think that people who support Israel or more police funding are bad people, frankly I think a lot of them are. But I think even more are just misinformed or not really informed about alternatives at all. And not everyone is in the headspace to do education or outreach, but when you're only 10% of the population I think you need to make a choice about whether you want to feel good about being right on the internet or whether you want to be effective. It's frustrating to have to walk someone step-by-step through why genocide is bad, but it's a lot more likely to change minds than shouting at someone that they're obviously just a genocide-loving racist is.
#feel free to call me a neoliberal bootlicker if it'll make you feel better#i just think that effective action and harm reduction are more important than Being Right On The Internet#and I also don't think the Grand Revolution is going to happen. I think we need to work with what we have. sorry.#also i was having trouble finding recent stats about the i-p conflict#in general sympathy for palestine was hovering around 30% earlier this year#but i don't know if that actually translates to supporting palestine in the conflict or how that might have changed after the Oct. 7 attack#that npr poll was the most recent but it was less than a week after the attack when misinformation and sympathy for israel was at a height#so hopefully that number is higher now#us politics
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i'm saying it. i don't think joly would work in a hospital. i think his medical career would be informed by his politics + radicalisation and his + his friends regular drug use, he would be outraged at how the medical industry handles drug users, also at the medical industrial complex in general, so he would find a reputable community led harm reduction organisation to work for 🫶🏻
#joly#it also works because the idea that modern les amis wouldn't all have a million jobs and volunteer roles in community organising#and you know... do direct community action to support people... instead of just little hypothetical meetings where they debate hypothetical#problems....#that idea is so bullshit and i know it's written by people who only have indoor people problems and don't realise most radicals actually do#things... but still it annoys me#and he would hate working in a hospital#not that the harm reduction work wouldn't be stressful and high intensity too but he would rather it for the love of community#also it wouldn't be hard because as a disabled person he would already be radicalised against doctors and medical industry in general#les amis#les mis#mine#i realise as a disabled drug using cane user i could#write joly really really well#the best joly scene is in world ain't ready where in one scene he's so excited for the battle of the bands dancing around yelling and stuff#then they pick him up and he's like 'tonight is a sitting night' URGH that's so real it almost made me cry#anyway joly feelings good morning
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The why don't you let the cat/lettuce run your country jokes are funny don't get me wrong but they do ignore the most frustrating part of this:
We have no say!! They aren't calling a general election!! Unless you're a member of the Conservative party you have absolutely Zero say in the matter at all!!
So reminder that if you have any kind of election coming up, any chance to vote, be it the US midterms or a presidential vote or local council elections or whatever, PLEASE go and vote. Have your say.
#uk politics#just vote!!!#always vote!!!!#it's about harm reduction not perfection!!!#vote in your local elections for change closer to home - get involved in local politics if you want more change#but vote vote vote it's so important#anyone telling you not to vote is NOT helping you - it's even better to vote and spoil your vote than to not vote at all#not voting at all says nothing it doesn't show a protest any more than people who don't vote because they don't care#if you think it's not an important election you're wrong!!#they're all important!!!#also if you're in the UK and not registered to vote remember to do that in case they DO call a GE#it's quick and easy to do and you can register for a postal vote if you think your working hours would be a problem#if you forget to do your postal vote in time you can take it with you and vote on the day#unless they've changed that i haven't checked#politics#us politics
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There are so many problematic things in House, it's literally a big part of the show. Most of it doesn't bother me, but one thing that does make me annoyed every time it's brought up is how they treat Methadone when House takes it. Don't get me wrong, taking Methadone is not ideal, but they treat it like it's some insane trial drug that's an automatic death sentence. Maybe it wasn't the best option for House, I can't say either way. But Methadone is a part of harm reduction. Methadone saves lives!! Not everybody struggling with addiction is able to jump straight from actively using to getting completely sober. There is no shame in utilizing harm reduction tools. There is so much stigma around harm reduction in general, and it's just disheartening to see it portrayed so negatively in the media.
#As someone who works in the medical field and hopes to eventually become a doctor#It is so important that we change the stigma around harm reduction and stop making people feel ashamed of seeking it out#It genuinely does save lives#I know the show is satire so it's not just about this show it's about the fact that 99% of shows portray it this way#house md#house#housemd#greg house#gregory house#harm reduction#addiction#methadone
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One of the most irritating momentum-killing faux-concerns from people when it comes to conflict is the hand-wringing about “if we (you) ___ then people will be hurt/die/etc” as a reason to not engage in meaningful resistance use violence as a tool.
‘If there is a revolution people will die’, ‘if we riot people will get hurt,’ ‘if you resist you will get hurt’ ‘if you fight back, people will die.’
People are already dying, people are already being hurt. I understand the fear of injury in the face of chaos but I need you to understand the horror of brutality carried out calmly.
‘Everything Was Peaceful Until The Uprising’ is a wild disconnect from reality.
Evictions are violence. Arrests are violent. Cops brutalizing people is violence. Poverty is violence. Nazi speeches are violent. Apartheid is violence. Worker abuse is violence. Medical debt is violence.
Oppression is violence.
Little revolutionary acts are resistance too, but pitting pious symbolic gestures or communal aid as being opposite violent response to oppression is disingenuous.
Slave revolts were not the beginning of the violence, Stonewall was not the beginning of the violence, the Haitian Revolution was not the beginning of the violence. The Al-Aqsa Flood was not the beginning of the violence.
Acts of solidarity are survival. Acts of solidarity are coalition building. In some ways it can be liberating. But it is not total liberation.
I will help my immediate circle, I will expand my circle, I will build solidarity with those around me and those far from me, but without a fight, we do not see freedom.
“If you form a blockade so that paddywagon can’t leave, the cops will beat you.”
If I move, the cops will drive away.
There is always risk! If one person blocks a wagon it may be fruitless but symbolic. If a few block the wagon it may buy time for an escape from the back or just be a gesture of solidarity. If many people block the wagon, it can’t fucking leave.
If no one blocks it, business continues as usual, and “order” is restored, and the gears of incarceration grind on unhindered.
How peaceful.
#LJsm#there is undoubtedly a need for risk assessment#and harm reduction#but these convos ring so similarly to abuse situations#the fear ‘if you leave your husband he will kill you’#needs met with ‘so we need to work to get you to leave as safely as possible’#which will take time and require building safety nets#but it is ABSOLUTELY NOT NOT NOT#not ‘time to make peace with being here and just make my situation as nice as I can’#people who stay under abuse are not cowards#people trying to protect you who question your assesement of risk also aren’t cowards#but people on the sideline watching you make a move alerting everyone so they can publicly shame your attempt to escape sure are
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US Harm Reduction Resources
continually updating, not a complete list. feel free to add on any resources you find helpful.
Free Safer Supplies:
Each organization will have different supplies, but generally, harm reduction orgs provide things like syringes, safer snorting + smoking kits, Narcan, condoms, lube, and wound care supplies. Each org has different policies for how to get supplies--some do deliveries, some have drop in centers, some only do one to one needle exchange, some are more flexible.
Next Distro: mail based syringe provider for certain states. Also mails free Narcan.
NASEN: national map of syringe providers
a lot of harm reduction collectives aren't going to have their information listed on big national websites--it's always worth searching "harm reduction in my area" and seeing what's around you. Even if you don't live in a big city, there might be a harm reduction organization in your state that can help you find someone closer to you. there's a lot of rad people doing underground work who want to be there to help you who aren't as easy to find online. If there's street medic collectives, mutual aid groups or groups like Food not Bombs in your area, you can ask people in them who might know where to find harm reduction services in your area!
Drug Users Unions:
Drug users unions are activist groups made for people who use drugs, by people who use drugs! Drug users unions do advocacy work to end criminalization, as well as providing vital community support. Many drug users unions are also inclusive of sex workers and work to decriminalize sex work as well. You can search for "drug users union" in your state.
Urban Survivors Union: National, has resources for creating drug users union
Chosen Few: Drug users union for Black drug users in DC
San Francisco Drug users union
Sex Work Advocacy Groups:
Organizations that do decrim advocacy and provide support for sex workers.
Sex Worker Outreach Project USA- National, has chapters in many states.
Black Sex Worker Collective
Sex Workers Project
How to Use Safely:
Guides, videos, toolkits for safer use!
Harm Reduction Coalition Resource Library
Getting Off Right: A Safety Manual for Injection Drug Users
Safer Crack Smoking
Safer Snorting
Safer Hormone Injection
Levels of Risk: Veins
Wound Care video w/ ASL
How to Use Fentanyl Test Strips
DanceSafe-testing kits, including reagent testing kits!
Erowid-shares experiences people have with different drugs, dosages, what things to expect
Bluelight- another forum for discussing experiences with drugs.
Drug Interactions Checker
Sex Work Resources:
Tricks of the Trade by L. Synn Stern: tips for street based sex work
A Quick and Dirty Sex Worker Safety Toolkit
Girls Do What they Have to Do To Survive by YWEP
Dis/Organizing: How We Build Collectives Beyond Institutions
by Rachel Kuo & Lorelei Lee
Tryst Blog
Hotlines:
Never Use Alone: 877-696-1996. Overdose Prevention Hotline--Volunteers stay on the phone with you while you use and call emergency services if you overdose.
HIPS Hotline-1 (800) 676-4477. Emotional support for drug users and sex workers. Does not work with cops.
feel free to add on more resources. love + lube <3
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"I refuse to choose the lesser of two evils!! It shouldn't be this way!!"
Well, it is. And unless you can come up with and implement a realistic plan to fix that before the end of this year (you can't), you need to accept that there isn't always a perfect choice that will allow you to keep your sense of moral high ground and limit damage to human lives. Which one is more important?? Think this through for five seconds and remember that your choices affect people other than yourself.
#YES this post is about people sitting in the mud whining about how they don't want to vote for biden#I DON'T WANT TO EITHER BUDDY!!! BUT I HAVE A BRAIN THAT I CAN USE AND CRYING ABOUT HOW THE SYSTEM IS FUCKED DOESN'T DO A DAMN THING#TO FIX IT OR PROTECT ANYONE WHILE WE WORK ON FIXING IT#WE ARE ON HARM REDUCTION THIS YEAR#anyway remember to read political posts ESPECIALLY carefully from now through november#consider the source. ask what they are trying to get you to think by making that post.#UUUUUUUGHHHHH
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there r fics that make u insane (so amazingly good it’s removed ur sanity) and then there’s fics that make u insane (you need to fistfight the author for how they did a specific thing that caused u to rant for hours)
#i know i just posted that other thing but ffs that is NOT how u handle someone in that situation everyone involved made everything 10x worse#yet it’s being treated like the right thing to do (which again ofc they’re cops they don’t understand harm reduction but still) like#seriously everything’s so forceful like u seriously think forcing ur friend to talk to u or forcing a patient to talk to a therapist under#the threat of being admitted to a psychiatric hospital is gonna make her feel comfortable talking to u? or anyone? she’s just gonna trust u#less and get better at hiding it and speaking of which the taking away all sharp objects thing makes sense in theory but like think abt it#for a minute she confirmed she isn’t suicidal and this is her only way of coping so do not just forcibly take away all her coping mechanism#like yes she is hurting herself but it’s a COPING MECHANISM. she’s coping with something. help her with that don’t just take away her penci#sharpers or whatever (which btw since she’s an adult she could easily buy more stuff and yk learn to hide it better) which again has to be#voluntary it isn’t gonna work if u force someone to do smthn they don’t want to like as ur friend u could’ve made it clear u care abt her#and wouldn’t judge her for anything and r here if she wants to talk don’t just say “you have to talk to me” and casually threaten#hospitalisation when she isn’t ready in the moment like seriously if this wasn’t a badly written fanfic she would completely stop trusting#bcz given that this wasn’t even done out of panic i would like ffs u are NOT doing any of this right#oops sorry ranted abt the bad fic in my tags-#it’s not where the author’ll see it and know it’s about them i don’t feel bad abt it#this was my first time even looking at stuff for this fandom so#cw self harm in tags#idk if i need to tag anything else for that 😭#fanfic#ao3#ryan shut the fuck up
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Did I drop like twenty dollars on an ancient ass e-ink ereader from goodwill, one that's so old the charger is circular and not a USB port and the software is unsupported now I'll have to rely on calibre? Yes. Look I was having the obsessive urge to spend money anyway so better a ten dollar (the rest was shipping) used device that still works fine and has free workarounds than like a hundred dollars on a new thing with only midling reviews like I almost did
#baby this device supports file formats that don't even exist anymore#e-reader#i legit have a shopping problem I'm working it out in therapy#but consider spending only thirty when i almost spent a hundred dollars or more a type of harm reduction to my wallet#shopaholic
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few things are as touching as the appreciation hardworking, heartfelt, passionate, dedicated young people express when you support them. sometimes this appreciation is shown by those young people sending you unedited footage of their professional wrestling ambulance matches and it fucking rules.
#[ whispers ]#mango brought to my attention a ugandan pro wrestling promotion fundraising for their first wrestling ring and i decided to reach out#to them because i made a post raising awareness on my wrestling sideblog. they asked me to record a video saying hello to a young lady#wrestler of theirs i said i'm a fan of. so she can record a video saying hello back to me! and then sent me exclusive footage of a match!#i cannot stress this enough: reach out to dreamers. reach out to the people making their dreams reality. to artists and musicians and#writers and people blogging about their cultures' food and their daily lived experiences and dedicating their lives to community outreach#and harm reduction and activism and rescuing animals and raising awareness. tell the people making what you love that you love it and#admire their hard work. thank the person bagging your groceries and driving your bus with a big smile. tell the makeup artist standing with#palestine openly what that means to you. one of my favourite authors is on tumblr and i'm reaching out to her after i read her new book that#just published. one of my friends became a well known poet in pakistan because a group of us all sent CDs of our spoken word poetry to each#other and made all of our friends listen. i'm friends with youtubers because i've been vocally supporting their videos since pre-YT or early#into their channels and have met up with some of them to hang out and talk shop. don't just cheer people on silently! let them know!#long post#sorry. overcome by my simple love for humanity in the midst of unfathomably dark times. it will happen again
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jason todd, stephanie brown and duke thomas are absolutely the best robins for gotham; they have the knowledge and perspective on how to best serve their gotham because they actually grew up in the city. they have lived experiences with addiction, poverty, homelessness, foster care etc. that the others don’t have and there’s a lot they can bring to the table in terms of how to best help the most vulnerable populations of gotham.
#jason todd: i believe in harm reduction! i can reduce harm by killing the worst drug lords :)#duke: i dont think thats what harm reduction means dude ://#many many thoughts which i will elaborate on later#i work frontline at a shelter once i put pen to paper and write a fic about this its over for you hoes#bruce wayne throws money at a ton of services in the city but its jason steph and duke that step up and say#'heres how these services can be run better to actually benefit the people of the community'#i should write a guide#a 'how to write people struggling with addiction complex trauma and poverty with empathy and kindness' guide#anyways#stfu haidee#i dont think dick cop grayson and barbara my dad is police commissioner gordon will have the most trauma informed approach#stephanie brown#duke thomas
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Looking for Book Recommendations
Help me find a book I can give my right-wing little brother for Christmas following a harm-reduction model for deradicalization. I need something he'll actually read that will subtly expand his worldview just enough to help him take the tiniest baby step towards the center (we'll work on further left once he gets to the "reasonable" stage).
Book topics he seems genuinely interested in:
Memoirs by/biographies of "self made men"
Stoicism (he's read Marcus Aurelius already)
Those self-help books that supposedly tell you how to be wildly successful (ie rich and powerful)
Remember, the goal is subtlety. I need to meet him where he's at. He's not gonna read bell hooks or Das Kapital right away, especially if it's me handing it to him. If it's not an innocuous-seeming gift given in good faith it won't work.
Thanks for your help!
#project deradicalize my little brother#this boy is an engineering major and business minor who makes a token effort towards not misgendering me to please our liberal parents#if that gives you a clearer view of what you've got to work with#deradicalization#harm reduction#books#reading#memoirs#biographies#philosophy#stoicism#politics#us politics
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