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1 month ago | 
harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com | Frishta Nafeh |Carol Strike |Gillian Kolla |Matthew Bonn |Caroline Brunelle |Jade Boyd | +9 more
Key informants reported integrating wraparound care as a critical component of safer supply provision, connecting clients to primary and secondary health services, including HIV/HCV testing and treatment, wound care, and referral to housing support services. Some key informants believed this played a vital role in making programs more appealing to policymakers:“This is why I said we integrated into a primary care service.
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Dec 9, 2024 | 
filtermag.org | Matthew Bonn
On December 2, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, passed a law that will shut down 10 supervised drug consumption sites (SCS). It’s an assault on harm reduction in the province that will cost untold lives. Bill 223 bans SCS within 200 meters of schools, childcare centers and similar facilities. That covers 10 out of the 17 sites currently operating in Ontario. They will be forced to close by March 31, 2025.
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Nov 1, 2024 | 
filtermag.org | Matthew Bonn
International Drug Users Day, marked on November 1, is very near and dear to my heart. I’ve lost so many people who were close to me, through harms of drug prohibition such as overdose, blood-borne diseases or injection-related infections. I’ve been lucky to survive myself. Today, like every year, I’ll take some time to reflect on these preventable deaths, and to grapple with grief I’ve barely had time to process before learning of the next tragedy.
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Sep 26, 2024 | 
filtermag.org | Matthew Bonn
I’ve been using drugs—opioids, stimulants and many others—on and off for basically my whole adult life. I don’t see it as a good or a bad thing. There have been plenty of fun times. And at other points, when I’ve struggled with mental health and suicide has been a threat, drugs have felt like the only support available to me. But I’ve also experienced a whole lot of harms associated with drugs, and especially with the conditions of drug use under prohibition.
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Sep 12, 2024 | 
filtermag.org | Matthew Bonn
I’ve been using fentanyl and other opioids, off and on, for the past 15 years. I’ve experienced a lot of close calls from overdose, and I’ve responded to my share of them, too. Luckily I’ve been able to revive everyone so far, the way others have been able to revive me, but I know a lot of people who died because no one was there to help them breathe again.
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Aug 26, 2024 | 
marijuanamoment.net | Matthew Bonn
“People who use drugs deserve compassion and care, and we hope this space can be utilized by a broad base of individuals.”By Matthew Bonn, FilterClaire Macon in Providence, Rhode Island, has one of the rarest job titles in the United States: overdose prevention center manager. “We plan to have the overdose prevention center open in the fall,” she told Filter.
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Aug 21, 2024 | 
filtermag.org | Matthew Bonn
Claire Macon in Providence, Rhode Island, has one of the rarest job titles in the United States: overdose prevention center manager. “We plan to have the overdose prevention center open in the fall,” she told Filter. The site will be run by Macon’s employer, Project Weber/RENEW, which has served people who use drugs in Providence, together with people living with HIV, sex workers, trans people and people experiencing homelessness, for almost 20 years.
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May 23, 2024 | 
filtermag.org | Matthew Bonn
In North America, fentanyl and other potent synthetic drugs in the supply have been associated with an unprecedented overdose crisis for over a decade. In Europe, this hasn’t happened—yet. What has so far prevented this in Europe? How strong are signs that the continent’s drug market could completely transform, when its heroin supply is under great pressure? And if so, how well will European nations respond?
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Apr 9, 2024 | 
filtermag.org | Matthew Bonn
North America’s unregulated drug supply has grown ever more unpredictable, which often means deadly. Since the arrival of fentanyl, the likes of benzodiazepines, other tranquilizers and nitazenes have all become more prevalent in the mix. I’ve overdosed on “benzo dope” myself. In Canada, there have been more recent reports of drugs showing up that will be unfamiliar to most. The media default is to try to scare people about any “new” substance.
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Mar 26, 2024 | 
filtermag.org | Matthew Bonn
There are all kinds of reasons a person who uses drugs might need to go to the emergency room. These could include, for example, a non-fatal overdose, severe withdrawal, delirium or an injection-related infection. I have sought out emergency care for all four of those reasons. But I rarely found the kind of care I wanted and needed. A lot of times, when we access hospitals for issues related to our drug use, or to a mental health crisis, health care providers just look at us in disgust.
