National Harm Reduction Coalition creates spaces for dialogue and action that help heal the harms caused by racialized drug policies. |
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+ CASEP DAY OF ACTION: Hundreds rallied at the California State Capitol to advocate for life-saving program funding that has already made 40,000 overdose reversals possible the past three years, saving thousands and thousands of lives. Folks from across the state joined the California Syringe Exchange Programs Coalition (CASEP) to make noise about a stark reality: Lives are on the line as the state budget is decided. With harm reduction funding, we can continue this imperative work of saving lives and have a positive impact on people who use drugs and the services that support them. You can read our full press release here.
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Images above by Brooke Anderson, Movement Photography |
+ CELEBRATING PRIDE: Join NHRC (@HarmReduction), NHRC's Lighthouse Learning Collective (@HRC_Lighthouse), and the New Hampshire Harm Reduction Coalition (@harmreductionNH) on Thursday, June 1, to kick off Pride with a Pride Twitter chat from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. EST! The conversation aims to engage harm reduction and LGBTQIA+-serving organizations around the intersections of queer experiences and harm reduction. To learn more or see the questions in advance, visit the link here.
+ CALL TO ACTION - SUPPORT SVSTA: We need your help! By signing on to a letter for the Stop Violence in the Sex Trades Act (SVSTA) legislation in New York, you can support the safety and well-being of sex workers. To learn more about the bill that would decriminalize sex work and to sign on to the letter, click the link here. The deadline to sign on is Thursday, June 1.
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+ NHCHC CONFERENCE: NHRC staff collaborated with the National Health Care for the Homeless Council (NHCHC) as well as staff from harm reduction programs in Puerto Rico including Intercambios PR, Coalición De Coaliciones, Oasas de Esperanza, and Migrant Health Center to provide a harm reduction-focused pre-conference ahead of the NHCHC's conference in Baltimore, Maryland. The event included sessions covering the history of harm reduction, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Syringe Services Programs (SSPs), supporting reproductive health for people who use drugs, safer drug use and responding to xylazine, the intersection of homelessness and drug use, and a session titled, "Diverse Latinx Communities: Language Justice, Immigration, and Successful Engagement." The day wrapped up with "Reaching Back to Move Forward," a session focused on evolving aspects of harm reduction work including managed alcohol programs, the future of peer work, overdose prevention centers, and faith in harm reduction. Over 250 people attended the pre-conference, and we look forward to continued collaboration with NHCHC to support the integration of harm reduction approaches into services for people who are houseless or unstably housed. We’d also like to thank our co-presenters from Baltimore Harm Reduction Coalition, Academy of Perinatal Harm Reduction, Prevention Point Philadelphia, and the managed alcohol program in San Francisco as well as OnPoint NYC and our local harm reductionists including Will Miller Junior, Rev. Muratore, and Mishka Terplan.
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Photos above courtesy of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council (NHCHC) and NHRC Hepatitis C + Harm Reduction Associate, Jose Martinez |
+ SITE VISITS: NHRC'S northeast team hosted folks from three Puerto Rican harm reduction programs — Intercambios PR, Oasas de Esperanza, and Coalición de Coaliciones — as part of a skills sharing technical assistance session. Our colleagues from Puerto Rico shared their expertise relating to their work on the island, including how to address xylazine — a substance that has been in the drug supply there for 20 years — and visited the overdose prevention centers at OnPoint NYC as well as operations at VOCAL-NY and Bronx Móvil. We are grateful to them for welcoming us into their spaces! We were also joined by VOCAL-KY Director Shameka Parrish-Wright and VOCAL-KY Organizer Jennifer Twyman.
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+ NSSSP SURVEYS: Calling all Syringe Services Programs (SSPs) — We need your feedback! The 2023 National Survey of Syringe Services Programs, launched with the North American Syringe Exchange Network (NASEN) and RTI International, is open. Tracking SSP budgets and data over time helps us advocate for more resources. Respond today with your experiences! Participating programs will be mailed a $125 check after completing the survey. Check your inbox for an email invitation from NASEN, and see more info with this FAQ link.
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+ CONFERENCES AND EVENTS: -
The National Survivors Union will host "Liberating Methadone: Building a Roadmap and a Community for Change," a hybrid conference that will be held online and in-person in New York City Thursday, September 21, through Friday, September 22, 2023. Among the presenters is NHRC's Community and Capacity Building Manager, Hiawatha Collins. Abstract submissions for the poster session, travel award applications, and an early registration process privileging directly impacted people are now open. For early registration for people with lived/living experience of methadone treatment, click here to register. For abstract submissions for the poster session, visit this link. The travel award application can be found via this link.
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The International Drug Policy Reform Conference, hosted by the Drug Policy Alliance, is happening in Phoenix, AZ from Wednesday, Oct. 18, through Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. Learn more about the conference here, and click this link to register.
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+ NEWS: DOPE Project highlighted by NowThis — NHRC’s DOPE Project Manager, Andrea Figueroa, spoke with NowThis about the impact of harm reduction and how the DOPE Project has made 2,600 overdose reversals possible in San Francisco in one year alone. As noted in the coverage, Andrea says, “Every study, every evidence-based [study/data], and every community, has shown us over and over again that harm reduction works.”
+ NEWS: California plans to spend more on Narcan, but could lose workers who hand it out — As read in this LA Times story, "Community programs that got the grant money trained more than 22,000 people to prevent deaths with naloxone between 2020 and 2022, according to the California Department of Health. They handed out naloxone to 73% more people than programs that did not get the state money, the RTI International analysis found. That grant money runs out later this year, and Newsom has not suggested any new funding to replace the program in his budget plans.
That is 'counterproductive,' said Braunz E. Courtney, executive director of the HIV Education and Prevention Project of Alameda County...The result would be 'to cut programs that are already funded to do overdose prevention, education and naloxone distribution,' Courtney said."
+ NEWS: For Black Americans, the pandemic spike in fentanyl deaths was decades in the making — “The crisis is most acute in communities with the fewest resources. Decades of discriminatory drug policies, underfunded treatment and racism in the medical field make it exponentially harder for Black patients to get help even as a deadly new substance has infiltrated the illicit drug supply chain, experts said.” It is no surprise to us that a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report shows more Black Americans died from fentanyl overdoses than from any other drug in 2021, at much higher rates than white or Latinx folks. When you connect the dots, you can see just how much structural racism and racist drug policies contribute to these heartbreaking disparities. The collective silence around Black people's deaths is loud. Read the full story as seen in POLITICO.
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+ FENTANYL AWARENESS DAY PANEL: NHRC'S Senior Director of National Capacity Building, Emma Roberts, joined fellow panelists with the Make It Better Media Group to discuss fentanyl, overdose, the importance of community connection and harm reduction principles, and advice for parents/guardians and loved ones of people who use drugs on National Fentanyl Awareness Day. Watch the panel recording video here.
+ LIGHTHOUSE TRANS DAY OF VISIBILITY PROJECT: To help offset all of the anti-trans legislation, NHRC's Lighthouse Learning Collective is asking TGNCNB (Transgender, Gender Nonconforming, Nonbinary) folks to share what brings them joy beyond Transgender Day of Visibility (#TDOV). Comments will be posted on social media throughout the rest of the year, and folks can remain anonymous. Click here to submit.
+ FUNDING, GRANT, AND RFP OPPORTUNITIES: -
The Creating Responsible Intelligent Black Brothers (C.R.I.B.B.) Fellowship is a year-long leadership development course for up to 10 Black gay and bisexual men between the ages of 19 and 30 who are actively involved in HIV/AIDS services, other health disparities, or social justice issues affecting Black gay and bisexual men, or who wish to become involved with addressing these challenges. The fellowship program starts on June 7 at the National African American MSM Leadership Conference on Health Disparities and Social Justice in Atlanta, GA, where fellows will attend specific workshops and institutes on leadership and professional development. From there, selected fellows will participate in hands-on activities and complete required assignments throughout the year. For more info, click here.
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+ RESOURCES: -
NHRC requests organizations to add or update their information on the Naloxone Finder map in an effort to ensure the resource is up-to-date. To add a new program, click here. To update existing program information on the map, please fill out this form. We appreciate your support in spreading the word about these life-saving materials!
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If you support emergent and exciting work at National Harm Reduction Coalition, please join our community of monthly donors, the Harm Reduction Champions! |
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+ LEGISLATION: -
NHRC joins 150+ groups to denounce HALT Fentanyl Act: The "War On Drugs," put more accurately the "War On People," has caused devastation and death across communities. NHRC joined over 150 organizations urging Congress to vote "no" on the HALT Fentanyl Act, which would be "yet another iteration of the drug war's ineffective and punitive strategies. To prevent overdose, Congress must invest in public health solutions to mitigate the harms of illicit fentanyl." Read more via Human Rights Watch here.
MN legalizes drug paraphernalia, residue: We're thrilled to share excellent news out of Minnesota that will keep folks safer and healthier, in part by preventing overdose and the spread of disease. Legislation recently signed into law allows people to have hypodermic syringes or needles, removes the cap on the number of syringes pharmacists can sell people without a prescription, and no longer bans possession of harm reduction products like drug test strips. "Edward Krumpotich, policy consultant for the Drug Policy Alliance and the National Harm Reduction Coalition, helped write the bill. A couple of states have legalized drug paraphernalia, he said, but his group believes Minnesota will be the first to legalize paraphernalia with drug residue. This is important because people may go to a community center to get a syringe, but many are afraid to return them with residue, he said." Full story as seen in Minnesota Reformer can be read here.
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