July 15, 2021

National Harm Reduction Coalition creates spaces for dialogue and action that help heal the harms caused by racialized drug policies.

+ NEW RESOURCE: It’s Our Backyard Too: Building Community-Centered Support for Harm Reduction- Looking to build power and make change in your community?  The NHRC Policy + Advocacy Community engagement toolkit, " It's  Our Backyard Too: Building Community-Centered Support for Harm Reduction" is a comprehensive, community-informed online course for everyone, regardless of organizing and harm reduction background.  This course is free in order to provide resources to every person who uses drugs, trades sex, loves someone who uses drugs or trades sex, does harm reduction work, wants to know more about harm reduction work, is a provider at a syringe service program (SSP)/syringe access program (SAP), and all of our comrades who sit at the intersections of justice for our communities. Access the toolkit for FREE at bit.ly/OurBackyardToo

+ ARTICLE:  Addiction is not a Crime- “You cannot provide quality treatment for substance use disorder within a coercive system; they do not actually work together, I was grappling with the ethics of mitigating and indirectly contributing to the harm caused regardless of my presence. As much as I tried to help with the best intentions, I felt I was not actually reducing harm in this context.”- Savannah O'Neill 

+ NEWS: Biden picks former West Virginia health official as nation’s drug czar- President Biden on Tuesday nominated Rahul Gupta, a former West Virginia health official, to lead the Office of National Drug Control Policy and steer the response to the opioid epidemic.

Gupta, a primary-care doctor who previously served as West Virginia’s health commissioner, led Biden’s transition efforts for the drug policy office and serves as the top health official at maternal and child advocacy group March of Dimes, would be the first physician to serve as drug czar if confirmed by the Senate.

+ OPINION: Can the Pandemic Usher in a New Age of Harm Reduction Awareness - Monique Tula, the executive director of the National Harm Reduction Coalition, acknowledges that there is no universal definition of harm reduction, even if her organization upholds certain principles. “Generally speaking, it’s the practice of advising people how to mitigate risk in real time in real-world conditions,” she said. “So no fear-based public health campaigns that fail to provide people with practical solutions to really complex situations. Demanding that somebody wears a condom or just says no doesn’t work for everyone. And it fails to recognize the lived experience of people who’ve often spent decades navigating risk and personal trauma.”

+ NEWS: U.S. Drug-Overdose Deaths Soared Nearly 30% in 2020, Driven by Synthetic Opioids- Drug-overdose deaths in the U.S. surged nearly 30% in 2020, the tragic result of a deadlier supply and the destabilizing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to preliminary federal data and public health officials.

The estimated 93,331 deaths from drug overdoses last year, a record high, represent the sharpest annual increase in at least three decades, and compare with an estimated toll of 72,151 deaths in 2019, according to provisional overdose-drug data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

+ DEVELOPING:  With Rhode Island Safe Consumption Win, Pressure Mounts on New York- “Knowing how New York works, funding doesn’t come until months after promised, and regulations take a long time,” Mike Selick, an associate director for the National Harm Reduction Coalition, told Filter. “Many of these programs may need to apply for funding and make changes to their building before really starting up. I just worry that the public support won’t come before the time the pilot [ends].”

+ INTERNATIONAL DRUG USERS REMEMBRANCE DAY:  Wednesday, July 21st is International Drug Users' Remembrance Day, where we take time to remember the people whose lives were unjustly cut short due to the criminalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs. Join INPUD for a webinar titled 'No More Loss' which will discuss the interventions necessary to eliminate stigma and discrimination faced by people who use drugs, and how this work is being conducted through the Global Partnership for Action to Eliminate All Forms of HIV+ Related Stigma and Discrimination. Register here.

+ EVENT:   Join Badass Cross Stitch x NHRC this July for a series of events!

• • 7/19, 6-8 PM ET: Talking to Children About Drugs
    Join NHRC + a panel of parents as we discuss how to talk to your children about drugs using harm reduction principles. RSVP here.
  • 7/22, 6-8 PM ET: Harm Reduction on Campus
    Join us for a panel discussion on drug use on college campuses and how you can use harm reduction to stay safe while on campus. RSVP here.
  • 7/26, 6-8 PM ET: Preventing a drug overdose
    You can reverse an overdose if you know what to do and you act in time. Whether you use drugs, love someone who does, or just care about the people in your community, it’s important to be prepared if you encounter someone who is overdosing. RSVP here.

+ WEBINAR: How can the Latinx Community Fight Back Against the War on Drugs? A Conversation on Drug Policy Strategies from a Southwest Perspective- The drug war has been a war on people of color and the Latinx community has been one of the groups suffering the harms at disproportionate rates. Today, as we emerge from a pandemic that took a huge toll on our most vulnerable communities, we must shift our focus to recognize and increase our awareness about the other health emergencies that have been affecting our Latinx communities, which include drug overdoses and mass criminalization.

+ BOOK RELEASE PANEL: Undoing Drugs by Maia Szalavitz- Where did the idea of harm reduction come from and how did it spark an international movement that challenges the core ideas of the war on drugs? Maia Szalavitz’ new book, Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction is the first to spotlight this history. This panel, facilitated by National Harm Reduction Coalition medical director Dr. Kim Sue, will explore the past, present and future of harm reduction and will include Monique Tula, executive director of the NHRC, Sessi Blanchard and Szalavitz. RSVP here.

+ EVENT: Untangling Latinx: The urgency to disaggregate by ethnicity. Tune in July 22nd, 4-5:30 PM EST for this first webinar in a series that will focus on people who use drugs and unpacking the Latinx category in order to develop culturally and linguistically appropriate research, health promotion and harm reduction programs. We will delve into Puerto Rico as a case study of vulnerabilities via exploration of the archipelago's history and geopolitical dynamics within the context of the war on drugs.

If you support emergent and exciting work at National Harm Reduction Coalition, please join our community of monthly donors, the Harm Reduction Champions!

+ SURVEY:  We've partnered with Vital Strategies to create resources for harm reduction organizations to learn how to pursue or expand opportunities to get paid through healthcare financing systems. Whether you don't know what we're talking about or are familiar with healthcare financing but feel stuck about where to start, we want to hear from you. We'll randomly select 3 organizations to receive a $100 gift card to put towards your program! Click below to take the 6-8 minute survey. Survey closes Friday, July 23rd at 5pm ET.

+ STORE OPENING:  Need a new fit? Check out our newly launched store here and use code "harmreduction" for 15% off of your first purchase!

+ North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition 

• • Harm Reduction Outreach Worker (Wilmington/New Hanover County)- Apply by emailing resume.

Hiring? Send us a note about open positions in harm reduction to [email protected] to have a job post shared here.