Meeting Minutes:

Meeting minutes can be found in the meeting notes and resources folder on the National Safer Supply Community of Practice Google Drive.

• NSS-CoP Resource Library: Did you know we have a resource library with OVER 700 resources on safer supply? You can access it for FREE anytime. It features academic journal articles, grey literature, knowledge translation materials, clinical practice guidelines, and more!
   
• National Safer Supply Environmental Scan - Canada: The British Columbia Centre on Substance Use recently released a summary report of their national safer supply environmental scan. The aims of this environmental scan were to: 1) Map out the safer supply programs across Canada before & early in the pandemic; 2) Describe their service delivery models & clients; and 3) Identify barriers & enablers of implementation from the point of view of service providers.
   
• Opioid- and Stimulant-related Harms in Canada - June 2022: The Government of Canada recently updated the national statistics for opioid and stimulant-related harms - now ranging from January 2016 to December 2021. Some key findings in the recent updates: 1) There was a total of 29,052 apparent opioid toxicity deaths between January 2016 and December 2021; 2) A total of 7,560 apparent opioid toxicity deaths occurred in 2021 (January – December). This is approximately 21 deaths per day. In the years prior to the pandemic, there were between 8 (in 2016) and 12 (in 2018) deaths per day; and 3) In 2021 (January – December), 88% of all accidental apparent opioid toxicity deaths occurred in British Columbia, Alberta, or Ontario & Elevated rates have also been observed in other areas, including Yukon and Saskatchewan.
   
• Where To?: This new online directory is for people looking for HIV, hepatitis C, sexual health or harm reduction services in Canada, with additional resources to support their journey to health and wellness. The website allows you to search for services by location or by type of service. CATIE operates and maintains this website. Service providers can also register their own organization. An administrator will review your listing before it gets published.
   
• L'Équipe de soutien clinique et organisationnel en dépendance et itinérance (ESCODI) - Guidance Documents: L'ESCODI, based in Montréal, Québec recently published two helpful clinical guidance documents in English. The first - Safer Supply of Hydromorphone (Dilaudid®) in Combination with Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT) - is a fact sheet that provides information about prescribing hydromorphone in a safer supply context in combination with OAT. The second is a FAQ-style document for pharmacists on safer supply provision.
   
• Crackdown Podcast - Episode 33: You Will Not Destroy Me: A new episode of Crackdown Podcast is available. Here's a brief description of the episode: "A spectre is haunting BC’s overdose crisis — the ghost of Riverview Hospital. Riverview was one of the province’s main psychiatric hospitals for a century. The giant complex – sitting on 1,000 acres of kʷikʷəƛ̓əm territory just outside of Vancouver – was largely closed in 2012. Today it’s a popular horror film shoot location. Garth recently learned that his great grandmother, Rosa Mullins, spent more than 26 years locked in Riverview. Garth and his father Gary head to Riverview to find Rosa. Garth digs deep into her medical records and doctors notes and Crackdown even manages to get inside of the old hospital itself. The hospital is closed, but it’s not abandoned. The province plans to reopen Riverview as a site for mental health and addictions treatment. Police, politicians and pundits have never stopped dreaming of our banishment. And in recent decades, involuntary detention under the Mental Health Act has soared. We demand an end to involuntary treatment and access to justice for involuntarily detained patients."

Glegg, S., et al. (2022). “COVID just kind of opened a can of whoop-ass”: The rapid growth of safer supply prescribing during the pandemic documented through an environmental scan of addiction and harm reduction services in Canada | International Journal of Drug Policy 

Highlights:

• Safer supply has emerged as an option to combat the opioid overdose crisis.
• Safer supply sites increased in number by 285% between March and May 2020.
• Diverse delivery models demonstrated adaptability during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Findings suggest capacity for rapid scale-up of flexible safer supply prescribing.

We encourage NSS-CoP members to email info@nss-aps.ca with submissions to include in our newsletter. Content examples include but are not limited to community-led projects, peer-reviewed articles, grey literature, government publications, etc.

• Kenny, K. S., et al. (2022). Frequency of fatal and non-fatal overdoses and response to grief and loss among people who inject drugs: An unexplored dimension of the opioid overdose crisis | Drug and Alcohol Dependence 
• Sud, A., et al. (2022). Permissive regulation: A critical review of the regulatory history of buprenorphine formulations in Canada | International Journal of Drug Policy 
• Palis, H., et al. (2022). Increasing toxicity of the illicit drug supply during COVID-19: the need for an accessible and acceptable safe supply | UBCMJ Volume 13 Issue 2| Spring 2022 
• Lambdin, B. H., et al. (2022). Buprenorphine Implementation at Syringe Service Programs following Waiver of the Ryan Haight Act in the United States | Drug and Alcohol Dependence 
• Gendera, S., et al. (2022). ‘Even though you hate everything that's going on, you know they are safer at home’: The role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in methamphetamine use harm reduction and their own support needs | Drug and Alcohol Review 
• MacDonald, T., et al. (2022). Outcomes of patients treated with low-dose flumazenil for benzodiazepine detoxification: A description of 26 participants | Drug and Alcohol Dependence 
• Sukhpreet, K., et al. (2022). Take-home drug checking as a novel harm reduction strategy in British Columbia, Canada | International Journal of Drug Policy 
• Wallace, B., et al. (2022). Implementing drug checking as an illicit drug market intervention within the supply chain in a Canadian setting | Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy
• Gomes, T., et al. (2022). Duration of use and outcomes among people with opioid use disorder initiating methadone and buprenorphine in Ontario: a population-based propensity-score matched cohort study | Addiction
• Brothers, T., et al. (2022). Evaluation of an emergency safe supply drugs and managed alcohol program in COVID-19 isolation hotel shelters for people experiencing homelessness | International Journal of Drug Policy 
• Claborn, K., et al. (2022). Development of a digital platform to improve community response to overdose and prevention among harm reduction organizations | Harm Reduction Journal 
• Burton, A., et al. (2022). Two Public Health Crises, Two Narratives: An Analysis of How Policymakers Have Managed British Columbia's COVID-19 Pandemic and Potential Implications for the Ongoing Overdose Crisis | Frontiers in Communication 
• Urmanche, A. A., et al. (2022). Fentanyl Preference Among People Who Use Opioids in New York City | Drug and Alcohol Dependence 
• Meyer, M., et al. (2022). Nasal administration of diacetylmorphine improved the adherence in a patient receiving heroin-assisted treatment | Harm Reduction Journal 
• O’Leary, W., et al. (2022). A structuration theory guided analysis of the hospitalization experience for people living with HIV who use drugs: My rules and their rules | International Journal of Drug Policy 
• Reed, M., et al. (2022). “You can't go wrong being safe”: Motivations, patterns, and context surrounding use of fentanyl test strips for heroin and other drugs | International Journal of Drug Policy 
• Manderson, D., et al. (2022). Thresholds: First gradually, then suddenly? | International Journal of Drug Policy 
• Yi, G., et al. (2022). Spatial and neighborhood-level correlates of lay naloxone reversal events and service availability | International Journal of Drug Policy 
• Wyse, J. J., et al. (2022). Expanding access to medications for opioid use disorder through locally-initiated implementation | Addiction Science & Clinical Practice 
• Wheeler, A., et al. (2022). Prevalence and factors associated with hospitalisation for bacterial skin infections among people who inject drugs: The ETHOS Engage Study | Drug and Alcohol Dependence 

• ‘We are losing a whole generation of Canadians’: Bill to curb toxic drug deaths defeated 
• Canada announced a plan to decriminalize some illicit drugs in British Columbia. Here’s what you need to know 
• Amid grim opioid death projections, Ottawa faces calls to move faster on safe supply
• My Overdose on “Benzo Dope” Was Part of a Current Wave 
• Liberals say they're open to speaking with provinces, cities about expanding drug decriminalization 
• ‘Anxiety’ over three-year drug decriminalization plan in B.C., former health minister says 
• The volunteers risking their lives to help drug users in Ukraine 
• Why decriminalizing drug possession won't fix Canada's toxic supply 
• Canada took a step toward decriminalizing hard drugs. Here's what it can learn from other countries 
• Students, teachers across Canada to be offered training on administering naloxone to combat overdoses 
• Our Future Doctors Are Not Learning About Addiction. That Must Change. 
• The Story You’ve Heard About Cities, Drugs, and Mental Illness Is Wrong 
• Racial disparities showed up in opioid addiction treatment during COVID 

• B.C. will decriminalize up to 2.5 grams of hard drugs. Drug users say that threshold won't decriminalize them 
• Decriminalization a good step, but safe supply key: chief coroner 
• “We need decriminalization for all”: Drug policy & human rights organizations say model in British Columbia leaves many behind 
• B.C. decriminalization doesn't go far enough, says woman who lost son to overdose 
• Drug Decrim Plan for BC Panned as Inadequate 
• British Columbia Will Decriminalize Drug Possession 
• Possession of a small amount of illicit drugs will be decriminalized in BC, starting next year 
• Take-home fentanyl test strips effective in harm reduction approach: B.C. study 
• B.C. safe consumption site marks five years of ‘truly saving lives’ 
• Drug decriminalization in B.C. 'an invitation to rejoin society', says former Yellowknifer 
• Unpredictable potency real danger in opioid crisis, expert says 
• Safer supply programs rapidly increased during COVID-19: UBC study 
• New harm-reduction program in Vancouver caters to GBQ+, gender-diverse communities 
• B.C.-led class-action lawsuit against Purdue Pharma results in $150M settlement 

• Early success is shown in Calgary for virtual opioid program 
• Decriminalizing drugs in B.C. a ground-breaking approach, says Red Deer harm reduction agency 
• Alberta should follow B.C. in decriminalizing small amounts of drugs, advocates say 
• New drug overdose prevention teams coming to downtown Edmonton 
• Alberta’s opioid-related overdoses still at record highs compared to pre-pandemic 
• Alberta opioid deaths could still hit grim record despite decrease from December 
• Harm reduction organizations sign open letter calling for better data on Alberta treatment programs 
• Alberta smartphone app intended to reduce overdose deaths in drug users at home 
• I saw three overdoses on one CTrain ride. How about you? 
• Edmonton, Calgary medical staff associations reveal health-care platform recommendations for 2023 election 
• Desperate mom brings daughter to CTrain station to buy drugs; here's what she learned 

• Where Saskatchewan stands on decriminalizing drugs 
• Sask. mayor sees B.C. drug decriminalization as learning opportunity as advocates push for national policy 
• Arcand does not support safe consumption site in Saskatoon 
• Methadone user asks Saskatchewan to reconsider formulation change 
• Drug decriminalization back up for discussion in Saskatoon 
• In special meeting, Saskatoon city leaders discuss potential merits and perils of drug decriminalization 
• North Battleford getting mobile harm reduction van 
• Regina police commission say drug decriminalization could be an option — just not yet 
• ‘More overdose deaths’: Alarms raised as Regina overnight drop-in centre closes 
• Launch held for Battlefords addictions clinic, harm reduction van 

• Med students advocate for harm reduction 
• Mayoral hopeful pledges supervised consumption site to address Winnipeg bus shelter issues 
• Dangerous drug supply should be declared health emergency: Manitoba harm reduction groups 
• 'Spiralling out of control': Coalition calls for safe consumption sites as overdose deaths rise 
• Winnipeg health centre provides naloxone training for festival attendees 

• Opioid-related harm increases during pandemic; health unit responding 
• Toronto's top doctor hopeful Ottawa will allow drug decriminalization here after B.C. 
• Ottawa harm reduction workers says B.C.'s drug decriminalization isn't enough 
• Carol Hughes on toxic street drugs in the north 
• Health unit works to address harm reduction for First Nations 
• Sudbury's supervised consumption site to open within weeks 
• A curtain dropped on our life': York Region family breaks silence on mental illness, opioid deaths in construction industry 
• Native Men's Residence gets green light to open harm reduction shelter 
• YWCA safe drug use space downtown Hamilton a ‘safe place for folks to come’ 

• Yukon supervised drug consumption site upgraded to allow indoor smoking 
• N.W.T. government not doing enough to treat, prevent addictions, says federal auditor 
• 'My people are in mental distress': Gov. Gen. Mary Simon visits Yukon community hit by drug deaths 

• Montreal public health director wants small amounts of illegal drugs decriminalized in city 
• Researchers say alternative to methadone shows promise for those addicted to opioids 
• Should we decriminalize drug possession in Quebec? 
• When Addiction Becomes a Crime
• Décriminalisation de la possession de drogues dures: Québec n’imitera pas la Colombie-Britannique 
• Des médicaments pour soigner les dépendances seront gratuits à l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard 
• La possession de petites quantités de drogues bientôt décriminalisée en C.-B. 
• Crise des surdoses: un premier pas vers la décriminalisation en Colombie-Britannique 
• Le coeur en cendres des orphelins de l’opium
• Abandonnons la «guerre à la drogue»: le sujet, c'est comment mettre en place la légalisation 

• Stop criminalizing drug users – by Giulia di Giorgio, Founder of Cape Breton Association of People Empowering Drug Users
• B.C.'s move to decriminalize simple drug possession monitored in the Maritimes 
• P.E.I. takes steps towards overdose prevention site 
• Decriminalization won't solve 'drug poisoning crisis,' workers say. So what will? 
• Inspired by addiction and tragedy, these 2 moms are trying to save lives