Panel 4: Scaling Up Drug Checking, Envisioning Safe Supply, and Exploring New Horizons
Building on what we have learned during the earlier sessions, this panel will focus on solutions. We know that the U.S.’s prohibitionist policies will continue to incentivize new, and likely, more dangerous drugs. As drug policy reformers, people who use drugs, and people who care about people who use drugs, we need to be just as innovative and nimble as these new markets.
What are the most promising harm reduction interventions that can provide timely information and strategies to stay safe for the people who most need it? How can we scale up community drug checking given current technological, financial, political, and logistical barriers to these technologies? How might we use drug checking to shift the drug supply from the ground up? What do models of safe supply have to offer? How can we think outside of the box and usher in a new era of drug policy reform that addresses these new drugs and new markets? We will envision how to harness our knowledge and resources to reduce the harms of the unpredictable drug supply and protect ourselves, the people we love, and the people most harmed by drug prohibition.
Panelists:
- Yarelix Estrada, Remedy Alliance/For The People
- Phoenix “Mohawk” Kellye, Rebel Harm Reduction
- Hayley Thompson, Toronto’s Drug Checking Service
- Clare Schmidt, Remedy Alliance/For The People
- Louise Vincent, National Survivors Union
Moderator:
- Aliza Cohen, Drug Policy Alliance
RSVP at bit.ly/NewDrugs4. You can check out the recordings of the first three sessions on DPAV Voices YouTube channel.
