Thread by @momsstoptheharm

Here @jasonluan88 responds to arguments for #safesupply brought forward by advocates on social & mainstream media, but it appears that he needs help with understanding and interpretation of the arguments and data in support of safe supply.
Thread: 1/
#Abpoli #Ableg

https://twitter.com/jasonluan88/status/1265286085912850433

In the headline @jasonluan88 continues to use stigmatizing language with the word “addict”. People who use drugs are people first!
Stigma causes people to to use and die alone.

Here are helpful resources on stigma for the minsiter.

#ableg #abpoli
2/
canada.ca/en/health-cana…

A person with lived and living experience is free to chose how they self-identify, but unless @jasonluan88 has lived experience he should stick to #PersonFirstLanuage
#Abpoli #Ableg
3/

Minister @jasonluan88 missed an important detail: #SafeSupply is the opposite from "supplying people with illicit drugs", but rather to provide PWUD with safe pharmaceutical alternatives, as outlined in the @BCCSU guidelines.
#Abpoli #ableg
4
bccsu.ca/wp-content/upl…

The issue is not #potency of substances, but #toxicity. Both contribute to ODs. Toxicity also comes from contamination with unexpected substances (opioids in stimulants) or toxic bioproducts.
It would be helpful to have access to the data @jasonluan88 quotes
#Abpoli #Ableg
5

The statement by @jasonluan88 “this current crisis began with doctors freely prescribing opioids” ignores important issues: (1) prescribing most often occurred to opioid naïve patients, #safersupply goes to people who are currently using and unable to stop.
#Abpoli #Ableg
6

(2) the role of prohibition & the #warondrugs that brought us fentanyl (easier to smuggle, cheaper, greater profits).
#Abpoli #ableg
7

It is narrow thinking by @jasonluan88 to blame for the #overdosecrisis on physicians, without examining the role of flawed #drugpolicy that contributed illicit markets. The vast majority overdose deaths are attributed to illicit, rather than prescription opioids.
#Ableg
8/

Minister @jasonluan88 comments on the fact that #addiction is considered a health condition, but he ignores the range of treatment options, including OAT by prescribing alternatives such as methadone, suboxone, kadian and hydromorphone (iOAT).
9/
#ableg #abpoli

These, rather than abstinence based programs, are the most effective treatment approaches to opioid use disorder as outlined by CRISM guidelines.
#Abpoli #Ableg
crismontario.ca/research-proje…

10/

Minister @jasonluan88 notes $40 million towards treatment “spaces”. Where are the spaces? List the centres, number of unique people served by this investment. If you say it works, where is the data?
We know many AB families who cannot find these spaces.
#Abpoli #ableg
11/

I keep on saying this to @jasonluan88:
#Recoveryworks if you are alive. #safersupply keeps people alive and gives them hope. Its #harmreduction intervention that reconnects ppl back with HCPs, aims to repair discrimination/stigma experienced in healthcare.
#Abpoli #AbLeg
12/

A continuum of care that does not involve harm reduction is not a continuum. If the “Alberta Model” @jasonluan88 refers to was working, where is the data? Are there less people dying of overdose? Are people with living experience responding to less overdoses in the community? 13/

If the government's’ approach is as successful as @jasonluan88 claims, why is #overdose data not made readily available to ensure accountability?
#Abpoli #Ableg
14/

Other data not released is information about ED visit and EMS calls, which we anecdotally know have seen steep increases. I know from my time on MEORC, the previos opioid commission, that data is continuously collected so why is the @CMOH_Alberta not releasing it?
14/

As often explained in #COVID19 responses, good public health starts with good surveillance data.
#Abpoli #AbLeg
15/

To close, I would like to quote a fellow advocate @CoreyRanger who outlines “9 Reasons to Support Safe Supply” that @jasonluan88 should review, starting with

#SafeSupply saves lives!

That's what matters to us as families!

16/End

momsstoptheharm.com/personal-blog/…