I used to lament that it was often the case that I didn't get to know more of someone's story until their funerals, when friends & family would share stories of days gone by. As organizers, I remember we'd say, "We need a parent to speak out on this."
#Overdose #HarmReduction Then the next terrible avalanche of deaths started. I remember being in awe of the formation of @momsstoptheharm - powerhouses of grieving parents who had the unimaginable strength & courage to stand up to judgment & stigma, to honour the dead & fight like hell for the living.

It is too late to keep trying to convince individual GPs & addiction med docs to prescribe safer drugs. It's not about more training. They don't want to do it, they're scared to do it, and the incrementalism is deadly. It's time for publically funded drugs to be stocked in pharmacies, clinics, OPS, drug user orgs etc where willing healthcare practitioners can follow assessment, dosing & titration protocols informed by how people *actually* use drugs, not according to withdrawal management.

People working in harm reduction are treated as disposable beings who should have the individual capacity to solve all systemic problems. Then we are blamed for having bad boundaries. As burnout pressure rises, so does our ability to offer one another empathy & community care. As Covid shifts into a new phase, please don't forget 'the other' public health emergency. For all of the resilience, determination & commitment amongst frontline workers, people are deeply struggling.

We need (better) help. That includes people working for systemic change.