Past Events
Raise Shit! Social Action Saving Lives
With authors Susan Boyd, Donald MacPherson & Bud Osborn
Raise Shit! Social Action Saving Lives tells a story about community activism in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side (DTES) that culminated in a social justice movement to open the first official safe injection site in North America. This story is unique: it is told from the point of view of drug users — those most affected by drug policy, political decisions and policing. It provides a montage of poetry, photos, early Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) meetings, journal entries from the Back Alley, the “unofficial” safe injection site, and excerpts from significant health and media reports. The harms of prohibition, and resistance, hope, kindness, awakening and collective action are chronicled in these pages.
Susan Boyd is a professor at the University of Victoria. Donald MacPherson is the former Drug Policy Coordinator for the City of Vancouver. Poet Bud Osborn is a founding member of VANDU. Susan, Donald and Bud have been active for many years working on social justice issues that both strengthen and sustain the community in the Downtown East Side of Vancouver.
A question and discussion period will follow the launch presentation. This event is free and all are welcome.
For more information on Raise Shit! Social Action Saving Lives:
For immediate release
Harm Reduction Victoria releases Guerrilla Needle Exchange distribution and recovery results, plans for community forum
Victoria, Coast Salish Territories, September 8th, 2009 - Harm Reduction Victoria (HRV) closed down the Guerrilla Needle Exchange (GNX) with a final shift on Sunday August 30th, 2009.
HRV erected the temporary site on the corner of Pandora and Vancouver on May 31st to mark the one year anniversary of the closure of the Cormorant Street needle exchange. The GNX was also established in opposition to VIHA’s no-go-zone surrounding St. Andrew’s School .
“The GNX has distributed almost 7500 syringes and recovered approximately 5000 in 3 months. VIHA is clearly in denial of the immediate health care needs within that 2 block radius,” said Kim Toombs, spokesperson for HRV. “The no-go-zone is a simply a risk aversion tactic on the part of VIHA; they have not done the necessary education and outreach in the community to address the concerns of the school or the other neighbours.”
HRV continues to support people who use illicit drugs, and with recent developments around a potential site for a new fixed site needle exchange, it believes that community support is more important than ever.
“We are no further ahead with comprehensive health services for people who use illicit drugs than we were prior to the closure Cormorant St. location”, says Heather Hobbs of HRV. “We recognize the lack of site choice and the desperation people face. A new fixed site is a critical part of harm reduction in Victoria but we still need comprehensive services, including multiple sites providing the full gamut of harm reduction supplies, a variety of service delivery options, and supervised consumption services. Most importantly, people who use drugs must be involved in the development, delivery and evaluation of these services.”
Harm Reduction Victoria is currently developing an education series about health services and harm reduction.
“Due to the lack of appropriate education and information coming from VIHA, we feel that it is important for people to have access to accurate information about harm reduction in a local context”, says Heather Hobbs, a spokesperson for Harm Reduction Victoria.
To kick start the education series, on October 1st, 2009 HRV will be holding an event called "InForum: Still Not Fixed.” The InForum will discuss how health facilities like needle exchanges and supervised injection sites can operate safely within communities.
For information:
Kim Toombs, 250-893-0853, harmreductionvictoria@gmail.com
Guerrilla Needle Exchange to Continue in “No-Go Zone”
Harm Reduction Victoria to provide ongoing harm reduction services at Pandora and Vancouver Streets
Victoria, Coast Salish Territories, June 5th, 2009 - Harm Reduction Victoria has vowed to continue its Guerrilla Needle Exchange (GNX) and morning clean-up “rig digs” due to the overwhelming demand for harm reduction services within the “no-go zone”.
HRV has distributed over 2000 needles from the corner of Vancouver and Pandora streets since last Sunday, when the GNX was installed to commemorate the one-year closure of the Cormorant Street fixed-site needle exchange.
“We’re continuing our service because we’ve seen how essential our presence has been to the health and safety of the whole community”, said Harm Reduction Victoria spokesperson Heather Hobbs. “We want to be clear, though, that we are not service providers. We are very unhappy about having to do VIHA’s job”.
The GNX is located in the “no-go zone”, which bars mobile needle exchange workers from distributing safer drug use supplies in an area that spans west-to-east from Blanshard to Chambers and north-to-south from Balmoral to Yates. The “no-go zone” is sanctioned by the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA).
After a week of nightly operations, the GNX will now operate Wednesday and Sunday evenings from 7-11 pm. The morning clean-up “rig digs”, which have been in operation throughout the GNX, will also continue on Thursday and Mondays. The “rig digs” complement existing clean-up services.
"The existence of the ‘no-go zone’, the lack of supervised consumption services and the closure of the needle exchange represent unfair and discriminatory treatment on the part of VIHA”, said HRV spokesperson Kim Toombs. “We’ve waited over one year now, and we will pursue each and every possible means to make sure that drug users have access to essential health services.”
HRV is demanding the immediate end of the “no-go zone”. It is also calling for the immediate opening of fixed site needle exchanges and supervised consumption services.
For information:
Kim Toombs, 250-893-0853, victoria.harmreduction@gmail.com
Poster by Campbell Creative www.bethcampbellcreative.com
MAY 31: THE “MARCH FOR DIGNITY” TO MARK ONE-YEAR WITHOUT A FIXED-SITE NEEDLE EXCHANGE
Victoria, May 27, 2009 – The March for Dignity will take place in Victoria on Sunday, May 31st to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the eviction of the city’s only fixed site needle exchange.
The March for Dignity will demand the immediate end to the “no-service zone” condoned by the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA). The “no-service zone” bars the mobile exchange from collecting and distributing drug use supplies in an area that spans from west-to-east from Blanshard to Chambers and north-to-south from Balmoral to Yates.
The March for Dignity will also call for the immediate opening of fixed site needle exchanges and supervised consumption services.
Speakers from the Society for Living Intravenous Drug Users (SOLID), the Street Advocacy Group (SAG), the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), and Harm Reduction Victoria will address the march at several points along its route.
The March for Dignity
Date: Sunday, May 31st
Departure time: 12:00 pm
Departure point: Vancouver and Pandora
Press Conference: 11:30 am
For information: Kim Toombs, 250-893-0853, victoria.harmreduction@gmail.com
More than just needles: A forum on community health and reducing harm
Ambrosia Centre, 638 Fisgard
By donation
Presenters:
Dr. Thomas Kerr, Director, Urban Heath Research Initiative, BC Centre for Excellence for HIV/AIDS, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, UBC
Mark Haden, Clinical Supervisor, Addictions Services, Vancouver Coastal Health and Drug Policy Educator
Dr. Bernie Pauly, Assistant Professor, UVIC School of Nursing and Research Associate, Centre for Addictions Research BC
Please join us to discuss a vision of how needle exchanges and harm reduction can be part of a safe and healthy community.
A panel of compelling speakers will make short presentations about the prevention of harms associated with substance use followed by an interactive question period.
This event is co-sponsored by AIDS Vancouver Island, the Centre for Addictions Research of BC, and the BC Mental Health and Addictions Research Network and will be moderated by CBC's Gregor Craigie.
For more information call (250) 384-2366 ext 112 or email andrea.langlois(at)avi.org.
Download the poster here.
HARM REDUCTION VICTORIA ERECTS TEMPORARY NEEDLE EXCHANGE IN VANCOUVER ISLAND HEALTH AUTHORITY (VIHA) "NO-GO" ZONE
Victoria, November 27, 2008 – Harm Reduction Victoria will distribute and collect syringes and other drug-use supplies in an area where the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) has banned AIDS Vancouver Island's Street Outreach Services (SOS) from providing harm reduction services on Sunday, November 30th.
"We're marking the six month anniversary of closing of the Cormorant Street Needle Exchange by ensuring that an essential health service is provided for drug users, even if only for a few hours" said Harm Reduction Victoria' s Kim Toombs of Sunday's temporary needle exchange site. "This is a symbolic action that will also meet peoples' basic needs"
Needle distribution and collection rates have dropped by roughly 23% since the Cormorant Street exchange was forced to close on May 30, 2008. No progress has been made on finding a replacement site.
"The mobile needle exchange that is currently operating is largely insufficient, and the 'no-go' zone renders a crisis situation worse" said Victoria Counsellor Philippe Lucas. The 'no-go' zone established by VIHA bars the mobile exchange from collecting and distributing drug use supplies in an area which spans from west-to-east from Blanshard to Chambers and north-to-south from Balmoral to Yates.
"We're talking about essential health care, which is a right for all people, including drug users" said UVIC Professor Dr. Susan Boyd. "Evidence shows that services provided by safe consumption sites and needle exchanges save lives, reduce the transmission of diseases and keep our cities healthy."
PRESS CONFERENCE
DATE: Sunday, November 30th, 2008
TIME: 2 pm
LOCATION: Pandora Avenue and Vancouver Street
INFORMATION: (250)-893-0853 or victoria.harmreduction@gmail.com
FIX VICTORIA: a community dialogue on the public health crisis resulting from the loss of harm reduction services in Victoria
Save the Needle Exchange! Support Harm Reduction!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
7:00pm - 9:00pm
First Metropolitan United Church
932 Balmoral Rd
Victoria, BC
Admission: donations gratefully accepted (no one turned away)
View Map
For more information, please visit www.harmreductionvictoria.ca
or call 250-884-9821 or 250-477-8546
Design by Campbell Media (campbellmedia AT shaw.ca)
Harm Reduction Victoria and HepCBC present an event hosted by Victoria City Councillor Sonya Chandler:
An evening with Dr. Gabor Maté, physician and author of "Taming the Hungry Ghost: Understanding Addiction"
When: Wednesday, July 30th, 7:30 pm
Where: Alix Goolden Hall (907 Pandora Ave.)
Admission: by donation; books will be sold at the venue.
Please join us for an intimate examination of how addiction affects all of our lives.
For more information or for interview opportunities, please contact Philippe Lucas: 250-884-9821
Financial support for this event kindly provided by VanCity, the Center for Addictions Research of British Columbia, and the B.C. Mental Health and Addictions Research Network.
Joint HRV and HepCBC showing of Bevel Up:
- 7-9pm on Thursday, June 12th at the Jubilee Hospital Woodward Rm (Begbie Building, 2101 Richmond St.)
- The movie is 45 minutes long and will be followed by speakers who will speak about the work of their organizations and their personal experiences. Questions and community dialog to follow
Confirmed speakers:
Erin Gibson – SOS
Barb Cavill – VARC
Needle Exchange Vigil
- 6 pm on Tuesday, June 2nd on the greenway (grass in the middle of the road) at Pandora and Vancouver (see Map).
- As of June 1, 2008, Victoria's fixed site Needle Exchange on Cormorant Street will be closed for good. There is no new site for the Exchange and as a consequence, the provision of clean needles and other harm reduction supplies will be carried out by a mobile exchange service. Mobile exchanges may not be able to reach all clients and make needle exchange more visible than at a fixed site. In consequence, many clients may choose to reuse old needles or share needles rather than making an open appearance at a mobile service. The potential for an increase in HIV, Hepatitis C and bacterial infection rates is therefore very real. For the health and personal equality of our community, a fixed site needle exchange is a must!
Please come out and show your support for a fixed site needle exchange service now!<