"After years of mass fatalities during a toxic drug crisis, researchers warn that sometimes the population at risk can shrink. When thousands of people die, fewer people remain in the statistics."
“You can’t die twice.” @reclaimcollective.bsky.social
substack.com/home/post/p-...
The last slide references something said during #IOAD2025 CBC interview. Asked what she thought about overdose numbers going down, Jenn from RECLAIM responded:
“You can’t die twice”
Capturing a sharp, painful truth many communities living through the unregulated drug crisis already understand.
Canadian drug checking keeps finding down mixed with benzos, xylazine, metatomidine, and nitazenes. These combos make the supply unpredictable and can make overdoses harder to reverse
The crisis isn’t just fentanyl, but an unregulated, contaminated supply.
Real success means keeping people alive.
When overdose deaths drop, politicians are quick to claim their policies are working.
Another explanation: the population at risk can shrink after years of mass fatalities. When thousands of people die during a toxic drug crisis, fewer people remain in the statistics.
You can’t die twice 🗣️
Governments approach the toxic drug crisis with organized abandonment, when those in power deliberately withdraw support, leaving people vulnerable to harm, poverty and death.
Our thoughts with @kokumsarah.bsky.social and @heartforward.bsky.social
#DrugSky
open.substack.com/pub/heartsal...
Join us and @nsscop-suhn.bsky.social for drop-in, Thursday at 12 EST | 10 am MST. Link 👇
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
The topic: What does “recovery” even mean anymore?
Caregivers, especially women, we see you 🫶
#RECLAIMcollective is honored to work on this project, led by @hollymathias.bsky.social at University of Alberta
Check out the full report to learn about caregiver experiences for #PWUD in rural Western Canada
static1.squarespace.com/static/5ac64...
It turns out the collection of personal health numbers at supervised consumption sites is total bust: six percent of site clients who died over a study period *visited sites again later*.
Site clients don't respect the rule, so they swap around PHNs. Wouldn't you?
drugdatadecoded.ca/we-can-help-...
Join us tomorrow at 10 MST / 12 EST with @nsscop-suhn.bsky.social for this week’s drop-in discussion topic “Hospital Stigma: strategies for self advocacy and harm reduction inside hospitals”
If you’re not already a member, register here:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Join Changemark, Reclaim and @nsscop-suhn.bsky.social for another Hot Topic webinar this Thursday, January 29 at 10 MST / 12 EST
Register here:
www.substanceusehealth.ca/upcoming-pub...
📣 New Report: Unpaid family caregivers are doing essential and often invisible work. Our new community report 🧪shares what caregiving looks like for families supporting people who use drugs in rural Western Canada.
Read more: static1.squarespace.com/static/5ac64...
Happy Holidays y’all! 🎄 We hope you get good rest, time with loved ones and the spirit continues to find you in 2026. Thank you to partners and individuals across the country for the support over the past year! 👊
🎅🏼To close out our mutual aid for the quarter, we donated $175 to the Guelph van outreach (Sanguen Health Centre) for the informative, fun work they do with #PWUD
We also paid a guest blogger $100, whose piece on surviving the cold weather will be featured on the website in the New Year.
Come talk conferences and safety, hope to see ya there 👊
Sign up with SUHN for the link:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Join us at Thursday drop in at 12 EST with @nsscop-suhn.bsky.social 💥 We welcome Steph from Sanguen/ Guelph Community Health Van as well as Jenn, Rebecca & Tonya to share their experience presenting/attending #CCSAconference last week in Halifax, NS ⚓️🦞🗒️
Check out this new piece on safer supply from Fifth Estate featuring our pal Jordan Westfall 💯
![Screenshot of letter P1
We, the undersigned, are writing to you in regard to an opinion article by Mr. Guy Felicella [ Reprinted here by the Breakdown ] that was published in the Calgary Herald on October 1, 2025, but was subsequently removed without this being communicated to the writer. We ask that this article is re-published immediately and that an apology is issued. Mr. Felicella wrote his article in response to a previous opinion piece by Mr. Marshall Smith , the former chief of staff of the Premier of Alberta, published in the Calgary Herald on September 23, 2025, entitled “Opinion: Banning public drug use is bold, courageous and obvious”. This letter does not mean to address the substance of Mr. Smith’s or Mr. Felicella’s articles, but rather the issue of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. As a person with considerable lived experience in substance use and as an advocate who bridges harm reduction and recovery, Mr. Felicella expressed his concern over Mr. Smith’s approach. In his article Mr. Felicella did not defame, slander or misrepresent facts. He offered a different perspective that is informed by lived experience of substance use, near death from toxic drugs and his recovery journey. Opinion sections in Canadian newspapers are supposed to offer differing opinions, not only those that are in line with the editorial board or of people with power and influence. This is clearly stated in the Ethics Guidelines of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), which we assume you and your publication espouses to.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6ebqyzhhzwyqsswlucgsm6vp/bafkreigeoxgi7fvotndwf33fa6w5fdtzsyzcklggp25dmuoh6vcpaegybi)
Screenshot of letter P1 We, the undersigned, are writing to you in regard to an opinion article by Mr. Guy Felicella [ Reprinted here by the Breakdown ] that was published in the Calgary Herald on October 1, 2025, but was subsequently removed without this being communicated to the writer. We ask that this article is re-published immediately and that an apology is issued. Mr. Felicella wrote his article in response to a previous opinion piece by Mr. Marshall Smith , the former chief of staff of the Premier of Alberta, published in the Calgary Herald on September 23, 2025, entitled “Opinion: Banning public drug use is bold, courageous and obvious”. This letter does not mean to address the substance of Mr. Smith’s or Mr. Felicella’s articles, but rather the issue of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. As a person with considerable lived experience in substance use and as an advocate who bridges harm reduction and recovery, Mr. Felicella expressed his concern over Mr. Smith’s approach. In his article Mr. Felicella did not defame, slander or misrepresent facts. He offered a different perspective that is informed by lived experience of substance use, near death from toxic drugs and his recovery journey. Opinion sections in Canadian newspapers are supposed to offer differing opinions, not only those that are in line with the editorial board or of people with power and influence. This is clearly stated in the Ethics Guidelines of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), which we assume you and your publication espouses to.
The removal of Mr. Felicella’s article and the suppression of differing opinions is in contravention of this guideline. It is akin to US-style politics that punishes those in opposition to the current administration. While Mr. Felicella is not Jimmy Kimble, we feel that this is an attempt at silencing him. We therefore demand that the opinion article by Mr. Felicella is republished immediately, in keeping with Canadian journalistic standards and CAJ guidelines. Many of the undersigned have offered countless hours to Postmedia journalists in interviews, with expert opinions or background briefs. While some of us will continue to do so for the time being, as we value the efforts of those frontline journalists, others may no longer make themselves available. We all pledge to no longer share Postmedia new stories on our social and alternative media platforms, which, combined, have considerable reach. We hope that you will stand by and show that you uphold the principle freedom of expression by your actions, and that you can stand firm against undue influence and legal challenges designed to silence critics. Regards, Link to letter and signatures https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rzKSdaVEAki8NQifrbis6nkpxMQm7wjp/view?usp=drive_link
Open letter to Postmedia and @calgaryherald.com to call for the OpEd by @guyfelicella.bsky.social to be republished immediately. Silencing people with lived experience is not in keeping with journalistic standards silences us all.
#media #journalism #freespeech
drive.google.com/file/d/1rzKS...
Julia’s talk will explore how Peer Specialists working in substance use health systems navigate exploitation, isolation, and co-optation within both abstinence-based and harm reduction environments — and what transformative, justice-oriented peer work can look like instead 🔥
Hey hey, we are excited for another #ResearchSpotlight with Julia Reid! Click the link below and we’ll see you Thursday, November 13 at 12 pm EST 👀
Partnered with @nsscop-suhn.bsky.social
Register:
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
We are super excited to present at the @drpetercentre Community of Practice on October 29 👻
We will chat about how and why we formed, what we do and our lived experiences in #HarmReduction
Please join us 🎃
To register:
drpeter-org.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Thursday October 23 at 12 EST / 10 MST
Join Reclaim and @nsscop-suhn.bsky.social for this timely discussion on the impacts of de-prescribing, program closures and the current realities facing safe supply clients in #Ontario
Register here:
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
October 23 not 24, whoops
Also sign up with @nsscop-suhn.bsky.social for a spotlight webinar on October 24 with speakers from the reaearch team for this project to hear more in depth analysis and insights
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Check out this research on Safer Opioid Supply #SOS program closures that our cofounder Andrzej is a co-author on
👇👇👇
harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
EDMONTON #yeg
Check out your municipal candidates’ take on drug policy and harm reduction👇👇👇
For a powerful snippet of where we seem to be headed in North American drug policy, listen to Tamas Kardos from Hungary (1:13:50 - 1:20:15)
#RECLAIMcollective showed our support to numerous #IOAD2025 events in Alberta and Ontario 💜🕯️
🔥 Our Support Don’t Punish 2025 webinar kept building energy as it went. Voices from around the world came together to share truth, strategy, and solidarity.
This global conversation was a collective resistance that left us feeling connection and love for PWUD worldwide.
#DrugSky #HarmReduction
