Harm Reduction: Hope in Practice New Drugs Uncut podcast out now Sheila Vakharia, Drug Policy Alliance, author The Harm Reduction Gap on development and aims of harm reduction. "Hope is a practice... harm reduction is hope." Sheila Vakharia PhD MSW Drug Policy Alliance buff.ly/3BdDuz1

Thanks Cranstoun for inviting me to #socialjustice2024 for 3 days of thought provoking content & catching up with friends . So many highlights including the absolute pleasure of sharing the story of our cross organisation collaboration with Chris Rintoul and Maddie O'Hare

If you have volunteered at the Thistle so you can batter their head to go to recovery- you are a killer. The Thistle is not a recovery recruitment service Jim. Perhaps you have suddenly changed and are pro hr but I doubt it.

What is it they did? Sounds interesting. Does collective voice push orgs now?

Organisations 12 step recovery radicals and lived experience experts ... they all harm Mwud They push a narrative that drug use causes damage & destruction and this scare tactic impacts my group. It only seems fair that I go after them & their message.

Really looking forward to seeing ppl at the Stepping Stones event tomorrow.

Anna Millington Didn't have time to go into detail, but I was mainly impressed by what sounded like the group having such involvement in the process of the merger. Felt unusual & positive to me. Not particularly pushing one organisation, but Humankind are one of our sponsors so we're connected

To take me out you have to take me on. You can't take me on from the shadows - that whispering bullshit only works if I care. It wouldn't matter who I was or what I did - am I fighting for Mwud? Am I making bank off this? Are you helping them? I'm not afraid of the truth.

I expect the leaders in the game to be honest & ethical. You can support recovery but also recognize it has problems. You can support LE but understand its limitations. Where are users in any discussions or decisions - you can't engage what you refuse to include

The user saved themselves - always. You failed if the client thinks the org saved them. Vicky Major was without doubt my lifeline but she did this by supporting me to save my life. Your job is not to save ppl - that's why you're all failing & no user wants your shit.

Not cpns, cbt, or qualified Richmond fellowship is not a fkn mental health charity - its a recovery mental health charity but it is not mental health as the average person would think. I hate shady shit where its all smoke & mirrors. Why is the recovery shit so dishonest?

Crack use is not a buvidal side effect. Either ppl just want to use it & have cash or they buy brown on top of the other meds - so not working who are we to question their use - why are we monitoring them? why do you think you get a say? why would you demonise any med?

I don't get paid by Buvidal. I see it as the one for Mwud. You've let the 2 others be weaponized. Another option & it has significance for unique groups - the ones ppl ignore. We now have 3 options not 2 - whats the fkn problem? This position is what they do about meth?

What things do lived experience have no meaning about within this sector: Ethnicity Age Gender identity Context

Higher strength drugs in circulation is not a bug - it's a feature of an unregulated market. Higher doses and wider contaminants (from active substances like MDA) to inert ones (bulking agents) are products of a lack of controls in the drug market. independent.ie/irish-news/hse…

This was the first safer drug consumption site in the UK It cost £2400 It was beautiful It was fit for purpose It changed people's lives It saved people's lives #SupportDontPunish

Your last report on women had a foreword by a man (police). This new one will show what works from the evidence included. This one will be innovative & not ex users and the usual suspects - it will outline the engagement plan & have identified we want it. Right?

I don't see violence as ignoring rights but I am at a loss to understand why anyone thinks they have a right to decide what a woman does with her body. Not for sale think her body is there's to control for free - it is HER body. It is HER choice. Stop painting her as a victim

Wales - my eyes remain on them. It is the only place the 3rd sector fully remains, we have CGL/Turning Point balancing. Wales is willing to look at what works, take risks, listen & have an opinion. We have collective fiction & egos - we also have nothing that works

We stopped getting alternative therapies in drug treatment because of no evidence base that showed ethical honest reliable results. YET Spending thousands of public money on profit rehabs that are unethical, unsafe & offer no reliable evidence they work for the many .. is ok?