Harm Reduction Coalition's Podcast

This week’s podcast focuses on the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion Program http://leadkingcounty.org/ which “is a pre-booking diversion pilot program … to address low-level drug and prostitution crimes in the Belltown neighborhood in Seattle and the Skyway area of unincorporated King County.” A presentation from Seattle Police Department’s (Deputy) Police Chief Pugel from the International AIDS Conference (courtesy of our friends at the HCLU http://drogriporter.hu/en/hclu_tv ) and an interview with Kris Nyrop of the Defender Association. He originally spoke on this in December 2010. http://harmreduction.org/publication-type/podcast/twelve/ )

Johnny Volume of the Outer Boroughs talks about injecting in bathrooms both public and at the exchange, risky injection practices, monitoring syringe exchange bathrooms and smoking crack in the bathroom.

Bathrooms at syringe exchange programs have always been a venue for injection. 3 different programs which have addressed the issue talk about their strategies for making their bathrooms safer. Part 1 of 2.

The 2013 United Nations' Commission on Narcotics Drugs meeting took place in March. Harm Reduction Coalition's Sharon Stancliff and Allan Clear along with Heather Haase from the International Drug Policy Consortium http://idpc.net/ report back on the warm winds of change happening in the global arena. Report from Donald MacPherson of the Canadian http://drugpolicy.ca/2013/03/reading-between-the-lines/ and police briefing paper from IDPC http://bit.ly/14hI9IS

The war on drugs is a mechanism by which people with a history of drug use have their civil and human rights taken from them. Voting disenfranchisement is an example of how drug users get pushed outside of society. Ron Crowder of Nashville's Street Works http://street-works.org/ and human rights advocate, Brian Thompson, talk about how disenfranchisement affects them.

A common story but one well worth documenting. A young drug user from upstate New York breaks down buprenorphine, pills, heroin, methamphetamine, crack and family.

Atlanta hosted the 2nd Southern Harm Reduction and Drug Policy Conference. Allan Clear and Hadiyah Charles talk to Robert Childs and Nab Dasgupta of the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition http://www.nchrc.org/, Mona Bennett of the Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition, http://www.atlantaharmreduction.org/, Charles Stephens of AIDS United http://www.aidsunited.org/, Valencia Robinson of Mississippi in Action http://mississippiinaction.org/ and Mara Collins of the Kindred Healing Justice Collective http://kindredhealingjustice.org/ . Plus an awesome video featuring Mona Bennett and the Wire’s Michael K. Williams http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obqgiCl7-xg

In recognition of 2012 World Overdose Day bit.ly/QnHQoR, a conversation with its originator Sally Finn; Eliza Wheeler of the Dope Project bit.ly/QKwrKq and Haven Wheelock of Portland’s Outside In bit.ly/fsVzTG talk about preparations for the day; Philip Coffin MD, Director of Substance Use Research for the San Francisco Department of Public Health discusses why our bodies react the way they do to an excess of opiates, the cost effectiveness of narcan and where science needs to head next; and a conversation about the nature of experiencing and dealing with an overdose.

Stephen Lewis http://www.aidsfreeworld.org/ was the UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. He provided us with a blueprint for addressing HIV and global drug policy at an event “The Neglected Epidemic: Can We Get to Zero Without Drug Policy Reform?” hosted by the Harm Reduction Coalition, International Doctors for Healthy Drug Policy http://idhdp.com/ and the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy http://www.icsdp.org/ at AIDS 2012.

Naina Khanna, PWN Coordinator, Director of Policy and Community Organizing, and Ije Ude, International AIDS Conference Organizer, of Positive Women’s Network http://www.pwn-usa.org/ talk about the impact of the conference on positive women in the US and the impact of positive women on the conference. And the value of having the conference in the US.

This wraps up coverage from the conference. For more harm reduction highlights check out http://bit.ly/MN4EMo

Penetration to the interior of the fabulous harm reduction networking zone. Conversations with Anistla Rugama, Ron Daniels, Clare Hacksel, Eric Doris, Angela Wood and Mark Kinzly.

Eric Goosby is the US Global AIDS Coordinator. He spoke at the HIV and Drug Policy Forum reconfirming the US’ absolute commitment to something or other that may or may not exist for people who do things that other people don’t like to know about and that no-one should actually mention because if you do people who don’t like you will strangle the flow of money that doesn’t actually flow very well to people who do things that you can’t really mention.

AIDS 2012 is up and running. http://bit.ly/S32GIc This episode features the newly appointed UN Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS for Eastern Europe and Central Asia and former Director of the Global Fund, Michel Kazatchkine. Michel was at the recent drug user meeting in Kiev. Voices of drug users excluded from the AIDS 2012 can be heard and seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRYeTP7_ykc

Conversations about the early development of needle exchange in New York City with Amirah Sequeira, Student Global AIDS Campaign, http://www.studentglobalaidscampaign.org/, Harm Reduction Coalition’s Brian Thompson, and trainer, educator, harm reduction activist Richard Elovich http://www.richardelovich.com/ of the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University.

This week’s podcast is a conversation about anal health and pleasure with (Harm Reduction Coalition) trainer, University of Washington Phd Candidate and awesome guy, Bryan Kutner. Helpful links: IRMA's FAQ about anal lubricants. http://bit.ly/LJ1qWW Top 10 Rules about Anal Sex, on the Good Vibrations website, based on Jack Morin's book, Anal Pleasure and Health. http://bit.ly/MhMQHT A report from NYC DOHMH that frames anal sex as a women's health issue, not just an MSM issue. Bryan says: "The message is clear...use a condom every time..." but that's a commissioner's message, not a harm reduction worker's words. http://on.nyc.gov/ancy3A

Harm Reduction Coalition’s Policy Director, Daniel Raymond reports back on the Truvada news, the FDA meetings on naloxone, and developments in the world of HCV including baby boomer HCV testing day! http://1.usa.gov/KlpIU5

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