Manitoba Harm Reduction Network

Friday (November 20) marks the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR), a day to honour the memory of those who have been killed as a result of anti-transgender v...iolence. The day was founded in 1999 by Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil in honour of Rita Hester, who was murdered in 1998. Since then, vigils, services and gatherings have been held around the world to commemorate the lives and mourn the losses within transgender communitites. According to the Transrespect versus Transphobia Worldwide research project and the Trans Murder Monitoring research project, 350 transgender and gender-diverse people were killed from October 2019 to September 2020 around the world, with the majority of those documented being transgender women or trans-feminine people, people of colour, and sex workers. (https://transrespect.org/en/tmm-update-tdor-2020/) In light of safety restrictions this year, local vigils and services are being offered and hosted via Zoom. Two Spirited People of Manitoba Inc.and Manitoba Moon Voices Inc. will be hosting a digital 2Spirit Trans Day of Remembrance at 7:30pm. There will be a sacred fire, invocation, and calling of names. Register to attend by emailing [email protected]. There will also be a digital candlelight vigil by TDOR Brandon from 7-8pm on Zoom. You can register to attend by emailing [email protected] using the subject line TDOR 2020 Vigil Registration, and follow TDOR Brandon on Facebook. For a full list of names of the documented deaths, and for more information regarding TDoR and transgender advocacy, please check out these sources: transrespect.org/en/tmm-update-tdor-2020/ tdor.info/ glaad.org/tdor #TransgenderDayofRemembrance #TransgenderDayofRemembrance2020 #TDOR #TDOR2020 #TwoSpiritedPeopleofManitoba #ManitobaMoonVoices

November 20th is the Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day that marks the murder of transgender people due to anti-trans violence. Trans, non-binary, and Two-Spirit people continue to experience gender based violence and discrimination at disproportionate and heartbreaking levels. We stand in the fight for trans rights working towards a future that is safe for all.

Dr. Carl Hart, a Columbia University psychology professor, substance use researcher and harm reduction expert says, We have to guard against drug elitism, the thinking that your drug is better than someone else’s drug. Whatever works best for you is fine.[1] When we look at social hierarchies of drugs we need to be aware that many of these hierarchies are not about the drugs themselves - their safety or effects - but are about which groups are associated with which drugs. S...ocial hierarchies of drugs are largely rooted in racism and classism. This can be seen in the social stigma implications of wine moms vs. crack moms. It’s no coincidence that wine culture, typically associated with white, middle class moms is treated very differently from crack cocaine which is typically associated with poverty and Black and Indigenous communities. The difference in stigma, criminalization and child apprehension is harmful.[2] White middle class moms have the privilege of framing their substance use as self-care, fun, relaxing, a way to bond with other moms, even as classy. And substance use CAN be self-care, fun, relaxing, and a way to bond with other moms! That’s not just true for white middle class moms who drink wine, but they’re the only ones who get to talk about substance use while mothering without massive amounts of stigma and shame. (And hey, we’re not picking on moms - while Wine Mom is a popular cultural trope that many women positively self-identify with, there are lots of positive cultural tropes about dads who drink, too. In fact men use alcohol at slightly higher rates that women.[3]) ALL drugs can be used in moderate, responsible ways, or used in problematic ways. If we want to reduce harms and decriminalize we need to reduce stigma around all drugs, and make it safer for parents to talk about the help they need without fear of losing their children. ----- We are selling ‘I heart someone who uses drugs’ merch as a fundraising initiative for our organization. Please visit www.mhrn.ca/store or visit our website www.mhrn.ca and choose the Shop tab in our menu. ----- 1. https://filtermag.org/carl-hart-psychedelic-exceptionalism/ 2.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iED6XLT6Yos 3.https://www.canada.ca//2017-sum/2017-detailed-tables.html

Love it! <3 Thanks Stimulus: Drugs, Policy and Practice in Canada! https://twitter.com/stimulus2020/status/1329214016271486977

Community opportunity! Casual and flexible!

The Manitoba Harm Reduction Network is thrilled to announce the launch of our new ONLINE STORE to coincide with National Substance Use Awareness Week! We are selling ‘I heart someone who uses drugs’ merch as a fundraising initiative for our organization. Please visit www.mhrn.ca/store or visit our website www.mhrn.ca and choose the Shop tab in our menu. We ALL love someone who uses drugs. In 2017 The MHRN launched the I Someone Who Uses Drugs Campaign. This campaign was... aimed at reducing the stigma associated with people who use drugs and was integrated into our training materials, events, and organizational messaging. The idea is that anyone could wear this t-shirt, because we all love someone who uses drugs. We’ve distributed hundreds of t-shirts to peers, service providers and anyone who loves folks that use drugs, and now we’re finally making it easy for you to get one, too! All items are made in and shipped from Canada. All prices are in Canadian dollars ($CAD).

Good job Altona! People in town are going to use cannabis whether they can buy it at a local, legal retailer or not.

If I talked about having a problem, I was afraid of the way people would treat me because I’m a mother and using. Parents are judged constantly for not accessing services they need but the reality is that there are huge barriers to accessing those services. The top 3 barriers to accessing support for women that use drugs were found to be:... shame (cited by 66% of study participants) fear of losing children if they identified a need for treatment (62%) fear of prejudicial treatment on the basis of their motherhood/pregnancy status (60%) [1] If we want parents who use drugs to access help, it needs to be safer, free of judgement, and have policies against engaging the systems that remove peoples children. Imagine if every time someone felt their use was no longer fun but was getting problematic they could ask for and get help, without shame, stigma, endless waiting lists, mandatory abstinence, or fear of CFS. ----- We are selling ‘I heart someone who uses drugs’ merch as a fundraising initiative for our organization. Please visit www.mhrn.ca/store or visit our website www.mhrn.ca and choose the Shop tab in our menu. ----- [1] Poole, N. & Isaac, B. (1999). Apprehensions: Barriers to Treatment for Substance-Using Mothers. Retrieved November 5, 2020, from the BC Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health website: www.bccewh.bc.ca

People Who Love People Who Use Substances Support Group: This new peer-led group of individuals who support and love someone who uses substances and experience ...mental health issues. The PWLPWUS committee and group was created due to the lack of community connection for friends and family wanting to support their loved ones through a harm reduction, non-faith based framework. Due to COVID-19, meetings will be held online and moved to in-person when safe to do so. Frequency of meetings, video platform, and in-person restrictions are subject to change. Please follow Central Neighbourhoods Winnipeg for updates. Group leader biographies coming soon! To learn more or register, contact Chance at [email protected] Call/Txt (204) 451-2455

"The OxyContin maker admitted impeding the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s efforts to combat the addiction crisis. Purdue acknowledged that it had not maintained an effective program to prevent prescription drugs from being diverted to the black market, even though it had told the DEA it did have such a program, and that it provided misleading information to the agency as a way to boost company manufacturing quotas. It also admitted paying doctors through a speakers program to induce them to write more prescriptions for its painkillers. And it admitted paying an electronic medical records company to send doctors information on patients that encouraged them to prescribe opioids."

If you need COVID testing in Winnipeg and don't have a vehicle or a ride you can get a cab paid for.

The HIV Legal Network sharing the negative consequences of having police attend overdoses: COMIC: NO POLICE AT OVERDOSES Does the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act work as its intended? While overdoses are a medical emergency, police are often attending overdose scenes with negative consequences for people who use drugs. ... See full comic here: http://www.hivlegalnetwork.ca//comic-no-police-at-overdo/

CMHA Interlake Eastern is excited to be providing a free online training on October 25th to help participants have supportive conversations around suicide. For ...more details please see https://interlakeeastern.cmha.ca//safetalk-training-online/ City of Selkirk Interlake-Eastern Health Manitoba Harm Reduction Network LivingWorks Education

As community agencies, we must recognize the central role that people who use drugs play in the provision of critical and life-saving services to friends and n...eighbours. Satellite programs offer some initial steps toward more meaningful engagement. New CATIE Blog post by Liam Michaud, Gillian Kolla and Rhiannon Thomas at South Riverdale Community Health Centre - SRCHC, Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre. See more

We’ve been the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network for more than 25 years. That’s a long history of challenging injustice and defending human rights for all, includ...ing and especially people living with, at risk of, and affected by HIV. But to work for justice, we need a name that does us justice. We are now the HIV Legal Network! It’s shorter and easier to use, while also an instantly recognizable refresh, allowing us to seamlessly continue our advocacy. We’ve changed our name, but not our values or our mission. . . . Nous avons été le Réseau juridique canadien VIH/sida pendant plus de 25 ans. C’est un long parcours de lutte contre l’injustice et de défense des droits humains de tous et toutes, notamment des personnes vivant avec le VIH, affectées par celui-ci et à risque. Or, quand on travaille pour la justice, il faut un nom qui nous rende justice. Nous sommes à présent le Réseau juridique VIH! Plus court, facile à utiliser et instantanément reconnaissable ce qui nous permet de poursuivre notre plaidoyer en toute continuité. Nous avons modifié notre nom, mais pas nos valeurs et notre mission. www.hivlegalnetwork.ca

We've been watching this webinar series and it's really excellent! The next one is Oct 21 and you should check it out! https://www.healthpovertyaction.org//legal-regulation-of-/

Meet our MHRN Team