My article covering the positive aspects of substance use and challenging the idea that total abstinence is the only acceptable approach to addiction.
#HarmReduction #DrugPolicy #Health #Politics #Addiction #Opioids
https://medium.com/@thomas.embree/substance-use-is-not-always-bad-c0a8785cb34a
Bro #WashingtonDC is fucked (on a lot of levels but specifically), WE NEED CONDOMS: if you work in #HarmReduction and have a source you're willing to pass along (the city stopped fulfilling our orders), or a bunch of condoms you can't move sitting around on pallets and taking up storage space, hmu I would be *thrilled* to talk with you wherever you are in the US!!
#SaferSex #HIVPrevention #PublicHealth
for everyone's sake, when it comes to protests / demos / actions, please:
• wear a mask
• cover your face and any identifying marks (hair color, tattoos, piercings, body mods, logos)
• avoid arrest by any means necessary (so long as it doesn't jeopardize the safety of others)
• scrub faces from imagery (stills, footage)
• refuse to boost posts that include sensitive information about anyone involved (names, neighborhood, address, place of work), including visible identifying marks in imagery (faces, tattoos)
I had the privilege of living and working in #myanmar in 2007 on an #hiv and #harmreduction program. This is from the UN high commissioner for human rights. In Türk’s own words “The human rights situation in Myanmar is among the worst in the world […] The military continued its campaign of terrorizing the population through acts of extreme brutality, including beheadings, burnings, mutilations, executions, torture, and the use of human shields.”
Please read my new Medium article, which puts a spotlight on Canadian harm reduction activist Dr. Mark Tyndall who is responsible for creating the MySafe safe supply project and defending Vancouver's Insite from being shut down.
He is a true Canadian hero who has saved countless lives.
#Canada #HarmReduction #SafeSupply #DrugPolicy #Politics #Health
https://medium.com/@thomas.embree/harm-reduction-spotlight-dr-mark-tyndall-5dc47df1353c
Friend asked me on how to help her trans kid. I couldn't find a good guide for this, especially with states like Iowa stripping us of our rights.
I want to be clear that this should not be done without the child's input. Always, always trust the kid to understand and always give them the chance to participate. There are ways to adjust the language for the age of the child, and children often have creative ideas when given the chance to participate. The goal here is to give the child the tools to help them thrive, okay? Thanks for understanding.
So without further ado, here's steps on how to help trans kids navigate all of this.
1. Identify safe groups where the child can be themself. Remember, the child likely will have ideas on who to ask. So be sure to ask the child who they trust for this conversation.
*NOTE: Talk with those on the "trusted" list and/or leaders of the trusted groups and verify they will defend the kid's right to be themself and support them. (Child doesn't necessarily have to be present for this, but let the child know how it went to ease anxiety.)
2. Identify which friends are safe and will honor their pronouns. Again, the child will have ideas on this too. Make a list together!
3. Sit down with the kid and explain this process.
* (For my friend, I shared with them how I also wrote up a safety plan and harm reduction plan on how to navigate an increasingly hostile society such as my state stripping me of my civil rights. Having examples of others who have done this can help solidify the need and make it more approachable and less scary).
4. Share the list of groups and people who support the kid and will have their back 100%. (Be ready to hold those people accountable as a behind-the-scenes thing). Ask the kid if there are others they think you should work with to get them on board. Add them to the "talk to" part of the list."
5. Build a harm reduction and safety plan with the kid. This includes:
* Talk about how to handle strangers in public spaces in a way that avoids too much misgendering but also keeps the kid safe. (Maybe use only their name and avoid pronouns entirely for instance).
* Talk about how to handle medical professionals who are not known for being trans-friendly; how in those instances the kid will be wearing a "costume" as a safety strategy where they pretend to be x gender.
*Talk about parks and other public spaces.
*Talk about how to handle when meeting new people. How to test the water to see if it is safe to take off the 'x gender costume' or not.
6.Make sure the kid signs off on the harm reduction and safety plan, and that they feel included in it. Try to make it fun by drawing out scenarios, and explaining how sometimes we have to act like we're in a play for that scenario. We put on our "costume of x gender" and act out a play. Then when we are out of that scenario, we can take off our "costume of x gender" and enjoy being ourselves again around our safe groups and people.
(I'll write this up as a blogpost eventually. But for now, wanted to put it out there for folks to think about since transphobia and anti-trans legislation and policies are ramping up again. Please share any tips or resources you know of that can help!)
Here is my newest Medium article. It addresses the forced drug treatment centres currently being planned in Alberta and being discussed in other parts of the country.
Forced treatment is violence.
#Canada #Alberta #Opioids #HarmReduction #DrugPolicy
https://medium.com/@thomas.embree/forced-drug-treatment-is-violence-a50022710a0e
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40004740/?utm_source=Other&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pubmed-2&utm_content=1Jks6COFDAP2wn10NWIf-H0HaQXEJkWUqtjQ12xwhgtqZed1QU&fc=20250204204106&ff=20250226062609&v=2.18.0.post9+e462414 The Assessment of the Safety Profile of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors Versus Other Antidepressants: Drug-Drug Interaction Insights from EudraVigilance (Dobrea, et al, 2025) #antidepressants #drugs #ssri #harmreduction #drugsafety #druguse
My newest article has been published. I enjoyed writing this one, and I hope you enjoy reading it.
It addresses the impact of the Opioid Crisis on gender diverse people and the need for better research on the issue.
#HarmReduction #DrugPolicy #LGBT #OpioidCrisis #Gender
https://medium.com/@thomas.embree/breaking-the-binary-8af7ce02af35
#harmreduction #Indigenous First Nation Communities, Tribal Councils & Indigenous Organizations can get 100 Nasal Naloxone Kits for free by going on this link to put orders in.
Thunderbird Partnership Foundation National Naloxone Distribution Program
I was just waiting for this.
Any time people take it upon themselves to help the homeless, the government tells them to stop.
My only advice, if you do help the homeless, is to ignore the government when they tell you to stop and actively resist their efforts to stop you if they take that next step.
Fucking ridiculous.
#Canada #Homeless #Society #HarmReduction #Compassion
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/tiny-tiny-homes-cease-and-desist-toronto-1.7458835
I've just published my next Medium article. It takes a look at the demographics of harm reduction leadership and argues in favour of greater lived experienced in the policy making process.
#HarmReduction #DrugPolicy #Health #Healthcare #Politics
https://medium.com/@thomas.embree/from-margins-to-mainstream-fe3497fbd82a
"the bottom line on whether Lurie’s fentanyl crackdown sinks or swims will be whether people actually...notice things getting better"
That's the problem.
Much, most of the City's work to address crises of homelessness, untreated mental illness, drug addiction, overdoses, rampant inequality has been focused on appearance - on public perception, NOT on actually addressing these crises in a considered, effective and compassionate way.
Sweeping the problems under the rug - moving addicts from the visibility of the streets to the invisibility of incarceration, literally sweeping up homeless people's few belongings and meagre shelter and shipping some of them out of town while driving others into darkness, to whatever holes they can find out of the public eye, where many of them simply... die.
Maybe - maybe - Lurie will do better. I've seen nothing so far to suggest that will be true in more than the most limited way. We'll see
Birdapp refugee looking for fellow accounts on the topic of but not limited to: #ClimateChange #COVIDisAirborne #Antifascist #Antifa #HighRisk #Masks #LongCovid #cPTSD #Neurodivergent #ReproductiveRights #SexworkerInclusiveFeminism #SexWorkAdvocacy #DecrimSexWork #Privacy #Cybersecurity #Leftism #HarmReduction #Collapse #FreePress #Surveillance #MentalHealth #COVID19 #Feminism #LabLeakTheory #climateChangeNews #Infosec #FirearmsEducation #SelfReliance #PrepperTips #Prepper #Queer #PublicHealth
How Texas’ War on Drug Users Fueled an Overdose Disaster
‘In general, Texas has been reluctant to embrace the strategy of harm reduction, a broadly defined term for helping people who use drugs without stigmatizing or imposing strict parameters, while also involving drug users in planning and implementation. Harm reduction has been promoted in the United States since at least the 1980s.’ #WarOnDrugs #HarmReduction
https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-war-on-drug-users-austin-overdose-disaster/
Indigenous Canadians are the hardest hit by the Opioid Crisis in Canada. Yet there is an appalling lack of research into the issue at the federal level. Most research comes from British Columbia or Alberta, which doesn't tell us enough about the national situation. Municipal level research is patchwork and mostly absent.
We need more data. We need more compassion.
My new Medium article is up! It examines the impact of the opioid crisis on indigenous Canadians. Medium subscription required. Free access link provided upon request. #Health #Life #HarmReduction #DrugPolicy #OpioidCrisis #Politics #Society https://medium.com/@thomas.embree/indigenous-canadians-and-the-opioid-crisis-3932b7307472
@kkeller @lauren like "Akshually he didn't sell drugs but merely maintained a platform!"...
@w7voa I find these statements problematic because they are about manipulating the court, not about judgement.
Be free, my friends, and be safe. Get yo asses off ALL #corporate services. Now. Yesterday! Do it! There's a world of great #FOSS #alternatives out there!
Check out https://alternativeto.net for suggestions on replacement software & services.
Check out https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted for a MASSIVE list of services you can host yourself! You can run almost anything on an old #pc with #linux.
We don't NEED #apple, #google, #microsoft, #x, #facebook, etc. We can do it all, without any of them!
(he / they) 
