2023 Calendar Content

In the wake of the Roe v Wade reversal and the expanding state laws outlawing and severely restricting abortion, there is increasing interest in self-management of abortion using medications. The growing climate of suspicion surrounding pregnant women’s choices and actions has also had a disproportionate impact on folks who use drugs. So what can you do if you are in one of the many places in the US suddenly hostile to reproductive choice?

Synthetic cannabinoids, often referred to by terms such as k2, spice, duce, etc., belong to a newer class of synthetic materials that affect the CB1 and CB2 receptor sites in your brain that weed does. However they have different properties than cannabis. Many of the 142 compounds so far described are much more potent than weed and can present unique dangers to your physical and mental health including overdose and dependence.

Gender Affirming Hormone Therapy (GAHT), is a treatment that provides transpeople with the gender affirming hormones they need. GAHT is lifesaving treatment all trans folks deserve, but don’t always have access to, for many reasons including medical gatekeeping and transphobia.

RC Benzos refers to the class of over 100 benzodiazepine analogues that have become relatively common. They are often available as pellets or powder. Reports from Canada indicate that these agents are also being mixed directly into the street heroin supply. They range in potency from similar to prescription benzos to many hundreds of times more potent than them and range in half-life from several to hundreds of hours.

Kratom(Mytragina Speciosa) is a tropical evergreen in the coffee family common to Southeast Asia. The leaves have been used historically in Thai and Indonesian culture for their pain-relieving and energy-producing properties. Itt has been definitively shown that kratom and its primary alkaloids (Mytraginine and 7-Hydroxymitragynine) are opioid compounds and activate the same receptor as traditional opioid medications.

Fentanyl and benzodiazepine test strips are now available at many harm reduction and syringe access service providers. The most common strip available are fentanyl test strips though ones for benzos are becoming more common. All test strips are an off-label uses of drug testing equipment.

There are new drugs being invented every week in the world, if you or people you know are experimenting with any of them it can be tempting to get obsessed with the chemistry. But the best way to stay safe is to focus harm reduction on the effects.

Overdose fatalities involving opioids have quadrupled in recent years. Along with this has come widespread misinformation about fentanyl. These myths increase stigma and the risk of death and incarceration among already vulnerable people.

In honor of the late great Mark Kinzly. Mark Kinzly was a harm reduction pioneer we lost too soon in July 2021. Of his many accomplishments one of his most important was bringing awareness and attention to the safer smoking of crack, speed and heroin and being a principal voice in convincing harm reductionists, researchers and pundits to take the safer smoking seriously too. This month, September, Mark’s birth month is dedicated to him and his work. Wherever you are, you are missed and very loved brother.

Down, or Tranq is heroin or fentanyl in a mixture with other compounds, most often xylazine, a potent alpha-2 adrenergic agonist used in veterinary medicine as an analgesic/anesthetic muscle relaxant. Down produces the typical effects of intense opioid intoxication and potent alpha-2 agonist effects – lowered blood pressure, sleepiness and confusion, sometimes persisting for days after a single dose.

Pure drugs may sometimes be dangerous but adulterated or ‘mis-sold’ drugs (where the drug you receive isn’t the drug you intended to buy) are even more so. At least if you can confirm what drug you have, you can make sure you follow harm reduction practices that will help keep you safe.

The internet has always been where Harm Reduction has found a home, providing pseudonymous and cheap platforms for spreading HR messages. Sites like Facebook and Reddit often offer highly moderated communities, which can be good, even if standards are somewhat arbitrarily enforced. On the other hand, platforms like Telegram, Discord and WhatsApp offer less moderated experiences, often run as peer support groups.

This year we had our largest number of Harm Reduction Hotties modelling for us. We’d like to thank you all!