The Poppy Revolution

 
The Poppy Revolution: Heroin Buyers’ Clubs and the End of the War on Drugs will be an interactive, high energy event featuring a diverse and captivating panel speaking to the causes, effects and the waning years of the war on drugs.

Unity Drummers will be opening the event followed by what is sure to be educational and interesting discussion by the panel of speakers.

Hosted by Activist and Professor Marilou Gagnon, this evening will explore the dangers of Drug Prohibition, the on-going ‘Overdose Crisis’ and the possibilities for community power and change.

With increasingly louder calls to provide safe, predictable narcotics to those at risk of overdose, we are confronted with the possibility of either state facilitated access to these needed drugs or a more community-based approach.

An example of this is the Heroin Buyers Club, which could serve as a means for a more direct, and grass roots approach to drug use.

Ultimately, which ever approach we take, there can be no doubt that the war on drugs is in peril.

FEATURED EXPERTS

Dr. Shannon McDonald
Deputy Chief Medical Officer First Nations Health Authority

Dr. Shannon McDonald, proudly Metis/Anishinabe with deep roots in the Red River Valley of Manitoba, is the Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the First Nations Health Authority.
Dr. McDonald is a trained physician, with post-graduate medical training in Community Medicine and Psychiatry, and has worked for over 20 years in the area of First Nations and Aboriginal Health.

Dr. McDonald has extensive experience both in the federal and provincial government contexts – most recently for 5 years as the Executive Director of Aboriginal Health at the BC Ministry of Health.

As an influential leader, Dr. McDonald was recently awarded BC’s Physician Champions of Change award by the Doctors of BC for her leadership and advocacy for physician services in BC’s rural and remote
First Nations communities.

Erica Thomson
Fraser health Regional Peer Coordinator

Erica is a powerful advocate for women who use drugs, and identifies as a woman with lived/living experience.

Her current role in Fraser Health as Regional Peer Coordinator is a first of its kind and within the first year was able to hold a strategic planning forum and develop the first Peer engagement strategy for a health authority that was led by peer experts/ people with lived experience to be involved in the service design, delivery, policy and evaluation of services designed to meet the diverse needs of people who use drugs.

Outside of her role in Fraser, Erica is an active advocate and member of several drug user groups and recovery networks and recently joined forces with experts to explore a ‘heroin coop/compassion model” as one pathway to a safer supply as the overdose (prohibition) crisis continues to decimate our communities.

Susan Boyd
PhD Professor, Faculty of Human and Social Development
University of Victoria

Susan is the author of a number of articles and books on drug issues, including: From Witches to Crack Moms: Women, drug law, and policy; Busted: An illustrated history of drug prohibition in Canada, and co- author of Raise Shit!: Social action saving lives.

She is also a long-time activist who works with national and community peer-run organizations that advocate for human rights, the end of drug prohibition, and for the establishment of diverse harm reduction initiatives. Susan’s talk tonight is titled “Heroin: Canadian law, policy, and activism over the last century.”

Donald MacPherson
Director, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition

Donald MacPherson is the Director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition a national coalition of organizations and individuals working to improve Canada’s approach to psychoactive substance use. He is an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University. He has co-authored the books Raise Shit: Social Action, Saving Lives and Drug Policy in Canada: More Harm than Good.

OUR ESTEEMED MASTER OF CEREMONIES

Dr. Marilou Gagnon, RN, PhD

Dr. Gagnon is an Associate Professor at the University of Victoria, School of Nursing and Scientist at the Canadian Institute for Use Research.

Her program of research seeks to address gaps in knowledge that have the potential to inform public debate and policies, while also advancing the rights and the health of marginalized communities. She has worked in three provinces, has served on multiple boards of directors and has been involved in a number of grassroots initiatives, including the opening of a pop-up overdose prevention site in Ottawa.

In 2015, she founded the Coalition of Nurses for Supervised Injection Services. Two years later, she started the Harm Reduction Nurses Association (HRNA). She currently serves as the President of HRNA and is leading their research, advocacy, practice, and policy portfolios.

Two Ways to Participate!

Join us either in person, or online, for this FREE one of a kind event!

 
This event has been organized by the South Island Community Overdose Response Network (SICORN) with funding from the Community Action Initiative (CAI). Co-hosted by the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research (CISUR).