HarmReductionSMRT
Greenlighter
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself.
I've been reading Bluelight starting in my early university days. I always found in phenomenal how knowledgeable many members were of complex psychopharmacology and general drug interactions (information that many physicians are uncomfortable with!). As a practicing physician in the USA, I am a strong advocate of harm reduction and education, a view unfortunately that is not widely shared by many of my colleagues.
To be blunt (and to massively oversimplify), I do not think substance use should be in the realm of politics at all. Regardless of one's personal beliefs, substance experimentation, abuse and dependency has historically always occurred and common sense tells us that it will continue to occur. With that known, why not encourage safer methods of use? On a side note...I strongly encourage anyone not familiar with InSite, a supervised injection site in Vancouver, to read about the tremendous success they have had in reducing HIV and Hepatitis transmission rates in the city. Sadly, even with the support of medical and nursing associations, the site is now coming under attack by a conservative legislature that is choosing to "play politics" with the health and welfare of a large community. So to end my rant...again, I wanted to say hello and that I look forward to contributing to the various discussions that I've on the sidelines reading about for years
Cheers and happy new year everyone!
I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself.
I've been reading Bluelight starting in my early university days. I always found in phenomenal how knowledgeable many members were of complex psychopharmacology and general drug interactions (information that many physicians are uncomfortable with!). As a practicing physician in the USA, I am a strong advocate of harm reduction and education, a view unfortunately that is not widely shared by many of my colleagues.
To be blunt (and to massively oversimplify), I do not think substance use should be in the realm of politics at all. Regardless of one's personal beliefs, substance experimentation, abuse and dependency has historically always occurred and common sense tells us that it will continue to occur. With that known, why not encourage safer methods of use? On a side note...I strongly encourage anyone not familiar with InSite, a supervised injection site in Vancouver, to read about the tremendous success they have had in reducing HIV and Hepatitis transmission rates in the city. Sadly, even with the support of medical and nursing associations, the site is now coming under attack by a conservative legislature that is choosing to "play politics" with the health and welfare of a large community. So to end my rant...again, I wanted to say hello and that I look forward to contributing to the various discussions that I've on the sidelines reading about for years
Cheers and happy new year everyone!
