Policy Podcast

The podcast discusses the topic of safe injection sites and their impact on substance users in British Columbia, Canada. It explores the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and its implications, as well as the CASW Code of Ethics, TRC Calls to Action, and MMIWG National Inquiry. The podcast highlights the need for social workers to support and advocate for those accessing safe injection sites. It also references research articles that discuss the purpose and benefits of these sites. The podcast concludes by encouraging listeners to reflect on their own perspectives and educate themselves further on the topic. You are listening to The Pod That Can Save People. I am your host, Megan Montgomery, and I'm a third year Bachelor of Social Work student at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia. The topic of today's podcast will be one that will hopefully fall upon ears that are looking to find out more and be more educated around what substance users face day to day, or just curious people in general. As we dive into today's topics, there is a hope of providing you with knowledge and having this information be spread to a wider audience. My hope is that together we will be able to find out more about the people behind the research and how the research may be evolving in today's society. So with that being said, we will be diving into the social policy concern that relates to safe injection sites, which may also be called usage sites or supervised consumption sites, and how these sites may positively or negatively affect substance users within British Columbia, Canada. This topic may dig up some internal controversy or criticism for some listeners, but the goal of today's learning is to find out more about the accessibility of these sites for those in need. Whether you're familiar with the provincial acts or not, in this episode we will talk about the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and analyze it in terms of the chosen social policy concern. Now you may be asking yourself, who uses these safe injection sites? Or who has access to them? Or how do these sites not promote drug addictions? Well, those are some of the questions that we will have answered through research and curious questions among you listeners. Throughout the search for those questions and answers, we will head back in time to when these sites were first introduced to British Columbia, and we will discuss how society viewed substance users back then. From there, we will travel through the leaps and bounds that have been faced up to today and try and come up with some predictions for where we were headed in terms of the social policy concern in our society. So are you hooked yet? That's my hope. Now that I have introduced you to the main themes and concepts of what we will be discussing today, let me give you an idea of what the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act consists of. While doing research about this act, which is the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in British Columbia, I found two resources that laid it out pretty well. The first is the Canadian government, which is under the Justice Law section, and the other one is by someone named Josie Desjardins, which they are from the Department of Justice. So the Canadian government says that no person shall seek or obtain a substance including Schedule I, II, III, or IV substances or B, an authorization to obtain a substance including Schedule I, II, III, or IV substance. Punishment for these possessions of these substances listed above vary depending on the substance in one's possession. As a brief overview, those caught with a Level I substance are liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, those caught with a Stage II be liable to up to five years in prison, those with Stage III can be liable for up to three years in prison, and finally the fourth level substance, they cannot be sentenced to more than eight months in prison. The punishments can vary quite a bit as you can see, and it's all depending on the severity of the drug possession, what types of drug are in one's possession, and if one has been charged with the controlled drugs and substances in the past. To go along with what the Canadian government says about this Act, Josie Desjardins from the Department of Justice lays it out that this Act prohibits possession of any of the class or categories of substances found in Schedule I, II, or III except where authorized by the regulations. Where appropriate, the regulations will authorize possession of those substances for medical, scientific, industrial, or enforcement purposes. In other words, the Act serves as the legislation for the single convention of narcotic drugs and convention on psychotropic substances and the United Nations Convention against illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Some examples of these drugs for listeners, if you're not sure, can be morphine, methadone, fentanyl, oxycodone, benzodiazepines, and methasenidate. Now that you guys have a general idea of what this Act consists of, the CASW Code of Ethics, the TRC Calls to Action, and the MMIWG National Inquiry should be discussed in order to get a better idea of how social workers can play a role in this social policy concern and support those that access these safe injection sites. So some of you may already know what these are, but I will be going over them quickly in details for those that don't understand or if you just want a better understanding. So let's go into the CASW Code of Ethics. So the CASW stands for the Canadian Association of Social Workers. This Code of Ethics provides a consistent set of values, principles, and standards of conduct for all social workers across Canada. It gives social workers the guidance and confidence to handle the uncertainties and challenges that come up while providing services. Social workers can use the Code of Ethics to make informed and appropriate decisions in the complex situations they encounter in the front line. The CASW Code of Ethics is currently being updated using the 10 principles established by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, also known as TRC, as a guide to reflect new developments and practices in the field. It is anticipated that the updated CASW Code of Ethics will be available in 2024, so two years from now. The update of the Code of Ethics will uphold the following six key concepts and values. So number one is respect of the inherent dignity and worth of persons. Two, pursuit of social justice. Three, service to humanity. Four, integrity in professional practice. Five, confidentiality in professional practice. And number six is competence in professional practice. Moving on to the summary of the TRC calls to action. This says that the TRC calls of action address the ongoing impacts of residential schools on survivors and their families. They also provide for government and Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in British Columbia to create and join a vision of reconciliation. So to go along with that is the 94 calls to action, which are known as the CTAs, are accountable policy recommendations meant to aid and heal process in two ways. Number one is acknowledging the full horrifying history of residential school systems. And two, creating systems to prevent these abuses from ever happening again in the future. Next is the MMIWG, National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. It states that Indigenous women and Two-Spirit people have been traditionally revered as life givers and caregivers. This is why they say our women and girls are sacred. But Indigenous women and girls, including those who are 2SLGBTQQIA, continue to be devalued. All too many become the victims of violence. Their mission statement says, our vision for the National Inquiry is to build a foundation that allows Indigenous women and girls to reclaim their power and place. As social workers and support people, it's important to have a good understanding of these topics and codes of action. Without them, we would have a difficult time providing best service as well as not taking care of ourselves in the line of work. The CASW Code of Ethics, TRC, and MMIWG all play a huge role in the work being done with people in our community. In relation to this policy concern, it is used to change the narrative of how people view these sites who do not have a clue what their purpose is. Many people can have the view that abstinence is the only way or the only option given in society, when in reality, many people that use these safe injection sites or just substance users in general do not have the goal of being substance free. That being said, it is important to keep in mind that us as social workers are the ones that have the most impact on changing that narrative and being supports and advocates for those accessing these safe injection sites. Up to this part of the podcast, you guys have probably been asking, what the heck are safe injection sites and who uses them? So now that we've laid out the act that I've chosen in correspondence to the social policy concern and laid out the CASW Code of Ethics as well as the TRC and MMIWG, we're going to dive into some of the research that I've done about the safe injection sites themselves. So the first article that I found, it's by Scott Lafour, it's called Safe Injection Sites and the Ethic of Harm Reduction. So in this article, Scott R. Lafour speaks about the debate over safe injection sites over the decades. He says that the debate takes on a public policy approach and focuses on weighing societal costs and benefits. One huge assumption made by society about these sites is that they provide illicit drugs to users for consumption or that staff members perform the injections on the clients. For those that may not know, Lafour explains that the fundamental idea behind safe injection sites is that they provide drug addicts with the basic materials and environment necessary to safely inject illicit drugs. The sites do not and cannot claim to eliminate harm altogether, but instead keep in mind the inherently unsafe nature of consuming illicit drugs and therefore aims to harm reduce and not completely eliminate. The reason for trained professionals at these sites is to ensure that if an overdose or any other medical emergency occurs, that there will be someone there to offer necessary medical attention. Following up on Scott Lafour's research, I found an article that goes by the name of Evaluating the Population Levels' Effects of Overdose Prevention Sites and Supervised Consumption Sites in British Columbia, Canada. The author of this article has the last name Panagiotoglou, sorry if I pronounced that wrong. In this article, it states that in the beginning of December 2016, multiple overdose prevention sites or supervised consumption sites opened across the province of British Columbia. You as a listener may have already asked yourself, so if the Controlled Substance Act and Drug Act suggests that no one can possess illicit drugs, how are these sites lawful or funded? He explains that supervised injection facilities, overdose prevention sites, and supervised consumption sites provide safe, clean spaces for people to consume pre-obtained drugs under the supervision of staff trained to reverse overdoses without the risk of arrest of drug possession. A little side note, just as a reminder, in some of my other research, I found that high populations of illicit drug users in our society are those males of ages between like 20 and 30 that are in their homes and have money. When our perceived conceptions of drug users are people that are living in poverty or living on the streets and using these safe injection sites, no one really talks about those that are in isolation doing it. I think that has to do with a lot of the people living on the streets stuff being on display. Everyone can just walk by and see their whole life, but what happens behind closed doors is also very important to reflect on as we move forward with this social policy concern. As many of the other articles have indicated, Nazu et al says that safe injection sites have the primary goal of prevention of overdose mortalities, morbidity, and infectious disease transmission. I don't know about you listeners, but me myself, a question that arose from my research was the history. I mean, if the first injection site was created in the later half of 2016, that's pretty recent. It's kind of disheartening. People have been using illicit drugs for a very long time, and just now people are realizing that many people don't have the goal of abstinence. Society wants that for everybody, but it's just not realistic. It's important to remember that these people that we work with and these marginalized communities of people use these injection sites as a way to use drugs safely. There's a need for acknowledgement of people using these sites and feeling vulnerable enough to go into these sites and on display and making the educated decision to still need to use drugs, but also use them in a safe way so that someone can save them or so they don't die alone or overdose or make a mistake. There's just need for more. Where are we headed with this social policy concern? Are there going to be more safe injection sites that arise in communities? Are they going to go extinct in a way? There was an idea that limited amounts of illicit drugs would become legal, that would go hand in hand with these safe injection sites, and they would bounce off of each other Advocacy plays also a big part in this social policy concern. And in relation to the Act, the CASW, etc. Without advocacy, no one gets better understanding of anything. People don't have a voice, which many communities, especially those that are a part of the substance use community, aren't allowed to have a voice of their own. So social workers and support people and people of organizations are the ones that need to step up and challenge these ideas around abstinence in the community. Without advocacy, nothing would get better in our society. And that's not the goal. There's a big question around how the current perspective has changed the original way of addressing this concern. As I said, in 2016 is when the injection sites were formed. Before that, there was nothing, but there were still people using illicit drugs. Now they have been incorporated in small amounts, and they are viewed often negatively. I think people are confused, people don't understand, and that's a big reason why there's a negative stigma to them. I think with more education and the more information and knowledge given to people, the more understanding there will be. Of course, not everyone is going to agree or understand, but I think coming to a space where the community can be okay with this, because it is a normal thing and it should be available to all in the community as a resource. The way we're going as a community with these sites is, it's going. There should be more. In relation to my policy concern, the A word that I use is accessibility. There's a lack of accessibility to these sites. One, because there's not enough of them. Two, the stigma. And three, it's just how the community has the goal of abstinence when that's not the goal for all. Throughout this research and the incorporation of the CASW Code of Ethics, the TRC Calls to Action, and the MMIWG Act, the hope was to provide more education and knowledge through resources and getting a better understanding of this social policy concern to hopefully educate and put out more information about these safe injection sites and the lack of accessibility for substance users in our community in all of BC, or even all of the world, honestly. I hope that people have learned and taken away some aspect and will further the conversation about this and make it more normal to talk about and educate others about what you've learned today in this podcast. With that said, I'm going to leave you guys with the final questions. So I want you to ask yourself, what was your stance on substance use and safe injection sites before listening to this podcast? The other question is, now that you have listened, how do you feel? Do you feel any different? I would like to thank you guys for listening, and I hope you have a great, wonderful rest of your day, and I hope that this topic today has struck some curiosity and some motivation to do your own research in the future.