Our fight against mandatory incarceration for drug crimes continues now at the Senate.  We must continue to speak out about the impacts this legislation will have on people across the country.  More people are talking about the problems of Canada's enforcement dominated drug policy, and they are increasingly doing something about it.  Be a part of the growing movement, demand an end to failed strategies and join the call for sensible drug policy!

Over the years, TRIP! has actively kept track of drug trends in the Toronto dance music community.  TRIP! volunteers from SEED Alternative School are keeping up this trend with their community-based survey for their course 'Challenge and Change in a Diverse Society'.  The purpose of this survey is to find out what your stance on harm reduction is. We also hope to collect data on whether you think it would benefit Torontonians (and society in general) in making better choices while partying and in turn, helping them become healthier individuals with productive lifestyles. They would really appreciated it if you would help them with their study of youth and harm reduction. Check out the survey by clicking the links below, and read up more on harm reduction below!  

PART 1: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TD6F532
PART 2: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RP6TCYD
PART 3: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TD2ZJG8

Note: Links to parts 2 and 3 are contained in the survey.

Recreational drug use has become a common source of entertainment and enjoyment here in Toronto. From drugs like alcohol and tobacco to drugs like ecstasy and heroin. Unfortunately, most health campaigns geared at youth are fear-based and speak only of abstinence with captions like “Just say no”. What the promoters of these campaigns fail to recognize is that people are curious and many will use drugs either way. Instead of this abstinence-only approach, information should be provided to encourage those who choose to use drugs to use them in a safer manner, thus reducing harm. 

“Harm reduction” is the term used to describe the practice of spreading techniques and information with the purpose of improving quality of life and reducing chance of injury. Accidental deaths from motor vehicle accidents make up 32% of deaths in Canada in 2004 (Stats Canada). However, you don’t see campaigns that say “Just say no” regarding driving. Instead, there is a law in Ontario that says you must wear a seat belt when in a personal, motorized vehicle - this is a form of harm reduction. 

Like the car drivers, youth are going to use drugs regardless whether society shakes a finger at them or not. Health education should be focusing on actually educating, rather than trying to scare people into stopping. We should be educating youth about the risks associated with drug use and try to empower them to use critical thinking and make informed decisions that will better their mind and body. The main goal of harm reduction is to lower risk levels of current drug users, as well as getting these individuals familiarized with health care services (including recovery upon request). Harm reduction education can also minimize drug misuse/abuse within society, improving over health in our communities. At the end of the day, you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped and labelling people as “addicts” and “junkies” does not help the situation. When people are sharing needles, straws, and pipes the greatest risk is the diseases, viruses, and infections that can be transmitted in this manner, NOT the drugs. Educating these users on how to use drugs in a safer manner and where clean needs are available could be the way to save many lives, and maybe even rehabilitate people. 

The TRIP! volunteer training involves a 6-day training course (spread across 4 weeks on Wednesdays from 6-9pm and Saturdays from 12pm-6pm)  which features workshops on various topics related to harm reduction, HIV prevention, sexual health and safer partying. The next volunteer training will be starting in the new year! We are located at 168 Bathurst Street at Queen West Community Health Centre.

To be eligible for our volunteer program you must:

• be between the ages of 16-30
• be a former or current participant in Toronto's dance music scene
• be able to attend all trainings (all of which occur in downtown Toronto)
  
• jive with our harm reduction philosophy
• have a fun and open attitude, a willingness to learn, and be able to contribute time and energy to the project on a regular basis
  

To indicate your interest in being trained, contact TRIP! by calling 416-703-8482x125, emailing info@tripproject.ca.

Now, you don’t need to tell me I’m luck that I didn’t “get hurt” that night. Because I did, I got very hurt. I got all sorts of hurt, the kind of hurt that lasts for years and resurfaces particularly painfully when you’re asked to write something about sexual assault and nightlife. What had prompted me to leave in a hurry, such hurry that I had left my purse sitting on a bench where I had placed it so I could attempt to dance, was aggressive touching and kissing from someone had that I had had a brief and somewhat forced relationship with in the past. I remember trying to break lose, and the grip only tightening.

The thing with nightlife, especially in Toronto, is that there is no escaping the past. You will see the same people over and over again, and you can never know if the night will bring an unwanted encounter. You may be uncomfortably caught in a dark room, yelling no over the music, always hoping that they acted because they simply never heard you. Those whom you thought had disappeared, will reappear. You may be left vulnerable and alone when you try to escape, and the people who will see you may never know what happened. But they will think that what they know is that your skirt was too short, you were breast were too big, and you were wearing too much make up.

The records get erased. Reviews, and pictures rarely hold the truth about the dark side of the night. When it comes down to it, talking about sexual assault is “bad for business” and nightlife is supposed to be business that revolves around fantasy and fun, a refuge from the day. The biggest lie is that the complications of day won’t seep in to the night. The reality is that they do. The same inequitable gender dynamics that live during the day do not die at night. And I believe that we’ve had enough.

I think it’s time to talk.