First year medical students at the University of Saskatchewan are continuing to engage concerns around addition through a group called ‘Students for Harm Reduction and Informed Policy’. In particular, they focus on addressing addiction within the medical field. They want to focus on the humanitarian, medical, and economic aspects of safe consumption sites.
“This is something that we believe should be viewed through a medical lens, as opposed to a political one, this truly is a medical issue,” said Adrian Teare, Students for Harm Reduction and Informed Policy (SHRIP) Communications VP.
The group wrote a letter addressed to the Premier of Saskatchewan, the Minister of Health, and Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. They believe they will be heard as they have endorsements from over 25 medical professionals.
“It just highlights that the medical community is unified around this project, addictions substance abuse. It’s a medical issue,” said Ryan Krochak, incoming SHRIP President.
“I think with safe consumption services, lots of people view it as enabling or in some way promoting drug use, when in reality, what we’re doing is acknowledging there are people that do use substances, and that not everybody is ready to take an abstinence-based approach. It’s really not that simple,” Teare said.
The students understand the domino effect of the lack of safe harm reduction sites, as it creates more people using services, like the ambulance.
“Each new case of HIV will cost taxpayers about $1.3 million per person and in the 2022-23, provincial budget, Prairie Harm Reduction was requesting that much for the funding of their safe consumption site. They were requesting $1.3 million and we know that safe consumption practices and harm reduction practices reduce the incidence of transmission of HIV and HEP C,” said Anthony Kanz, SHRIP President.
The team is heading to the Legislative Assembly in Regina on Monday to meet with the minister of health, Paul Merriman, and minister of health and addictions, Everett Hindley.
“We just really want them to listen to this initiative and take it seriously and kind of see how much the public is backing us and how much the medical community is backing us,” said Alyx Orieux, SHRIP Policy Task Force.
The group hopes people will soon start seeing addictions as a medical issue that needs to be funded.
“We recorded a record high of 446, suspected overdose deaths, and 2021, which was a 39% increase over 2020,” Teare said.
“Zero of them occurred at safe consumption sites. So I think it’s pretty clear to everyone based on the evidence that these safe consumption sites do work,” Teare said.
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