Beyond co-production: The construction of drug checking knowledge in a Canadian supervised injection facility.

Drug-checking is an ensemble of different harm reduction techniques providing people the ability to test illegally purchased drugs for strength, the presence of particular substances, and possible adulterants. Drug-checking research has primarily focused on nightlife and festival communities of people who use drugs and has overlooked how it functions as a knowledge forming process, particularly by people whose drug use is more stigmatized. The implementation of Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) in Vancouver, Canada's Downtown Eastside in response to the overdose crisis has made it possible for people who use drugs to receive information about the drugs that they are consuming.

The role of cannabis in pain management among people living with HIV who use drugs: A qualitative study.

Introduction: People living with HIV who use drugs commonly experience chronic pain and often use illicit opioids to manage pain. Recent research suggests people living with HIV use cannabis for pain relief, including as an adjunct to opioids. This underscores the need to better understand how people living with HIV who use drugs use cannabis for pain management, particularly as cannabis markets are undergoing changes due to cannabis legalisation.

Cannabis use is associated with reduced risk of exposure to fentanyl among people on opioid agonist therapy during a community-wide overdose crisis.

Background: The ongoing opioid overdose crisis is driven largely by exposure to illicitly-manufactured fentanyl. Preliminary observational and experimental research suggests that cannabis could potentially play a role in reducing use of prescription opioids among individuals with chronic pain. However, there is limited data on the effects of cannabis on illicit opioid consumption, particularly fentanyl, especially among individuals on opioid agonist therapy (OAT).

"I couldn't live with killing one of my friends or anybody": A rapid ethnographic study of drug sellers' use of drug checking.

Introduction: Drug sellers are often represented as morally bereft actors and as being, in part, responsible for North America's overdose crisis. In Canada and the United States, drug sellers selling fentanyl and fentanyl-adulterated drugs have been charged with manslaughter when their clients fatally overdose, representing a retrenchment of drug war tactics. However, targeting drug sellers for drug checking interventions may have potential for reducing fentanyl-related harms.

Acceptability of a hypothetical preventative HIV vaccine among people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada.

Background: As research on HIV vaccines continues to advance, studies exploring the feasibility of this intervention are necessary to inform uptake and dissemination strategies with key populations, including people who use drugs (PWUD).

Methods: We conducted 25 in-depth qualitative interviews examining HIV vaccine acceptability among PWUD in Vancouver, Canada. Participants were recruited from an ongoing prospective cohort of HIV-negative PWUD.

The emergence of innovative cannabis distribution projects in the downtown eastside of Vancouver, Canada.

The ongoing overdose crisis in the United States and Canada has highlighted the urgent need for innovative interventions to reduce drug-related harms. This, in turn, has led to increased interest in the potential of cannabis as a harm reduction strategy. While Canada has recently legalized cannabis, meaningful barriers to accessing legal cannabis remain for people who use drugs (PWUD) from marginalized communities.

Cannabis legalization in the provinces and territories: missing opportunities to effectively educate youth?

Cannabis is now legal in Canada, yet important questions remain regarding how the provinces and territories are approaching cannabis education and messaging aimed at youth. Although widespread education and awareness campaigns are long considered cornerstones of substance use and related harm prevention, there is limited evidence to support the effectiveness of such campaigns. We continue to see examples of cannabis-related messaging that focus on risk and harm and often adopt a narrow view of the ways in which young people may use cannabis.

A missed opportunity? Cannabis legalization and reparations in Canada.

As Canada moves towards the legalization of cannabis, the Cannabis Act itself remains void of any complementary social justice measures. Decades of criminalization for the possession, production, and sale of cannabis will remain unscathed under this ostensibly new approach, leaving intact laws that have disproportionately and prejudicially impacted Indigenous people and people of colour. This includes the overpolicing and criminalization of these communities, furthering criminal justice disparities, and the lack of meaningful initiatives to aid communities of colour and Indigenous communities in participating in the legal cannabis industry.