Key Messages

• Restrictive laws and fear of discipline by professional bodies appear to limit access to safe supply.
• Facilitators such as regulatory exemptions are insufficient by themselves, to improve access to safe supply.
• In some respects, there is broad agreement between the literature reviewed and PWUD expertise whereas, in other cases, there is a disconnect between the bodies of knowledge about the barriers to implementing safe supply. To ensure this disconnect does not misdirect resources toward initiatives that do not respond to the barriers that are encountered, PWUD should be represented and integrated directly into efforts to improve access to safe supply.

Keywords

• Heroin
• Hydromorphone
• Oxycodone
• Morphine
• Pandemic
• Influenza
• Diacetylmorphine
• COVID-19
• SARS
• Safe supply

Author(s)

• Nominated Principal Applicant: Matthew Herder, Director, Health Law Institute, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University; Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University
• Matthew Alexander Bonn, Program Coordinator, Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs
• Natasha Touesnard, Executive Director, Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs
• Michael Pugliese – Research Assistant,  Dalhousie University, Faculty of Medicine, Halifax, Nova Scotia
• Brianna Cheng – Research Assistant, MSc, McGill University, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, Montréal, Canada
• Emilie Comeau – Research Assistant, Dalhousie University, Faculty of Medicine, Halifax, Nova Scotia
• Dr. Claire Bodkin – McMaster University, Family Medicine, Hamilton, Canada
• Dr. Tommy Brothers – Dalhousie University, Faculty of Medicine, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
• Dr. Leah Meghan Genge – Dalhousie University, Dept of Family Medicine; Mobile Outreach Street Health – North End Community Health Centre
• Candis Lepage – Research Analyst, Pier Labs, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
• Dr. Ayden Scheim – Assistant Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University.
• Dr. Daniel Werb – Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases & Global Public Health, University of California San Diego; Institute for Health Policy, Management & Evaluation, University of Toronto; Director, Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto.
• Sheila Wildeman – Associate Professor, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University

For more information, please contact: Matthew Herder, Matthew.Herder@Dal.Ca

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Population

People Who Use Drugs (PWUD) and Substance Use

Language

To ensure the rapid dissemination of this critical information, information is published in the language in which it was submitted. Please contact us for French or English translations.