We're dealing with a public health crisis. Historically, it's been criminalized socially. It's been stigmatized, and personally, there is a shame and social isolation that surrounds it. This crisis is the prevalence of overdose and overdose deaths occurring within our country. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Shannon Mace to talk with us about this crisis and a new program initiated by the CDC and administered by the national council for mental wellbeing. Shannon is a senior advisor at the National Council for Mental Wellbeing with over 12 years of multidisciplinary experience in the fields of public health, behavioral, health, and poverty. At the national council, Shannon leads projects focused on improving care for those with substance use disorders. Ideally, we can see harm reduction as a platform to decriminalize drug use, bypass the stigma associated with substance abuse, and avoid the shame and isolation that can happen to meet people where they are at, in a non-judgmental way, to save lives and improve public health. Together they discuss the implementation of new strategies around harm reduction programs that include overdose prevention, community-based syringe services, drug-checking equipment, a large range of interventions, and sharing innovative and creative strategies various programs used during the pandemic while complying with stay-at-home orders and reducing risks.

Resources

For more information about the National Council for Wellbeing’s Website, please visit:

For more information about National Council’s harm reduction resources, please visit:

For more information on the National Harm Reduction Coalition, please visit:

For more information on the North American Syringe Exchange Network, please visit:

For more information on Next Distro, mail-based harm reduction supplies, please visit: