PAN held its Annual General Meeting virtually on Thursday, October 19, 2023.
Keynote Panel on “Addressing the Deadly Gap in Drug Policy: Treatment and Harm Reduction are not enough. We need Safer Supply.”
Presentation by Charlene Burmeister (Coalition of Substance Users of the North) and Kurt Lock (Research Coordinator at the NAOMI and SALOME studies, and long-term advocate in the DTES), and special guests Jenny McDougall and Phoenix Beck McGreevy. Our speakers unpacked the present realities of prescribed safer supply (PSS) in BC, as it is under the media and political spotlight right now. The call for PSS preceded both the pandemic and the overdose/toxic drug crisis, so the presentation provided historical context – including the ‘war on drugs’ – and explored the evidence behind PSS as one of the tools to help people. The panel highlighted current barriers to a more effective implementation, as well as innovative and successful PSS models, and what we can do with what we have learnt.
AGM business meeting
Members found out how PAN has responded to the challenges and opportunities of the year in our PAN Reflections 2022-23. Other orders of business were hearing from our Board of Directors, getting the financial picture, and voting in of our Board of Directors for the coming year.
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