[Gabriel Quaglia]

Hey All,

At the SADOD direct service provider program we’re launching a “Community Conversation” series where we’ll have someone come in and speak to a topic anywhere from 15-20 minutes and then have an open discussion and Q & A session. Our first one is at the end of the month and the topic will be “Supporting Pregnant and Parenting People Impacted by Substance Use” and we’re planning one for next month on employing people who use drugs.

We have a few ideas, but I wanted to reach out to the community to see if there are any ideas for topics 0r there’s someone you would recommend for a topic. You can post something here or email me at:

Gabriel@SADOD.ORG

[Jamie Davis]

Thank you so much for inviting input from the community Gabe — it’s really appreciated. This sounds like a thoughtful and accessible format, and the topics you’re starting with feel timely and important.

The “Community Conversation” series also reminds me a bit of the Scraping the Pipe talks you used to do with Jill — those were always a hit and created such meaningful dialogue. I love seeing that spirit continue in this new way.

I’m looking forward to these conversations and will share ideas as they come to mind. Thanks again for creating space for learning and discussion.

[Leslie Lagos]

I agree with Jamie…I’m looking forward to these conversations knowing you and Jill will hold trauma informed, person centered, supportive space.

[Jamie Davis]

I’ve been thinking about this session I attended at Reform “Nowhere to Go: Squeezing People Between the Housing and Overdose Crisis”. Antonia Fasanelli from the National Homeless Law Center (NHLC) (afasanelli@homelesslaw.org) was a panelist and a very knowledgeable and engaging speaker. She discussed how the Cicero Institute (backed by Joe Lonesdale, who is closely associated with Peter Thiel) is actively providing guidance and distributing templated bills nationwide that would:

• Criminalize/punish for camping due to being unhoused, even when folks have no alternatives
• Force drug treatment
• Force involuntary commitment
• Encourage defunding affordable housing

This topic and how to advocate for the unhoused could make for an interesting community conversation

PDF

From-Crisis-to-Care-Report_DPA-Resource.pdf 3 MB

[Amanda Consigli]

Hi Gabe,

Thank you for all the great work you and SADOD do!

I always think it’s always a good idea for direct service providers to know what the emerging substances we are seeing in the drug supply are, so they can better support an individual’s treatment goals and provide better overdose prevention counseling. Recently, some findings from the ECKS-O study have shown how substances like xylazine in the drug supply are complicating or impairing MOUD use and changing our overdose response. Also, the increasing presence of medetomidine is changing our overdose response and creating severe withdrawal symptoms.

Recently, I attended a presentation from Boston Medical Center on kratom, which is another substance that may be complicating MOUD use and is not something on a traditional urinalysis screen or something providers traditionally ask about. So having someone from BMC or Brandeis University MADDS/ECKS-O team would make a really interesting conversation.

[Gabriel Quaglia]

Thanks for the suggestion Amanda. I have been bouncing around doing one on drug testing and the supply so I will definitely be working on that. I am also thinking it might be good to try to get folks from a few different perspectives on the topic, such as someone who does drug testing and what theyre seeing and then a couple different people from different organizations about how they utilize the info coming out of testing. I will ask around but let me know if theres anyone you can think of thats utilizing or disseminating the info coming out of drug testing in any interesting interesting ways.

 

[Jamie Davis]

Drug checking is a great and very timely suggestion.

There are a few folks from programs across the state who immediately come to mind when I think about drug checking and related information sharing:

• Kyle Harrington (Tapestry)

• Mary Wheeler (Healthy Streets)

• Ivy Sabal (freelance harm reductionist and drug checking technician/educator)

• Sarah Mackin and Kenny Washington (AHOPE)

They each bring valuable experience and different regional perspectives on implementation, education, and real-time information sharing.

Gabe, I’m happy to help make connections to any of them if that would be helpful.