9th - Harm Reduction Coalition

9th
National Harm Reduction Conference
FROM PUBLIC HEALTH TO SOCIAL JUSTICE
Jacki Gethner (LMT, CADC1) is a renowned international health advocate, activist and educator. In 1987, she launched her practice
Regenerative Therapies and she possesses over 25 years of experience in massage and bodywork. Jacki has a specialty in the
field of HIV/AIDS where she has worked in collaboration with many civic and government agencies, health educators, faith-based
organizations and pharmaceutical companies. Jacki is recognized as a pioneer and seasoned healer in prevention and self-care
of AIDS patients and vulnerable communities through the use of integrative therapies.In 2009 she was the only individual recipient
of the Kaiser Permanente National Diversity Award for her work in HIV/AIDS. She utilized that money to create Women Of
A Certain Age or WOACA. She was awarded the Bank of America’s Neighborhood Excellence Award this last November.Most
recently she was awarded the Multnomah County Public Health Community Leadership Award in April. She has been featured in
Poz Magazine,Huffington Posts’ Greatest Person of the Day, the Lund Report and in other publications. For more information on
Regenerative Therapies and WOACA (a 501c3) please see her site: www.jackigethner.com.
Gibson, Erin, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, British Columbia
erinkgibson@gmail.com
Increasing Access to Naloxone in British Columbia
Background: Opioid overdose is a public health issue in British Columbia (BC). While BC has the first officially sanctioned
supervised injection site in North America and is the first jurisdiction in Canada to recognize addiction as a chronic illness,
current opioid overdose prevention initiatives are limited to diversion prevention efforts and altering pharmaceutical composition
to prevent “abuse”. BC has not embraced the lifesaving potential of naloxone to the same extent as the US; current
naloxone access in BC is restricted to health care providers in primary and acute care, and ambulance services. Results:
Feedback from six major naloxone programs in the US emphasized the need to address prescribed and illicit opioids. All
stakeholders engaged were highly supportive of a program. Current initiatives being mobilized include: increasing community
capacity to administer naloxone, developing emergency room discharge plans to incorporate naloxone provision for
patients treated for overdose, the development of a provincial Decision Support Tool for nurses and the feasibility of adding
naloxone to the PharmaCare formulary, which provides assistance based on income, to reduce monetary barriers. Challenges
of naloxone distribution in BC include: 1) naloxone must be prescribed by a physician to an individual patient, (there are
no standing orders in BC) 2) the sole naloxone manufacturer in Canada has reduced production; distribution is by allocation
only. Discussion: Comprehensive prevention of morbidity and mortality among people who use drugs includes naloxone and
other wrap-around harm reduction initiatives. Engaging with multiple stakeholders has been key to ensure multi-level support.
This project is timely as one prescription opioid medication is no longer available in BC, and changing to other opioids
may have additional overdose risks.
Erin Gibson has worked in community as an outreach worker for over 12 years. More recently she has taken a new position at the
BC Centre for Disease Control in British Columbia, Canada to develop an Overdose Plan for the province, including increasing access
to naloxone. Furthermore, she is completing her Master in public policy at the University of Victoria.
Goddard, Perilou, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, Kentucky
goddard@nku.edu
Drugs Are Disgusting: Moral Decision Making and Attitudes toward Drug Use and Harm Reduction
Disapproval of harm reduction may stem from a visceral sense of disgust that drug use violates the purity of the body (Mac-
Coun, 1998). Graham and colleagues (2009) have demonstrated that conservatives, in particular, place more value on issues
of purity, authority, and ingroup loyalty when making moral decisions. Thus, harm reduction may challenge conservatives’
ingrained notions of morality. We tested these hypothesized connections in a sample of 263 college students, examining the
correlations among measures of attitudes toward drug/alcohol use and harm reduction with measures of (a) sensitivity to
disgust; (b) relevance of purity, authority, and ingroup loyalty issues to moral judgments; and (c) political conservatism. The
hypotheses were supported. The more participants disapproved of drug/alcohol use and harm reduction, the more easily
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