Drug Checking Developments on the Horizon

Toronto Drug Checking Amnesty Program Stakeholders, including harm reduction organizations and government officials, are now working together in Toronto in an effort to create an amnesty program for drug checking in Canada’s largest city. The proposed drug checking amnesty initiative is part of Toronto's overdose action plan presented in March and is receiving more attention now due to a recent string of what is being called “suspected drug overdoses” in Toronto’s club scene last month. The program, which is still in its research phase, would address the opioid crisis and the prevalence of highly adulterated and fentanyl-laced substances by allowing drug testing...

May 11, 2017Read more...

Debunking Myths and Discussing Harm Reduction on This Week in Drugs

Sarah Merrigan from This Week in Drugs (TWiD), a podcast about all things drugs, hosted DanceSafe’s Kristin Karas and Madalyn McElwain in a round table discussion highlighting nightlife harm reduction. The three, who are all alumni of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, discussed the importance of DanceSafe’s services and debunked the myth that DanceSafe always performs drug checking--just in time for festival season and #MythBusterMonday. “[Harm reduction services] are services that are inherently needed within the context of a prohibitionist drug policy climate,” states Karas in the TWiD interview (available here). “We know that with black markets comes adulteration and...

May 8, 2017Read more...

Why Denver Should Not Rule Out Dual Consumption

In November of last year, Denver voters passed Initiative 300, which allows for limited social cannabis consumption by adults in designated consumption areas within establishments that have received support from their local eligible neighborhood association and have obtained a permit from the City of Denver. The initiative, however, has recently faced serious setbacks due to a new regulation from the Colorado Department of Revenue that expressly prohibits consumption of cannabis at any place that carries a liquor license. This means that Denver residents will not be able to consume cannabis at a bar, which was, in part, an intention of the...

April 20, 2017Read more...

Holfmann’s Long, Strange Trip

It was a November day in 1938, when Swiss chemist Albert Holfmann created his twenty-fifth lysergic acid combination for pharmaceutical giant Sandoz. Although the experiment animals became highly excited during testing, this particular synthesization did not spark any interest from the pharmacologists and physicians because it did not stimulate circulation and respiration. He moved on with his ergot research. For five years, Holfmann perpetually thought about his “problem child.” On April 16, 1943, in the middle of the work day, and in the height of WWII, Holfmann finally decided to resynthesized LSD-25.  “I did not choose LSD; LSD found and...

April 19, 2017Read more...

DanceSafe’s Kristin Karas Invited to Speak at National Public Health Week

Kristin Karas, Director of Programs at DanceSafe, was one of eight people to be invited to present at National Public Health Week in Greeley, Colorado this past week. As part of an initiative to recruit and raise awareness of public health programs, the Colorado School of Public Health hosted an ignite session called “Who and What is Public Health?” Karas captivated the audience with her enthusiasm for harm reduction as she explained DanceSafe’s services and programs, and why harm reduction is an important niche on the spectrum that is public health. Karas explained that harm reduction recognizes individuals will choose to...

April 11, 2017Read more...