indigenous harm reduction barrie
Harm reduction services rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing and understanding the world are an essential component to a public health-guided vision for drug policy. Indigenous communities have been disproportionately affected by the harms of drug prohibition. They are targeted by police and incarcerated at higher rates and suffer the intergenerational trauma wrought by over a century of colonization. To truly change our broken drug policies, governments must recognize and be responsive to the needs of Indigenous communities, which continue to face systemic racism and discrimination in multiple social service and health care settings. Having services led and designed by the Indigenous communities is essential.
