Dr. João Goulão
Keynote Dr. João Goulão
Director-General, General-Directorate for Intervention on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies, Ministry of Health, Portugal
The need to hear a range of expert perspectives on illicit substance use and/or addiction, e.g., public supply of addictive drugs (PSAD; also known as ‘safe supply’), decriminalization, or legalization, is key to developing policies that can address their social, health, and economic consequences. As major drug law policy changes are being considered and implemented in Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere, policy makers, health-care professionals and politicians need access to all relevant research.
Hosted by the School of Public Health Sciences, this event will showcase the learnings from the Portuguese National Strategy, which involved a massive shift from a focus on law enforcement to prioritizing addiction treatment and prevention. Immediately following this discussion, several Canadian addictions researchers and clinicians will share their research and experiences.
We hope to provide a more complex and nuanced view of what options of decriminalization, medicalization and legalization of substances might look like in a North American context.
Panel
Dr. Julian M. Somers, PhD
Social reintegration versus deaths of despair
Dr. Launette Rieb, MD
Controversial issues surrounding Public Supply of Addictive Drugs (PSAD) and decriminalization of drugs in Canada
Dr. Vincent Lam, MD
Hidden harms of the Public Supply of Addictive Drugs (PSAD): Cases from a community addictions medicine clinic
"LE", Representative with lived experience
How safe supply programs may have unintended consequences: Personal experience and observations
Panel moderated by award-winning national health writer André Picard
For full details, bios and to register, see event website.