Turning to Peterborough’s intersecting opioid and homelessness crises, these panelists share their perspectives on a much-contested approach to addictions: harm reduction. Medical Officer of Health Thomas Piggott, Rapid Access Addiction Medicine/RAAM nurse Shannon Culkeen, and Fourcast project lead Shawntelle Campbell characterise harm reduction as caring for people, meeting them where they are at, maintaining their dignity, and keeping them alive. Housing First, a client-centred approach to housing that prioritises housing needs and does not require abstinence or treatment preconditions, can be regarded as a kind of harm reduction. The panelists show harm reduction to be about dignity, where one is not living with the pain of withdrawal, not being unhoused, not being judged for the substances one’s body needs, not regarded as disposable. Amid polarising views on solutions to the opioid crisis, the panelists urge an orientation towards connection and listening to other people’s expressions of widespread, common distress over the substance dependencies and homelessness that are reshaping this community.  

Audio Production by Collin Chepeka

Music by William Ward

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