Region hosting forum on addiction tonight

Whether it's needle exchange, safer crack use kits or safe injection sites, harm reduction remains a topical health, policy and enforcement issue in Canada.

Peel Public Health, in partnership with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the Peel HIV/AIDS Network, is presenting the Pamela Fralick Community Information Forum on Addiction, Balancing Public Health and Drug Control Policies: The Future of Harm Reduction.

The Forum will be tonight (May 22) at 6:30 p.m. at the Living Arts Centre, Staging Room, 4141 Living Arts Dr., Mississauga.

Speaking at the forum will be Dr. Ernest Drucker, a drug policy specialist and U.S. public health researcher. As well, there will be a panel of drug use and policy experts from Toronto and Peel, including Dr. Pat Erickson of CAMH; Karen Parsons of Peel Addiction Assessment and Referral Centre (PAARC); Tom Regehr of CAST Canada; and Susan Shepherd of Toronto Drug Strategy.

Drucker, who is also a professor of epidemiology and social medicine at Montefiore Medical Center and at Columbia University School of Public Health in New York, will address the evolution of harm reduction policies, share examples of what has and has not worked internationally (especially in the U.S.) and discuss Canada's key role in the future development of effective drug policies worldwide.

Harm reduction involves taking measures to decrease the adverse health, social, and economic consequences of substance use, for both the user and the community.

For more information, call (905) 799-7700, or visit www.peelregion.ca/health