NEWSLETTER - Canadian Harm Reduction Network

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Two broad-based coalitions – HOME (Housing Ontario Means Everyone) andOntario Needs A Raise – have joined together under a common banner:"Ontario needs a Roof, a Raise, a Home"and are organizing an event to ensure we're heard during the provincialelection campaign.Join us on Thursday, September 18th in demanding an end to unfairevictions, truly affordable housing, a $10 minimum wage and increases tosocial assistance...WHAT: Mock Tribunal EventWHEN: Thursday, September 18thWHERE: 777 Bay Street (where the head office of the Ontario Rental HousingTribunal and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing are located) atCollege.TIME:••••11:30 a.m. -- leafleting at the corners of Bay and College.12 noon -- mock tribunal (where well-known lawyer Peter Rosenthalwill play the "Judge of the People's Court" and evict Ernie Eves (playedby anti-targeted policing activist Anna Willats) for wilfully trampling ontenant rights.12:30 pm -- representatives from Ontario Needs a Raise (SarahBlackstock) and HOME (Dana Milne) will summarize the key messagesand take questions from the media.12:45 pm -- leafleting at the corners of Bay and College (for about halfan hour)Help us make this a big and memorable event!!! We'll be getting posters forthe event out shortly and we need your help to get them up in yourcommunities and encourage people to come out. NOTE: TTC will be availablefor low-income tenants and homeless people attending the event. Look forCliff Martin ( wearing the neon yellow armband). Or if you think you can fill abus, we will cover the costs. To arrange, please contact Dana Milne at 416-599-6195 dana@tdrc.netFrom COUNTERfit… IDU Update:A couple of COUNTERfit service users claim that the price of a gram of cocaine hasdropped to as low as $65.00. At first I didn't put much credibility into this claim as theprice of cocaine has been stable between $80.00 and $100.00 for the past seven yearsin Toronto -- only a couple of weeks ago, that was still the price most people paid.However, I did make some inquiries and found a dealer in South Riverdale who is sellingdecent quality cocaine for $65.00/gram. If this price holds, we should be seeing anincrease in injection cocaine use in Toronto.Toronto Harm Reduction Task Forcewww.torontoharmreduction.org
Usually, the price of cocaine in Toronto follows the price of cocaine in Montreal and thenKingston. In Montreal the price of cocaine has been stable between $70.00 and$80.00/gram for ten years now. To decrease the price of cocaine on the streets ofToronto, the going rate of powdered cocaine in the streets of Montreal should have fallento as low as $50.00 to $60.00/gram. If that's the case, there should be a sharp increasein the number of needles being distributed in Montreal (either that, or an increase in thenumber of IDUs getting infected with HCV and HIV).In terms of heroin, the prices have dropped to the pre-drought levels of last year(October). Right now, depending upon quality and count, the price of a quarter gramheroin in the streets of Toronto is between $50.00 and $60.00 (well, one can buy it for aslow as $40.00, but one would be getting less than 0.2g and a good portion of it will bedextrose). I suspect this price is going to drop given 1) the record crop of opium inAfghanistan; 2) the fact that the Europeans restarted importing heroin as a response tolast year's drought (and they haven't stopped yet); and 3) the South Americans havedropped the price of heroin to almost the same price of cocaine (we're talking bulk here).iDUs and front-line-workers in Kingston and Vancouver must have better informationregarding speed. In Toronto, there are two main groups of speed users: 1) Ravers, whopredominantly use crystal meth, and 2) old-timers who use the classicmethamphetamine. Crystal Meth is mostly a rip-off. In my opinion, it is speed without2P2 -- one gets high for a long time without the accompanying euphoria. It is also veryexpensive because of the way it is sold (in 1/3g vials or capsules). Ravers and designerdrug users pay anywhere between $100.00 and $140.00 for a gram of Crystal Meth (a1/3g vial usually costs $35.00 -- although I could be wrong because few of our serviceusers are Ravers; however, we do have a few young crystal meth users and thisinformation is from them). As for old-time speed users, they usually get their stuff fromKingston or Vancouver. Dealers cut the shit out of these drugs and sell them for$100.00 to $120.00 for gram (a gram usually weighs 0.8g).Afghan heroin is flooding the Russian market through a dense network that covers theentire nation. There are between three and four million drug users, the heroin crowdhaving grown by twenty-three per cent between 1998 and 2002. Afghan stuff accountsfor seventy per cent of supplies. (ASSOCIATED PRESS: RUSSIA TRAFFIC -27/08/2003)~Raffi Balianrbalian@srchc.comThe Toronto Harm Reduction Task Force Front Line Workers Group meets onthe second Tuesday each month at the Restaurant at Fred Victor Centre(south/east corner of Queen St. E. at Jarvis) from 1:30 – 3pm. If you work withany vulnerable population where drug use is a concern, please feel free to joinus. There is no need to register and no fee to attend. Each month apresentation about a harm reduction related topic is followed by opportunities fornetworking and support. For further information, contact the Task Force at 647-222-4420 or torontoharmreduction@lycos.comToronto Harm Reduction Task Forcewww.torontoharmreduction.org
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Page 5 and 6: Developer's simple idea could end h
Page 7 and 8: advanced degrees. They are also key
Page 9 and 10: Copies of the THRTF Manual for Peer
Page 12 and 13: Get involved! We need your help!If
Page 14 and 15: Program `saved my life'Alcoholic ba

NEWSLETTER - Canadian Harm Reduction Network

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