Metzineres (in full "Metzineres - Environments of shelter for womxn who take drugs surviving violences") is a nonprofit cooperative based in Barcelona, Spain, providing shelter for vulnerable and marginalized women and non-binary people who use drugs, including homeless people. [1] [2] The project was launched in 2017 [3] and registered as a non-profit cooperative in October 2020. [4]
Beyond essential health and harm reduction services, Metzineres includes services of cover basic needs such as shower, access to internet, hot meals, spaces for peer-support, [5] modalities to engage with neighborhood communities, [6] help to entrepreneurship, art [7] and cultural activities, [8] webradio, [9] as well as a needle and syringe programme and a supervised injection site. [10] Metzineres also engage in advocacy such as demands for heroin-assisted treatment. [11]
Because of barriers to access to healthcare and institutional gaps, marginalized women and non-binary persons who use illicit drugs may not access the health or social services to which they are entitled. For this reason, some believe that "the Metzineres initiative [...] represents a promising model for how harm-reduction programs can provide essential services and support to women and gender non-conforming drug users who have survived situations of violence." [12]
During the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, Metzineres was recognized as an essential health service by health authorities, [13] and integrated as a special intervention service in the healthcare plan of the Catalan government. [14]
Metzineres also participates in harm reduction conferences, [3] [15] international fora such as the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs [16] and High-level meeting on HIV/AIDS, [17] and activist groups such as the International Network of People who Use Drugs [18] or International Drug Policy Consortium.
The word "metzinera" (plural: "metzineres") is an ancient catalan term, historically used to denigrate women accused of witchcraft, in particular for their use of herbal remedies. [2] According to FilterMag, "the 'x' in the word womxn intentionally signifies a commitment to engage cis, trans and non-binary community members." [19]
Womxn and womyn are alternative political spellings of the English word woman, used by some feminists. There are other spellings, including womban or womon (singular), and wombyn or wimmin (plural). Some writers who use such alternative spellings, avoiding the suffix "-man" or "-men", see them as an expression of female independence and a repudiation of traditions that define women by reference to a male norm.
Harm reduction, or harm minimization, refers to a range of intentional practices and public health policies designed to lessen the negative social and/or physical consequences associated with various human behaviors, both legal and illegal. Harm reduction is used to decrease negative consequences of recreational drug use and sexual activity without requiring abstinence, recognizing that those unable or unwilling to stop can still make positive change to protect themselves and others.
A needle and syringe programme (NSP), also known as needle exchange program (NEP), is a social service that allows injection drug users (IDUs) to obtain clean and unused hypodermic needles and associated paraphernalia at little or no cost. It is based on the philosophy of harm reduction that attempts to reduce the risk factors for blood-borne diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.
Needle sharing is the practice of intravenous drug-users by which a needle or syringe is shared by multiple individuals to administer intravenous drugs such as heroin, steroids, and hormones. This is a primary vector for blood-borne diseases which can be transmitted through blood. People who inject drugs (PWID) are at an increased risk for Hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV due to needle sharing practices. From 1933 to 1943, malaria was spread between users in the New York City area by this method. Afterwards, the use of quinine as a cutting agent in drug mixes became more common. Harm reduction efforts including safe disposal of needles, supervised injection sites, and public education may help bring awareness on safer needle sharing practices.
Cindy Fazey is a criminologist and former Chief of Demand Reduction for the United Nations Drug Control Programme. She has been Professor of International Drug Policy at the University of Liverpool since 1998. Fazey has spoken in the past of "the complete failure of national and international drugs policies." She has also noted that the organization of the international drug control apparatus makes it difficult to reform the system. On 24 February 2004, Fazey gave a speech at the Perspective on Cannabis conference at Liverpool titled Can you hear the grass growing? Cannabis and the repatriation of drug policy.
A syringe filter is a single-use filter cartridge. It is attached to the end of a syringe for use. Syringe filters may have Luer lock fittings, though not universally so. The use of a needle is optional; where desired it may be fitted to the end of the syringe filter.
Drug injection is a method of introducing a drug into the bloodstream via a hollow hypodermic needle, which is pierced through the skin into the body. Intravenous therapy, a form of drug injection, is universally practiced in modernized medical care. As of 2004, there were 13.2 million people worldwide who self-administered injection drugs outside of medical supervision, of which 22% are from developed countries.
Outside In is a medical and youth service nonprofit organization in Portland, Oregon, United States that provides primary care and "wraparound services" for low income and homeless clients. It also has several other programs such as needle exchange program for drug users, and eligibility restricted tattoo removal service. The needle exchange has been the cause of community objection as well as cancellation of insurance policy and donors declining to give. It has reported that in fiscal year 2015–2016, it has given out 988,399 needles which was 20,962 more needles than what was returned. Founded in 1968 to serve youth, the organization has since continued to revise its services to meet the needs of its clients. Its services as described in October 2014 include medical care, mobile medical vans, tattoo removal, housing, education, counseling, and job training.
A Cannabis Social Club (CSC), sometimes called Cannabis Club, Cannabis Association, or Teapad, is a type of cannabis retail outlet, an industry model for regulated cannabis organised as non-profit cooperatives in which cannabis is cultivated, shared, and enjoyed collectively, usually for the purpose of relaxing or for social communion.
Illicit drug use in Australia is the recreational use of prohibited drugs in Australia. Illicit drugs include illegal drugs, pharmaceutical drugs when used for non-medical purposes, and other substances used inappropriately. According to government and community organisations, the use and abuse, and the illegality, of illicit drugs is a social, health and legal issue that creates an annual illegal market estimated to be worth A$6.7 billion. Estimates made in 2022 place the figure at A$11.3 billion per year.
The Boston Public Health Commission, the oldest health department in the United States, is an independent public agency providing a wide range of health services and programs. It is governed by a seven-member board of health appointed by the Mayor of Boston. Its mission is to "protect, preserve, and promote the health and well-being of all Boston residents, particularly those who are most vulnerable." The commission is headquartered at 1010 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston.
The drug policy of Portugal, informally called the "drug strategy", was put in place in 2000, and came into effect in July 2001. Created by the Decree-Law n. 130 -A/2001 and under the jurisdiction of the Commissions for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction, its purpose was to reduce the number of new HIV/AIDS cases in the country, as it was estimated around half of new cases came from injection drug use. This new approach focused on public health as opposed to public-order priorities by decriminalizing public and private use and possession of all drugs. Under this new policy when the police encounter individuals using or in possession of drugs, the substance is confiscated and the individual is referred to a Dissuasion Commission.
HIV prevention refers to practices that aim to prevent the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV prevention practices may be undertaken by individuals to protect their own health and the health of those in their community, or may be instituted by governments and community-based organizations as public health policies.
Low-threshold treatment programs are harm reduction-based health care centers targeted towards people who use substances. "Low-threshold" programs are programs that make minimal demands on the patient, offering services without attempting to control their intake of drugs, and providing counselling only if requested. Low-threshold programs may be contrasted with "high-threshold" programs, which require the user to accept a certain level of control and which demand that the patient accept counselling and cease all drug use as a precondition of support.
Responsible drug use seeks to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks associated with psychoactive drug use. For illegal psychoactive drugs that are not diverted prescription controlled substances, some critics believe that illegal recreational drug use is inherently irresponsible, due to the unpredictable and unmonitored strength and purity of the drugs and the risks of addiction, infection, and other side effects.
International Overdose Awareness Day is a global event held on 31 August each year since 2001. Its purpose is to raise awareness of overdoses, reduce the stigma of drug-related deaths and acknowledge the grief felt by families and friends. The first day, held in 2001 in Australia, saw 6,000 silver ribbons distributed across the country and into New Zealand. Since then the day has grown and is recognized in over 40 countries. So too, sadly, has the death toll from overdose continued to rise, particularly in North America.
INPUD is an international non-profit organization grouping local groups and collectives of people who use illicit drugs, which aims at "A world where people who use drugs are free to live their lives with dignity." INPUD was founded in 2006 in Vancouver, Canada, and formally launched in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 1 November 2008.
Harm reduction consists of a series of strategies aimed at reducing the negative impacts of drug use on users. It has been described as an alternative to the U.S.'s moral model and disease model of drug use and addiction. While the moral model treats drug use as a morally wrong action and the disease model treats it as a biological or genetic disease needing medical intervention, harm reduction takes a public health approach with a basis in pragmatism. Harm reduction provides an alternative to complete abstinence as a method for preventing and mitigating the negative consequences of drug use and addiction.
Teresa Borràs Cabacés, known in Spain as Tre Borràs or Dr. Tre, is a Spanish psychiatrist, psychotherapist, author and researcher, specializing in drug use and dependence and the responsible use of drugs.
Beth E. Meyerson is an American professor at the University of Arizona with interest in public health. She is best known for her research on public health policy with focus on harm reduction and sexual health. She is a Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson.
