Ann Livingston - Overdose Prevention

Donate to the Overdose Prevention Society: https://www.gofundme.com/wesavelives In September, 2016, three women were so concerned about the growing fentanyl overdose crisis that they set up a tent & table in an alley behind the DTES Market they managed. In potential violation of the law, they set up a drug injection/ consumption site in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to combat the many overdose deaths. About Ann: Ann Livingston is a creative, energetic and focused community organizer, who has made significant contributions to improving access to health care for people who use illegal drugs at the local, regional and national levels. After co founding the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) with poet/ activist Bud Osborn in 1998, she was employed as VANDU,s executive program director for 10 years. She encouraged people who use drugs, who are criminalized and labeled mentally ill, to form citizen associations and insist that they design and implement harm reduction programs. Consequently, VANDU had, and continues to have, a major influence on the public dialogue around heroin, cocaine, crystal meth and crack use and the people who are users of these illegal substances. After many years of advocacy, public education, marching in the streets and civil disobedience, Vancouver finally has a government sanctioned injection site and is hosting a second heroin prescription trial. In her current role as a volunteer with the BC Yukon Association of Drug War Survivors, Ann is meeting with marginalized, homeless people who use illegal drugs in Surrey and Abbotsford where bylaws have been implemented banning harm reduction services for drug users. The BC Humanist Association was formed in 1984 and we have a regular attendance of over 30 people at our Sunday meetings. View the slides: https://www.slideshare.net/bchumanist/overdose-prevention-society