By Megan DePutter, Positive Prevention Coordinator

The Guelph Mercury recently published a letter to the editor I wrote, which was a small comment on the attention our recent Harm Reduction Forum drew to Levamisole, a de-wormer that is being added to cocaine and causing many extremely dangerous health problems to the people who use the drug. The article was called, "Crack laced with dog dewormer latest danger for addicts, drug forum hears."

It would have been nice if the article was written with genuine interest in protecting the health of people who use drugs, but it seems so sensational that I felt it was written with less than sincere intent. It seems to draw attention to the dangers of drug use more than it does to highlight the existing answers and solutions that have already been identified.  The forum highlighted the importance of harm reduction and the many ways in which it can be employed to reduce some of the risks to people who use drugs and their surrounding communities. I was particularly moved when I saw the impressive involvement of people who have experienced chronic homelessness and addiction, who contribute to their community by participating in a variety of outreach strategies. It's an incredible contribution; the power of applying lived experience is amazing.  The peers' individual strengths, knowledge and compassion was priceless... why couldn't the journalist have focused on that?

It's important that our community endorse and support harm reduction. This would have been the perfect opportunity for the journalist in question to relay this important information to Mercury readers.

To be fair, harm reduction was discussed in the article in a positive way. I just wish that the article addressed it more clearly, and did not push the important part to the very bottom of the column.

Here's my response. I could have said a lot more, but instead wrote a more optimistic article that I felt had a decent chance of getting published.  My article, which they titled, "harm-reduction programs may help drug-users," was published last Friday.