Ms. Que Banh<p>When it comes to <a href="https://beige.party/tags/reporting" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>reporting</span></a> on <a href="https://beige.party/tags/NorthAmerica" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>NorthAmerica</span></a>’s <a href="https://beige.party/tags/OverdoseCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>OverdoseCrisis</span></a> — the worst in our history — <a href="https://beige.party/tags/misleading" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>misleading</span></a> articles can increase <a href="https://beige.party/tags/stigma" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>stigma</span></a> against people who use <a href="https://beige.party/tags/drugs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>drugs</span></a>, skew the public’s understanding of the issue, inspire <a href="https://beige.party/tags/BadFaith" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BadFaith</span></a> policy and make it more difficult for other <a href="https://beige.party/tags/journalists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>journalists</span></a> to gain the trust and respect of <a href="https://beige.party/tags/MarginalizedCommunities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>MarginalizedCommunities</span></a>.</p><p>Which brings me to a splashy, new piece of drug <a href="https://beige.party/tags/journalism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>journalism</span></a> from U.K.-based newspaper the Telegraph, falsely claiming that <a href="https://beige.party/tags/decriminalizing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>decriminalizing</span></a> the possession of small amounts of drugs “made <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Vancouver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Vancouver</span></a> the <a href="https://beige.party/tags/fentanyl" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>fentanyl</span></a> capital of the world.” </p><p>The Telegraph’s story, like others before it, makes a number of other <a href="https://beige.party/tags/misleading" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>misleading</span></a> claims, including stating that <a href="https://beige.party/tags/SafeSupply" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SafeSupply</span></a> programs, which provide pharmaceutical alternatives to street drugs, are making the situation worse because that supply is being sold to street users, including young people. Some safe supply is being diverted, but there is no evidence that it’s led to more deaths or teens forming new addictions.</p><p>Reporting like this misses important context about the <a href="https://beige.party/tags/DrugCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DrugCrisis</span></a>, allowing <a href="https://beige.party/tags/politicians" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>politicians</span></a> to drum up fear about <a href="https://beige.party/tags/HarmReduction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>HarmReduction</span></a> rather than confront how decades of <a href="https://beige.party/tags/prohibition" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>prohibition</span></a> have impacted the current <a href="https://beige.party/tags/FentanylCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FentanylCrisis</span></a>. After the 2010s crackdown on prescription pain pills, many people dependent on <a href="https://beige.party/tags/opioids" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>opioids</span></a> turned to heroin instead. Eventually, <a href="https://beige.party/tags/DrugTraffickers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DrugTraffickers</span></a> began cutting heroin with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times stronger, that is also cheaper and simpler to make and smuggle. </p><p><a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/fearmongering-about-drug-dens-is-making-canadas-crisis-worse/article_3cb43484-444e-11ef-90b0-a7fbb265a168.html" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">thestar.com/opinion/contributo</span><span class="invisible">rs/fearmongering-about-drug-dens-is-making-canadas-crisis-worse/article_3cb43484-444e-11ef-90b0-a7fbb265a168.html</span></a></p><p><a href="https://beige.party/tags/CDNpoli" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CDNpoli</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/BCpoli" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BCpoli</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/BreakTheStigma" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BreakTheStigma</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/AddictionEducation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AddictionEducation</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Fearmongering" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Fearmongering</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/StopStigmatizingAddiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>StopStigmatizingAddiction</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Health" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Health</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Medical" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Medical</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/HealthPolicies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>HealthPolicies</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/MediaManipulation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>MediaManipulation</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/BreakStatusQuo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BreakStatusQuo</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/FundTreatmentServices" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FundTreatmentServices</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/FundHealthCare" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FundHealthCare</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/FundMedicalServices" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FundMedicalServices</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/CommunityHealth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CommunityHealth</span></a></p>