Ms. Que Banh<p>When it comes to <a href="https://beige.party/tags/reporting" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>reporting</span></a> on <a href="https://beige.party/tags/NorthAmerica" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NorthAmerica</span></a>’s <a href="https://beige.party/tags/OverdoseCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>OverdoseCrisis</span></a> — the worst in our history — <a href="https://beige.party/tags/misleading" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>misleading</span></a> articles can increase <a href="https://beige.party/tags/stigma" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>stigma</span></a> against people who use <a href="https://beige.party/tags/drugs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" 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 noreferrer" 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 noreferrer" 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 noreferrer" 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 noreferrer" 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 noreferrer" 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 noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Vancouver</span></a> the <a href="https://beige.party/tags/fentanyl" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" 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 noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>misleading</span></a> claims, including stating that <a href="https://beige.party/tags/SafeSupply" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" 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 noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DrugCrisis</span></a>, allowing <a href="https://beige.party/tags/politicians" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>politicians</span></a> to drum up fear about <a href="https://beige.party/tags/HarmReduction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" 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 noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>prohibition</span></a> have impacted the current <a href="https://beige.party/tags/FentanylCrisis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" 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 noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>opioids</span></a> turned to heroin instead. Eventually, <a href="https://beige.party/tags/DrugTraffickers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" 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 noreferrer" 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 noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CDNpoli</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/BCpoli" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BCpoli</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/BreakTheStigma" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BreakTheStigma</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/AddictionEducation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AddictionEducation</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Fearmongering" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fearmongering</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/StopStigmatizingAddiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>StopStigmatizingAddiction</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Health" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Health</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/Medical" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Medical</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/HealthPolicies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HealthPolicies</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/MediaManipulation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MediaManipulation</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/BreakStatusQuo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BreakStatusQuo</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/FundTreatmentServices" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FundTreatmentServices</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/FundHealthCare" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FundHealthCare</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/FundMedicalServices" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FundMedicalServices</span></a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/CommunityHealth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CommunityHealth</span></a></p>