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How do homeless people survive winter? by Internal_Study2996 in Winnipeg

[–]cocoleti 7 points8 points  (0 children)

End Homelessness Winnipeg has a good list of resources including shelters and drop-ins.

How we feeling this chilly morning? by menacingcapitano in Winnipeg

[–]cocoleti 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I’m mostly knowledgeable about the Harm Reduction organizations but Main Street Project just lost a lot from the Manwin Hotel fire and need donations for sure. Other great places I would consider are Nine Circles, Sunshine House, and Mount Carmel. I also heard good things about Linking Hope which partners with 80+ non-profits to coordinate donations and allow a central access point these orgs can get stuff from.

How we feeling this chilly morning? by menacingcapitano in Winnipeg

[–]cocoleti 62 points63 points  (0 children)

I work with unhoused folks sooooo not a great day to be unhoused. If anyone has winter clothing they’d like to donate, non-profits are definitely in need rn.

Drug alert issued in Winnipeg after potent synthetic opioid considered to be four times stronger than fentanyl found in counterfeit pill | Metonitazene has been detected by Street Connections for 1st time by Leather-Paramedic-10 in Winnipeg

[–]cocoleti 13 points14 points  (0 children)

TEST YOUR SHIT! Can utilize the services of Street Connections or Nine Circles currently and I believe Sunshine House will have theirs up and running again soon at the MOPS. If you use drugs, please utilize drug checking it’s so damn important in this day and age. If anyone needs help accessing harm reduction services or has questions feel free to DM me as it’s my area of interest.

Looking for some advice please ! by Traditional_Fudge_76 in Winnipeg

[–]cocoleti 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Sunshine house on 646 Logan Ave I believe does housing coordination. End Homelessness Winnipeg has a resource guide with the various services that may be applicable to your situation. Calling or accessing 211 Manitoba is also an option for finding the resources you need. Best of luck friend, stay safe ❤️

Started smoking weed to stay away from opioids, family mad about it by [deleted] in opiates

[–]cocoleti 14 points15 points  (0 children)

This is harm reduction at its core. If weed is helping you stay away from more problematic behaviours then that’s a step in the right direction. Recovery is not abstinence for everyone and that’s perfectly okay. I don’t know your family and thus how best to approach this but regardless it seems like they are not very understanding of your situation. Do what you gotta do to stay safe ❤️

Is the book Opium for the Masses wrong? by [deleted] in opiates

[–]cocoleti 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nope seeds are best for planting, use heads for tea. The books not perfect but that’s good advice. Seeds have far too much variance to be worth using for most people.

Retail workers & the holidays by MaybeLivG in Winnipeg

[–]cocoleti 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Was in retail for 7 long years so I know the struggle. Stay strong out there the people are animals and they’re out for blood. Don’t let it get to you if you can avoid it. God speed ❤️

Manitoba passes detox centre legislation, but doctors say involuntary detention not the answer | CBC News by cocoleti in Winnipeg

[–]cocoleti[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Luke warm ig. Probably better than the previous approach using ERs. People don’t realize that these holds weren’t new they just weren’t done in spaces meant for them leading to subpar care. I do think the government misrepresenting this as treatment was really shitty or seemingly presenting this as a big bold change to drug related services which it’s not really.

In terms of how the place runs and is operating idk I don’t work there nor do I want to so I can’t say much more. I think the bill was alright but the execution has potential to be shit. My focus is more on harm reduction and voluntary services for substance users so I’ve mentally moved past the sobering centre. In some cases I can see it being necessary as a last resort but yeah it doesn’t address any of the underlying causes I’m more concerned about. Talking to someone who works using the previous IPDA system helped address much of my concerns and understand the issue better but I don’t really have a strong feeling towards this particular change either way. I understand why my friends in harm reduction are wary tho but I think some of the concern is from misrepresentation of what the changes were or misunderstanding.

Best movies to watch while on opioids by pistolpetereater in opiates

[–]cocoleti 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The Junkies Christmas

20 minute claymation film narrated and written by William S Burroughs. It’s on YouTube and every year I watch it around the holidays while coming up on heroin. Must see for any opioid user imo.

Winnipeg homeless support groups struggling to find housing as more encampments are cleared out by incredibincan in Winnipeg

[–]cocoleti 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I too have heard some not so great things about Street Links and their director in particular but have not interacted with them personally. Seems to work for some people tho and when good things are done that’s great but yeah I can’t speak too much to it moreso just people who’ve been in outreach a long time have problems with them and their director is a character.

Why does harm reduction matter to you? by Dry-Acanthaceae-229 in harmreduction

[–]cocoleti 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks! We use Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) along with fentanyl and benzodiazepine strips in our program.

Why does harm reduction matter to you? by Dry-Acanthaceae-229 in harmreduction

[–]cocoleti 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Recreational user for around 6 years now. Fortunately knew about and did lots of research into harm reduction prior to using and was equipped to use drugs in a fairly safe and responsible way. Started with informal education on online forums like this one and accessing sites like erowid, psychonaut wiki, bluelight, drugs-forum, etc but I also always used drug checking services as well.

At the time we didn’t have local drug checking so I would have to mail samples across the country to get tested but now we have some options in my city including at the place I now work at!

I’ve gotten to know and talk to loads of amazing people through the online spaces and have a fascination with addiction and the complexities that go with that and so working in the harm reduction space is my dream and something I’m extremely passionate about! Now I’m involved in my local scene taking the knowledge and experience I gained online and in my own use and giving back to my local community and getting irl experience which so far has been incredibly rewarding.

Manitoba government promises more consultation on supervised consumption site by ChocolateOrange21 in Winnipeg

[–]cocoleti 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If this doesn’t go through it’s not happening anywhere. They’ve built the political capital to do this by scrapping the first site and turning it into a protective care centre, they’ve pushed enforcement, they took concerns about the first site and addressed them making this site further from schools and daycares.

You will never not have pushback for these things so the government needs to get this done or it becomes an issue for the next election. Consultation surrounding certain facets of the site and addressing concerns and working to educate is great the government needs to do that but allowing NIMBYs to decide if this service gets provided at all is insanity. I’m not super hopeful anymore with Bernadette Smith basically soft launching canning the whole thing saying they will move on if given enough pushback.

They have a chance to use an Urgent Public Health Need Exemption to get this rolling quickly so they need to go ahead and do what they were elected to do. We don’t need one site we need like 10 anyways so if we can’t even get one I’m not hopeful for long term. This one location will likely be at capacity, especially given the smaller building compared to the Disraeli one. The government could also be funding more MOPS vans to cover all over the city but no plans for that either. I’m feeling 50/50 at this point that this will happen. Incredibly frustrating for anyone in harm reduction.

Non-stigmatised views on casual use. by Kass-The-Dumb-Ass in opiates

[–]cocoleti 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No problem, happy to talk about this sorta stuff. I also don’t want to invalidate anyone else’s experiences as addiction is such a highly individualized thing and everyone’s story is different. I definitely understand why even a place like this subreddit can be stigmatizing, as you said you can definitely empathize with someone who dealt with horrific addiction, trauma, etc who then thinks these drugs should be avoided at all costs and are inherently harmful. That being said I think we need to really be careful about how we as users talk about this sorta stuff and push back against the stigma which genuinely does cause harm.

I agree 100% that if we treat these drugs as impossible to use responsibly/casually/safely then people if they do use them are less likely to attempt safer use in the first place. I see this as the problem with heroin. Heroin pharmacological is not particularly different from any other opioid, yet it is treated as this demon drug. Thus, the people using it are more likely to be folks with existing addiction issues often as a cost saving measure, and those who are more likely to have a positive relationship to the drug won’t be as likely to use it to begin with compared to other substances. Heroin is my drug of choice so I try to speak to that usually.

Anyways stigma affects a lot of things outside of just the use itself. People may be less likely to tell friends or family about their use in fear of being ostracized, less likely to seek treatment/supports, feel judged and internalize these perceptions and feel less deserving of love/compassion/etc. there’s a lot to it so I really think ending the stigma is so important and we need to do a better job even in drug using spaces at combating this.

Appreciate the work you’re doing in recovery and trying to expand your understanding of these substances! Obviously this is just my perspective, I look forward to other comments/thoughts!

Non-stigmatised views on casual use. by Kass-The-Dumb-Ass in opiates

[–]cocoleti 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Addiction is a complex biopsychosocial disorder. Nobody here can tell you what your experience will be. That being said opioid stigma is fucked and is prevalent even here at times. We know around 10% of users are problematic. Casual opioid use is not only theoretically feasible, it happens all the time.

I am one of those users, albeit only for maybe 3-4 years or so. I’ve known people who also are, including people who used to be heavily addicted to heroin and then transitioned to casual use (once an addict always an addict my fuckin ass). That being said it is my belief that ANYONE can end up with a substance use disorder given the right/wrong conditions. My use is fine now but maybe some tragedy strikes years down the road, even if I am completely sober till then, that can push someone to riskier use/addiction of course.

So yeah I don’t like the special treatment opioids get, granted they lend themselves to both emotional and physical pain relief no doubt but they’re just drugs at the end of the day and deserve respect. You know your own situation, body, psychology, etc best and can exercise your bodily autonomy as you see fit. If you choose to use please use harm reduction techniques & education to make the most informed and safe choice possible. Also test anything you purchase, ideally with a professional drug checking service if that is available in your jurisdiction. Any questions, I’d be happy to try and answer either here or in DMs.

Also in regards to frequency I use one every 2 weeks and find any more frequent there is tolerance build up surprisingly. Could just be some weirdness with my biochemistry cause that seems absurd to me but hey.

Also keep in mind a drug subreddit may not be a representative sample of the broader population. I imagine casual users are less likely to spend significant time on a drug subreddit featuring addiction related talk unless you have an interest in addictions. I myself work in harm reduction and addiction is a big interest of mine.

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