Breakout Session: Overdose Prevention in a Shifting Political, Legal, and Funding Landscape

Moderator: Oami Amarasingham, Esq. (Deputy Director, Massachusetts Public Health Association) 

Panelists:

Pedro Alvarez (Director of Harm Reduction Operations, Tapestry Health. Springfield, MA.)   

Claire Hoffman, MPH (Senior Public Health Planner, Metropolitan Area Planning Council)  

Ashley Perry (Deputy Director/OPC Co-Director, Project Weber/RENEW)

 Summary: Panelists will shed light on the legal landscape and practical considerations involved in implementing supervised drug consumption and other overdose prevention and harm reduction strategies in Massachusetts. Panelists will discuss harm reduction in the context of the current federal and state climate, touching on health equity, the health impacts of the criminal legal system, and existing and proposed harm reduction policies.