 | | Stimulating news from Vietnam | In 2019, Mainline, in collaboration with SCDI – a Vietnamese local partner, trained a group of outreach workers from six different grassroots organisations in Hanoi. Training topics related to stimulant harm reduction as part of a newly established Stimulant Learning Hub based in Hanoi. We are delighted to announce a new learning path for community based organisations in Vietnam, which will take place in August and September 2022.
During this learning path, community workers will receive training, coaching on the job and long-term support on the topics of community-based mental health interventions and chemsex.
To ensure the continued development of the new interventions, we’ve also enrolled committed harm reduction experts from SCDI to join our Train the Trainer (ToT) programme. A dissemination course is scheduled for December. | |
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 | | Updates from the Love Alliance | Mainline, as the resource partner for South Africa’s Network of People who Use Drugs (SANPUD) in the Love Alliance programme, have developed a database of key indicators reflecting the state of harm reduction and drug policy in the 10 Love Alliance countries. It contains essential data to strategically plan activities around people who use drugs and harm reduction in these countries and aspires to inform the Alliance strategy in 2022- 2025.
The database is an open resource for all Love Alliance partners and grantees and will be a living space. After gathering country data via desk research and interviews with key informants, we are currently organising community reviews to validate and update the database. These meetings focus on jointly drafting recommendations and potentially set priorities for future activities and investments in each country. | |
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 | | Mindful Muscles | Our project Mindful Muscles is entering the next stage. The strengths-based educational resource is ready to be reviewed by people in amateur sports who use or at risk of using performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs). The intervention incorporates mindfulness, acceptance and self-compassion and offers quite a unique approach to the use PIEDs. In this new phase, Mainline will also consult (sport and health care) professionals to open the door towards better prevention and harm reduction for this group of people.
Mainline is actively advocating for the introduction of harm reduction for people who use PIEDs. For those interested and able to read Dutch, you can find a letter we send to the Dutch Parliament on our website. | |
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 | | May-migration meeting in Amsterdam | Mainline was very happy to have the partners of our project for vulnerable migrants who use drugs in Europe over to our office. In a two day meeting in May we worked hard to plan for our upcoming research to find out more about the needs of people with a migration background who use drugs in Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin and Paris.
Are you interested to learn more about this urgent and important work? Visit our website and find out more! | |
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 | | New release: module 6 of the #decrim e-course | We are happy to announce that module 6 of our free Drug Decriminalisation [e]course, codesigned by IDPC, Mainline and Health[e] Foundation is close to completion and will be released as part of Drug Decriminalisation month at the end of June. The module explores different types of sanctions and responses currently imposed for drug use and possession. It invites participants to consider the benefits of voluntary referrals into health and social services in a decriminalised model, as opposed to harmful and unproductive criminal and administrative sanctions.
Module 1, 2 and 3 are now Available in English, French, Russian and Arabic.
#supportdontpunish | |
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.jpg?v=20220623152253) | | Poppi opens an XTC shop | Imagine that policy makers decide to regulate the sales of MDMA – the active ingredient in ecstasy pills. It’s not a strange thought. Scientists have recently underscored that this would be a policy choice that would result in the best outcomes regarding health, safety and environment.
Mainline’s social enterprise Poppi is planning a pop-up exposition around this topic. Together with Vincent Schoutsen and Corne van der Stelt we have created a social experiment. Our art-installation will help visitors to image a future where you can legally buy ecstasy pills. Our visitors are asked to think along with the scenario they think would work best. Should an ecstasy outlet take the form of a pharmacy, or a (smart) shop? Or should you just be able to buy it at a party? Together with our research partner the University of Utrecht we intend to investigate what conditions for regulated sales would be acceptable to the general public.
The xtc shop opens its doors on 15 July in Utrecht and will remain open until the end of September. Stay posted via the Poppi socials and the page updates on the ‘Cultuurinnovatiefonds Provincie Utrecht’ website. |
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 | | Support don’t punish | Since 10 years, the 26th of June marks a day of action for many individuals and organisations across the world, including Mainline. Support. Don’t Punish is a global grassroots-centred initiative in support of harm reduction and drug policies that prioritise public health and human rights. The campaign seeks to put harm reduction on the political agenda by strengthening the mobilisation capacity of communities targeted by the “war on drugs” and their allies, opening dialogue with policy makers, and raising awareness among the media and the public.
You can find all the relevant information and action resources on the campaign website. #supportdontpunish | |
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