*Vermont Harm Reduction Advocates reserves the right to approve or deny any request that does not align with our mission and values. This is determined by Decriminalize Vermont staff and leadership.
Harm Reduction & Overdose Response Trainings Hosted by Central Vermont Prevention Coalition Presented by Vermont CARES
Join Vermont CARES for a free community training focused on harm reduction and overdose response. Learn about the basics of harm reduction, the current drug supply, opioids and naloxone, and how to recognize and respond to an overdose. No need to sign up. Just show up!
📍 Monday, August 18th | 5:30–7:00 PM
Kellogg-Hubbard Library – Hayes Room
135 Main St, Montpelier, VT 05602
In collaboration with the Montpelier Fire Department
All are welcome. No registration required.
Overdose Awareness Event
Join us on August 27th from 4–6pm at City Hall Park in Burlington for the Overdose Awareness Event. This powerful gathering, hosted by Team Sharing and allies, honors lives lost to substance use and creates space for public grieving without shame. Bring a memorial poster and stand in community to help break the stigma.
✨ Free ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s
🎥 Livestreamed on Town Meeting TV
🕊️ All are welcome
BTV Clean Up Crew: Burlington Syringe Litter Clean Up
The Peace & Justice Center with support form VHRA has launched a weekly effort to clean up syringe litter throughout Burlington.
Each week, volunteers from the Clean Up Crew, titled BTV Clean Up Crew, heads out to safely collect discarded syringes and other litter around the city. The team also monitors reports on SeeClickFix to respond quickly to any needle sightings and ensure safe disposal.
Clean-ups take place every Thursday at 7:30 AM at the Top of the Church Street Market Place in Burlington!
Want to get involved?
We’d love to have you join us! To learn more or sign up, email btvcleanupcrew@riseup.net or contact kason@pjvt.org.
Harm Reduction & Overdose Response Trainings Hosted by Central Vermont Prevention Coalition Presented by Vermont CARES
Join Vermont CARES for a free community training focused on harm reduction and overdose response. Learn about the basics of harm reduction, the current drug supply, opioids and naloxone, and how to recognize and respond to an overdose. No need to sign up. Just show up!
📍 Thursday, July 24th | 5:30–7:00 PM
Barre Social Club
105 N Main St #102, Barre, VT 05641
In collaboration with the Barre City Fire Department
Overdose Awareness Month
August is overdose awareness month, culminating in International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31st.
Join us as we honor those lost to accidental overdose and the one in three Americans impacted by substance use disorder.
Click here for a roundup of events throughout the state.
Team Sharing Gathering & Overdose Prevention Center National Solidarity
Team Sharing Vermont is hosting its annual day of remembrance for loved ones lost to accidental overdose death. This year, they are also bringing Overdose Prevention Center National Solidarity Week to Vermont.
Join us and dedicated harm reductionists for an in-person gathering in Burlington’s City Hall Park on August 29, organized by Team Sharing Vermont.
PRESS CONFERENCE CALLING FOR GOV. SCOTT TO SUPPORT H.72
Stand with us on Tuesday, May 7 to show your support for OPCs and urge Governor Scott to sign bill H.72!
VERMONT REIMAGINING DRUG POLICY CONFERENCE 2023
A one-day convening (via zoom) featuring nationwide experts on drug policy to examine the harms of existing criminal approaches to drug use and policies designed to strengthen systems of care & support. For more information, check out the conference page.
The Rise of Pregnancy Criminalization: A Pregnancy Justice Report
Criminalizing pregnant people worsens maternal, fetal, and child health. Pregnancy outcomes are at risk when pregnancy is criminalized — and the harm falls hardest on those who are already marginalized. A new report by Pregnancy Justice, The Rise of Pregnancy Criminalization, explores this trend. This webinar brings together a panel of experts to talk about the impacts of criminalizing pregnant people. Register at https://pregnancyjusticeus-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_C0zJeYx7Rxaxzn6J3AETgg#/registration.
International Drug Policy Reform Conference (Virtual Option)
The International Drug Policy Reform Conference runs from October 18-21 in Phoenix. A virtual option will include access to the three plenary sessions and nine educational breakout sessions via livestream, addressing topics from exploring the next era of drug decriminalization to global drug war reparations to psychedelic regulation and so much more. All of the virtual sessions will be recorded and available for viewing after the event. Register online to join the world’s premier gathering of people who are working to end the drug war and build a new world.
Vermont Medical Society webinar: Overdose Prevention Sites and Eliminating Penalties for Drug Possession - Exploring Health Centered Approaches to Addressing Substance Use
A webinar for members of the Vermont Medical Society featuring national experts sharing the evidence for authorizing overdose prevention centers and eliminating criminal penalties for possessing personal use quantities of illicit drugs, two topics likely to come before the Vermont legislature in 2024. Speakers Brandon Marshall, PhD and Ryan Kelly, MD, MS will discuss these strategies and inform policy discussions. With planning assistance from the Drug Policy Alliance
International Overdose Awareness Day Rally
Join the Vermont Overdose Prevention Network at City Hall Park in Burlington for an in-person event to remember those lost to overdose and speak out for evidence-based approaches to prevention. The event will also be streamed by Town Meeting TV and can be replayed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cip8uYPrWSU
Press Conference - Addressing Rising Overdose Rates
Decriminalize Vermont Coalition to Host Press Conference Calling for Bolder Action to Address Drug Overdose Crisis
The Decriminalize Vermont Coalition will host a press conference to remember the Vermonters lost to fatal overdose in 2022 and call for urgent legislative action to prevent future overdose deaths. Participants will bring attention to the March 13, 2023 Monthly Opioid Morbidity and Mortality Report released by the Vermont Department of Health, finding that through December 2022 there have been at least “237 opioid-related accidental and undetermined deaths among Vermont residents”, and call for urgent legislative action to authorize and establish critical harm reduction strategies such as overdose prevention centers, drug checking and decriminalization.