Vincent de Maisonneuve works for Quebec Association for Drug Users Health Promotion (AQPSUD), a in a peer run drug user advocacy and harm reduction organization in Quebec, Canada. He develop, edit and publishes prevention and harm reduction tools.

Issue -
As drugs change, so does the way people communicate and access new technologies. The profile of precarious people who use drugs (PWUD) is no longer concentrated in so-called “street people”. Amidst the global pandemic, new challenges arise to reach and collaborate with our target population.

Setting -
L’Injecteur is a province-wide harm reduction magazine in Quebec, Canada (8.5 million residents dispersed across approximately 15 major regions). Being a large territory, PWUD in Quebec vary from region to region, as well as between urban and rural areas; some people are quite remote and have less access to harm reduction services and information. We also distribute L'Injecteur in prisons as we know PWUDs are disproportionately incarcerated for their drug use in Quebec.

Project -
L’Injecteur is a peer-run magazine operating under AQPSUD (Quebec Association for Drug User Health Promotion). Created in 2006, L’Injecteur publishes three issues a year of 6,000 copies each. Aside from our intern staff, PWUDs across the province are invited to participate and are compensate to do so. We publish articles, texts, drawings, poems, comic strips, and pictures. Our main subjects are overdose prevention, STI prevention, drug policy advocacy, and general harm reduction tips.

Outcome –
The global pandemic has greatly impacted the way we connect with people, interact as a team, and distribute our magazine. One of our key challenges while working from home was to stay up-to-date about the events and ideas in our field. Another concern was the abysmal condition of jails in which prisoners were left in solitary confinement for two weeks with nothing else than our magazine to read. Nonetheless, we were able to produce three magazine issues that year along with an accompanying anthology issue. Finding effective modern ways to reach people is our next challenge.