Challenging the perception of drug use on and off-campus
Alannah Fricker is a student in Toronto Metropolitan’s Faculty of Community Services, working towards the completion of her Bachelor in Social Work. Outside of studying, Alannah tirelessly advocates for changemaking within the overdose crisis and actively challenges the perception of drug use both on and off-campus.
Alannah is fighting the perception that the overdose crisis isn’t “just a sad story to share,” but an overarching justice issue in Canada. Alannah spoke with us about how leveraging her various roles on-campus and student placements have helped her to create effective ways to equip more community members with the tools and resources needed for addressing overdoses and questioning the criminalization of drugs.
Interview with Alannah Fricker
How do you define social innovation (SI)?
My personal definition for SI is: addressing social challenges in ways that are innovative and unconventional by trying new ways to solve age-old issues and doing so in equitable and sustainable ways focused on community and social responsibility.
What sparked your interest in SI?
The overdose crisis at Toronto Metropolitan and in the surrounding community was and continues to be deeply concerning to me, and I recognized a lack of response by the City and the university due to the stigma surrounding drug use. There were overdoses happening on campus in our washrooms; in personal residences; and in the nearby community.
At the time, Toronto Metropolitan had no substance use supports for students, no naloxone training, or (PDF file) good samaritan policies (external link) in place. These were issues I wanted to address and when I sought to do something there were no student groups in place to work with. This lack of substance use supports for students lead me to write a recommendation report for the university and start my student group Students for Harm Reduction (external link) .
How did you start working with the Office of Social Innovation (OSI)?
OSI’s leadership team worked closely with me while I was starting Students for Harm Reduction. I also worked with OSI on the Artist-in-Residence project and received support from Melanie Panitch, Executive Director, OSI when applying for the Social Innovation Award at Toronto Metropolitan and the Alterna Award in Social Innovation.
For my third-year social work placement, I worked in OSI, which allowed me to continue my work on harm reduction, building a naloxone training presentation, planning events and workshops, and giving me the time and space to build a team to create an informative harm reduction website for Toronto Metropolitan and other student groups (harmreductionto.ca).
The overdose crisis at Toronto Metropolitan and in the surrounding community was and continues to be deeply concerning to me, and I recognized a lack of response by the City and the university due to the stigma surrounding drug use. There were overdoses happening on campus in our washrooms; in personal residences; and in the nearby community.
What advice would you give to a student at Toronto Metropolitan looking to take on their own SI project?
Try to collaborate from the very beginning so you don’t burn out. Leading a project is a lot of work. It’s important to not bite off more than you can chew. Choose one thing and do it really well.
I’d also suggest that students insert themselves into changemaking spaces like different committees and working groups (I started by joining the Toronto Metropolitan Mental Health and Wellbeing Committee).
What’s next for you and your work?
We’ll be launching the harmreductionto.ca website in November 2019. Students for Harm Reduction will also be hosting tours of the Works for the 2019 Social Justice Week, and offering subsidized CPR training and naloxone training for the month of November. We’ll also be hosting an event on consumption and consent for November, and are looking to host an event on gender and harm reduction for the 2020 winter semester.
