What does harm reduction look like when it truly includes everyone? In this urgent and eye-opening conversation, Atticus Hawk—leader in accessibility, healthcare policy, and harm reduction—joins Emma Brown, founder of Whimble, to explore the intersections of disability, toxic drug supply, and systemic exclusion in Ontario. From pioneering the first university course on harm reduction for information professionals, to building programs that centre 2SLGBTQIA+ Disabled and other vulnerable communities, Atticus shares insights from both academia and frontline advocacy. Together, they discuss the systemic barriers that keep people unsafe, and what it really takes to build compassionate, inclusive harm reduction practices.

✨ Topics covered:

• Harm reduction in libraries: why librarians are increasingly frontline responders to overdoses, how Atticus created the first harm reduction course for information professionals in North America, and what the response from staff and students has been.

• Navigating systems: the challenges of translating pain, accessing medication, and advocating within bureaucratic structures like Ontario Drug Benefits and healthcare policy.

• Dignity and care: the importance of small gestures, respecting consent, and client-directed support — from overdose response to personal care. Ableism and sadism in healthcare: how institutions often deny or diminish the rights of people who use substances, people with cognitive disabilities, and unhoused populations.

• Substance use disorder as disability: reframing the opioid crisis within disability justice and exposing systemic failures like the ban on peer-to-peer injections and closure of safe consumption sites.

• Hope and change: examples of harm reduction innovations (like naloxone training and harm reduction vending machines) and how empowering people with practical tools creates real, life-saving impact.

👤 Guest: Atticus Hawk Atticus is a researcher, advocate, and harm reduction innovator. During their PhD in Information Science at the University of Toronto, they designed and taught the first harm reduction course for information professionals in North America.

🧡 Host: Emma Brown Emma is the founder of Whimble and a systems thinker building more accessible communities through tech and care innovation.

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