The Gendered Impacts of Drug Policy on Women

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In this week’s episode, Rebecca and Sidney sit down to talk with Dr. Jade Boyd, of the BCCSU to discuss the gendered impacts of drug use and drug policy. They go over some of the ways in which researchers, harm reduction services, and state services could all better support women who use drugs. Dr. Boyd also highlights the intersectional nature of drug use stigma and the need to incorporate research into drug policy.

Links to resources mentioned in this episode:

British Columbia Centre on Substance Use:

https://www.bccsu.ca

Sister Space - Women-only overdose prevention site:

https://atira.bc.ca/what-we-do/program/sisterspace/

FIR Square - Harm reduction for pregnant women and women with newborns:

http://www.bcwomens.ca/our-services/pregnancy-prenatal-care/pregnancy-drugs-alcohol

Biography:

Dr. Jade Boyd, PhD, is a Research Scientist with the BC Centre on Substance Use and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. She draws upon qualitative, ethnographic and community-based methods to examine social, structural and environmental factors that impact people who use drugs, with particular emphasis on how gender—intersecting with race, class and sexuality, influences drug policy and practice. In her role with the BCCSU, Dr. Boyd collaborates with local and national peer-based, drug user-led groups, as well as leads a program of qualitative and community-based research activities investigating drivers of drug-related harms among women, including barriers to harm reduction and the criminalization of women who use drugs.

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