About
The Dufferin-Caledon Drug Strategy Committee is a community group composed of like-minded agencies that are working together to support and coordinate the development and implementation of local, comprehensive, cross-sector strategies to reduce the harms related to substance use and/or addictive behaviours. This committee came together in 2017 after a number of local deaths by overdose affected several community partners who were working with those who were lost. The goals of this committee have always been to raise awareness about the resources available in the Dufferin and Caledon communities for those who are struggling with drug use; to honour International Overdose Awareness Day annually on (or around) August 31st; and to educate the Dufferin and Caledon communities about the stigmas associated with drug use.
This committee now functions as an Addiction-focused workgroup under the Hills of Headwaters Ontario Health team.
In August 2021—recognizing International Overdose Awareness Day—the committee launched an Anti-Stigma Campaign: Stop the blame. Stop the shame. Stop the stigma. The campaign focuses on drug-related stigma that individuals who use drugs may experience and hopes to educate the community on the impact of those labels and stereotypes.
A plaque in memory of those lost to addiction was installed at the Dods & McNair Memorial Forest in 2017 by the Dufferin-Caledon Drug Strategy Committee.
Contacts and Resources
Dufferin Overdose Awareness Committee: @DufferinODAwarenessCommittee
Hills of Headwaters Collaborative:
@HHCollaborative
Creative for the Anti-Stigma Campaign adapted from the Stop Overdose BC campaign, launched by the British Columbia Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions in 2018.
This campaign was funded by the:
