Drug Policy and Harm Reduction are an evolving landscape. The drug overdose/poisoning crisis and Covid pandemic underscore the urgency of these topics. Decriminalization, legalization, alternatives to incarceration programs, prescribed safe supply, consumption in public places, and overdose prevention services such as supervised injection sites and naloxone distribution, are examples that will be discussed and debated in this workshop. The focus of the workshop will be on what international and US models can learn from each other. Panelists are all members of the International Society of Addiction Medicine (ISAM) from Canada, Egypt, and the US. Greg Bunt MD, past president of ISAM will compare the various international and national models, including the Seattle and Oregon experience. Rania Mamdouh MD, North and West Africa ISAM Regional Representative, will discuss Alternatives to Incarceration in Cairo, Egypt. Drs. Pouya Azar and Nick Mathew from Vancouver will discuss new harm reduction drug policy in British Columbia. Panelists and the audience will then engage in debate.
Carol Weiss, MD, Chairperson
Carol J. Weiss MD is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York-Presbyterian Hospital. She is the Associate Medical Director of the Weill Cornell Center for Trauma and Addiction. She has worked both in private practice and with under served populations such as people with HIV/AIDS, adolescents with addiction, and veterans. She is board certified in both Addiction Medicine and Addiction Psychiatry; she supervises and teaches the fellows in both the Addiction Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine Fellowships at Weill Cornell Medical College.
Pouya Azar, MD, Presenter
Pouya Azar, MD, FRCPC, DABAM, is the Head of the Complex Pain and Addiction Service (CPAS), a consult service under the Department of Psychiatry at Vancouver Coastal Health, British Columbia, Canada, which provides management of pain, mental health disorders, and substance use disorders across all clinical services at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH), University of British Columbia (UBC) Hospital, and GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre. He is also the Addiction Lead at Foundry Vancouver Granville, a provincial clinic for youth and adolescents suffering from addiction and mental illness. In addition, Dr. Azar is a consulting physician for adolescent addiction medicine at BC Children’s Hospital, the co-lead of the Addiction Medicine Research and Innovation Program at the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, a pain physician for the VGH Transitional Pain Clinic, a faculty member at the UBC Faculty of Medicine, and the director of the UBC Complex Pain and Addition Postgraduate Fellowship program. Dr. Azar’s clinical and translational research focuses on the development and evaluation of novel opioid agonist treatment protocols and medical devices to improve the health outcomes for patients with mental health and substance use disorders.
Nickie Mathew, MD, Presenter
Dr. Nick Mathew currently serves as the Medical Director of Complex Mental Health and Substance Use Services at the Provincial Health Services Authority in British Columbia, Canada. He is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Department of Psychiatry. He completed an addiction psychiatry fellowship at Yale University and a forensic psychiatry fellowship at UBC. He is board certified in addiction psychiatry, addiction medicine and forensic psychiatry.
Gregory Bunt, MD, Presenter
Gregory Bunt M.D. is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at NYU Medical Center . He is an ABPN Certified Addiction Psychiatrist and a Distinguished Fellow of both ASAM and ISAM and a Past President of ISAM.
Rania Mamdouh, PhD, Presenter
Rania Mamdouh
PhD, M.Sc Psychiatry
Ass Professor of Psychiatry, Psychiatry department , Addiction Psychiatry Unit, School of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt.
Egypt National Observatory for Drug Use Technical committee
Manager of "Serenity Girls " Psychiatric and Addiction Rehabilitation Center for women.
Consultant of "Recovery Club " Psychiatric and Addiction Rehabilitation Center for men.
Consultant in Al Amal Hospital for psychiatric Management , Sultanat Oman
ICUDDR , Africa English speaking countries Board Member
AGH Board Member
ISAM Regional Representative North and West Africa
EPA member