This is why the DTES Market was set up in the first place, she said: to give grassroots vendors a place to operate without breaking city ordinance. To say High Hopes can operate outside the market itself, Blyth said, is the same as being shut out entirely. The society with which Taylor serves, however, is 100 per cent behind High Hopes, said Taylor, and believes in the work Blyth and her colleagues are doing. Melanie Pratt, a High Hopes volunteer and Overdose Prevention Society worker, said she’s seen cannabis help numerous people ease their opioid use or cease using entirely. Pratt herself said she’s been “off the needle” for 12 years, largely because she has access to cannabis as a harm reduction option.

Source: thestar September 16, 2018 20:37 UTC