Project Safe Audience founder lands fellowship

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/12/2020 (1997 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A former West Kildonan resident is being recognized for his contributions to the health care areas of harm reduction and psychedelic therapy.

Bryce Koch, 29, grew up in West Kildonan — where his parents continue to live — and attended a couple of the area schools. After graduating from the University of Manitoba’s bachelor of nursing program, Koch worked in the Seven Oaks General Hospital emergency room for two years.

Koch is now enrolled in the U of M’s master of nursing program, which he began in September.

Koch’s interest in harm reduction, which is a technique aimed at reducing the negative effects of using substances instead of eliminating the use altogether, manifested at music and dance raves, where substance and alcohol intake is common.

“A lot of my friends were taking substances, and a couple of the behaviours rubbed me the wrong way; people were taking the substances at high dosages, and quite frequently. So I (thought), how can we make this safer? How can I have my friends make safer decisions, and still party like they want to party?” he explained.

This started Koch’s inquiry into the world of safe substance use.

While working in public health, Koch learned more about the benefits of substance use and why people were choosing to take part.

For example, he said, someone who does not have access to food may choose to inject meth because of its appetite suppressant side effects.

“A lot of the clients I worked with when I was working in public health … are people who were living along the filters downtown, people who were experiencing homelessness. They got a lot of benefits from their substance use,” Koch said.

He has worked with community organizations such as Street Connections, Central Neighbourhoods, Main Street Project and NorWest Co-op Community Health as a nurse to support their harm reduction supply distribution.

Koch was recently awarded $20,000 from the Greene Memorial Fellowship at the U of M for his contributions to community health, which associate professor Lynda Balneaves calls “cutting-edge.”

“One of the big reasons Bryce received the fellowship is because he has been proactive in the area of substance use and harm reduction,” she said.

Balneaves met Koch three years ago when she was making a presentation about cannabis, and the two have stayed connected since, having conversations about substance use and community health. She will also be his project advisor.

“He’s done some really innovative work, especially in the rave and party scene.”

Koch’s long-term goal is to open a safe supply clinic in Manitoba, where people who are not ready to quit using substances can be prescribed pharmaceutical-grade substances. The drug supply across Manitoba and Canada is toxic, he explained.

“The supply of drugs is being cut with fentanyl and other toxic, potent opiates. And it’s causing people to die,” he said.

He said creating access to safe drugs would hopefully stabilize users and prevent fatal overdoses.

In addition to school, Koch is the founder of Project Safe Audience, which attends music festivals and raves and tests people’s drugs for cutting agents. And, he is a regional representative for the Harm Reduction Nurses Association.