About DSSU 

The DSSU is made up of people with lived experience, living experience, and no experience using drugs. We all directly support the safety and wellbeing of PWUD in our communities, both virtually and in person. We founded DSSU because we could see gaps forming in support and resourcing available for drug spotters and those doing overdose detection work, and we wanted to help fix that.

As a union we come together to strengthen our collective voice. We make space to share our experiences and talk frankly about them as we spend time in community together.  

There is no guarantee that any drug, even one that has been tested, will be safe, but as many PWUD and harm reductionists already know, there are things we can do to reduce risk. A key element of reducing overdose risk is to promote access to robust overdose detection and drug spotting services, which are staffed by dedicated individuals, both paid and unpaid. DSSU aims to support those who provide these critical supportive, life-saving, and life-affirming drug spotting services, no matter where they are.

We recognize that we cannot rely upon organizations alone to provide the mental health support, training, and continuing education opportunities that we, as drug spotters, need. While this work is often done by volunteers and informally, this work needs direct and comprehensive support.

Drug spotting work is frontline harm reduction work.