 So I'm I'm Laura Thomas, and I'm the interim state director in California and Before I get to start talking about Mark Kinsley I just want to hear another round of applause for all of the California folks in the room who work so hard on these bills So we're we're two for two on our bills this year And we've got two that are coming up in January, and we're gonna get those through too So it's been a good year in California But I am so honored to get to present this award to Mark Kinsley and the world of harm reduction You know you've really made it when the People's Harm Reduction Alliance makes a t-shirt with your face on it and Sure enough Mark Kinsley is one of the few people with a t-shirt and it says the godfather of harm reduction so I am So honored to get to present this award because Mark Kinsley is one of the people As an educator he educates us and he educates everyone else law enforcement officers people in recovery But one of the greatest gifts that he's given to this movement is the mentorship and the compassion and the Generosity and the support that so many of us have gotten from him I would been asking people at this conference like What would you say about Mark Kinsley if you only had two minutes to say it because that's kind of an impossible task So I was looking for help and over and over people said he's so he's generous with his time He always picks up the phone when I call he's the one who mentored me He was so supportive and generous when I was just starting out when I was just learning this and I had all these questions People have said he was a he was a model of how to be a mentor and made me Remember how generous he had been to me. So Mark Kinsley has worked all over the country He's an original part of the New England Mafia with that godfather of harm reduction And right now he's in Texas a state that probably needs him more than any other state Where he created the Texas overdose naloxone initiative and has been bringing naloxone and syringe access Deep into the heart of Texas when Houston was hit by a hurricane this year and everyone who uses drugs in Houston was worried about how they'd get access to Syringes to supplies that they needed who was there, but Mark Kinsley Bringing the syringes bringing hope bringing harm reduction to folks who was surviving the hurricane there So from from Connecticut and New England to Texas He's not only the godfather of harm reduction. He's one of the biggest hearts that we have in the harm reduction world So congratulations Mark I'm still more comfortable in shooting galleries and crack houses and I am up here That might not be a good thing. I um, I Want to thank DPA for this honor and And I'm humbled by the fact that there's Many people in this room that deserve this as much. It's not more than myself and You know, I had the opportunity to be mentored myself by some people that Really taught me the the principle is a harm reduction with miss Edith Springer and and Dave Purchase and George Kenny in Imani Woods You know, I I've been fortunate enough to do You know, my signature on my email says that our Calling is that place where our inner joy and our inner terror connect and And I believe that this work has allowed me to achieve my calling this has been a hard thing to watch and even to Think about accepting an award when daily I get calls from others Who have lost another child? You know to to an overdose so it's always Ironic that um, you know, we we celebrate in the midst of You know a crisis that Is just now really starting to be looked at in an appropriate manner You know having heroes like Eliza Wheeler and dr. Stan Cliff and The many people that are doing You know old people like Gary Lange's that are still doing this work So I I'm really honored to accept this award and in in the half of everybody that gets up every morning with With an opportunity to make a difference in somebody's life. So thank you very much