The goal of Senegal’s free program is not only to rehabilitate, but also to reduce the spread of HIV and AIDS among drug users. A clinic in West Africa is doing its part to mitigate the region’s opioid crisis. People line up at the Center for the Integrated Management of Addictions (known locally as CEPIAD)… Continue reading West African Clinic Offers Free Methadone, Clean Needles & More
Tag: harm reduction
Music Festivals | 5 Tips to Reduce Drug Harm & Stay Safe
ARTICLE OVERVIEW: Drugs and alcohol are part of festivals. This article presents five practical tips to reduce risk of harm, injury, or overdose. ESTIMATED READING TIME: Less than 10 minutes. Table of Contents: Why People Use Popular Drugs Tip #1 – Know The Landscape Tip #2 – Educate Yourself Tip #3 – Drink Water… Continue reading Music Festivals | 5 Tips to Reduce Drug Harm & Stay Safe
A Space for Grief and Growth: The 12th National Harm Reduction Conference
When we demand answers without a deep, authentic understanding of the problem, we wind up putting band-aids on gangrene. As I wandered into the opening plenary at the 12th National Harm Reduction Conference in New Orleans last week, something felt off. It wasn’t just the four white-robed women on stage, solemn and elegant in contrast… Continue reading A Space for Grief and Growth: The 12th National Harm Reduction Conference
Surgeon General On Safe Injection Sites: There Are More Viable Options
“From a physician’s point of view, there’s no such thing as a safe injection site. You can still die,” Adams said at a recent conference. Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams has again expressed reservations about supervised injection sites, also known as safe injection facilities (SIFs), as a harm reduction strategy for fighting the opioid crisis.… Continue reading Surgeon General On Safe Injection Sites: There Are More Viable Options
Are $1 Test Strips The Key To Curbing Fentanyl Deaths?
Harm reduction advocates are applauding a new study that examines whether the test strips proved beneficial to injection drug users. Fentanyl, the powerful opioid said to be responsible for exacerbating the opioid crisis, could be meeting its match: a $1 test strip that indicates the presence of fentanyl in street drugs. A group of researchers… Continue reading Are $1 Test Strips The Key To Curbing Fentanyl Deaths?
Temporary Overdose Prevention Site Gets Extension
The site was expected to close by September’s end, but the government made a last-minute decision to extend it for another month. At the end of September, the government of Ontario province in Canada decided to extend operations of its Temporary Overdose Prevention Site (TOPS) through October—but with no current plans for a permanent site,… Continue reading Temporary Overdose Prevention Site Gets Extension
Seattle Not Intimidated By Threats Against Supervised Injection Facilities
“We took note of what the DOJ wrote about this, but we believe strongly in a public health approach to substance abuse disorder,” Mayor Durkan said. The city of Seattle will move forward with plans to open a supervised injection facility (SIF), despite the possibility that the federal government will intervene, KUOW reports. Seattle Mayor… Continue reading Seattle Not Intimidated By Threats Against Supervised Injection Facilities
An Open Letter to Addiction Treatment Providers
There’s something wrong with addiction patients feeling the need to ask for medical advice from their communities because they don’t trust their providers. Maybe you’re a psychiatrist. Maybe you’re a dosing nurse at a methadone clinic. Maybe you’re an inpatient counselor. Maybe you work in an emergency department, or you’re an OBGYN; maybe you don’t… Continue reading An Open Letter to Addiction Treatment Providers
Bringing Harm Reduction to Haywood County
The man in the camouflage shirt who emerges from the cabin is drawn and thin with circles under his eyes. He tenses at my presence, especially once Jeremy tells him I am there to write an article. It is a cloudy evening and mosquitoes patrol in full force as Nancy Bauman and I pick our… Continue reading Bringing Harm Reduction to Haywood County
Science Series NOVA Tackles US Drug Crisis in PBS' "Addiction"
The PBS documentary airs on October 19th. The opioid crisis affects entire communities across the United States—yet there is still much about opioid abuse that is poorly understood. A new documentary airing on PBS aims to change that by exploring the crisis from different angles. ADDICTION, produced by NOVA, tackles both the science of addiction… Continue reading Science Series NOVA Tackles US Drug Crisis in PBS' "Addiction"