Opinion | The Drug That Saves Lives Even if It’s Never Used – The New York Times

Drug That Saves Lives

(better known by its brand name, Narcan) to reverse an opioid overdose. Although the drug has no major adverse effects, until later this year, New York State requires people to get some training before they can administer it. Dr. Avery, the vice chair for addiction psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine, had conducted many such training sessions, and in his office that day he got right to it. He held up a small white plastic squeeze bottle, pressed the release button and watched as a tiny mist of Narcan burst from the nozzle. “That’s it,” he said.

The F.D.A. recently approved Narcan for over-the-counter purchase, an important step in making it accessible to those who might need it or be in a position to give it to someone who’s overdosing.”

Maia Szalavitz | This Is What Neuroscientists and Philosophers Understand About Addiction – The New York Times

By Maia Szalavitz

Ms. Szalavitz is a contributing Opinion writer who covers addiction and public policy.

“When I was arrested and charged with possession with intent to sell cocaine in 1986, I was addicted to both coke and heroin. Although I was facing a 15 years-to-life sentence, the first thing I did after my parents bailed me out and held a family meeting was to find and secretly inject some prescription opioids that I knew the police hadn’t confiscated.

I knew that doing this further jeopardized my life prospects and my relationships with everyone I cared about. I knew it made no sense. But I didn’t believe that I could cope in any other way. Until I finally recognized that I needed treatment and began recovery in 1988 — with the prospect of that lengthy sentence under New York’s draconian Rockefeller laws still occluding my future — I didn’t think I had any real choice.

Was my brain hijacked by drugs — or was I willfully choosing to risk it all for a few hours of selfish pleasure? What makes people continue taking drugs like street fentanyl, which put them at daily risk of death?

These questions are at the heart of drug policy and the way we view and treat addiction. But simplistic answers have stymied efforts to ameliorate drug use disorders and reduce stigma.”

Opinion | Inside New York City’s Radical Approach to America’s Overdose Crisis – The New York Times

By Jeneen Interlandi

Photographs by Donavon Smallwood

Ms. Interlandi is a member of the editorial board. Mr. Smallwood is a photographer based in New York.

• • Feb. 22, 2023

35 MIN READ

I. ‘Let’s not crowd her right out the gate.’

“It was late summer, and the sun was high over East Harlem. Terrell Jones stepped out of a large black van that advertised help with detox and free hepatitis C testing and scanned the homeless encampment beneath the elevated train tracks across the intersection from where he stood. He was looking for a specific inhabitant, a white woman in her late 20s or early 30s whom he and his colleagues had heard about for weeks but had yet to meet. Like many of the women Mr. Jones encountered in his work, this one was unhoused, was attached to a possibly abusive man and was using hard drugs (crack, in this case). Unlike the others, though, she was also about five months pregnant.”

NYT Editorial | America Has Lost the War On Drugs. What Now? – The New York Times

By The Editorial Board

The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom.

• • Feb. 22, 2023

6 MIN READ

“For a forgotten moment, at the very start of the United States’ half-century long war on drugs, public health was the weapon of choice. In the 1970s, when soldiers returning from Vietnam were grappling with heroin addiction, the nation’s first drug czar — appointed by President Richard Nixon — developed a national system of clinics that offered not only methadone but also counseling, 12-step programs and social services. Roughly 70 percent of the nation’s drug control budget was devoted to this initiative; only the remaining 30 percent went to law enforcement.”

Christy Thornton | The U.S. Has Led the War on Drugs Abroad for Decades, and It’s Been a Staggering Failure – The New York Times

By Christy Thornton

Ms. Thornton is an assistant professor of sociology and Latin American studies at Johns Hopkins University.

“Colombia, one of the world’s top producers of cocaine, has long been a key partner in Washington’s failed war on drugs. But Gustavo Petro, the country’s newly sworn-in president, has made good on a campaign pledge to take the country in a different direction. Last month, he said he would end forced eradication of coca, and support legislation to decriminalize and regulate cocaine sales in an effort to undercut illicit markets and the profit motive that drives them.

Here at home, the Biden administration has also signaled an important shift. In April, Dr. Rahul Gupta, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, introduced a new strategy that directs federal resources to harm-reduction services. The aim is to prevent deaths from opioid overdose by increasing access to medical treatment and addiction recovery programs, and promoting alternatives to incarceration for minor drug-related offenses.

This new strategy recognizes that the way we have approached the drug problem here at home hasn’t worked. But U.S.-led international drug control efforts have also been a staggering failure, contributing to violence, degradation and displacement in places like Colombia, which largely export cocaine. It has also fueled the move toward synthetic opioids like fentanyl, driving overdose deaths here at home. The Biden administration’s new forward-thinking national policies are a step in the right direction, but the president must go further and end the global drug war.”

‘Absolute Warfare’: Cartels Terrorize Mexico as Security Forces Fall Short – The New York Times

CELAYA, Mexico — The butcher had been killed and no one knew why. The execution occurred in broad daylight as he worked in a family-owned restaurant, one of many murders that go unsolved every week in Celaya, among Mexico’s most dangerous cities.

His co-workers and family cried and drank tequila to calm their nerves, while a forensic expert walked among tables still covered with food left behind by customers who had fled during the shooting.

The plight of this city is part of the worsening security situation across the country. Police in places like Celaya say they are outgunned by criminal gangs in a war they are losing, while the federal forces meant to fight these battles often seem to show up after the shooting is over.”

David Lindsay Jr.

Hamden, CT | NYT Comment:

What a tragedy. My thoughts are that the US helps the gangs and the violence. If we legalized addictive drugs, and stopped the easy sale of guns, the gangs ruining Mexico would lose a huge revenue source, and the easy access to weapons to kill with. Such measures have worked in other countries. David Lindsay Jr. is the author of “The Tay Son Rebellion” and blogs at InconvenientNews.net.

Teens Are Getting Sick From Products With High THC Levels – The New York Times

By Christina Caron

June 23, 2022, 5:00 a.m. ET

“It didn’t smell, which made it easy to hide from her parents. And it was convenient — just press a button and inhale. After the second or third try, she was hooked.

“It was insane. Insane euphoria,” said Elysse, now 18, whose last name is being withheld to protect her privacy. “Everything was moving slowly. I got super hungry. Everything was hilarious.”

But the euphoria eventually morphed into something more disturbing. Sometimes the marijuana would make Elysse feel more anxious, or sad. Another time she passed out in the shower, only to wake up half an hour later.

This was not your average weed. The oil and waxes she bought from dealers were typically about 90 percent THC, the psychoactive component in marijuana. But because these products were derived from cannabis, and nearly everyone she knew was using them, she assumed they were relatively safe. She began vaping multiple times per day. Her parents didn’t find out until about one year later, in 2019.”

Excellent article with good comments, both pro and con THC use and abuse.

Here is a comment that stood out for me.

Alex

Springfield3h ago

It’s the number one cause of reversible erectile dysfunction and male infertility for men under 30 at my urology office. Large increase in patients since state where I practice legalized. Similar to alcohol- a little might promote the mood, a lot – not so much. A generation of guinea pigs having to learn moderation is key to life.

3 Replies110 Recommended

Opinion | When It Works to ‘Defund the Police’ – By Nicholas Kristof – The New York Times

By Nicholas Kristof

Opinion Columnist

• June 10, 2020
• • 724

Protesters and police officers clashing in Brooklyn on May 30.Credit…Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

““Defund the police” is a catchy phrase, but some Americans hear it and imagine a home invasion, a frantic call to 911 — and then no one answering the phone.

That’s not going to happen. Rather, here’s a reassuring example of how defunding has worked in practice.

In the 1990s, both the United States and Portugal were struggling with how to respond to illicit narcotics. The United States doubled down on the policing toolbox, while Portugal followed the advice of experts and decriminalized the possession even of hard drugs.

So in 2001, Portugal, to use today’s terminology, defunded the police for routine drug cases. Small-time users get help from social workers and access to free methadone from roving trucks.

This worked — not perfectly, but pretty well. As I found when I reported from Portugal a few years ago, the number of heroin users there fell by three-quarters and the overdose fatality rate was the lowest in Western Europe. Meanwhile, after decades of policing, the United States was losing about 70,000 Americans a year from overdoses. In effect, Portugal appeared to be winning the war on drugs by ending it.

That’s the idea behind “Defund the Police” as most conceive it — not to eliminate every police officer but to reimagine ways to make us safe that don’t necessarily involve traditional law enforcement”

Opioids- a Mass Killer We’re Meeting With a Shrug – Nicholas Kristof – NYT

“About as many Americans are expected to die this year of drug overdoses as died in the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined.For more than 100 years, death rates have been dropping for Americans — but now, because of opioids, death rates are rising again. We as a nation are going backward, and drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Americans under 50.

“There’s no question that there’s an epidemic and that this is a national public health emergency,” Dr. Leana Wen, the health commissioner of Baltimore, told me. “The number of people overdosing is skyrocketing, and we have no indication that we’ve reached the peak.”

Yet our efforts to address this scourge are pathetic.”

Yes. Here is one of many comments I support:
Mindy Ohio 5 hours ago
Sadly, there is still so much stigma surrounding the disease of addiction. Not one single person wakes up and each and every day and chooses to use. The brain is hijacked and rational decisions are impossible. We have ridden this roller coaster for many years. Our son, for today, in recovery, started in high school with OxyContin and then soon moved on to the cheap alternative, heroin. Our years of terror, fear and anger have morphed into compassion and rebuilding. But there are no guarantees. We have spent untold sums over the years, and are fortunate that we have not wiped our resources clean. Yet, even with the wherewithal to access good care, the system is overwhelmed. Treatment, i.e., evidenced-based therapies, medical-assisted-treatment (Suboxone etc.), is limited in availability because of overwhelming demand. Our son, who recently relapsed, was prescribed Suboxone and we called every pharmacy in the area to no avail.
The “Drug War” must end. We cannot arrest our way out of this crisis! As has been demonstrated in other countries, legalization works!! However, I fear, our Puritanical, judgmental, holier-than-thou white male-dominated lunatic right will continue to wag their fingers at these “losers.”

FlagReply 109 Recommended

Inside a Killer Drug Epidemic: A Look at America’s Opioid Crisis – The New York Times

” “Harm reduction” is an approach that was to some degree pioneered here. One of the nation’s first clean-needle exchanges started in nearby Tacoma in 1988.

 

King County is now considering opening what could be the country’s first safe-injection site. There, addicts could use drugs under supervision by a health worker who may, crucially, also open the door to recovery programs, all under one roof.”

These are tragic anecdotes, and horrifying statistics. Over 33,000 deaths to opiod addiction in the US in 2015. “The worst drug crisis in American history.”

I picked out the facts above, because they indicate the solution. Medicalize the problem. Make the addictive drugs legal or non-criminalized, and tens of thousands, perhaps millions,  will be able to get professional help, while supplies will become less expensive and safer, and the obscene profits from the illegal trade will no longer destabilize politicians, courts and police and the young and old people who find illegal drug dealing irresistible.

My son Austin, before he died of a heroin overdose on August 5th, 2011, probably the first time he ever played with the drug, said more than once, “Dad, it is hard to stop dealing. I make so much money for so little work.” Austin, may he rest in peace, was addicted to the huge margins of the illegal drug trade. He quit a perfectly good job as a cook in a restaurant, and lied to his parents, saying he still worked there. He certainly had money to spend.

Though I might be an amateur economist, there are many famous economists who quietly support legalization. See the other posts in this blog. See the argument of Prohibition.