More from The Appeal:
You can’t incarcerate a public health problem. It doesn’t make us safer. It doesn’t repair harm.
Daveen Trentman Jul 07, 2020
Advocates say the pandemic has exacerbated the overdose crisis in the state by forcing people into isolation and impeding access to treatment.
Joshua Vaughn Jul 06, 2020
In Cook County, Illinois, suspected or confirmed fatal overdose deaths doubled over last year in the first five months of this year.
Elizabeth Brico Jun 30, 2020
Recent successes in stemming the opioid crisis could be reversed if public health budgets are cut or the crisis is seen as secondary to the pandemic.
Rhode Island prosecutors charged nine people with felony distribution of the addiction treatment drug. Reform prosecutors in other states are declining such charges and instead encouraging access to the drug.
Dennis Sica struggled with substance use disorder and sold small amounts of heroin that prosecutors connected to overdose deaths. Because of an 1980s-era federal law, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Jon Campbell Mar 05, 2020
Legislators are considering giving the DEA dangerous authority, harm reduction advocates say.
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg Jan 28, 2020
Criminalizing those who sell drugs by enacting more punitive laws may lead to more dangerous drug use and will disproportionately affect communities of color, a new report suggests.
Zachary A. Siegel Dec 17, 2019
Media coverage obsessively focuses on homicides, which are at historical lows. Meanwhile, suicides and overdoses skyrocket, quietly driving record declines in American life expectancy.
Jonathan Ben-Menachem Aug 20, 2019
With Appeal contributor Maia Szalavitz
Adam H. Johnson Jul 18, 2019
Sensational and false news reports about the drug are pushing lawmakers to enact harmful policies.
Trooper testimony inconsistent with video and misconduct among state and local law enforcement in New Hampshire and Massachusetts have caused at least 15 drug cases to unravel.
Zachary A. Siegel May 20, 2019
A Florida woman with substance use disorder allegedly brokered a drug sale that ended in a fatal overdose; she faces 15 years in prison.
Zachary A. Siegel Feb 05, 2019
Groups like the Loop and DanceSafe test drugs like Ecstasy and warn users of high dosages and adulterants, but federal legislation from the early 2000s has live music promoters wary of their brand of harm reduction.
Zachary A. Siegel Jul 25, 2018