A Record Number of Drug-Related Deaths Shows the Drug War Is Remarkably Effective at Killing People
According to new CDC numbers, the death toll rose 15 percent last year after jumping 30 percent in 2020.
Fentanyl
107,000 Overdose Deaths Are the Latest Casualties of the War on Drugs
An increasing number of overdoses were the result of fentanyl and methamphetamine, each of which have proliferated amid government crackdowns.
Congress Should Not Legalize Marijuana, Marco Rubio Says, Because Black-Market Weed Is 'Laced With Fentanyl'
The Florida senator has a long history of defending prohibition, but it has not improved his arguments.
Tom Cotton's Absurd Question About Contacting a Heroin Dealer's Victims Reveals a Drug Warrior's Demagoguery
The mindlessly punitive senator grilled Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson about her resentencing of a drug offender.
Michael K. Williams' Death Sparks Charges Against Drug Dealers
The actor's overdose death was a tragedy, but overzealous prosecution of the dealers who sold him the drugs will only make the problem worse.
West Virginia Mulls New Criminal Penalties for Imaginary Threat of Police Fentanyl Exposure
A medical myth that responders can overdose by touching or inhaling synthetic opioids may lead to harsher jail sentences.
Biden Doubles Down on a Lethal Anti-Drug Strategy
Prohibition has driven opioid-related deaths to record levels.
Feds Pledge $30 Million To Fund Drug Harm Reduction Programs
Less punitive responses to drug addiction are good, but what about people still stuck in federal prison?
Is Fentanyl-Tainted Marijuana 'Something Real' or 'Just an Urban Legend'?
The meager evidence cited by Connecticut officials makes their warnings seem overwrought.
A Shuttered West Virginia Pharmacy Shows the DEA's Role in Escalating America's Overdose Crisis
A drug that treats opioid addiction may also be abused. That’s not a good reason to restrict access.
A Man Overdosed on Drugs. The Dealer Was Convicted of Murder and Faces Life in Prison.
It might represent justice in this case. But the approach is rife for abuse.
Why Do the Media Keep Uncritically Repeating Implausible Police Fentanyl Overdose Stories?
Recycling a government press release is not good journalism.
How Drug Warriors Made the 'Opioid Epidemic' Deadlier
Restricting access to pain medication drove nonmedical users toward black-market substitutes.
Drug War, Pandemic Likely Reasons for Spike in U.S. Overdose Deaths
Plus: Missouri and New Hampshire extend school choice, Facebook seeks recusal of FTC chair Lina Khan, and more...
Charging Bit Players With Drug-Induced Homicide Is Unjust and Potentially Deadly
A new investigation of Pennsylvania prosecutions confirms that the defendants are often friends or low-level dealers.
The Feds Are Spreading Fake Facts About Fentanyl
While fentanyl is a dangerous drug, it is very difficult to overdose on it through accidental exposure.
The Feds Who Made America's Fentanyl Freakout Worse
Leaked police documents show how U.S. counterterrorism agencies spread myths and panic about fentanyl.
Why Do Critics of Harsh Drug Penalties Support Them When the Drug Is Fentanyl?
A new Drug Policy Alliance report highlights this puzzling and dangerous inconsistency.
Massachusetts Study Confirms That People Rarely Die After Using Opioids Prescribed for Them
Illicit fentanyl and heroin accounted for the vast majority of opioid-related deaths, while only 1 percent of cases involved drugs for which people had prescriptions.
Democratic Presidential Candidates Promote Dangerous Opioid Myths
The discussion during last night's debate grossly exaggerated the role of prescription pain pills in opioid-related deaths.
Naloxone Can Prevent Opioid Overdose Deaths. Why Isn't the FDA Allowing Over-the-Counter Sales?
Federal drug prohibition played a big role in creating the opioid crisis. Unfortunately, the government is also slowing the spread of one possible solution to it.
Pittsburgh's U.S. Attorney Is Lying to Cops and Constituents About the Actual Risks of Fentanyl Exposure
Bad science and panics by those who want to escalate the opioid drug war.
How Innovative Responses to Prohibition Set Off a Deadly Fentanyl Explosion
A RAND report highlights the importance of new synthesis methods, cheap international shipping, and online distribution aided by privacy-protecting technologies.
The False Premises of the Ruling Against Johnson & Johnson
Blaming opioid makers for the "opioid crisis" may be emotionally satisfying, but the reality is more complicated.
Another Way Fentanyl Phobia Can Be Deadly: It Undermines Good Samaritan Laws
Irrational fear of incidental contact with opioids can lead to criminal charges that make overdose bystanders less likely to call 911.
If Cops Don't Die From Incidental Fentanyl Exposure, a Drug Treatment Specialist Warns, They 'Could Become Addicted to It Instantly'
Such scaremongering poses a potentially deadly threat.
Congress Is Racing To Address a Fentanyl Problem That Fentanyl Experts Say Probably Doesn't Exist
You can’t overdose on fentanyl simply by touching it.
Trump Praises China for Killing Drug Traffickers
The president thinks executions will help stop the flow of "fentanol" into the United States.
The Washington Post Blames Obama for Fentanyl Deaths
The paper suggests that more drug law enforcement is the solution to a problem created by drug law enforcement.
Why Drug Traffickers Laugh at Trump's Border Wall
The profit incentives created by prohibition doom any effort to block the drug "pipeline."
After Boosting the Fentanyl Market, Drug Warriors Vainly Promise to Eradicate It
The government can't stop the flow of illegal drugs, but it can always make them more deadly.
China's Xi Fools Another U.S. President With Promises of a Fentanyl Crackdown
And once again, Trump is distracted from real policy by symbolic brutality.
Huge North Carolina Fentanyl Bust Turns Out To Be 13 Pounds of Sugar
The New Hanover County Sheriff's Office made a mistake.
New CDC Numbers Show the Drug War Continues to Make Opioids Deadlier
Deaths involving pain pills and heroin are falling, while deaths involving fentanyl and its analogs continue to rise.
Up Close and Personal With Philadelphia's Heroin Crisis
Journalist Christopher Moraff talks about a better way to report on drug culture in America.
Thank Drug Warriors for the Escalating Death Toll From Superpotent Synthetic Opioids
New data show the share of opioid-related fatalities involving fentanyl analogs is rising.
Marketing Fentanyl as Heroin May Soon Carry Harsh New Penalties
Federal prosecutors didn't need more leverage against drug offenders, but they're going to get it anyway.
America's War on Pain Pills Is Killing Addicts and Leaving Patients in Agony
The government's efforts to get between people and the drugs they want have not prevented drug use, but they have made it more dangerous.
Duterte Fanboy Donald Trump Wants America to Start Executing Drug Dealers
The president has never encountered a problem he can't imagine solving with violence.
Jeff Sessions Used His Emergency Scheduling Powers Last Week. Here's What That Means.
Emergency scheduling won't fix the fentanyl crisis, no matter what Jeff Sessions claims.
The Justice Department Is Now Going After Chinese Fentanyl Manufacturers
The DOJ has indicted two Chinese nationals for sending fentanyl to the U.S. Now what?
The Pros and Cons of a Heroin Shortage
The former head of the CDC wants to drive up the price of heroin. Here's what we might see if that happens.
New Hampshire's Medical Examiner: Opioid Deaths Have "Completely Overwhelmed Us"
New CDC data finds fentanyl deaths doubled in 2016.
