The FDA Is Doing Something That Could Actually Cut Overdose Deaths
Naloxone could be available without a prescription by spring.
Opioids
It's Far Past Time To Decriminalize Fentanyl Test Strips
Plus: Lawmakers "demanding action" against slurs on Twitter, FTC sues to stop Microsoft from buying Activision Blizzard, and more...
After a Crackdown on a Pain Clinic, a Tragic Double Suicide
After losing access to opioids, many patients can’t live with constant pain.
The CDC's New Opioid Prescribing Advice Still Invites the 'Misapplication' It Blames for Harming Patients
The damage done by the original guidelines, including undertreatment and abrupt dose reductions, could have been avoided if the CDC had not presumed to advise doctors on how to treat pain.
For the Umpteenth Time, No One Wants To Give Your Kid Rainbow Fentanyl
Myths about drug-laced Halloween candy just won't go away—no matter how stupid they become.
Undeterred by Past Failures, the Press Goes All in on 'Rainbow Fentanyl' Panic
Even though no one's trying to give your kid rainbow fentanyl this Halloween, it hasn't stopped journalists from repeating the myth.
No, That Isn't 'Rainbow Fentanyl' in Your Kid's Candy Stash
"I'm skeptical that [dealers] would try to target children where there is not an existing market," says Sally Satel.
Selling Fentanyl Could Mean the Death Penalty Under New Rubio Bill
As per usual, politicians' response to negative effects of the drug war is…more drug war.
'The Government Needed a Scapegoat': 75-Year-Old Man Charged With Opioid Conspiracy Cleared
Plus: FIRE sues to stop the Stop WOKE Act, processing times for skilled immigrants skyrocket, and more...
Walgreens 'Helped Fuel' Opioid Crisis in San Francisco, Says Judge
Plus: Americans want to vote on abortion, why the housing crisis has gone national, and more...
A New Study Finds No Correlation Between Opioid Prescriptions and Drug-Related Deaths
The CDC, which issued disastrous pain treatment advice in 2016, is still pushing a narrative contradicted by recent data.
California Lawmakers Approve Drug Injection Sites for Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco
Supervised facilities aim to make a dent in the dramatic increase in overdose deaths.
Supreme Court Tells Cops To Stop Playing Doctor
The unanimous decision is a good first step for getting law enforcement out of prescription decisions.
SCOTUS Rules That Doctors Who Write Prescriptions in Good Faith Can't Be Convicted of Drug Trafficking
The unanimous decision will rein in prosecutions that have long had a chilling effect on pain treatment.
Did Doctors Overtreating With Opioids Cause the Overdose Crisis? A Soho Forum Debate
Doctors Adriane Fugh-Berman and Jeffrey A. Singer debate the harms of prescription opioids.
Did Prescription Opioids Cause The Overdose Epidemic?
Doctors Adriane Fugh-Berman and Jeffrey Singer debate the harms of prescription opioids
America's Failed Opioid Policy Drove the Tulsa Shooter to Violence
Doctors can’t help people in pain because of restrictive opioid policy.
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.
This Jail Won't Provide Drug Addicts With Essential Meds
Inmates with opioid addiction suffered severe withdrawal after the Jefferson County Correctional Facility stripped them of their medication.
Several Justices Seem Dismayed at the Idea That Doctors Can Be Accidentally Guilty of Drug Trafficking
The Supreme Court is considering what standard should apply to prescribers accused of violating the Controlled Substances Act.
SCOTUS Needs to Clarify the Line Between Doctors and Drug Dealers
Patients suffer when physicians who prescribe opioids in good faith can face decades in prison.
Dopesick
The new Hulu miniseries promotes pernicious misconceptions about opioids, addiction, and pain treatment.
Two Courts Debunk Persistent Opioid Myths
Both rulings emphasized that opioids have legitimate medical uses and concluded that drug companies could not be held responsible for abuse of their products.
The CDC's New Pain Treatment Advice Aims To Correct the Damage Done by the 2016 Version
The proposed guidelines emphasize the need for individualized treatment and collaboration with patients.
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.
The Year's Highlights in Blame Shifting
Politicians and cops found creative ways to dodge responsibility in 2021.
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?
New York City Is Funding America's First Official Safe Injection Site for Drug Users
As the U.S. reaches new terrible milestones in overdose deaths, a harm reduction system that has proven itself elsewhere finally launches where it’s needed most.
Should We Blame Pharmacies or the Government for Opioid-Related Deaths?
Restrictions on pain medication have undermined patient care while making drug use more lethal.
Is Fentanyl-Tainted Marijuana 'Something Real' or 'Just an Urban Legend'?
The meager evidence cited by Connecticut officials makes their warnings seem overwrought.
Dopesick Reinforces These Pernicious Misconceptions About Opioids, Addiction, and Pain Treatment
The Hulu miniseries portrays opioid pain medication as unacceptably dangerous in nearly every context.
Two Courts Debunk Widely Accepted Opioid Myths
Undertreatment of pain is a real problem, and bona fide patients rarely become addicted to their medication.
Oklahoma Supreme Court Overturns a Landmark Decision Blaming Johnson & Johnson for the State's Opioid Problems
The justices rejected a broad definition of "public nuisance" that would cover the manufacture of pain medication.
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 Scathing Rejection of the Case Against Four Drug Companies Highlights Misconceptions About the 'Opioid Crisis'
A California judge said the four jurisdictions that filed the lawsuit failed to prove a "public nuisance" or "false advertising."
Dopesick Resurrects an Opioid Narrative That Is 'Neat, Plausible, and Wrong'
Prohibition forces doctors to cut patients off from essential pain-killing medication.
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.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Bans Private Businesses From Mandating Vaccines for Workers
Plus: A dangerous misunderstanding about what caused America's opioid overdose epidemic, a look at this year's Nobel Prize winners, and more...
Most Opioid Settlement Funds Aren't Going to Addiction Services
Despite what the media and politicians have said, that isn't how this works.
Opium Suppression in Afghanistan Was a US-led Failure
The basics of supply and demand still applied.
Why Do the Media Keep Uncritically Repeating Implausible Police Fentanyl Overdose Stories?
Recycling a government press release is not good journalism.
A New Study Finds That Reducing Pain Medication Is Associated With an Increased Risk of Overdose and Suicide
The study highlights the dangers that government-encouraged "tapering" poses to patients on long-term opioid therapy.
Oregon Decriminalized All Drugs To Stop Overdoses. Will It Work?
Small-scale drug possession is now a $100 infraction that can be dismissed with a call to a drug abuse assessment hotline.
How Drug Warriors Made the 'Opioid Epidemic' Deadlier
Restricting access to pain medication drove nonmedical users toward black-market substitutes.
A Record Number of Drug-Related Deaths Illustrates the Lethal Consequences of Prohibition
The war on drugs is not just ineffective; it exacerbates the problems it is supposed to alleviate.
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.
