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.
Opioids
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.
A Twitter Tiff Between Former Federal Health Officials Highlights the Weakness of the Case for Banning Kratom
Former Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir says former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb's support for a ban was based on "embarrassingly poor evidence."
Should Dying Cancer Patients Suffer From Undertreated Pain Because of 'Concerns Regarding Addiction'?
Two recent studies show how ham-handed efforts to reduce opioid prescriptions undermine medical care.
The Surge in Drug-Related Fatalities During the Pandemic Highlights the Root Causes of Addiction
The crackdown on pain medication made drug use more dangerous and did nothing to address the factors driving "deaths of despair."
A New Study Finds No Relationship Between Opioid Prescriptions and Unintentional Injury Deaths
The data do not support the conventional wisdom that pain pill prescriptions are driving drug-related fatalities.
Philadelphia Safe Injection Site Hits Another Legal Roadblock
An appeals court panel rules the Controlled Substance Act's "crackhouse" provision forbids Safehouse from creating the facility.
What It's Like To Treat Opioid Addiction in Appalachia
Psychiatrist Sally Satel on her eye-opening year at a clinic in Ironton, Ohio
Biden Restores a Barrier to Opioid Addiction Treatment
The new administration nixes a change that would have allowed more physicians to prescribe buprenorphine.
A Letter From a Florida Inmate Asked for Help. It Arrived Too Late.
Theresa Mathis was in the middle of a 25-year mandatory minimum sentence when she sent Reason a letter asking for help.
What Drug Warriors Got Wrong About the Opioid Epidemic
The original formulation of OxyContin didn’t create the opioid crisis, argues psychiatrist Sally Satel, and removing it from the market didn’t make the problem go away.
Increases in Opioid-Related Deaths Show That Drug Warriors (Including Biden) Have No Idea What They're Doing
After a slight drop in 2018, fatalities involving opioids jumped last year, setting a new record that is apt to be broken this year.
Sally Satel: The Secret History of the Opioid Epidemic
The story of why pain relievers took root in Appalachia begins decades before the introduction of OxyContin.
Clobbering Purdue Pharma Makes Drug Warriors Feel Good, but It Won't Reduce Opioid-Related Deaths
The $8.3 billion DOJ settlement is part of a crackdown that has perversely pushed drug users toward more dangerous substitutes.
$465 Million Judgment Against Johnson & Johnson Threatens Freedom of Speech
A brief supporting the company's appeal argues that its discussion of pain treatment was constitutionally protected.
Is COVID-19 Causing a New Wave of Opioid-Related Deaths?
As of March 2020, combined fatal and nonfatal drug overdoses were nearly 20 percent higher than through the same month in 2019.
Florida Inmates Serving Outdated Drug Sentences Released Early Following Reason Investigation
A Florida prosecutor's office reviewed the cases and agreed to resentencing for nearly two dozen inmates, calling it "a matter of fundamental fairness."
A New Synthetic Opioid Is Killing American Drug Users
But we can't ban our way out of the research chemical problem.
Trump Attacks Biden on Drug Policy From the Left
It's an interesting strategy for a president who ran in 2016 on a Nixonian "law and order" platform.
Philadelphia Safe Injection Site Opening Delayed
Blame angry neighbors, not the feds.
Philadelphia Poised To Open America's First Public Safe Injection Site in Just a Week
Federal judge confirms ruling that it doesn’t violate federal “crack house” law.
Smart Debate Responses Against Drug War Lead Inevitably to Big Pharma Bashing
Government solutions to the opioid overdose crisis have contributed to the problem, and no candidate really wants to acknowledge it.
Does the Drop in Opioid-Related Deaths Mean the Crackdown on Pain Pills Is Finally Working?
Since prescription restrictions pushed drug users toward deadlier substitutes, the decrease in fatalities is more plausibly attributed to harm reduction measures.
This Was the Decade When Politicians Stopped Panicking About Marijuana and Started Panicking About Nicotine
Despite notable progress in policies regarding pot and psychedelics, the war on drugs always finds new targets.
Death Rate of Middle-Aged Americans Rises for Third Year
U.S. life expectancy peaked in 2014.
Will Florida Finally Grant Relief to Inmates Trapped Serving Sentences Under Drug Laws That No Longer Exist?
Somewhere between 650 and 1,000 Florida inmates are serving sentences under draconian opioid trafficking laws that have since been rolled back.
Australian Police Willing To Leer At As Many Naked Teen Bodies As It Takes To Stop Drug Overdoses
Sexually scarring children with unnecessary strip searches to prevent them from committing misdemeanors
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.
If Facebook Can Get Rid of Dick Pics, It Can Stop All Drug Deals Too, Claim Activists
Gutting Section 230 would make it harder to track drug deals, not easier.
As Tennessee Forces Opioid Prescription Cutbacks, More People Are Dying of Overdoses
Deaths continue to rise, thanks to increased use of less-safe black market pain pills.
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.
Federal Judge Rules Philly Injection Site Wouldn't Violate Drug Laws
A safe place meant to help prevent overdose deaths is not the same as a crackhouse.
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.
Congressional Report on 'Deaths of Despair' Highlights the Hazards of Drug Prohibition
Policies aimed at curtailing the harms caused by substance abuse may instead magnify those harms.
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.
The Oklahoma Ruling Against Johnson & Johnson Hinges on a Sweeping Definition of 'Public Nuisance'
Can legal sales of prescription opioids constitute a nuisance? Two decisions, based on nearly identical statutes, reach diametrically opposed conclusions.
New Survey Data Confirm That Opioid Deaths Do Not Correlate With Pain Pill Abuse or Addiction Rates
Nonmedical use of prescription analgesics did not become more common, but it did become more dangerous.
As Opioid Prescriptions Surged in Germany, Opioid Addiction Held Steady, While Opioid-Related Deaths Fell
The data reinforce the point that there is no straightforward relationship between pain pill consumption and overdoses.
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.
The Washington Post 's Simplistic Assumption That More Opioid Prescriptions Mean More Drug Overdoses Is Demonstrably Wrong
The causes of opioid-related deaths are more complicated than "too many pain pills."
Two Senators With Business Degrees Want the FDA to Tell Doctors They Should Not Treat Chronic Pain With Opioids
The FDA Opioid Labeling Accuracy Act would aggravate the widespread problem of involuntary dose reductions and patient abandonment.
State Regulators Punish Doctor for Cutting a Pain Patient's Opioid Dose and Dropping Him After He Became Suicidal
The decision by the New Hampshire Board of Medicine suggests state officials are beginning to recognize the harm caused by the crackdown on pain pills.
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.
