The Costs of Monitoring Your Prescriptions
State databases that track the medications we take invade our privacy without reducing opioid-related deaths.
Opioids
Does Medical Marijuana Reduce Opioid-Related Deaths or Not?
The answer may depend on how you measure patients' legal access to cannabis.
Federal Court Rules Inmate Must Have Access to Opioid Addiction Treatment
A jail in rural Maine sought to withhold an inmate's opioid addiction medication, increasing the chance that she would relapse and overdose upon release.
Can the Damage Done by the CDC's Opioid Guidelines Be Reversed?
The agency’s acknowledgment of the suffering caused by its prescribing advice may be too little, too late.
Americans Want Drug Companies to Pay for Opioid Addiction
Plus: #Joe2020, gender gap myths, prison food, soda taxes, and more...
The Authors of the CDC's Opioid Prescribing Advice Say It Has Been 'Misimplemented' in a Way That Hurts Patients
The CDC decries abrupt, involuntary dose reductions and patient abandonment without acknowledging its responsibility for those unintended but foreseeable consequences.
The Feds' Special Opioid Task Force Spent 8 Days Harassing Arizonans, Found 0.2 Grams of Heroin
They made 50 arrests, but almost all were for immigration offenses.
Is Marijuana a Gateway to Opioids?
The association between cannabis consumption and use of other drugs is clear, but its meaning is not.
Seeking to Clarify Its Opioid Prescribing Guidelines, CDC Joins FDA in Decrying 'Mandated or Abrupt Dose Reduction'
The CDC's advice has been widely interpreted as requiring involuntary tapering of medication so it does not exceed an arbitrary threshold.
U.S. Attorney for Seattle Threatens To Block Supervised Injection Facility
Nearly two decades of data from Canada show that such facilities reduce overdose deaths.
Philadelphia Finds Potential Home for a Safe Injection Facility
But Justice Department officials want to stop them.
Kirsten Gillibrand Says Her Limit on Opioid Prescriptions 'Is Not Intended to Interfere With These Decisions'
If the senator really believed "all health care should be between doctors and patients," she would not be proposing a one-size-fits-all rule for pain treatment.
Kirsten Gillibrand Knows More Than Your Doctor When It Comes to Pain Pills
Putting the government at the center of health care means putting politics at the center of doctor-patient relationships.
The 4 Contradictions of Beto O'Rourke
He's a free trader against dumping, a deficit hawk for Medicare expansion, and an anti-drug warrior who wants to imprison pharma execs.
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.
Experts Urge CDC to Clarify Prescribing Guidelines That Are Hurting Pain Patients
The agency's opioid advice has led to arbitrary dose reductions, denial of care, senseless suffering, and suicide.
Justice Department Sues To Block Philadelphia Supervised Injection Site
Just last night the president said he wants to stop the spread of HIV. This move won't help.
Trump Says in State of the Union He Wants to Wipe Out AIDS. Should We Be Skeptical?
Ending the spread of HIV is within our reach, but the administration's approach to opioid abuse is a problem.
Why Aren't More Doctors Helping People Addicted to Opioids?
Philadelphia's innovative treatment program for incarcerated opioid users is failing. Is it because doctors don't want to treat opioid addicts?
Are You More Likely to Be Killed by Opioids Than a Car Crash?
Only if you are using heroin, fentanyl, or dangerous drug mixtures
Hello, FIRST STEP Act! Goodbye, Jeff Sessions! The Year in Criminal Justice Reform
2018 was a mixed bag, but that means there was still a lot of good news.
Punishing Patients Won't Reduce Opioid Deaths
A new Medicare prescription rule will aggravate undertreatment of pain.
Harm Reduction Is Helping Reduce Ohio Opioid Overdose Deaths
Success attributed to tools like naloxone, not punitive drug wars.
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.
Opioid-Related Deaths Keep Rising As Pain Pill Prescriptions Fall
The crackdown on analgesics continues to push nonmedical users toward deadlier alternatives.
AMA Decries the Impact of the CDC's Opioid Guidelines on Pain Treatment
The physician group says widespread "misapplication" of the guidelines is hurting patients.
New Restrictions on Vaping, Trans Fats, Food Labeling in FDA Commissioner's Agenda: Reason Roundup
On the upside, agency promises to review over-the-counter drug rules, approve more new drugs, and liberate French dressing.
Philadelphia Pushing Forward with Safe Injection Site Plans
Former Gov. Ed Rendell says he's willing to defy the feds and risk arrest to reduce overdose deaths.
Gov. Jerry Brown's Addiction to the Nanny State Kills Off Safe Injection Site Bill
His argument: If San Francisco lets people shoot up, they won't be able to order them into drug treatment through the courts.
Here's What Congress Was Doing While You Were Watching the Kavanaugh Circus
The passage of tax reform 2.0 blows a huge hole in the budget, and a much-touted opioid bill might just make the crisis worse.
Supervised Injection Facilities Save Lives
The Justice Department's opposition to such harm-reducing programs is irrational, unscientific, and inhumane.
DOJ Promises 'Aggressive' Response to Lifesaving Supervised Injection Facilities
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein condemns "havens" for drug users, notwithstanding their proven benefits.
Burning Man Attorney Threatens Bureau of Indian Affairs Over Traffic Stops
The feds insist it's just a coincidence that an opioid task force targeted the one road to Burning Man as the event ramped up.
Trump Says Pain Pills Are 'So Highly Addictive.' He's Wrong.
The president wants to sue pharmaceutical companies for telling the truth about the addictive potential of their products.
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.
Mom of Newborn Reported to State for Eating a Poppy Seed Bagel
"I said, 'Well, can you test me again? And I ate a poppy seed bagel this morning for breakfast,' and she said, 'No, you've been reported to the state.'"
Up Close and Personal With Philadelphia's Heroin Crisis
Journalist Christopher Moraff talks about a better way to report on drug culture in America.
A Chicago Tribune Columnist Thinks Helping Opioid Users Is 'Accommodating' Them
It's time to stop punishing people for their addictions.
When a Baby's Accidental Drug Death Leads to a $3 Million Bail Order, It's Time to Ask Questions
Is a mom who passed drugs along to her infant via breastfeeding a real community threat?
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.
Sessions' Escalating Drug War Causing Cold Feet Over Safe Injection Centers
San Francisco was supposed to have sites up and running this month. It does not.
New Study Shows Drug War Sends Users to Dark Web
A new British study shows that rescheduling hydrocodone, a powerful opiate painkiller, just forced users onto the darknet to get their fix.
Nan Goldin's Misleading OxyContin Story Feeds the Myth of 'Highly Addictive' Pain Pills
Like most people who become addicted to prescription opioids, the famous photographer had a history of substance abuse.
