In Era Where Overdoses Are Treated As Homicides, It’s Not Just Dealers Who Prosecutors Are Going After
Friends and family are now being held criminally responsible for the deaths. Critics of the tactic say a focus on prosecution misses the point. “It’s kind of like blaming the leaves on the tree, you know?” said Michael Malcolm, whose younger son was charged in the overdose death of his older brother with whom he shared drugs purchased on the internet. “What about the roots?”
The New York Times:
They Shared Drugs. Someone Died. Does That Make Them Killers?
In West Virginia, a woman woke after a day of drug use to find her girlfriend’s lips blue and her body limp. In Florida, a man and his girlfriend bought what they thought was heroin. It turned out to be something more potent, fentanyl. She overdosed and died. In Minnesota, a woman who shared a fentanyl patch with her fiancé woke after an overdose to find he had not survived. None of these survivors intended to cause a death. In fact, each could easily have been the one who ended up dead. But all were charged with murder. (Goldensohn, 5/25)
In other news on the crisis —
NPR:
Deadly Delivery: Opioids By Mail
The nation's opioid epidemic has been attributed to many factors, including the over-prescription of painkillers and the availability of cheap synthetic opioids like fentanyl. In Congress, lawmakers are trying to make it harder to buy fentanyl, in part by forcing the U.S. Postal Service to make it more difficult to send narcotics through the mail. But the measure has been languishing. It's not clear how many shipments of fentanyl and other narcotics arrive with the mail carrier. But what is clear, says former Department of Homeland Security official Juliette Kayyem is: It's all too easy to get drugs delivered right to your mailbox. (Naylor, 5/24)
WBUR:
Black Drug Users Grapple With Surging Opioid Overdose Death Rates
Researchers are diving into the data in Massachusetts and across the country for a better understanding of what's happening with black drug users. Data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals a surge in opioid overdose deaths among blacks in many urban areas. (Bebinger, 5/24)
