Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New York Health Officials Point To Reduction In Opioid Deaths As Reason To Legalize Marijuana
Bloomberg: New York Health Officials See Marijuana As An Alternative To Opioids
New York should legalize recreational marijuana to temper the harm of opioid addiction, end racial disparity in enforcement and boost tax revenue, state health officials said. “The positive effects of regulating an adult (21 and over) marijuana market in New York state outweigh the potential negative impacts,” the Health Department said in a report released Friday. (Goldman, 7/13)
NPR: Drug Users Watch Each Other's Backs At Vancouver's Supervised Injection Sites
People who use injection drugs in Vancouver, British Columbia, can do so, if they choose, under the watchful eyes of someone trained to help them if they overdose. This is the idea behind supervised injection sites, and it's an approach that over a dozen U.S. cities or states are considering to prevent drug overdose deaths and the spread of disease. (Spitzer, 7/13)
NPR: Colorado's Meth Use Complicates Recovery From Opioid Addiction
Huddled at a computer screen at the Denver Recovery Group, counselor Melissa McConnell looks at the latest urinalysis results for her client, Sara Florence. Last fall, it lit up like a Christmas tree. Now it's all clean. Florence says she stopped using heroin five months ago; she stopped using methamphetamine not long after that."Shooting it, smoking it, snorting it," Florence says. "It's horrible, just made me feel like crap, you know. But I'd still did it. Just makes no sense, you know. It's just really addicting." (Daley, 7/14)
NH Times Union: Beyond The Stigma: New Hampshire To Apply For Millions In Fight Against Opioid Addiction
New Hampshire is in line for millions in federal funds to fight the opioid crisis, and the state is looking for public input on how to spend the money. The Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday issued an appeal for public input on its application to the federal government for the State Opioid Response Grant approved by Congress. New Hampshire is eligible for nearly $23 million to increase access to medication-assisted treatment and reduce opioid overdose deaths by providing prevention, treatment and recovery activities. (7/10)
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Dutch Cut Overdose Deaths By Dispensing Pure Heroin
On a quiet alley in east Amsterdam, a security guard stands watch outside a brick office building, which 75 men and women visit twice a day to smoke or shoot up government-funded heroin. Public-health experts in the Netherlands say free distribution is one reason that drug-related deaths are far less common than in the United States. (Glaser, 7/15)
Kaiser Health News: Facebook Live: The Marketing Plan That Fueled An Addiction Epidemic
KHN senior correspondent Fred Schulte talks about a cache of files detailing Purdue Pharma’s early OxyContin marketing plan. These documents, which are more than 15 years old but still relevant now, offer insights into how these strategies contributed to the nation’s current opioid addiction epidemic. (7/13)
