How’s Your Memory Working?

As it turned out, that old stereotype of the pothead who can't recall what you just said? There's some truth to it.

One thing I learned a long time ago: the drug culture that surrounds long-term opioid use is much the same wherever you travel -- in big cities in the UK, for example, as it is in Baltimore or Philadelphia. The  differences, such as they are, are mostly cosmetic. The dynamics of addiction, and the addicted lifestyle, are reasonably consistent.

With the advent of fentanyl and increased concern about its death toll, big cities in England and Scotland -- in this example, Glasgow - have adopted harm reduction strategies used elsewhere in Europe and North America. One of these is the “supervised safe injection center”, where users can self-administer drugs such as heroin while monitored by medical professionals.

Based on the following story, courtesy of the BBC, it doesn't appear as if the process is all that safe.

Alarms, overdoses and saving lives: Two days in UK's first drug injection room

The action takes place at The Thistle (the center's name) during early days of...

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Pot Sales on the Rez

The state’s process, the article suggests, is prohibitively expensive, well beyond the means of any ordinary tribe member. In effect, limiting the cannabis trade to the equivalent of big business interests.

Pot Sales on the Rez

The state’s process, the article suggests, is prohibitively expensive, well beyond the means of any ordinary tribe member. In effect, limiting the cannabis trade to the equivalent of big business interests.

Detection Dilemma

Seems to me this is just another weakness in the plan to rely on border control and enforcement to stem the rise of synthetic drugs in the US.

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A Visit to Injection Central

Target client for these operations is the chronic daily user, mostly but not exclusively of opioids, and that’s a difficult population for such programs to work with.

Sad, But Also True

She wasn't being entirely altruistic-- she did charge participants a cool five hundred dollars apiece-- but it's reasonable to assume that she meant well, with no intent to cause harm.

Life in a Hot Spot

Make it a continuing effort, using strategies based in evidence, and harnessing the power of human interaction-- instead of relying on a burst of anti-drug education, however intense.

A Visit to Injection Central

Target client for these operations is the chronic daily user, mostly but not exclusively of opioids, and that’s a difficult population for such programs to work with.

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“It was never a problem”

That's important in a treatment context, because a history of multiple drug use means they will be tempted to focus on one substance --  their "drug of choice", whatever they may feel that is -- while minimizing the importance of the others.

“It was never a problem”

That's important in a treatment context, because a history of multiple drug use means they will be tempted to focus on one substance --  their "drug of choice", whatever they may feel that is -- while minimizing the importance of the others.

Exercising for Chronic Pain Relief

We've known for several decades that regular exercise, even the mild sort, helps lessen symptoms of depression. It comes as no surprise that it may also help with CPS and the mood problems that accompany it.

Drugs in Jail

If 70% or more of a jail population has been identified as having a drug or alcohol problem – that does happen – then what you’re really operating is a treatment center that happens to have bars on the windows and guards at the entrance.

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