Substance Abuse

Row of five white chairs set against a blue wall with a round white analog clock. Clinic waiting room.

The Messy Politics of Saving Lives from Drug Overdoses

Philadelphia was on the verge of approving a key harm reduction strategy to prevent fatal drug overdoses until the city council all but banned supervised injection sites, overriding a mayoral veto. A New York Times report explores the controversy.

October 26, 2023 - The New York Times

Man painting "HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT" mural in black paint on bright yellow fence

California Ballot Measures Would Aid the Mentally Ill and Drug-Addicted Homeless

Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed in March a two-part ballot initiative to tackle homelessness, focusing on mental illness and substance abuse, which would provide 10,000 beds in new, voluntary treatment facilities—but one funding source is controversial.

July 31, 2023 - CALmatters

Skid Row Los Angeles

Homelessness Fuels a Backlash in California

The Golden State's ongoing homelessness crisis has residents on edge and is testing the limits of empathy in a state known for its liberal values.

November 1, 2019 - The New York Times

San Francisco Homeless

San Francisco to Use Conservatorship for Some Mentally Ill Homeless People

Thanks to legislation by Sen. Scott Wiener passed last year, San Francisco will apply a new tool to force treatment on some homeless, mentally ill people who refuse it, but it's limited to five people annually. A new Wiener bill would expand it.

June 13, 2019 - The Washington Post

Old Man Cyclist

New Study Reveals Causes of Lower American Life Expectancy

A study published February 9 in the Journal of the American Medical Association points to three reasons for the life expectancy being lower for Americans than in other developed nations. Care to guess what they are?

February 10, 2016 - The Washington Post - Wonkblog

Mortality Rate Increases Dramatically Among 25-34 Year-Old White Men and Women

Similar to a recent Nobel Prize-winning study that showed increased deaths in middle-aged whites from heroin, opiates, and alcohol, a New York Times analysis shows that deaths for whites aged 25 to 34 from drug overdoses has reached historic levels.

January 19, 2016 - The New York Times

Old Man Cyclist

Middle-Aged White Americans Take a Significant Turn for the Worse

Why are mortality rates increasing for this group in the United States and not others? The usual suspects—obesity, heart disease, diabetes, smoking are not the killers, The findings resulted in the 2015 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science.

November 24, 2015 - The New York Times - Health

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