Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Portugal, drugs and decriminalisation

    In 2001, facing a 20-year opioid epidemic, Portugal decriminalized all personal drug use, meaning people carrying drugs for personal use could no longer face prosecution or jail. The approach, met with public support, offered people access to services like safe injection sites and counseling and showed demonstrable success in declining opioid related deaths, the spread of infectious diseases, and drug use all together. As the rest of the world faces a similar crisis, Portugal could be a model response.

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  • Google-affiliate rehab campus to be unveiled today

    To fight against the opioid epidemic, a Google affiliate partnered with the two largest hospital systems near Dayton, Ohio to open a new treatment facility. Based on a model of holistic health care, the facility is "focusing on bridging gaps and developing coordinated efforts across organizations" to address the problem.

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  • People still look to Safe Station

    Despite a new local hub and spoke program in New Hampshire, many people seeking help with addiction are still frequenting the former program that is based out of a fire station. Although the idea of the hub and spoke program "sounded good on paper," some believe that there is less stigma associated with going to a fire station rather than an office for help. Although the state plans to continue with the hub and spoke model to help increase access to resources across the state, the Safe Station program will also remain a resource for those in Manchester and Nashua.

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  • Colorado's Opioid Crisis Slows, In Part Because Of a Drug That Reverses Overdoses

    Increasing the availability of naloxone reduces the number of deaths from opioid overdose. In Colorado, the Naloxone for Life initiative, which began in 2016, has distributed thousands of kits to emergency first responders and has also made the medication available without a prescription. As a result, paramedics have used the medication to reverse several hundred overdoses in Colorado, administering over 700 doses in Denver in 2018 alone.

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  • Treatment for Opioid Addiction, With No Strings Attached

    When treating opioid addiction, the typical approach is medication in conjunction with mandatory therapy sessions and a myriad of other check-ins. Realizing that this method was failing many people that were not able to make these sessions, some clinics are reversing the approach by focusing on a medication-first approach.

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  • Opioids in prison: How one state's success could work in Maine

    Maine is looking to pilot what has been a successful inmate drug rehabilitation program in Rhode Island. Based on the premise that providing controlled doses of the drugs will decrease overdoses, the Medicated Assisted Treatment program has "showed a 60 percent decrease in drug overdose deaths in Rhode Island among those who were recently incarcerated."

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  • Road Work Ahead: Treatment providers get creative with transportation for patients

    New Hampshire has a lack of reliable public transportation which often impacts those seeking medical attention, so facilities are taking matters into their own hands. Although it's yet to be determined how long these provider's creative methods will work, that's not stopping them from trying a myriad of options such as using grant money to pay for Lyft rides.

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  • North Country task force gives support to addiction counselors

    Counselors and caregivers need support, too. In New Hampshire, the North Country Task Force on Improving Opioid Treatment Outcomes is focusing on giving those working on the front lines of the opioid addiction crisis the tools to manage their own self-care. Funded by a grant, the task force is addressing the vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue that can undermine the quality of care given to those suffering from addiction.

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  • Treatment Courts Adapt to Meet Challenges

    New Hampshire's court system has found ways to improve treatment services for at least some people with substance and mental health problems, despite a lack of adequate resources. The state's problem-solving courts have improvised workarounds to the resources challenges, providing a recovery coach to defendants with substance-misuse disorder and using trauma-informed practices in drug and mental health treatment courts. One example: female trauma survivors facing criminal charges do not appear in court in front of a crowd of men, making them more open to asking for and getting help.

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  • A tale of two cities: What Baltimore can teach Arizona about fighting fentanyl overdoses

    In 2018, Baltimore passed a harm-reduction bill that allowed the distribution of fentanyl testing strips to assess if fentanyl has been laced into drugs. The decriminalization of these follow similar harm reduction trends that allow for the distribution of safe syringes and naloxone. While proving effective in reducing drug overdoses, because such stigma is attached to addiction, states like Arizona are hesitant to implement such measures, even as advocates and experts call for it.

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