- North America has highest rate of opioid use of any region of the world
- 100,000s of Americans dying every year
- Open air drug market
- Facebook groups 10,000s+ that search for their loved ones
- Fentanyl has infiltrated every drug market

- More potency = more deaths
- Tranq causing open wounds
- Grandmother searching for her daughter that has a child
- Democrats allowing people to do drugs “safely”
- Needles everywhere around these open areas to do drugs
- “safe supply” — safe consumption sites with save amounts

- No such things a recreational drug use without risk
- 50x increase in overdoses
- Poisoning vs overdose
- Murder, homicide
- None of the interventions have really worked decisively
- Supervised consumption sites
- NYC
- Kits, but have to buy drugs on the street
- Idea is they can use them safely, will test drugs
- Bi-partisan support, but controversial
- Don’t work
- Evidence from Spain, Norway, Canada
- Reduce use of emergency services
- Less death
- Keep using and going other places
- Will eventually die due to overdose as they keep using
- Not solving the problem
- Narcan available at pharmacies in NY
- Fentanyl test strips
- Decriminalization
- Oregon
- Mandated Treatment
- Drug courts
- Best is medicated assisted treatment
- Solutions
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- Strict criminalization
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- Safe use approach
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- Stigma and mandated treatment
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From the notebook