Jessie Dunleavy

prices and inflation will rise, and prevalence of deadly drugs will stay the same.

Portugal’s drug decriminalisation Discover how Portugal’s compassionate drug policy transforms lives and sets a new global standard for treating addiction as a public health issue

If the US can't consider going the route of Portugal, then implement ALL safe use strategies. Naloxone, good. Drug testing, usually good. Clean syringes, good but risk of arrest. Overdose Prevention Sites, hair on fire! Why split the baby in half?
euroweeklynews.com/2025/02/02/p...

Righting Some of the Wrongs — Jessie Dunleavy In his final hours, President Biden commuted sentences for nearly 2,500 victims of the failed war on drugs—non-violent drug offenders who have suffered years unjustly imprisoned thanks to old policies...

My new blog post:
www.jessiedunleavy.com/blog/2025/1/...

U.S. Overdose Deaths Remain Higher Than in Other Countries — Trend-Tracking and Harm-Reduction Policies Could Help Compared with other countries, the U.S. approach to reducing overdose deaths is fragmented and inadequate.

We hear of declines in US overdose deaths, but the annual death toll still exceeds 100,000 (a line crossed in 2021 to our horror). Continuing to hold the world record by a long shot, the US faces a crisis worthy of every intervention proven to save lives.
www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2025/us...

Easy access to bupe & methadone would help, for sure. All part of harm reduction, not punishment. And controls on health care costs would be another boon, agreed.

The slight but hopeful decline in overdose deaths is due to harm reduction initiatives. If we want to see a significant decrease we need the full array. Stand tall and do what’s right.

The small improvements we have made in saving lives could all be reversed. PLEASE let's not go backwards.

I think she’s carefully abiding by due process. Doesn’t want to tip her hand — different from caving.

Opinion | Why Drug Overdose Deaths Are Dropping for Some, Rising for Others Drug overdose deaths are finally declining. But it’s going to take work to keep this trend going.

Decline OD deaths for white people, sharp increase for Blacks. Greater availability of medication has saved lives, but only 1 in 7 have access. Blacks are more likely than whites to be arrested for the same behavior, and Incarceration significantly raises the risk of OD. Health care not punishment!

I can barely stand to listen to the news (just now on MSNBC, Chris Hayes) on overdose deaths, why they’ve gone down, and other details. They have none of it right. How can we ever overcome this insidiousness absent facts? Why the disconnect even among open-minded
reporters?

It's like the onion predicted their takeover of Infowars a year and a half ago

Limited acceptance of buprenorphine in recovery residences in South Florida: A secret shopper survey Buprenorphine is a first-line treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), essential for reducing opioid overdose mortality and improving treatment retent…

Rampant housing discrimination for people with OUD in S. Florida: 16% allowed residents to be on buprenorphine unconditionally, 31% allowed bupe with dose limitations, and 53% completely prohibit being on bupe.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

#StayCurious

Do we want to grow our world-record prison population? Do we want to sweep up the innocent with mandatory minimum sentences? Do we want to tie the hands of those who consider individual circumstances in determining penalties? If 'no' -- then 'no' to DIH laws. #EndTheDrugWar #endoverdose

Supervised illegal drug use in NYC could serve as model for Baltimore Baltimore officials and some state lawmakers are embracing what some call a radical approach to address opioids, 11 News Investigates has learned.

They said, "Maryland will be considering a pilot program for 6 sites." Fact is, "Maryland has rejected this precise pilot program for 6 years." #StandUp4HumanRights