I had the great opportunity to partner with Dr. Nick Crofts of the Centre for Law Enforcement and Public Health (Australia) to serve as the Guest Editor for a special issue of the Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being. The special issue, Envisaging Healthy and Safe Communities, shares lessons from a project we led that sought to document and highlight initiatives across the globe that are taking alternative approaches to promote health and safety.
“What does the construction of a toilet in a favela teach us about the failure of the war on drugs?”
(Coverage of our article on harm reduction & right to the city in VICE) Excited to see lengthy coverage in VICE of my recent journal article, A Right to the City? Harm Reduction as Urban Community Development and Social Inclusion, in MIT's Projections. You can find the article (in Spanish) here. It was published on …
Police and Harm Reduction
Sharing the 2018 guidance document I wrote for law enforcement personnel around the world on practical steps they can take to advance public safety, public health, and public confidence, particularly in relation to drug enforcement. As overdose deaths, police violence, and public protests all continue to soar, this guidance has become even more important. There are other options to keep communities healthy and safe.
A Right to the City? Harm Reduction as Urban Community Development and Social Inclusion
In cities across Latin America, community-based harm reduction and drug policy activists are ushering in a new, broader understanding of harm reduction for drug use, which they place within a banner of a “right to the city.”
“Mexico Is Setting a Global Example on HIV Treatment” — But the president’s recent funding cuts to civil society organizations threaten to imperil their progress.
**Featured interview in this article by Anne Deslandes, published by Foreign Policy on November 13, 2019. Available here.** HIV in Mexico is once again a time bomb that will explode.” That’s how Aram Barra described the current trajectory of the immunodeficiency virus in the country at the International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science in Mexico City …
Public health programs are working to address drugs at the border — a wall won’t help
[*Originally published on January 31, 2019 by The Hill] In the center of the muddy courtyard beyond the plywood gate is a rusted-out car that three kids have turned into their playground. Outside, their mother and father meet with a pair of outreach workers. The man is an active heroin user; the woman hasn’t used …
Portuguese & Russian language versions of “Police & Harm Reduction” now available
A quick post to share that my guidance document for law enforcement - "Police and Harm Reduction" - is now available for free download in both Russian and Portuguese in addition to English. A Spanish language version is coming soon. As a reminder as to what this guidance document is about: "In many cities around the …
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Why Declaring ‘War’ on Mexican Drug Cartels Is a Bad Idea
A recent proposal for US Congress to “declare war” on Mexican cartels in order to curb the growing number of fatal opiate overdoses of Americans is incendiary and dangerous.
Not only would it be ineffective in countering cartels or reducing fatal overdoses in the U.S.; it would lead to lead to the murders of thousands more Mexican civilians, not to mention endanger the lives of American soldiers.
Harm reduction in São Paulo Brazil – Open Arms / Braços Abertos [Photos]
These are photos from São Paulo, Brazil in June 2016 related to their innovative program Braços Abertos ("Open Arms"). This was a harm reduction effort aimed to provide housing, job training, jobs, income, and health services to street-based crack users known as Cracolândia or "Cracklands." You can read more about the program here, as well …
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It’s time to kick our addiction to the war on drugs
As New Jersey Governor Chris Christie takes the lead in crafting the Trump administration’s response to the opioid crisis, he and his colleagues need to understand that we can’t fix the problem until we kick our long-term addiction to the war on drugs and accept overdoses for what they are: a health issue.