It’s no secret that the recovery movement is largely dominated by Caucasians, whether in staff or leadership positions, on organizational boards, or among membership. Why do so few people of…
My first visit to a safe consumption site (SCS), where people use illicit drugs under professional supervision, felt like a strange dream. On a tepid June day, I sat in a…
Numerous cultural norms and expectations reinforce the collective silence on substance use. Among many Latinx people who are first generation immigrants, there is a desire or expectation to be a…
In August 2018, Hillary Brown received a bizarre notice from the city of Asheville. The small syringe exchange program that Brown ran three hours a week in the backroom of…
It’s a bitterly cold afternoon in early March as Karen Lowe and I pick our way down the broken sidewalks of a semi-abandoned neighborhood in Statesville, North Carolina. All around…
We might as well accept reality and direct our efforts towards making drugs less deadly, in the same way that we accept the risks of driving a car, but also…
On paper, Nicole’s job is to deliver opioid overdose prevention supplies and make referrals, but in reality, she is a health care worker, mental health counselor, legal advisor, social worker,…
As I wandered into the opening plenary at the 12th National Harm Reduction Conference in New Orleans last week, something felt off. It wasn’t just the four white-robed women on…
It is a cloudy evening and mosquitoes patrol in full force as Nancy Bauman and I pick our way gingerly over trash-strewn ground, searching for syringes. Under a creekside bridge…
If you are at risk for overdose or use needles to shoot up drugs, come see Brandi and she’ll take care of you – no frills, no questions, no judgment.