Harm Reduction

More Common Sense Instead of the War on Drugs

Mark Cooke, ACLU-WA Drug Policy Advocate

Friday, July 22nd, 2011 at 9:55 am

Congratulations to our drug reform allies in New York for passing the nation’s fourth 911 Good Samaritan Law. The law aims to save lives by encouraging people to call for emergency services when they witness overdoses. New York becomes the largest state to enact such a much-needed measure. Read More »

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Painkiller Abuse: Big Problem Needs Smart Solutions

Ethan Kutinsky

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011 at 8:51 am

Abuse of prescription opiates (powerful pain killers) and rising overdose death rates are a huge problem in Washington and across the nation. Since 2007, overdoses have been the leading cause of accidental injury death in Washington, ahead of motor vehicle and firearm accidents. Harm reduction strategies should be included as part of the federal response for combating this crisis. Read More »

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Remembering G. Alan Marlatt - Harm Reduction Pioneer

Mark Cooke, ACLU-WA Drug Policy Advocate

Wednesday, April 6th, 2011 at 8:17 am

The study of psychology and addiction behaviors has lost a true pioneer. The recent passing of Professor G. Alan Marlatt has reverberated across the addiction research and drug policy communities. As a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington, Dr. Marlatt broke new ground in the areas of harm reduction, relapse prevention, and evidence based treatment techniques. Read More »

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National Institutes of Health Changes Approach to Addiction. Will Washington State Policy-Makers Follow Suit?

Mark Cooke, ACLU-WA Drug Policy Advocate

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010 at 10:26 am

It was recently announced by the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that a new institute will be created that will study “substance use, abuse, and addiction research and related public health initiatives.” This institute will replace the existing National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and other institutes dealing with addiction. As the NIH director states, creating the new, unified institute “makes scientific sense and would enhance NIH's efforts to address the substance abuse and addiction problems that take such a terrible toll on our society.” In other words, the brain processes involved with addiction are universal across substances, so we shouldn’t be studying them in a piecemeal fashion based on their legal status. Makes sense right? Perhaps it’s time our lawmakers follow suit and pass laws which treat addiction as the public health issue it is, instead of the current criminal/non-criminal system we now employ. Read More »

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"Levamicoke": The Latest Collateral Damage in the War on Drugs

Alison Holcomb

Monday, November 29th, 2010 at 4:59 pm

In a previous post, we mentioned Stranger reporter Brendan Kiley's groundbreaking piece on levamisole, a chemical used to deworm livestock, showing up as a cutting agent in the U.S. cocaine supply. Preliminary results of a testing kit distributed on the streets of Seattle suggest that 85% of the city's cocaine supply is tainted with levamisole. Read More »

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Why Washington Is a Leader in Ending the War on Drugs: Exhibit A

Alison Holcomb

Monday, August 23rd, 2010 at 9:27 am

Ending the War on Drugs means ending our over-reliance on the criminal justice system to address what is primarily a public health problem. It means replacing arrest, prosecution, and incarceration with prevention, education, and treatment as your primary strategies for reducing substance abuse and improving the health and safety of our communities. And it means ending the civil liberties, civil rights, and racial justice abuses that have flowed with terrible inevitability from our declaration of war not truly on inanimate substances, but rather on people - disproportionately people of color, young people, and poor people.

But there is reason for hope that the War on Drugs is coming to an end. And Washington is a leader in making it happen.

To support this claim, I offer Exhibit A.

911 Good Samaritan Law Public Service Announcement - John Gahagan

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911 Good Samaritan Law to Save Lives from Overdoses Goes into Effect

June 8, 2010

Shown at left are St. Sen. Rosa Franklin and WA Attorney General Rob McKenna.

A new law that aims to save lives by encouraging people who witness drug overdoses to call 911 is going into effect. Promoted by the ACLU-WA and passed by the 2010 legislature, the “911 Good Samaritan” law provides immunity from drug possession charges to people who seek medical assistance in drug overdose situations. Read More »