Helen Redmond

Taliban Announces Cruel Poppy Ban During Afghan Harvest Season

What’s that time-worn saying about doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results? Drug prohibition is the…

April 8, 2022

Researchers Expose the Pitiful Quality of Highly Cited Vaping Studies

Research on the safety and efficacy of vaping has been hotly contested for over a decade. The two sides are…

March 31, 2022

The Tenderloin Suffers Under Another Inhumane Crackdown

“The Tenderloin is a beautifully complicated area. It’s rich in all sorts of intersecting narratives. Sadly, some people fear it,…

March 30, 2022

There Has to Be a Better Way to Free Methadone

I had a gut feeling there would be gaslighting, but I didn’t think it would start the minute Dr. Alan…

March 9, 2022

Watch: Adults Love Flavors, Says World-Renowned Vaping Researcher

Fruit- and other sweet-flavored e-liquids and cartridges are at the heart of a vaping policy schism. Lined up on one…

February 28, 2022

Watch: The War on Vaping Closes a Shop in East Harlem

Spike Babaian is the Swiss Army Knife of vaping. She is a fierce advocate for tobacco harm reduction, a vape…

January 10, 2022

SAMHSA Weighs Permanent Methadone Take-Homes, Decades Too Late

In March 2020, to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infections among patients and staff, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health…

December 15, 2021

National Drug-User Union Emphasizes Tobacco Harm Reduction

Cigarette smoking among people who use illicit drugs doesn’t receive much attention, despite the fact that this population has some…

December 3, 2021

Philly’s Addiction-Treatment Smoking Ban Ends, Leaving Bitter Taste

The horribly misguided smoking and vaping ban in Philadelphia’s city-funded drug treatment programs, including outdoor spaces, has finally been lifted.…

November 19, 2021

Women’s Voices Among Those Absent at the Global Tobacco Control COP

Global tobacco control is deeply political, divisive, and reflects the prevailing gendered and other social hierarchies that influence policy and…

November 12, 2021