Use + Harm Reduction

Twenty High-Risk Kentucky Counties Still Don’t Have Syringe Exchange

Harm reduction services are spreading in Kentucky, but not nearly fast enough for some of its most vulnerable residents. A…

August 5, 2020

How COVID-19 Is Driving Risks in the Illicit Benzodiazepines Market

The life conditions imposed by the pandemic are leading many Americans to seek mental health treatment for the first time.…

August 5, 2020

Why I Overdosed During the Pandemic, and Why I Survived

[This article contains graphic descriptions of drug use and overdose.]   Overdosing and being treated for it during the pandemic…

August 4, 2020

The Perpetual Pendulum of US Drinking Guidelines

Every five years, the United States produces a set of health recommendations entitled Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The document is…

August 3, 2020

“Trail of Death”—A Short Film About COVID, Nicotine and Racism

This short documentary, concerning COVID-19, smoking, vaping and racism in America, was co-directed by Filter Senior Editor Helen Redmond and…

August 3, 2020

How I Wish My Parents Had Reacted to My Heroin Use

My parents aren’t exactly known for being calm. In fact my mother, who has mental health concerns, will lose her…

July 30, 2020

California’s Huge Overdose Increase Didn’t Have to Happen

The overdose crisis has finally reached California, following a relative delay in the arrival of fentanyl there which I described…

July 28, 2020

Pleasure and Risk for Trans Chemsexeurs in Ukraine

Chemsex harm reduction responses in Europe often center gay men, leaving transgender people as an afterthought. But a Ukrainian LGBTQ…

July 23, 2020

Nursing Homes Discriminate Against Opioid Use Disorder Patients at Alarming Rate

In 2018 alone, nearly four in ten people who were hospitalized in Massachusetts for their opioid use disorder (OUD) were…

July 22, 2020

I Cannot Stand to See Another Deadly Month Go By in British Columbia

On July 16, the British Columbia Coroners Service released its monthly overdose fatality report. The impact of the lost lives…

July 21, 2020