health care

How to End Stigma in Hospitals Against People Who Use Drugs?

In 2020, Ronald Richardson and his friends who used drugs in Philadelphia began noticing wounds forming on their bodies. This…

July 5, 2023

Our Prison Is Used to Mental Illness. Taking Care of Our Own Was New.

In 20 years of incarceration across four different Washington State Department of Corrections (WDOC) facilities, I don't remember seeing someone…

June 22, 2023

Prisoners Near Release Face a Choice: Not Getting Meds, or Not Going Home

[Read Part 1 of this story here] When prisoners with release dates enter the final years of their sentence, Washington…

June 20, 2023

Approaching COVID Vaccine Hesitancy in People Who Use Drugs

One of the many harms of the stigma society inflicts on marginalized people who use drugs is destruction of trust…

June 20, 2023

Medical Privacy Is Still Our Right in Prison, Unless It Involves Psych Meds

Just before the pandemic hit, when my Washington Corrections Center (WCC) job assignment was Maintenance crew, I fell off a…

June 15, 2023

“My Fear of Dying Was Erased”—the Call for End-of-Life Psilocybin Care

When Janis Hughes finished her first high-dose psilocybin trip, she thought she might die at the dining room table. But…

May 23, 2023

In BC Public Housing, Older Drug Users Denied Home Health Services

Inside supportive housing facilities in Kelowna, British Columbia, residents who use drugs reported that publicly funded health care services were…

May 8, 2023

Endometriosis Is One Reason I Use Fentanyl. Medical Stigma Is Another.

I’ve lived with chronic pain since I was 13. Endometriosis, wherein the sort of tissue that normally grows inside your…

April 21, 2023

Our Film Tour Is Exposing Methadone Clinics’ Cruelty

Swallow THIS: A Documentary About Methadone and COVID-19 is currently on tour nationwide. Marilena Marchetti and I made the film…

April 14, 2023

Methadone Clinics Angry at Bad PR, But Not Afraid of SAMHSA

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) wants to revise outdated guidelines for methadone clinics. The agency issued…

April 4, 2023