The rate of death from overdoses of prescription opioids in the United States more than quadrupled between 1999 and 2010, far exceeding the combined death toll from cocaine and heroin overdoses.

With a person dying every 30 seconds from a hepatitis related illness – we can’t wait to act on viral hepatitis.

Evidence-based advocacy underpins the sustainable delivery of quality, publicly guaranteed, and universally available palliative care. More than 60 million people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have no or extremely limited access to either palliative care services or essential palliative care medicines (e.g., opioids) on the World Health Organization Model List.

Appalachian Kentucky was at the epicenter of the prescription opioid epidemic in the early 2000's. As we enter the third decade of the epidemic, patterns have begun to emerge as people who use drugs (PWUD) transition from use of opioids to other drugs. The purpose of this analysis was to examine longitudinal changes in methamphetamine use in an ongoing cohort of rural people who use drugs (PWUD) in Appalachian Kentucky.

New York’s prison system unjustly penalized more than 1,600 incarcerated people based on faulty drug tests, putting them in solitary confinement, delaying their parole hearings and denying them family visits, the New York State inspector general said in a damning report released on Tuesday.

For the December meeting of the Qualitative Methods Journal Club, faculty and students from Simon Fraser University (Canada) discussed an article examining the experiences of doctors and nurses in primary care who work with people experiencing chronic pain. The study findings spoke to the challenges of doctors and nurses providing chronic pain care, and the challenges their patients faced due to health and social inequities.

We stand at a unique moment in history. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to create an unprecedented legal framework that reconfigures one of the world’s major illegal trades – to make it work for social justice rather than against it.

New evidence shows the risk of drug related death is more acute in deprived areas—a finding that tells us a lot about the UK’s underlying structural inequalities.

This week’s episode features Doctor Sheila Vakharia and Professor Alex Stevens, together with Professor Nutt they will be talking about decriminalization and drug policies in the US and the UK. Has both countries’ drug policies arisen from colonialism and social class hierarchy? What are the consequences of the policies that can be witnessed today? Are there any reasons for drug criminalisation?

For those using buprenorphine as part of their recovery process, the stress, anxiety and risk can be amplified if, as is often the case, they are directed to stop using the buprenorphine ahead of their surgery.

"Funding cuts have left treatment and recovery services ‘on their knees’, commissioning has ‘become fragmented with little accountability for outcomes’ and partnerships between local authorities and health and criminal justice agencies have deteriorated across the country" Professor Dame Carol Black

The INPUD report is a celebration of the incredible accomplishments of our network and the global community of people who use drugs over this past year. Despite facing down unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, decreasing funding spaces and reactionary pushback on human rights, peers across the world stepped up in incredible and inspiring ways. INPUD's work in 2020 was some of our most impactful yet, and we are so grateful to all of our members, donors and supporters who helped us achieve this incredible work.

The evidence base and human rights framework for decarceration and harm reduction in prisons

A new global review has found that receiving Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT) is associated with lower risk of multiple causes of death among people with opioid dependence.

A Broken System: Drug Control, Detention and Treatment of People Who Use Drugs in Sri Lanka.

Although mortality attributed to illicit drugs is a significant contributor to the overall number of deaths worldwide, knowledge relating to the consequences for those bereaved by drug-related deaths (DRDs) is scarce. Since individuals with substance use disorders are prone to stigma, there is an urgent need for knowledge about the occurrence and content of stigmatization of those bereaved by DRDs.

Alternative models of legalisation, decriminalisation and regulation are emerging across the world. Whilst critics have asserted that prohibition and the ensuing ‘war on drugs’ lack both an evidence base and legitimacy, reformers are embracing these alternatives as indicators of progressive change. This paper, however, argues that such reforms adhere to the same arbitrary notions, moral dogma and fallacious evidence base as their predecessor.

In this cohort study of 83.7 million EMS patient encounters, overdose-associated cardiac arrests rose about 40% nationally in 2020, with the largest increases among racial/ethnic minorities, in areas of socioeconomic disadvantage, and in Western states. High concordance was observed with provisional total overdose death figures through July 2020.

A Randomized Clinical Trial: Are patient-reported outcomes, such as treatment satisfaction with medication, higher among patients treated with weekly and monthly subcutaneous buprenorphine depot formulations vs daily sublingual buprenorphine?

This report provides an update on drug-related deaths in Europe based primarily on presentations and discussions held at the 2019 meeting of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) expert network on drug-related deaths.

Two recent studies show how ham-handed efforts to reduce opioid prescriptions undermine medical care.

In an effort to get evidenced-based treatment to more Americans with opioid use disorder, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is releasing new buprenorphine practice guidelines that among other things, remove a longtime requirement tied to training, which some practitioners have cited as a barrier to treating more people.

Mandatory treatment programs for methamphetamine users have limited, if any, success, according to researchers at The University of Western Australia.

The study, published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, was conducted by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and the Oregon State University College of Pharmacy.

There are concerns that policies aimed to prevent opioid misuse may unintentionally reduce access to opioids for patients at end-of-life.

Preliminary estimates indicate that there were 1,865 drug-induced deaths among Australians in 2019. This is equivalent to over five drug-induced deaths per day. This is the fifth year in a row where the number of deaths is higher than the earlier peak in the late 1990s.

The subtle stigma that erodes people’s right to health

Harm Reduction International has monitored the use of the death penalty for drug offences worldwide since our first ground-breaking publication on this issue in 2007. This report, our tenth on the subject, continues our work of providing regular updates on legislative, policy and practical developments related to the use of capital punishment for drug offences, a practice which is a clear violation of international law.

Documenting the experiences of people who use drugs in South Africa

Evaluation is essential for effective policymaking, helping ensure that policies and programmes have the desired effect, provide value for money and do not have negative unintended consequences. The importance of evaluation has been recognised in all EU drug strategies and in the strategies of many Member States.