The Product Spot
A snapshot review of a useful product!
Also in this Monthly Bulletin:
The Non-fiction Feature: Dreamland by Sam Quinones
The Memoir Spot: Smacked by Eilene Zimmerman
The Pithy Take
John Oliver, in this informational segment, tackles harm reduction and how it can be used to address the alarming rise in overdose deaths.
First, he explains that harm reduction accepts the fact that people will use illegal drugs and that some either can’t or don’t want to stop. Rather than arrest them, we should try to mitigate damage done; for instance, syringe services programs massively drive down spread of disease.
Second, he emphasizes that Naloxone is a miracle for rescuing people from overdoses, but it currently has a prescription-required status. For community groups that want to buy in bulk, this poses enormous challenges.
Third, he spends much of the segment advocating for overdose prevention centers. At these centers, people bring their own drugs and inject the drugs in a clean place with trained professionals who can intervene in the event of an overdose, and also direct them to addiction treatment services. Overdoses happen when people shoot up alone–people who utilize these centers are 30% more likely to wean off drugs, and there has never been a death at these centers.
He explores many other facets of how to address overdoses–worth a look to try and save some lives.
