It doubled.
We asked how overdose changed after law enforcement officers seize opioids - any quantity of opioids - from someone in the community.
Overdose doubled. (link down 🧵) 1/ This study was led by @BRaySociologist and many other contributors including @BrandondelPozo @gwittervitter1 myself and others. We used complete property room data from Indianapolis Municipal Police - every drug seizure of any type or quantity over a period of 2 years. 2/

A peer-reviewed article published in Feb claims to show that drug-induced homicide (DIH) laws are linked to reductions in opioid OD deaths. Massive reductions in fact.
If this sounds too good to be true, it is.
We find the data & method flawed in almost every possible way.
🧵1/ As co-authors @coreysdavis @leahbevis @amyamnesia, @el_sabawi @nabarund & @mary_figgatt and I explain in this response paper, the problems with this study are myriad. Some are so egregious that, in our opinion, this paper should be retracted. 2/
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…

Ok, let's talk about this woman. Her name is Susana Jamaladinova, but most know her by her stage name, Jamala. She is an extraordinary singer. She is Ukrainian, born in Kyrgyz SSR to an Armenian mother and a Crimean Tatar father. Let me tell you why she is important 🧵 1/ Jamala has been a hit artist in Ukraine since 2010, rising in fame quickly enough to represent Ukraine at EuroVision in 2011. If you don't know what EuroVision is, Google it. Annually, it's the most watched live non-sporting TV event on the globe. It's why you know who ABBA is 2/

We imagine the carnage of war as happening on the battlefield. That happens and it's devastating.
But most devastation from war happens through infectious disease due to destroyed health infrastructure, crumbling sanitation capacities, and lack of public health surveillance. 1/ A great review of what we know about war's relationship with infectious disease was recently published. The authors conclude: "Wars trigger and
become promoters of infectious diseases, the lack of and difficulty in accessing medical care.... 2/
mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/1…

Ok, I promised an update on what's happening with folks on MOUD, PLWH, and PLW TB in Ukraine. It's not much, but here's what I know. 1/24 On Friday, Feb 25, the Ukrainian Ministry of Health announced that plans were underway to ensure access to medications, that hospital pharmacies remained open even if local pharmacies closed due to shelling. They indicated that medical dispensing would continue uninterrupted.2/24

Friends, I want to show you Ukraine. Most people don't know it. It's an incredible place with fiercely bright and creative people. It's a second home and the place I most often long to be in the world. Ukraine is a huge country, about the size of Texas. There are enormous cities with so much life and culture, and beautiful natural lands and coastlines that will take your breath away.

I appreciate all the friends reaching out to see if I am ok, to see if my friends, colleagues, and loved ones (who, let's be real, are all of them) are ok. I'm not ok. Friends and their families in Ukraine are really not ok. Here's what has been happening so far. 1/ Friends in several large cities in Ukraine were awakened at 5am by explosions and rocket fire. Everyone was panicking. We messaged to see who was safe. Some hid in their homes. Some ran to the nearest underground station in the middle of the night to take shelter. 2/

Not me recording audio versions of the readings I assign for class in my office closet! I promised a longer explanation of what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, and why I wish I had started doing this years ago.
1/ I teach 2d per week and every day has assigned readings. The weekend before, I hunker down in my closet and read those assigned articles and chapters out loud, capture the recording with Audacity, convert to MP3, and post privately for students. 2/

https://twitter.com/veruka2/status/1488989325261950984

1/ Have you seen this video circulating that allegedly shows a @SDSheriff deputy ODing on fentanyl? There has been lots of push back, with experts claiming that this whole video is a lie. These claims are correct. The video is a lie. I'll explain how. cbs8.com/article/news/l… 2/ Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is many times stronger than heroin. It is pervasive in our illicit drug supply and is the leading cause of opioid overdose in the country. Fentanyl kills tens of thousands of people every year.

Wow. A map of all the demonstrations in Minsk. The footage of intense police violence against protestors there has been intense and hard to watch.

FP has done a great explainer about the horrid after math of a rigged presidential election. Link in 🧵.

1/

https://twitter.com/ukrpravda_news/status/1293010211393994753

But for those of you who don't know about recent events, here's a little bit about what's been going on.

Also here's that FP link I promised: foreignpolicy.com/2020/08/10/bel…

2/

So here's a fun* story. 3 yrs ago I helped lead a massive survey of >2k police officers in 20 states (pub forthcoming). In that study we could NOT ask people about their racial or ethnic background. At least not really. Why you ask?

*not actually fun
1/ Because the vast majority of PDs are SO OVERWHELMINGLY white that someone IDing themselves as Black or South Asian or even Hispanic would often be de facto identifying. Saying "I work in X department and I am Black" meant you could only be 1 or 2 people.
2/

New research (by me & colleagues) on the MAHOR role that people who sell/deal drugs play in protecting people who use opioids in the U.S. from fentanyl exposure and overdose.
The tread below unpacks our findings and implications:
1/

sciencedirect.com/science/articl… What's that you say? Drug dealers are helpful? They actually make people safer? YES. In fact, that is indisputably what we found through this research. In the words of one of the fantastic (and also opioid dependent) people we worked with on this study...
2/

Massive study (>40k ppl) on opioid addx treatment finds sig. reduct. in OD and health complications in pts on bupe & methadone. Other behavioral or residential care, detox, *naltrexone* had SAME OUTCOMES AS NO TREATMENT AT ALL. 1/13

jamanetwork.com/journals/jaman… It's far beyond time to start asking ourselves a few tough questions:
--why does SAMHSA financially support so many treatment centers that do not offer the only medications for opioid use disorder that are PROVEN to save lives? 2/13