AS THE TOLL from COVID-19 continues to climb, health misinformation has taken an increasingly visible role in stoking this deadly pandemic. Rumors and politicization of masks, vaccines, and other basic prevention measures are costing lives, while straining already threadbare health care resources. When it comes to America’s other historic public health crisis—drug overdose—the role of […]
Leo Beletsky
Posted inCriminal Justice
Forced addiction treatment could be death sentence during COVID-19
AS THE COVID-19 pandemic continues to devastate communities across this country, correctional facilities have become one of the most explosive epicenters of this public health crisis. Despite calls to rapidly depopulate jails and prisons, governors and correctional officials across the country are asserting that people behind bars and correctional staff could be kept “safe” inside, […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Time for action on safe consumption facilities
WITH FIVE MASSACHUSETTS residents dying from overdose every day, our Legislature must move quickly to implement additional lifesaving tools to address the overdose crisis. The recent decision by a federal judge in favor of a Philadelphia non-profit seeking to open a supervised consumption facility (SCF) (United States v. Safehouse) should catalyze such action. Safe consumption […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
Addressing inmate addiction must be a priority
THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE BILLS recently passed by the Massachusetts Senate and released by the House Committee on Ways and Means provide sensible reform to failed criminal justice approaches, including doing away with some mandatory minimum sentences for minor drug offenses. These reforms are both pragmatic and just. By shifting the focus away from laws and […]