The United States Conference of Mayors has put saving lives ahead of drug war politics and rejected the Drug Czar's dangerous public policy ideas. Via the Drug Policy Alliance:

The USCM last year declared the war on drugs a failure and called for a “New Bottom Line” in U.S. drug policy, which should be measured by the number of lives saved rather than the number of people imprisoned. This year’s resolution sets forth a comprehensive strategy for cities and states to reduce overdose morbidity and mortality by:

*Supporting local programs that distribute naloxone – an opiate antagonist medication effective in reversing the respiratory failure that typically causes death from opioid overdose – directly to drug users, their friends, families and communities;

*Urging state governments to adopt emergency “Good Samaritan” immunity policies that shield from prosecution people who are experiencing or have witnessed an accidental or intentional drug overdose and who have contacted 911 to request emergency medical treatment for the victim of drug toxicity or overdose;

*Calling on the National Institute of Drug Abuse and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to urgently fund research to evaluate scientifically the effectiveness of overdose prevention interventions and develop model programs; and

*Calling on the Food and Drug Administration to take all necessary and reasonable steps to facilitate the testing and approval of nasal and/or over-the-counter formulations of naloxone and to consider recommending prescription naloxone concurrent with prescribing strong opioid analgesics

None of this should be even remotely controversial, and yet it is. Shockingly, the Drug Czar's office is actually opposed to distributing overdoses prevention kits based on the callous theory that bad outcomes will teach users to behave:

Madras says the rescue programs might take away the drug user’s motivation to get into detoxification and drug treatment.

"Sometimes having an overdose, being in an emergency room, having that contact with a health care professional is enough to make a person snap into the reality of the situation and snap into having someone give them services," Madras says. [NPR]

Thinking about this, I can't get over how sad and embarrassing it is that our mayors are forced to take a leadership role in developing sensible drug policies at the national level when we have a White House office that's supposed to be doing that. The public officials in Washington, D.C. who've been tasked with addressing the nation's drug problem have abdicated that role, arguing instead for malicious restrictions on proven life-saving interventions.

America's mayors deserve our gratitude for stepping forward and doing what they can to fill the gaping hole created by the Drug Czar's pitiful lack of leadership with regards to preventing overdose deaths.

Update: SSDP has a page where you can contact your state legislators about Good Samaritan policies. It only takes a second, do it.

   [Courtesy of Drug Policy Alliance] 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 25, 2008

CONTACT: Daniel Robelo at (510) 229-5211 or Reena Szczepanski at (505) 983-3277

  United States Conference of Mayors Unanimously Passes Resolution Calling for City-Coordinated Drug Overdose Prevention Efforts

Nation’s Mayors Seek Policy Reforms that Will Save Both Lives and Dollars by Preventing Unnecessary Overdose Deaths 
Mayors Support Increased Access to Opioid Antagonist Medications and Adoption of Good Samaritan Immunity Policies that Shield Individuals Who Report Opioid-Related Health Emergencies from Prosecution

  WASHINGTON - June 25 - On Saturday, the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) unanimously adopted a resolution supporting policies that could save thousands of lives by treating drug overdoses before they become fatal. “Last year, our nation’s mayors agreed that we must address the problems of substance use and abuse with a public health approach. This year we have continued that work by calling for policies that increase public safety by preventing unnecessary deaths. These policies have saved lives in Santa Fe and will work in other cities,” said Santa Fe Mayor David Coss, who sponsored the resolution at the 76th USCM Annual Meeting in Miami, Florida.

Adopted resolutions become the official policy of the USCM, which speaks as one voice to promote best practices and the most pressing priorities of our nation’s cities. The USCM last year declared the war on drugs a failure and called for a “New Bottom Line” in U.S. drug policy, which should be measured by the number of lives saved rather than the number of people imprisoned. This year’s resolution sets forth a comprehensive strategy for cities and states to reduce overdose morbidity and mortality by:

• Supporting local programs that distribute naloxone – an opiate antagonist medication effective in reversing the respiratory failure that typically causes death from opioid overdose – directly to drug users, their friends, families and communities;
• Urging state governments to adopt emergency “Good Samaritan” immunity policies that shield from prosecution people who are experiencing or have witnessed an accidental or intentional drug overdose and who have contacted 911 to request emergency medical treatment for the victim of drug toxicity or overdose;
• Calling on the National Institute of Drug Abuse and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to urgently fund research to evaluate scientifically the effectiveness of overdose prevention interventions and develop model programs; and
• Calling on the Food and Drug Administration to take all necessary and reasonable steps to facilitate the testing and approval of nasal and/or over-the-counter formulations of naloxone and to consider recommending prescription naloxone concurrent with prescribing strong opioid analgesics.

The mayors’ action responds to the facts that drug overdose is the second leading cause of injury death in the United States and that many overdose fatalities occur because peers delay or forego calling 911 for fear of arrest or police involvement – continually identified by researchers as the most significant barrier to the ideal first response of calling emergency services.

Nearly one hundred colleges and universities have adopted Good Samaritan immunity policies that have proven effective in encouraging students to seek help in the event of an alcohol or other drug overdose. New Mexico recently enacted the first such law in the country – the 911 Good Samaritan Act of 2007 – and similar life-saving legislation is pending in several states across the country, including California, Illinois, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Washington.

“Life-saving medications exist and must be made more widely available in the event of an overdose. At the same time, a victim or witness must not be afraid to ask emergency personnel for assistance. It should never be a crime to save someone’s life. The true crime is condoning policies that prevent victims from receiving that medication,” said Daniel Abrahamson, director of Legal Affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance.

Naloxone can be safely administered by non-medical professionals intravenously, intramuscularly and intranasally. Programs that provide overdose prevention education, rescue breathing training and take-home naloxone have been developed in New Mexico, Connecticut, Northern California, and the cities of Baltimore, New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

In 2000, drug overdoses resulted in $2.24 billion worth of direct medical costs and an estimated $23.7 billion in lost productivity. Naloxone distribution pilot programs are inexpensive and have been added to existing services without the need for increased staff or space. These programs have been shown to save cities money by averting significant health care costs and have already saved several thousand lives.

The resolution is available here.

Faced with rising drug overdose deaths and high rates of opiate addiction, Massachusetts lawmakers this week began discussing a $5 million plan to fund two "secure treatment centers" for arrested d

[Courtesy of Drug Policy Alliance]

For Immediate Release: April 7, 2008
For More Info: Gabriel Sayegh, tel: 646-335-2264 or Tony Newman, tel: 646-335-5384

New York Overdose Epidemic: More People Die from Accidental Overdose than Homicides

Public Heath Advocates, Community Groups Travel to Albany on Tuesday to Demand Effective Overdose Legislation

Nearly 1,000 Flowers—One Flower for Every Accidental Overdose Death in NYC —to be Delivered to Gov. Paterson’s Office at 1 p.m., April 8

On Tuesday, April 8, the Drug Policy Alliance, Harm Reduction Coalition, New York City AIDS Housing Network, Voices of Community Advocates and Leaders, and advocates from around the state will travel to Albany to demand effective overdose legislation and public health policies for drug user health in New York.

There is an overdose epidemic across the country and in New York State. In New York City alone, nearly 1,000 people died of accidental drug overdose in 2006, making it the fourth leading cause of death among adults after heart disease, cancer and AIDS. More people die of overdose than homicides in New York City.

At 11 a.m., advocates will gather at Emmanuel Baptist Church for a strategy meeting and inspirational talk by Senator Tom Duane and Humberto Cruz, Exec. Director of NYS AIDS Institute. At 1 p.m., the coalition will make a special delivery to Gov. David Paterson’s office—one flower for every accidental overdose death in New York City. Nearly 1,000 flowers will be delivered.

Many accidental drug overdoses in New York are preventable. Most people hesitate to call 911 because they fear getting arrested for illicit drugs. Assembly Bill 8740, the 911 Good Samaritan Bill, will save lives in New York by allowing people to call 911 to save a life without fear of being arrested. Additionally, the Expanded Syringe Access Program (ESAP), passed by the NYS Legislature in 2000, amended the Public Health Law to make possession of clean syringes legal. However, New York State Penal Law still states that possession of a clean syringe is a Class A misdemeanor, and many clients are arrested around syringe exchange programs—for possession of syringes. Advocates will call on legislators to remove syringes from the penal code to encourage injection drug users to access clean syringes to reduce HIV/AIDS without fear of arrest.

What: Statewide Meeting and Lobby Day to Reduce Accidental Drug Overdoses

When: Tuesday, April 8th 11:00 A.M.

Where: Meeting at Emmanuel Baptist Church 275 State Street, Albany, NY

Who: Advocates, with special comments by Senator Tom Duane and Humberto Cruz, NYS AIDS Institute
Director

Action: Flower Delivery to Gov. Paterson to symbolize overdose deaths in New York: 1:00 p.m. at the
Executive Chamber

According to a little noticed January report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), drug overdoses killed mo

Heroin (and other opioid) overdoses are a common cause of death among users, yet these deaths are often preventable through education, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and when possible, through the administration of Naloxone (Narcan). In this workshop, participants will start by learning the essentials of preventing opioid overdose deaths including prevention, recognition, and action. Participants will receive certification as Trained Overdose Responders and become qualified to train heroin or opioid users and colleagues at their own facilities on how to prevent an overdose. Participants will learn how to implement a NYS DOH-approved program with support from the Harm Reduction Coalition.

Fatal overdose is a leading cause of death among injection drug-users in the United States, and one of the leading causes of accidental death in San Francisco. But overdose can be prevented! Many overdoses occur after recent periods of abstinence, especially among individuals in drug treatment programs, detox, or incarceration, making outreach and education an important prevention tool. This half day training will cover general risk factors, important prevention tips, and how to respond in an overdose situation. Learn how your agency can develop an overdose protocol and provide the best care to our drug using clients. We will explore local policy (Senate Bill 767) and its implications, as well as how to effectively engage and talk to our clients about overdose. Participants will leave with a solid foundation around overdose prevention, recognition, and response and a plan to implement overdose prevention in their agency.

This has already been addressed at DrugWarRant and The Agitator, but I'd just like to echo the observation that Dr. Bertha Madras is a cruel witch whose idea of drug prevention is willfully letting drug addicts die before our eyes.

In her capacity as Deputy Director of Demand Reduction at the Drug Czar's office, Madras is speaking out against medicines that effectively treat drug overdoses. If that sounds crazy to you, well, what can I say? These people are deranged:

...Dr. Bertha Madras, deputy director of the White House Office on National Drug Control Policy, opposes the use of Narcan in overdose-rescue programs.

"First of all, I don’t agree with giving an opioid antidote to non-medical professionals. That’s No. 1," she says. "I just don’t think that’s good public health policy."

Madras says drug users aren’t likely to be competent to deal with an overdose emergency. More importantly, she says, Narcan kits may actually encourage drug abusers to keep using heroin because they know overdosing isn’t as likely.

Madras says the rescue programs might take away the drug user’s motivation to get into detoxification and drug treatment.

"Sometimes having an overdose, being in an emergency room, having that contact with a health care professional is enough to make a person snap into the reality of the situation and snap into having someone give them services," Madras says. [NPR]

Um, maybe…if you don’t die. I seriously can’t believe my eyes. This is just as cold as it gets, even by ONDCP standards. Does she know or care that lives will be lost if her vision of good public health policy prevails? How many people should we allow to die in order to spread the message that heroin is dangerous?

This is one of those moments that reveal in stark terms the complete logical bankruptcy of the drug warrior mindset. By rejecting any interest in saving lives, Madras leaves one wondering what the hell she even wants. Seriously, what are we paying these people to do if not save lives?

This is not some crackpot narc spouting off silly soundbites in a local paper. This is a spokeswoman for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. These people are supposedly the smartest, most competent drug experts, charged with drafting public health policies to protect us all, and their idea of the week is to cheer from the sidelines as people die from drugs so that the rest of us will learn to behave ourselves.

ONDCP's hateful, literally fatal contempt for the people they should be helping is just so creepy and awful that one struggles to understand the continued need to expose their behavior for what it is. Really, what could I say about this organization that is not made perfectly evident by the philosophy which its own spokespeople espouse openly in our newspapers?

If I didn't know better, I'd predict that ONDCP's open opposition to preventing drug overdoses would immediately cost them what remains of their shrinking legitimacy.

The Drug Czar's blog has been very concerned about harm reduction lately. They've taken the counterintuitive position of opposing efforts to save the lives of drug users, which seems like a strange choice. Now I understand why: they think harm reduction is the opposite of what it actually is.

These so-called "harm reduction" strategies are poor public policy because their underlying philosophy involves giving up on those who can successfully recover from drug addiction. [PushingBack.com]

This is wrong for a very simple reason: you cannot recover from addiction if you're dead. Harm reduction programs are not an alternative to treatment, rather they go hand in hand. Harm reduction keeps people healthy and alive, thereby creating opportunities for them to subsequently recover from addiction.

We could do nothing. That would be "giving up." We could ask drug addicts to either quit or die. That would be "giving up." Instead, harm reduction activists have taken to the streets and attacked this problem directly. They've studied the leading causes of death among drug users and created programs to reduce those casualties. That's the opposite of giving up.

Just pretend for a moment that you're cruel and you want drug users to die in large numbers. How would you go about it? Well, you would begin by eliminating regulated distribution so that users are forced to obtain unsafe products from criminals on the street. You would reduce access to clean needles in order to spread AIDS. You would enforce criminal sanctions against users so that they're afraid to seek help. And you would lobby aggressively against anyone who's studied the problem and proposed programs to reduce AIDS and overdoses.

Now I'm not saying the Drug Czar wants to kill people. I'm just saying he presides over a policy that is perfectly tailored to achieve that outcome. And he dares to suggest that the people out there working with addicts and saving lives are the ones who've given up.

For Immediate Release: June 1, 2007
Media Contact: Hilary McQuie 510-333-8554

Overdose Bill Receives Unanimous California Senate Support

SACRAMENTO - California Senate Bill (SB) 767, the Overdose Treatment Liability Act, cosponsored by the Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC), a national health and human rights advocacy group working to reduce drug-related harm, the County of Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Overdose Taskforce, passed the bipartisan California Senate yesterday in a unanimous vote.

Thanks to the leadership of Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas, the author of SB 767, California legislators are beginning to recognize the importance of access to naloxone, a very safe drug that lay people, with appropriate training, can safely and properly administer. SB 767 will make it easier for health care professionals to participate in comprehensive drug overdose prevention programs that prescribe the opioid antagonist naloxone, thereby removing a large obstacle to the creation and expansion of such programs in California. This proposed legislation will also make it easier to get naloxone into the hands of the people who are the most likely to be bystanders to opioid overdoses, increasing the likelihood that people overdosing on opioids will receive naloxone promptly.

When the Senate Judiciary Committee heard the bill early last month, Sandi McClure, a member of the Los Angeles Overdose Taskforce, delivered powerful testimony about the loss of her daughter, Jennifer, 15 months ago to a heroin overdose. Ms. McClure noted that if her daughter or her friends had access to naloxone and knew how to respond to an overdose, Jennifer might still be alive today.

Drug overdose, which is entirely preventable, is the second leading cause of accidental death in the United States. When a person overdoses on opioids (heroin, morphine, methadone, oxycontin, etc.), he/she is rendered unconscious and is in danger of dying because the opioids slow down, and eventually stop, the person's breathing. Naloxone counteracts life-threatening depression of the central nervous and respiratory systems caused by an opioid overdose, allowing an overdose victim to breathe normally. Currently, naloxone can be prescribed only by licensed health care professionals, and has the same level of regulation as prescription ibuprofen. SB 767 protects providers who prescribe take-home naloxone, facilitating greater access to lifesaving medicine for people experiencing opioid overdoses. The Assembly Judiciary Committee will hear the bill later this month.

# # # #

For more information about the Harm Reduction Coalition, visit http://www.harmreduction.org/.

TalkLeft drew attention this evening to a report in the Dearborn, Michigan, Mail & Guardian of a now-former police officer who confiscated a suspect's marijuana and wound up calling 9-1-1 over it. He and his wife baked some of it into brownies, and then (apparently) freaked out. Officer Edward Sanchez resigned, and the department decided not to press charges, which irritated city councillor Doug Thomas.

TalkLeft's Jeralyn Merritt is glad he wasn't charged:

Yes, it's bad to take a suspect's pot. But I don't think it warrants criminal charges. Disciplinary charges, to be sure, but the cop resigned first. And, in the grand scheme of things, it's better that someone who overdoses on drugs like heroin not to be afraid to seek medical attention. Some things are better confined to the realm of the doctor-patient privilege.

I agree with the overdose prevention angle. In fact, we have a whole category devoted to that idea on this web site. But I'm not sure how I feel about just having disciplinary action in most cases. It's one thing to slip up, especially when it comes to an activity like drug use that shouldn't be a crime at all. It's another thing to arrest a person, take his drugs (his property), send him to jail for the drugs and then commit the same crime that you took the first guy to jail for. That makes me wonder about the officer's moral fiber (even though I don't call for sanctions of officers for mere drug use -- because I don't call for such sanctions for anyone).

The Mail & Guardian article did not discuss the fate of the original possessor of the marijuana. I would like to know whether Sanchez arrested him or her, and if so what the outcome was. That said, losing his job is probably enough (even if by resignation), and as I said I agree that 9-1-1 calls over drug overdose scares should not lead to criminal prosecution, for reasons of public health policy.

Update: Mark Hemingway commented on this story guest blogging for The Agitator too. In descending order of harshness toward the officer: Hemingway, me, Merritt.

Another update: Orin Kerr of the Volokh Conspiracy found audio of the 9-1-1- call.

Last year's wave of overdose deaths from heroin cut with fentanyl, a po

A harm reduction bill in the California legislature would deal with some liability issues and other obstacles that currently make it difficult to get the opiate overdose antidote Naloxone out to the communities where overdoses are taking place.

[Courtesy of the Harm Reduction Coalition]

For Immediate Release: May 8, 2007
Contact: Emalie Huriaux, tel: 510-469-7941

Overdose Bill Moves Forward: Unanimous Judiciary Committee Support

SACRAMENTO - California Senate Bill (SB) 767, the Overdose Treatment Liability Act, cosponsored by the Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC), a national health and human rights advocacy group working to reduce drug-related harm, and the County of Los Angeles passed the bipartisan California Senate Judiciary Committee today in a 5-to-0 vote. SB 767 will make it easier for health care professionals to participate in comprehensive drug overdose prevention programs that prescribe the opioid antagonist naloxone, thereby removing a large obstacle to the creation and expansion of such programs in California. This proposed legislation will also make it easier to get opioid antagonists into the hands of the people who are the most likely to be bystanders to opioid overdoses, increasing the likelihood that people overdosing on opioids will receive naloxone promptly.

Emalie Huriaux, HRC's Overdose Project Manager stated after the unanimous vote, "We are pleasantly surprised. Liability legislation rarely gets support from the Senate Judiciary Committee. This vote shows that committee members understand the lifesaving effects SB 767 will have."

Sandi McClure, a member of the Los Angeles Overdose Taskforce, delivered powerful testimony about the loss of her daughter, Jennifer, 15 months ago to a heroin overdose, and how access to naloxone may have saved her life. In addition, Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser, Medical Director for the County of Los Angeles, spoke about the drug overdose epidemic in Los Angeles and throughout the country.

Although naloxone is a very safe drug and recent studies have proven that lay people, with appropriate training, can safely and properly administer it, some clinicians are concerned about prescribing take-home naloxone for use by lay people. Clinicians voice concerns that patients may use naloxone on a third party experiencing an overdose and, in the event of an adverse reaction, the clinician could be held liable. In recent years, New York, New Mexico, and Connecticut have enacted legislation similar to SB 767 to protect licensed health care professionals from civil and criminal liability when prescribing take-home opioid antagonists.

Since November 2003, HRC's Overdose Project has collaborated with the San Francisco Department of Public Health to provide overdose prevention, recognition, and response training, including naloxone prescriptions, to people at risk for experiencing an opioid overdose. To date, this collaboration has provided training and prescriptions to nearly 1,000 people and heard reports from 250 of them that they used naloxone in an overdose situation.

Drug overdose, which is entirely preventable, is the second leading cause of accidental death in the United States. When a person overdoses on opioids (heroin, morphine, methadone, oxycontin, etc.), he/she is rendered unconscious and is in danger of dying because the opioids slow down, and eventually stop, the person's breathing. Naloxone counteracts life-threatening depression of the central nervous and respiratory systems caused by an opioid overdose, allowing an overdose victim to breathe normally. Currently, naloxone can be prescribed only by licensed health care professionals, and has the same level of regulation as prescription ibuprofen. SB 767 protects providers who prescribe take-home naloxone, facilitating greater access to lifesaving medicine for people experiencing opioid overdoses. The bill will be heard later this month by the Senate Appropriations Committee and, if passed, will move on for a vote by the entire Senate later this year.

# # # #

For more information about the Harm Reduction Coalition, visit http://www.harmreduction.org.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) Wednesday signed innovative legislation that would protect friends or family members who seek medical attention for drug overdose victims.

For Immediate Release: December 18, 2006

Media Contact:

Dr. Sharon Stancliff
Medical Director
Harm Reduction Coalition
(917) 653-3104
stancliff@harmreduction.org

Harm Reduction Experts Urge Feds To Stem Overdose Epidemic

More than 120 medical experts, public health departments, and drug user health advocates have called on the federal government to take more aggressive steps to deal with a wave of overdose deaths c