On the Trail of Addiction (Baltimore)
posted by josher71 on Oct 25, 2011 - 20 comments

"On the 28th October 1975 my mother gave birth to a heroinhead - that was/is me. My father was a young Glaswegian junkie nicknamed Puggy. I was born with heroin in my veins. 7 years after my birth, my father was brutally murdered by infamous British serial-killer Dennis Nilsen. [more inside]
posted by metaxa on Oct 10, 2011 - 36 comments

A heroin substitute called "Krokodil" is having destructive effects on Russia's active user population. [more inside]
posted by rodmandirect on Jun 22, 2011 - 108 comments

Rafaela Persson photographed female drug addicts and their children in Afghanistan. [more inside]
posted by gman on Jan 18, 2011 - 9 comments

Swansea Love Story [Flash video, six parts, occasional NSFW, shows drug use], a documentary in VBS’ Rule Britannia series, follows young heroin users in the South Wales city, looking at their family life, daily routines and some of the changes in the community around them. Interview with film-maker Andy Capper; something on director Leo Leigh; brief write-up here, slightly longer review here.
posted by Abiezer on Feb 18, 2010 - 7 comments

The first ever North American study into prescribing diamorphine to addicts was published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. And the outcomes are positive. This is the latest in a growing line of research studies into diamorphine prescribing. The Netherlands and Switzerland have both completed major studies that showed extremely positive outcomes in treatment resistant populations. Germany has recently begun a study along these lines, and a British study is about to report it's outcomes any minute now.

How often must a positive outcome be replicated before something becomes part of mainstream treatment provision?
posted by PeterMcDermott on Aug 20, 2009 - 56 comments

What happened to the Trainspotting generation? Heroin and Scotland: the relationship continues.
posted by peacay on Aug 16, 2009 - 51 comments

In a recent report for the Abell Foundation, University of Maryland Criminologist Peter Reuter asks whether, in light of the evidence from Switzerland, The Netherlands and elsewhere, Baltimore might not be the best place to try the first US heroin maintenance programme?
posted by PeterMcDermott on Feb 28, 2009 - 17 comments

Addiction to porn is destroying lives, Senate told. Experts compare the effect on the brain to that of heroin or crack cocaine.
posted by travis vocino on Nov 19, 2004 - 118 comments

"Vancouver has opened North America's first legal shooting gallery for drug addicts." -for all you poor saps where guns are a part of your everyday vocabulary, NO that's not a place where drug addicts shoot guns.- this is a pilot program supported by all levels of government in BC and in Canada, where addicts can inject drugs in a supervised, clean environment. The purpose of which ultimately I think is to bridge the huge gap between "them" and "us" and possibly shrink the distance addicts have to reach through for help. Does my heart bleed for "them"? Absolutely not. You choose your weapon, you suffer the consequences. But what this could lead to is less addicts and therefore less reason for addicts to commit crimes to support their addictions...
posted by giantkicks on Sep 16, 2003 - 71 comments