Opium played a fascinating role in southern African colonial politics, conflict and social change - from the poppy fields of Mozambique to the early days of Johannesburg city.
From colonial poppy fields to pharmatrash, southern Africa offers a fascinating history of drug regimes – one that helps us make sense of drug policies and legislation today.
To reduce opioid-related harms, we must ensure treatments for opioid dependence are accessible to those who need them.
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In the early 1970s, rumors about poisoned candy on Halloween led to mass paranoia. A historian explains why such fears emerge – and what, in reality, feeds them.
Naloxone, available as a nasal spray called Narcan or in injectable form, resuscitates 100% of people who overdose if administered quickly.
AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
Opioid overdoses killed 47,000 Americans in 2017 — more than gun violence. Many fewer would have died if they’d been treated with the life-saving drug naloxone, also called Narcan.
A safety committee convened by the FDA has declared esketamine safe for severe depression. But isn’t this drug the same as ketamine, an illegal street drug? A medical anthropologist explains.
Naloxone counteracts the effects of an overdose.
Ethypharm
Opioids kill 100 people each day in the US, more than vehicular accidents. Those addicted are often left without treatment. An addiction researcher offers six steps to address the epidemic.
Vivitrol, a non-opioid medication, is used to treat some cases of opioid dependence. Addiction specialists stress that not all patients need medication, but that many do.
AP Photo/Carla K. Carlson
The U.S. has had multiple drug epidemics, and, until recently, has not had evidence-tested ways to help people. That has changed. New medicines can help. But other medical issues should also be addressed.
(Left to right, top to bottom) Martyn Fitzsimmons, David Sell, Gerard Docherty, Steven McArdle, Francis Mulligan and Barry O'Neill.
Scientists are beginning to understand why certain drugs and musical genres are natural partners.
A woman holds a photo of her best friend, who died of a drug overdose in January 2017, before a march to draw attention to the opioid overdose epidemic, in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, B.C.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)
Catastrophic increases in opioid overdose deaths across Canada require a broad response – tackling housing, food and income insecurity as well as the contaminated drug supply.