Bay Bridge Harm Reduction

10/05/2026

Hey yall, we’ve got a batch of Narcan available to hand out to anyone who needs it, but we want to be 100% upfront about one thing: the expiration dates on these boxes have recently passed.
We know seeing an past-due date on life-saving meds can make you hesitate, but here’s the reality: expired Narcan is vastly better than no Narcan, and science backs up that it works.

A few key facts if you're wondering about safety and potency:
- The FDA actually extended the official shelf life of Narcan nasal spray twice, moving it from 2 years up to 4 years, because stability testing showed the medicine lasts much longer than originally stamped.

- Independent studies prove it holds up: Research analyzing naloxone samples stored in real-world conditions (& even extreme temperature shifts) found that almost all samples maintained 90%–100% of their active potency years after expiration. In fact, testing on samples stored for over a decade showed they still retained virtually all of their life-saving active ingredients.

- Harm reduction consensus: Major public health groups and medical researchers all agree: administering expired naloxone carries no extra safety risks and will still reverse an overdose.
Having a kit in your car, your bag, or your medicine cabinet saves lives. Don't let a printed date on a carton keep you from being prepared to save a friend, family member, or neighbor.

If you or someone you know needs supply, send us a direct message or drop by to grab a kit, no questions asked, completely free as always.

Stay safe, look out for each other, & help us spread the word❤️ If you’d like to meet up locally to PU, message us! If you’d like me to ship, let me know!

BIG thanks to Kalynn Sommers & Harm Reduction Ohio!

09/18/2026

Soooo this is going to be a long one, but bear with me, because it’s important. Let’s clear something up because this “poisoning vs. overdose” debate has been making the rounds a LOT lately, esp among parent-led groups after the untimely passing of actress Hayden Panettiere….

I keep seeing more people in advocacy circles pushing for the term “drug poisoning” instead of “overdose.” & I honestly understand WHY. The illicit/blackmarket supply is a f’ing mess, after all🤷🏼‍♀️

People can take something believing it’s he**in, co***ne, a pill, whatever, & it turns out to have or just be illegal fent, Xylazine (tranq), medetomidine (the newer sedative that’s taking over for Xylazine, sadly. While it’s not known to give wounds like tranq, it’s WD is extremely bad, with symptoms like EXTREMELY high BP, anxiety, amongst many other symptoms- leading many into ER’s, who have no standardized treatment for it. Some addiction professionals still argue that these sedatives don’t have their own WD still, making the situation even more difficult & chaotic), nitazenes, analogs, benzos & their analogues, -caines, precursors of illegal fent, or other substances in it that they didn’t know were there. That’s not even including (the ✨usually✨ benign) bulking agents.

So I completely understand the argument that “poisoning” emphasizes that someone may have been exposed to something they never intended to take.

But personally & professionally? I’m still gonna say OD. BBHR is gonna keep using the term overdose. & we’re going to promote the use of “overdose,” still too.

Why is it a big deal, you may ask?

1️⃣ “OVERDOSE” IMMEDIATELY TELLS PEOPLE WHAT TO DO & WHAT’S NEEDED: If somebody says, “I think they’re OD’ing,” majority of people, & esp medical professionals, who have had ANY overdose education know what comes next:

NARCAN. CALL 911. CHECK THEIR BREATHING. RESCUE BREATHING/CPR WHEN APPROPRIATE (which is usually always now adays with the sedatives - Xylazine & medetimine)
& Finally? DON’T LEAVE THEM ALONE UNTIL HELP ARRIVES.

That word has been drilled into people for decades. & this isn’t just advocacy language. The CDC literally defines overdose as an injury to the body that happens when a drug is taken in excessive amounts.

CDC’s current OD-prevention guidance tells people that if they’re not sure whether someone is OD’ing, that to just assume & treat it like an OD, give naloxone if available, call 911, & keep the person breathing with rescue breathes until help arrives.

SAMHSA calls it opioid OD & gives the same emergency response: call 911, support breathing/CPR when needed, & administer naloxone or nalmefene. (Though we at BBHR NEVER promote or recommend using nalmefene- UNLESS it’s all you have OR the person being treated is NOT opioid dependent, so they won’t be thrown into an extremely bad case of precip withdrawal. It’s why you want to use the least amount of naloxone, known by brand name Narcan, as possible to restore breathing. Too much naloxone or just nalmefene, known by brand name Opvee, will throw somebody that’s opioid dependent into a bad case of withdrawal, called “precip withdrawal,” in these cases. It’s withdrawal x10 basically, as these medications work to make the opioid receptors “not sticky,” basically- forcing the opioids off the receptors in your brain instantly, therefore putting you into precip withdrawal…. Unless you’re not physically dependent on opioids, it’s not pleasant…. But better to be alive.

WHO does too. Their current opioid-overdose guidance specifically uses the term opioid overdose, identifies slowed/difficult breathing as a key sign, & recommends naloxone & basic life support.

So sorrry but NO, “overdose” isn’t some outdated or medically incorrect word. It is still very much the language being used by major public health organizations.

2️⃣ I DON’T WANT TO CREATE A “GOOD VICTIM vs. BAD VICTIM” THING: This is probably THE part that bothers me the most. Because I’ve seen the argument become: “They were poisoned because they didn’t know fentanyl was in it.”

Okay. That maybe true, & it’s sad, 100%. But what about the person who DID know they were using fentanyl? They’re not less than. What about somebody who intentionally uses he**in? Or somebody with an opioid use disorder who knows exactly what they’re taking?

Do they somehow deserve less compassion if they experience an overdose? Absolutely f’ing not.

Harm reduction doesn’t get to become: “This person didn’t mean to take fentanyl, so THIS overdose is tragic.”

while somebody else gets: “Well, they knew what they were doing.” Sorry, but NOPE! I don’t GAF if somebody knew exactly what was in the bag🤷🏼‍♀️ They are still a human being who deserves to f’ing live. The CDC itself talks about stigma as a barrier to people getting healthcare & treatment, & specifically recommends reducing stigma around substance use disorders.

THAT is the language fight I care about. Not whether somebody uses the word OD or poisoning.

3️⃣ “POISONING” DOESN’T AUTOMATICALLY MAKE LANGUAGE NON-STIGMATIZING: We can call something poisoning & STILL judge the person who intentionally used a substance. We can call something an overdose & STILL talk about it in a completely non-stigmatizing way. The stigma isn’t magically contained in one word. It’s in how we’re talking about the PERSON.

“Addict.” “Junkie.” “Drug abuser.” “Drug seeker.” “Dirty.” “They did it to themselves.” THAT is the BS that I want gone…

4️⃣ OVERDOSE IS A MEDICAL REALITY, NOT A MORAL JUDGMENT: An OD doesn’t tell me whether someone was a “good” substance user or a “bad” substance user: It doesn’t tell me whether they were trying to get high. It doesn’t tell me whether they knew what was in the drug. It doesn’t tell me if they were in severe pain & not being treated properly, so had to turn to the streets. It doesn’t tell me whether they have a substance use disorder. It tells me their body is having a potentially life-threatening reaction to a substance or combination of substances. & when opioids are involved, we’re talking about respiratory depression & of course, at its worst, potentially ☠️.

The WHO specifically describes opioid overdose in terms of unconsciousness, pinpoint pupils & difficulty breathing, & says timely naloxone & basic life support can prevent death.

That’s pretty straightforward to me🤷🏼‍♀️

5️⃣ “OVERDOSE” CONNECTS PEOPLE TO THE TOOLS THAT KEEP THEM ALIVE: Overdose prevention. Overdose response. Overdose education. Naloxone. Rescue breathing. Overdose Awareness Day. Overdose prevention sites. Overdose data.

The entire public-health infrastructure already exists around this terminology. & we’re not just talking about the federal government here. WHO has been publishing guidance specifically on community management of opioid overdose & recommends getting naloxone into the hands of people who are likely to witness one.

So when somebody says “they OD’d,” we all know exactly what we’re talking about. More importantly, I know what I want the person standing next to them to do.

I’m not mad at anybody who prefers “poisoning.” Unless of course they do think their lived one was “better,” because they weren’t x, y, z…. & yes, sadly I’ve seen that many times. If you use that term because you want to emphasize an unpredictable chaotic drug supply & remove blame from the person who was exposed to something they didn’t knowingly take, I understand the reasoning.

I’m just not personally switching & for switching for the entire field. Because I don’t believe we need to change OD to make it non-stigmatizing. We need to change the way we talk about the people experiencing them. & I REALLY don’t want us creating a situation where someone who knowingly used a substance is somehow viewed as less worthy of saving than someone who unknowingly consumed something contaminated. Because it shouldn’t matter regardless.

Harm reduction means ALL of them. The person who uses occasionally. The person who uses every day. The person who knows exactly what’s in their supply. The person who has absolutely no idea what’s in it. The person trying to stop. The person not ready to stop. The person in recovery. The person who relapses. ALL 👏 OF 👏 THEM 👏

Nobody has to prove they deserve Narcan. Nobody has to prove they made the “right” choice. Nobody has to be an accidental victim. If they’re overdosing, we save them. Period.

So yeah, you can call it poisoning, I guess.

But I’m gonna call it an OD. Either way, GET & USE NARCAN, IF YOU NEED TO❤️

For those still out there, please- Test your supply when you can. Don’t use alone when possible. Never Use Alone hotline is available, & WILL call for help if needed- completely private, too! Great & caring people. Carry Narcan, or 2, 5, 10, etc.. Can never have enough. Have a plan. Check on your people❤️

Arguing about terminology isn’t gonna bring somebody’s breathing back. Narcan might.(Unless you fall under #2, & feel your loved one was better - then sorry not sorry🖕🏻🤷🏼‍♀️)

❤️ Erica with Bay Bridge Harm Reduction

Sources I Used in Comments

09/14/2026

Let’s talk about Drug-Induced Homicide (DIH) laws, because tbh, the way politicians sell them is absolute bu****it, & the reality is literally getting people ☠️

They tell you these laws are meant to lock up high-level kingpins & cartel bosses. They don't. Research & court data show that the people actually taking the fall are overwhelmingly grieving partners, roommates, & best friends.

Here is what is actually happening out here: People pool their money together. One person runs out to grab for the group, or someone hands a pill to their partner on the couch. That doesn't make anyone a cartel leader. It’s just how people buy stuff. But under DIH laws, the second you hand something to a friend, the system labels you a "distributor". If an accidental overdose happens, the person left behind, who just lost someone they love, is suddenly looking at murder or manslaughter charges.

It also completely destroys Good Samaritan laws. We spent years telling people "call 911, save a life, you won't get locked up". Now, when someone collapses, the scene turns into a homicide investigation. People panic. They hesitate, or they run away because they’re terrified of spending the rest of their life in prison. In an overdose, seconds matter. Fear gets people ☠️.

On top of that, it forces people to use completely alone in secret. & using alone is the most dangerous thing you can possibly do.

Also- The push to change "overdose" to "poisoning"

We also have to talk about the growing push, often driven by grieving parents' advocacy groups, to replace the word "overdose" with "fentanyl poisoning."
Look, nobody is downplaying the immense grief of losing a child. Pain makes people look for answers, & when a tragedy happens, it’s understandable to want someone to blame or to believe a loved one was completely misled. But shifting public health language to "poisoning" creates massive real-world issues:
- It creates a dangerous, false sense of security: When people frame deaths strictly as "poisonings" targeting unsuspecting victims, it ignores the reality that millions of people actively use substances intentionally. Public health warnings need to protect everyone, not just people who took something by mistake.
- It fuels punitive policy instead of health solutions: Framing every death as a "poisoning" leads straight to treating every loss as a murder scene, driving the exact DIH laws that put surviving friends in prison.
- It spreads myths that cost lives: A lot of the misinformation we spend all day fighting, like claims that touching illegal fent causes an instant overdose, or that harm reduction tools "enable" people, originates from panic-driven narrative shifts rather than medical consensus.

We have to stop pretending people always know what they're taking. Unless you personally watched a doctor write a script & saw the pharmacist hand the bottle over the counter, assume it is a pressed pill with fent in it. Period. Fake Percs, fake Adderall, fake Xanax, they look identical to real ones now. You cannot look at a pill and know what’s in it.
Throwing grieving friends in prison doesn't fix a tainted supply chain. Harm reduction does.

- Carry Narcan everywhere. Make sure your friends know where it is.
- Test your stuff. Fentanyl & xylazine test strips save lives.
- Never use alone. If you're by yourself, call Never Use Alone (800-484-3731). Someone stays on the line & dispatches help if you stop answering.
- Go slow. Test a tiny piece first.

We need real resources, zero judgment, & honest education. Stop punishing people for trying to save their friends.

08/27/2026

We need to have a serious talk about what’s happening in the news right now with Hayden, the wild rumors online, and why Drug-Induced Homicide (DIH) laws are actively killing people.

First, we need to talk about Hayden. Her story is a heartbreaking reminder of the reality so many in our community face every single day. She was a real person with a life, people who loved her, and a story that deserves respect, not to be turned into sensationalized clickbait or fodder for online arm-chair detectives. What happened to her is a tragedy, plain & simple, & her memory deserves truth & dignity rather than wild speculation.

The grief surrounding a loss like Hayden’s spreads far beyond one room, it shatters families, partners, & entire friend groups. But instead of focusing on community healing, education, or prevention, the internet rush to find someone to blame has turned a heartbreaking loss into a public prosecution. We have to do better by the people we lose, & we have to do better by the people left behind struggling to make sense of the grief.

First, let’s clear up the internet noise. I’ve seen some insane takes floating around comment sections, including a theory that someone "used the Narcan on themselves." Let’s slow down & look at basic science. Narcan (naloxone) is an opioid antagonist. It ONLY works if you have opioids attached to the receptors in your brain. If you take Narcan & you don’t have opioids in your system, nothing happens. Nobody could Narcan themselves, as they’ll already be out. Plus if they’re dependent, they’ll be in extreme withdrawal- called precip withdrawal. Narcan also can’t get you high. It doesn’t give you energy. It’s not a party drug, & nobody is "using it on themselvesxl cuz again, they’d be out before they knew they needed it.

Claiming someone wasted life-saving medication on themselves shows a total lack of basic understanding of how overdose reversal works.

Second, the push to slap "Drug-Induced Homicide" (DIH) rhetoric/charges on people in these situations is completely flawed. He didn’t ☠️ her. I’m not a fan of him, esp with the abuse. BUT unless someone handed someone a literal hotshot with clear intent to harm, or sat back, watched an OD happen, & deliberately refused to help, which wasn't the case here, as Narcan was administered, this is not a m-word case.

What happened here is the heartbreaking reality of what occurs in friend groups, partners, and couples who use together. Sharing a bag with a friend or a partner isn't "dealing." It’s co-use. But DIH laws treat grieving partners & friends like cartel kingpins. When the state responds to a tragic loss by threatening the person who called 911 or tried to give CPR with 20 years to life, it doesn't stop drugs from hitting the street. It doesn't save lives.
All DIH laws do is create pure terror. They force people to hesitate, hide evidence, or run away out of fear of prosecution during the exact 3-minute window where Narcan & oxygen could save a life.

We cannot charge our way out of a public health crisis. We need real Good Samaritan protections, accurate drug education, and empathy for people navigating addiction & grief, NOT internet mob justice & failed, punitive laws.

Check on your people. Carry Narcan. Know how it works.

08/24/2026

Just putting this out there ❤️

A lot of the work Bay Bridge Harm Reduction is doing comes straight out of my own pockets, donations, & people who believe in what we’re doing.

I do my best to try to keep supplies stocked, get resources into people’s hands, & actually show up where people need us. That stuff adds up QUICK. Sadly, with it just me for the most part, things get tough.

So if you’ve ever wanted to support what we’re doing but weren’t sure how, we now have a donation page. Even a few dollars helps us grab Narcan, harm reduction supplies, outreach materials, & the other little things that make this work possible.
If you know of any wholesale organizations that would be able to help, that’s also be appreciated. Narcan, test strips, water, shelf-stable foods, heck maybe even giftcards one day would be amazing to give out on my walks.

Absolutely no pressure to donate. Sharing the link helps too❤️

If you believe people deserve to stay alive long enough to have a chance to change their lives, this is one way you can help us keep doing the work.

It’s through Square, so it’s all encrypted & safe. You can use Apple Pay if you’d like, it’s that easy. Thanks for all your support, we couldn’t do it without you❤️❤️

Funds for Bay Bridge Harm Reduction to be able to do outreach

08/23/2026

I’ve been talking about some of the s**t showing up in the drug supply lately, so let’s talk tranq/xylazine & medetomidine because people are still confusing these with opioids.

They’re NOT opioids. They’re veterinary sedatives showing up mixed with street drugs, especially fentanyl.

Xylazine (“tranq”) can cause heavy sedation, unconsciousness, slowed breathing, low blood pressure & heart rate. It’s also associated with those nasty wounds people have probably seen. They turn your soft tissues necrotic, basically eating yourself alive. It can even lead to amputations.

Medetomidine is another veterinary sedative showing up in the supply. It can cause extreme sedation, unconsciousness, slowed heart rate & low blood pressure.

NOW THIS is important:
Narcan does NOT reverse xylazine or medetomidine.

BUT GIVE THE DAMN NARCAN ANYWAY.
Why? Because there may be fentanyl or another opioid involved too. Narcan can reverse the opioid part while you deal with the sedative effects.

If someone won’t wake up:
- Narcan (4mg or less, until 2-3 mins hasn’t helped)
- 911
- Check breathing
- Rescue breaths, esp if you KNOW sedatives are in supply (they most likely are)
- Stay with them till help arrives

& don’t assume Narcan “didn’t work” just because they’re still unconscious. If a sedative is involved, they can remain heavily sedated even after the opioid has been reversed.

The supply is changing constantly — fentanyl + xylazine, medetomidine, benzos, nitazenes, that’s don’t including bullying agents & who knows what else.

Harm reduction isn’t telling people to use. It’s helping keep people alive when they do❤️

08/20/2026

HOW THE HECK DID WE GET HERE WITH THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC?

All over FB, I keep seeing the same arguments over & over, so I wanted to backtrack for a minute & actually talk about how we got here. Because illegal fentanyl didn’t just magically appear one day & create the opioid epidemic.

& we didn’t go from OxyContin straight to the drug supply we’re dealing with today… This was a gradual progression. & I think that’s REALLY important to understand.

Back in the 90s & early 2000s, prescription opioid prescribing went way up. There were 💯 legitimate concerns about pain being undertreated, doctors were being encouraged to take pain more seriously, & pharmaceutical opioids became much more widely prescribed.

& yes, Purdue Pharma did some REALLY 💩 things with OxyContin. That’s not even up for debate. But here’s where I think people get confused:

Purdue doing 💩 things does NOT mean oxycodone is a bad medication.

We can admit the company behaved terribly AND acknowledge that opioids can be appropriate & effective medications for some people. Those things can both be true.

& I’ll use Suboxone as another example.

Reckitt/Indivior got caught doing their own shady 💩 with Suboxone…. When the patent on the tablet was getting ready to expire & generic competition was coming fast, the company pushed the dissolvable films & was (rightly) accused by the FTC of using a “product hopping” scheme to delay generic competition. They settled the FTC case for $50 million.

Does that mean Suboxone is a bad medication? Heck no! Buprenorphine is one of the medications we KNOW saves lives.

The company can do shady s**t & the medication can still be incredibly valuable. Both things can be true. & that’s important because I don’t want us making the same mistake with opioids.

We can criticize pharmaceutical companies without pretending every medication they make is evil.

So anyways…

WAVE 1: PRESCRIPTION OPIOIDS
Overdose ☠️ involving prescription opioids started increasing around 1999.

Then prescribing practices started changing. Prescription opioids became harder to get, doctors became more cautious, pill mills were targeted, prescribing guidelines changed, & a LOT of people who had become physically dependent on these medications suddenly had a much harder time getting them. & here’s where we need to be honest:

The need for opioids didn’t disappear just because the prescription disappeared. Some people stopped.
Some transitioned into treatment. Some were abruptly tapered. Some were abandoned by their doctors.
& some went to the street. Which brings us to…

WAVE 2: HE**IN
Around 2010, he**in overdose ☠️ started climbing rapidly.

Again, this didn’t happen in a vacuum.

The underground market was already there, & he**in became increasingly available to people who couldn’t access prescription opioids. Then came the next HUGE change.

WAVE 3: FENTANYL
Around 2013, ☠️ involving illegally manufactured fentanyl started exploding & hitting the media.

At first, illegal fentanyl was increasingly showing up IN the he**in supply. People were still buying what they thought was he**in, but fentanyl was being mixed into it or sold as he**in. But I want to add my own little “3.5 wave” here because this part gets completely lost.

Fentanyl eventually didn’t just become something that was cut in the he**in supply…. It started replacing the he**in supply, completely. & that was NOT overnight. It happened gradually.

Depending on where you lived, you could watch he**in become harder & harder to find while fentanyl became more & more common. Eventually, for a LOT of people, fentanyl basically WAS the opioid supply. That’s a really important distinction.

Because people still talk about fentanyl like it’s just something randomly sprinkled into he**in. That’s not really where we are anymore, & haven’t been for years.

In many places, there simply isn’t much or any he**in left to “lace.” The supply itself changed. & this is why I keep saying we have to make people understand that this was a progression.

We didn’t go: Prescription pills directly to illegal fentanyl.

It was more like: Prescription opioids to he**in to illegal fentanyl entering the he**in supply to fentanyl replacing much of the he**in supply to fentanyl becoming the dominant illicit opioid to finally fentanyl mixed with an increasingly insane assortment of other drugs.

& THAT brings us to what I think is the absolute nightmare we’re dealing with now.

WAVE 4: THE POLYSUBSTANCE / SEDATIVE ERA
This isn’t officially labeled as a fourth CDC “wave” in the same clean way the first three are, but public health researchers increasingly talk about the current period as a fourth wave because the crisis has become so much more complicated.

We’re not dealing with ONE drug anymore. We’re dealing with fentanyl + xylazine + medetomidine + nitazenes + benzodiazepines + alcohol + stimulants + other sedatives + whatever else is being put into the supply. & new substances keep showing up.

This is where things get REALLY scary.
Xylazine, for example, is a veterinary sedative that isn’t approved for human use. It’s increasingly being found alongside fentanyl & other illicit drugs. It can cause horrific wounds & even lead to necrosis of soft tissues, basically eating somebody away… Causing amputations for many.

Naloxone can still be lifesaving because it reverses the opioid component, but naloxone does not reverse xylazine itself.

So someone can receive Narcan, have the opioid component reversed, & STILL be deeply sedated because another drug is affecting them. That’s why rescue breathing matters. That’s why “just carry Narcan” isn’t enough education anymore.

We need people to understand polysubstance use. We need drug checking. We need people to understand that what they THINK they’re buying may not be what they’re actually getting.

& honestly? We don’t even know what the next wave is going to look like. That’s how dang unstable this supply has become. So this is where I REALLY start getting pi**ed off when the answer becomes:
“Well, we overprescribed opioids, so now we need to make controlled medications as difficult as possible to get.” - NO.

We absolutely needed to learn from the prescription opioid crisis. We needed better prescribing. We needed informed consent. We needed appropriate monitoring. We needed doctors to recognize addiction & dependence. BUT blanket bans & blanket restrictions aren’t the answer, either.

Because the person who legitimately needs a controlled medication doesn’t stop needing it because a hospital system, insurance company, pharmacy, politician or corporate policy decides the medication is too risky. & if you suddenly cut somebody off from something their body is physically dependent on?

You haven’t necessarily eliminated the need. You may have just eliminated the safer source. & that can push people toward a street supply that now contains fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, sedatives & God knows what else.

THAT is where this becomes incredibly dangerous. & I’m not saying “give everyone opioids.” I’m not saying “prescribe whatever somebody asks for.” I’m saying there needs to be a damn MIDDLE GROUND.

Because we’ve already seen what happens when we go too far in either direction.

Overprescribing caused harm. But overcorrecting & making legitimate medications inaccessible can cause harm too. & this applies to WAY more than opioids.

Pain medications. ADHD medications.
Benzodiazepines. Other controlled medications.

People need individualized medical care, NOT blanket policies that assume every patient is the same.

The CDC’s current guidance specifically says it does NOT support abruptly discontinuing opioids or rapidly tapering patients, & warns that these practices can cause significant harm.

So no, I’m not saying we should go back to the Wild West of opioid prescribing. (Heck, sometimes I am- safe supply FTW)

I’m saying stop swinging from one extreme to the other. & before somebody comes in with “Purdue caused this!” Yes. Purdue did some incredibly s**tty things. But the medication isn’t the corporation.

Just like Reckitt/Indivior’s shady behavior doesn’t erase the fact that buprenorphine is a life-saving medication.

We HAVE to be able to separate the medication, the evidence, the patient & the behavior of the company selling it. Because otherwise we just keep doing this:

Something causes harm, we BAN IT.
Then people get hurt by the ban so we loosen it. Something else goes wrong & we BAN THAT TOO.

Meanwhile, real people are stuck in the middle. That’s not public health.

We need evidence. We need reasonable regulation. We need patient autonomy. We need treatment.
We need harm reduction. We need doctors to actually be able to practice medicine without being terrified of prescribing controlled medications.
& we need to stop pretending today’s drug supply is the same drug supply we had 20 years ago. Because it isn’t.

Fentanyl changed the game. Then fentanyl started replacing he**in. Then the supply became increasingly contaminated with other substances.
Then sedatives started complicating overdoses even further.

Now we’re dealing with a drug supply that can be unpredictable as hell from one bag, pill or batch to the next. This is why the history matters. Every wave built on the one before it.

If we don’t understand that, we’re going to keep trying to solve today’s problem with yesterday’s solutions.

We don’t need another extreme. We need the middle ground. Because making legitimate medications harder & harder to access doesn’t make people’s pain disappear.

It doesn’t make ADHD disappear.
It doesn’t make pain disappear.
It doesn’t make anxiety disappear.
It doesn’t make physical dependence disappear.
It doesn’t make addiction disappear.
& it sure as hell doesn’t make the illicit market disappear. Sometimes it just makes the safer option disappear.

& when the alternative is an increasingly unpredictable fentanyl/sedative street supply? That’s not a solution. That’s another fu***ng risk we’re putting on people.

- Bay Bridge Harm Reduction

SOURCES I USED:
CDC- Understanding the Opioid Overdose Epidemic
https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/about/understanding-the-opioid-overdose-epidemic.html

FDA- Opioid Overdose Prevention & Regulatory History

FTC- Indivior/Suboxone case
FTC Suboxone case
https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/cases-proceedings/1310036-indivior-inc

FTC- Reckitt/Indivior settlement
FTC Suboxone settlement

CDC- Xylazine & overdose prevention
CDC xylazine information
https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/about/what-you-should-know-about-xylazine.html