opiate epidemic
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On Narcan and the perception of care.
I was talking to someone recently about the availability of Narcan where we live (a college town in southern Indiana, population 80,000). Narcan is a medication that blocks opiate receptors. When given to someone who recently overdosed on heroin, fentanyl, or painkillers, Narcan can save their life. # In the lobby of the county jail,…
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On fire and ash.
The phoenix falls into fire, burns, and dies. Then rises again, reborn. The phoenix triumphs over adversity. Life gets hard, excruciatingly hard. Everything falls to shit. But the phoenix rises again. Or so we hope. Sometimes, the fire burns too hot. And then the phoenix dies and stays dead. Sometimes ash isn’t a phoenix egg.…
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On drugs and drug laws.
Humans have long restricted access to spiritual sacraments. Perhaps its not surprising that psilocybin is illegal, whereas the drugs that harm other people are easy to come by.
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On reading Natalie Diaz’s “How to Go to Dinner with a Brother on Drugs” with a room full of men in jail for drugs.
Natalie Diaz wrings beauty from an impossible situation — how much hurt can you bear, trying to help someone who can’t be saved?
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On government intrusion and addiction.
To beat the opiate epidemic, we need strong communities. But prosecutors’ reliance on police informants destroys communities.
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On fairness (and how we treat the utility monster).
How do you measure someone’s capacity for joy? And what does that say about our opiate epidemic?
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Frank Brown Cloud 