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Articles on Drug abuse

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Although xylazine is not an opioid, naloxone can reverse the effects of the fentanyl and heroin it is often mixed with. AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

What is xylazine? A medical toxicologist explains how it increases overdose risk, and why Narcan can still save a life

Xylazine, or tranq, is increasingly being mixed with drugs like fentanyl or heroin and can be difficult to detect. Most people who use drugs are unable to tell if they have been exposed to it.
When newborns stay with their opioid-dependent mothers in hospital, they experience improved mother-infant bonding, greater chances of breastfeeding, less severe symptoms, less medication and much shorter hospital stays. (Shuterstock)

Hospitals must adapt so infants can ‘room-in’ with opioid-dependent mothers

The evidence is clear that newborn babies do better when they ‘room-in’ with their opioid-dependent mothers. So why are hospitals across Canada so slow to provide this recognized standard of care?
In Indonesia, sending drug users to prison only creates more problems, from overcrowding to bigger exposures to drug abuse. www.shutterstock.com

Why Indonesia should stop sending drug users to prison

The government needs to revisit its punitive approach to drug users and stop sending them to prison to avoid overcrowding.
The research shows that barring people with a history of drug offences from public housing won’t reduce the risks of harm as NSW minister Pru Goward argues. Chris Pavlich/AAP

Public housing ban on people with drug records likely to do more harm than good, research tell us

The evidence is clear on the sort of support that is needed to reduce the harms of drug use. A punitive approach that denies people a second chance makes it more likely they will reoffend.
Many women are released from prison with untreated mental and physical health problems, and no access to a doctor. In pain, they seek solace in illicit drugs. Pictured here, women mourn those who have died of drug overdose in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, B.C. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

Women need health and dental care to stay out of prison

A staggering 70 per cent of female inmates are back in prison within two years of their release. Basic health and dental care could help change this, according to new research.

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