Rhode Island has one of the nation’s highest rates of overdose deaths involving cocaine, a problem the state is trying to address with a new smartphone app. But is it reaching those most in need? Also, the town of Narragansett has one of the lowest percentages of affordable housing in the state. We hear about some steps taken earlier this week by the town council intended to address the housing shortfall. And RISD is celebrating its second Black Biennial. We’ll hear from the co-curator who is seeking to break down the walls between the institution and the surrounding community. Plus: the week in politics, and a few things to do this week.
opioid crisis
Posted inHealth, Local
Rhode Island is using a new smartphone app to help people stay off drugs. But is it reaching those most in need?
They are college-educated professionals who own a three-story Victorian home in Providence, drive a BMW and regularly work out at a gym. Dominic and his fiancé, Samantha, are also struggling with drug addiction. (They asked that only his middle name and her first name be used because their employers don’t know they’re in drug treatment.) […]
Posted inHealth, NPR
In a decade of drug overdoses, more than 320,000 American children lost a parent
New research documents how many children lost a parent to an opioid or other overdose in the period from 2011 to 2021. Bereaved children face elevated risks to their physical and emotional health.
Posted inHealth, Local
More people who use cocaine in Rhode Island are dying of overdoses
In an empty stairwell in Pawtucket, R.I., Jackson offered to show a reporter how he tries to reduce his risk of overdosing when he smokes crack cocaine. (Jackson agreed to speak to The Public’s Radio for this story on the condition that we use only his first name.) It had been several hours since his […]
Posted inNPR, Politics, Stories
Oregon pioneered a radical drug policy. Now it’s reconsidering.
Under Ballot Measure 110, instead of arresting drug users, police give them a citation and point them towards treatment. Over three years in, there’s a debate about whether it’s succeeded or failed.
Posted inHealth, Local, Stories
A place to use illegal drugs under medical supervision on the campus of Rhode Island Hospital
Two Rhode Island nonprofits announced Wednesday the location of the country’s first state-regulated center where people can use illegal drugs under medical supervision. Project Weber/RENEW, a peer-led harm reduction and recovery group, and its partner, the clinical services provider VICTA, plan to open the “overdose prevention center” next to the campus of Rhode Island Hospital, […]