> “We’re finally seeing smart investments bear fruit, and then suddenly eliminating what works is going to have very sinister consequences for progress on overdose prevention,” said Leo Beletsky, professor of law and health sciences at Northeastern University in Boston.
> The damage is spreading fast. Robert Ashford, executive director of Unity Recovery, which runs drug outreach programs in Texas and Pennsylvania, got word last week that his Pennsylvania operation was due to lose $1.2 million – nearly 20% of its budget – almost immediately. The money was part of federal grants, funneled through Pennsylvania and other states, that have been targeted for elimination by the Trump administration.
> Unity Recovery quickly shuttered its Philadelphia location, cut hours at its Pittsburgh office in half, and laid off 23 workers who offered healthcare, food, counseling and drug addiction services to about 8,000 people a month.
> There’s a chance that funding could be restored, thanks to an April 3 federal court ruling that blocked the Trump cuts, at least temporarily. But Ashford isn’t budging until that money is firmly in hand. “If we open and don’t get those dollars back, it puts us at risk of closing everything,” he said.
Republicans hate America and Americans
> Pricing data shared by law enforcement in Minnesota and Los Angeles showed that a gram of fentanyl was slightly cheaper today than in 2023. A former senior U.S. official with knowledge of current price trends said that prices across the country were generally consistent over the last year and have dropped in some areas.
The supply-focused War on Drugs continues to fail.
> The National Institutes of Health has terminated grants to study drug use and treatment among specific racial and gender groups. SAMHSA, the substance-abuse agency, was forced to purge its website of some studies and fact sheets about drug prevention and treatment to comply with Trump’s executive orders around gender and DEI programs, said Scott Gagnon, the former New England regional director for the agency.
> “There’s been a real chilling effect on being able to address vulnerable populations and marginalized populations,” said Gagnon, who was among those sacked at SAMHSA. He is now on administrative leave as some of the firings are challenged in court.
> Last week, staff cuts at SAMHSA gutted the entire 17-person office responsible for the nation’s only annual national survey on drug use and mental health.
> This survey, which is congressionally mandated, captures detailed demographic data on race and gender. That makes it a key tool that states and local aid groups rely on to tailor drug treatment and harm reduction programs to people most at risk, said Jennifer Hoenig, director of the office.
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Archived version: [https://archive.fo/1aQTO](https://archive.fo/1aQTO).
!ping Broken-windows&Social-policy
> “We’re finally seeing smart investments bear fruit, and then suddenly eliminating what works is going to have very sinister consequences for progress on overdose prevention,” said Leo Beletsky, professor of law and health sciences at Northeastern University in Boston.
> The damage is spreading fast. Robert Ashford, executive director of Unity Recovery, which runs drug outreach programs in Texas and Pennsylvania, got word last week that his Pennsylvania operation was due to lose $1.2 million – nearly 20% of its budget – almost immediately. The money was part of federal grants, funneled through Pennsylvania and other states, that have been targeted for elimination by the Trump administration.
> Unity Recovery quickly shuttered its Philadelphia location, cut hours at its Pittsburgh office in half, and laid off 23 workers who offered healthcare, food, counseling and drug addiction services to about 8,000 people a month.
> There’s a chance that funding could be restored, thanks to an April 3 federal court ruling that blocked the Trump cuts, at least temporarily. But Ashford isn’t budging until that money is firmly in hand. “If we open and don’t get those dollars back, it puts us at risk of closing everything,” he said.
Republicans hate America and Americans
> Pricing data shared by law enforcement in Minnesota and Los Angeles showed that a gram of fentanyl was slightly cheaper today than in 2023. A former senior U.S. official with knowledge of current price trends said that prices across the country were generally consistent over the last year and have dropped in some areas.
The supply-focused War on Drugs continues to fail.
> The National Institutes of Health has terminated grants to study drug use and treatment among specific racial and gender groups. SAMHSA, the substance-abuse agency, was forced to purge its website of some studies and fact sheets about drug prevention and treatment to comply with Trump’s executive orders around gender and DEI programs, said Scott Gagnon, the former New England regional director for the agency.
> “There’s been a real chilling effect on being able to address vulnerable populations and marginalized populations,” said Gagnon, who was among those sacked at SAMHSA. He is now on administrative leave as some of the firings are challenged in court.
> Last week, staff cuts at SAMHSA gutted the entire 17-person office responsible for the nation’s only annual national survey on drug use and mental health.
> This survey, which is congressionally mandated, captures detailed demographic data on race and gender. That makes it a key tool that states and local aid groups rely on to tailor drug treatment and harm reduction programs to people most at risk, said Jennifer Hoenig, director of the office.
> She lost her job last week.
Despicable.