October 25, 2017
The Trump Administration declared the crisis of opioid and heroin overdoses a national emergency in August this year. As it turns out, though, identifying an emergency doesn’t necessarily mean the government is quick to take any action.
As the nation comes t
o recognize drug abuse and addiction as a public health issue rather than a moral failing or lack of character that far too many people are incarcerated for, harm reduction strategies have leapt to the forefront. These tactics are taking on new forms and making advances that save lives.
By Josh DuBose
September 19, 2017
photo by navymailman
LOS ANGELES – “Restorative justice is a philosophy and a way of being in a school community,” says Deborah Brandy, director of district operations for Los Angeles Unified School District. In many ways, LAUSD, the largest district in California and the second largest in the country – behind the New York City school system – is leading the charge to change the way public schools approach discipline in the K-12 educational system.
written for Inspire Malibu
A little more than a week ago, on August 10, President Trump announced plans to declare a national emergency in lieu of the nation’s crisis of opioid overdose deaths. According to the White House’s own survey, opioid related fatalities now kill 142 Americans every single day.
written for Inspire Malibu
Alcoholism is among the most pervasive diseases in the United States. The statistics stagger the mind. More than 15 million adults over the age of 18 suffer from alcohol use disorder, reports the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and that number falls short because these are just the diagnosed cases.
written for Inspire Malibu
August 2, 2017
There’s good news and bad news. The number of prescriptions for opioid painkillers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is in decline. Since 2010, the peak of opioid prescriptions, the agency tracked a 41 percent decrease. However, the analysis also revealed the prescribing rate is still three times higher than in 1999, near the beginning of America’s opioid crisis.
written for Inspire Malibu
April 25, 2017
LOS ANGELES – Like other states in the U.S., California has seen a spike in overdoses as a result of heroin and prescription painkillers. While the news cycle appears to have moved away from the country’s opioid epidemic, the problem persists. In 2015, an estimated 33,000 people fatally overdosed on heroin or opioid medication, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
March 24, 2017
Tumultuous, as a description for the first two months of Donald Trump’s Administration, falls short. Terms like missteps, chaos and, as of late, collusion are now ubiquitous in the mainstream press, but they’ve become small explosions drowned out by the roaring inferno that’s engulfed American politics.
November 11, 2015
LOS ANGELES – Diana Zuniga, 28, has been in and out of California prisons for 24 years of her life. She’s been visiting incarcerated family members. Her father is scheduled for release in four to five years. Her uncle is serving 35 years to life.