Growing racial/ethnic disparities in overdose mortality before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in California.  Friedman J, Hansen H, Bluthenthal RN, Harawa N, Jordan A, Beletsky L.  Prev Med. 2021 Oct 12;153:106845. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed…

Initiating Opioid Use Disorder Medication via Telemedicine During COVID-19: Implications for Proposed Reforms to the Ryan Haight Act.  Huskamp HA, Riedel L, Uscher-Pines L, Busch AB, Barnett ML, Raja P, Mehrotra A.  J Gen Intern Med. 202…

EMCDDA. Spotlight on… Health and social responses to drug problems during the Covid-19 pandemic  What is the issue? On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Since then, the virus has claimed millions of li…

Death, addiction, grace: a year as chaplain in New York’s toughest hospital While training as a chaplain and caring for society’s most vulnerable, I learned that spiritual care is an act of social justice. (The Guardian, UK, 25.10.2021) https://ww…

The impact of relaxation of methadone take-home protocols on treatment outcomes in the COVID-19 era.  Amram O, Amiri S, Panwala V, Lutz R, Joudrey PJ, Socias E.  Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2021 Oct 20:1-8. doi: 10.1080/00952990.2021.197999…

Increased COVID-19 infection risk, COVID-19 vaccine inaccessibility, and unacceptability: Worrisome trio for patients with substance abuse disorders.  Yasmin F, Najeeb H, Asghar MS, Ullah I, Islam SMS.  J Glob Health. 2021 Oct 2;11:03106…