Allocation of Opioid Settlement Funds for Meaningful Harm Reduction Policies ?

[pink_slush_0909]

incredibly happy to see that naloxone/ narcan is widely available as well as fentanyl test strips. However I was curious as to what changes would need to occur both on a legislative level and public health programs?

I personally believe all drugs should be legal and that individuals should be allowed to ingest what they want of their own free will, however, do strongly support much harsher punishments for child pornography/ non-consensual pornography (the worst IMO), violence against animals/ animal cruelty, environmental damage, violence, inducing others to act under false pretenses/ dishonesty.  Pretty much do whatever you want as long as it does not harm others or the shared resources we have.

Back to harm reduction though... Narcan- awesome. Needle exchanges- awesome. Still a huge gap. Also, the classification of paraphernalia would need to change & I would like to see safe disposal of waste used as a mitigation factor in sentencing (applies largely to methamphetamine manufacturing but could also apply to needle/ biohazard stuff). As far as programs I would want to see for a more comprehensive harm reduction:

-Readily Available at Home STI testing - HIV/AIDS, HepC, 5panel STI
-Mail Order Needle Exchange - clean needles in & mail dirty ones back in sharps container(exempt from being used as evidence of any kind to charge an individual with drug related activity) - this should also apply to crack pipes, meth pipes, and snorting materials & include interchangeable mouth pieces. Also educational materials about changing ROA for tolerance breaks (encourage boofing/plugging & snorting vs. injecting)
-Reagent Testing Kits
-Funding towards R&D for at home purity testing - at first it was fentanyl now its zylazine and a few other synthetic opioids - allowing purity testing could help get 1 step ahead of new adulterants entering- also if someone does OD good Samaritan laws allow everyone to be safe and could actually give medical personal information needed to save someones life.
-Purity testing stations in general.
-Meth contamination testing & education - smoking it actually leaves toxic waste on carpets, soft materials, and can seep into drywall requiring professional remediation. Providing a kit with testing wipes (they already exist), TSP (cheap cleaner), carbon filters for DIY air filters, & educational materials - crack-cocaine also leaves a residue but not to the same toxicity as meth which is why i didnt single that one out specifically same with other commonly smoked narcotics
-hazardous waste disposal - this one is tricky. The only thing really manufactured is meth & it's done in rural/ unpopulated areas without a lot of access in general. So I am not sure how you could provide the 5gal safety cans - but would like to see evidence of their use in manufacturing as a lesser sentence.
-General sanitary methods for doing drugs (rubbing alcohol before snorting something, clean spoons, etc)
-Acetone washing / other methods that can help & involve cheap readily available materials
-declassifying scales as paraphernalia (would rather have people dosing properly & the market create cheaper more reliable scales due to increased demand)
-lesser sentencing for supplying pure unadulterated substances as claimed (i.e. if i am selling cocaine, arrested, & charged 1yr for 100% purity, 2yrs for 99-85%... 7-10yrs for 70% purity and substances that cause great bodily harm when used in combination) - this incentives selling clean stuff, rewards honesty, increases market demand for pure substances.

Any thoughts?

[Rawhide Kobayashi]

A lot of these things seem stupid/impractical. If I get pinched with a pound of pure coke I get 1 year in the can, but if I add a pound of powdered sugar to my pound of coke I get a full decade, how is that just?

[Lime]

Combine with free drug checking and I can see that work somehow. Drugs need to be pure. If you cut drugs, that is on you.