Alex Collins
@alex-b-collins.bsky.social
Medical social scientist studying drug use, overdose, and housing | Assistant Professor in Community Health at Tufts University | lover of trails & basketball | she/her
Reposted by Alex Collins
Trump says he cares about fentanyl overdoses. But he’s slashed funding for overdose prevention and is now targeting Medicaid—the biggest payer of addiction treatment—next. These cuts will take away lifesaving treatment during an overdose crisis. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
If Trump cares so much about fentanyl, why is he cutting addiction treatment funding?
Punishing China and Mexico via tariffs won't solve the country's drug problems.
www.motherjones.com
April 14, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Trump says he cares about fentanyl overdoses. But he’s slashed funding for overdose prevention and is now targeting Medicaid—the biggest payer of addiction treatment—next. These cuts will take away lifesaving treatment during an overdose crisis. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Alex Collins
This is horrible news for science and society.
The entire National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) team at SAMHSA was terminated today.
Do not listen to the platitudes of this administration when they say they care about drug overdose, addiction, mental health, or suicide.
Do not listen to the platitudes of this administration when they say they care about drug overdose, addiction, mental health, or suicide.
April 1, 2025 at 4:07 PM
This is horrible news for science and society.
Reposted by Alex Collins
Western Mass; Massachusetts needs Overdose Prevention Centers (OPC) NOW! OPCs save lives, reduce injection related infections and increase participation in treatment. Join with others to make them available. #savelivesnow #sayYES2OPC #ma4opc
March 25, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Western Mass; Massachusetts needs Overdose Prevention Centers (OPC) NOW! OPCs save lives, reduce injection related infections and increase participation in treatment. Join with others to make them available. #savelivesnow #sayYES2OPC #ma4opc
Reposted by Alex Collins
Thanks to Abdullah Shihipar and Dr. Brandon Marshall at Brown University's People, Place & Health Collective. They explain how recent cuts to SAMHSA, CDC, Medicaid, and other programs will impact health and the overdose crisis.
newrepublic.com/article/1930...
newrepublic.com/article/1930...
Gutting the Government Could Reignite the Drug Overdose Epidemic
A small federal agency tasked with mitigating the impact of addiction is facing deep cuts on multiple fronts, threatening to roll back years of lifesaving work.
newrepublic.com
March 27, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Thanks to Abdullah Shihipar and Dr. Brandon Marshall at Brown University's People, Place & Health Collective. They explain how recent cuts to SAMHSA, CDC, Medicaid, and other programs will impact health and the overdose crisis.
newrepublic.com/article/1930...
newrepublic.com/article/1930...
Reposted by Alex Collins
Telling researchers to keep doing the work & adapt while weathering the storm ain't gonna cut it. American higher education simply cannot survive this systematic dismantling and attack. There's no weathering a category 5 hurricane. Many will simply leave if this continues
www.wsj.com/health/healt...
www.wsj.com/health/healt...
Johns Hopkins Plans Staff Layoffs After $800 Million Grant Cuts
Local and international health research efforts are already winding down as the university braces for even more potential cuts.
www.wsj.com
March 12, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Telling researchers to keep doing the work & adapt while weathering the storm ain't gonna cut it. American higher education simply cannot survive this systematic dismantling and attack. There's no weathering a category 5 hurricane. Many will simply leave if this continues
www.wsj.com/health/healt...
www.wsj.com/health/healt...
Reposted by Alex Collins
Welcome to commissar science where a crew of ideologues strictly hewing to the party line will tell us what science is acceptable. Centralizing peer review, moving it away from institutes, moving it away from specific expertise, isn't good. Read @carlbergstrom.com on this. bsky.app/profile/carl...
NIH just posted this news announcement.
"Today the National Institutes of Health is announcing plans to centralize peer review of all applications for grants, cooperative agreements and research and development contracts within the agency’s Center for Scientific Review (CSR)"
"Today the National Institutes of Health is announcing plans to centralize peer review of all applications for grants, cooperative agreements and research and development contracts within the agency’s Center for Scientific Review (CSR)"
NIH centralizes peer review to improve efficiency and strengthen integrity
The proposed approach is expected to save more than $65 million annually.
www.nih.gov
March 7, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Welcome to commissar science where a crew of ideologues strictly hewing to the party line will tell us what science is acceptable. Centralizing peer review, moving it away from institutes, moving it away from specific expertise, isn't good. Read @carlbergstrom.com on this. bsky.app/profile/carl...
Reposted by Alex Collins
Are you an undergraduate or graduate student interested in a paid summer internship with @drugpolicy.org's Department of Research and Academic Engagement to help bridge the research-policy divide? Apply now! drugpolicy.bamboohr.com/careers/157
Summer Internship - Research & Academic Engagement
Who We Are:
The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) addresses the harms of drug use and drug criminalization through policy solutions, organizing, and public education. We advocate for a holistic approach to...
drugpolicy.bamboohr.com
March 5, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Are you an undergraduate or graduate student interested in a paid summer internship with @drugpolicy.org's Department of Research and Academic Engagement to help bridge the research-policy divide? Apply now! drugpolicy.bamboohr.com/careers/157
Reposted by Alex Collins
ATTENTION: ALL JOURNAL EDITORS.
Have the courage that Jocalyn Clark and Kamran Abbasi at the BMJ have displayed here.
Call all this out for what it is. And then refuse to comply.
www.bmj.com/content/388/...
Have the courage that Jocalyn Clark and Kamran Abbasi at the BMJ have displayed here.
Call all this out for what it is. And then refuse to comply.
www.bmj.com/content/388/...
Medical journal editors must resist CDC order and anti-gender ideology
The news that on 31 January 2025 the Trump administration instructed scientists employed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to withdraw or retract articles from medical and sci...
www.bmj.com
February 6, 2025 at 12:31 PM
ATTENTION: ALL JOURNAL EDITORS.
Have the courage that Jocalyn Clark and Kamran Abbasi at the BMJ have displayed here.
Call all this out for what it is. And then refuse to comply.
www.bmj.com/content/388/...
Have the courage that Jocalyn Clark and Kamran Abbasi at the BMJ have displayed here.
Call all this out for what it is. And then refuse to comply.
www.bmj.com/content/388/...
Reposted by Alex Collins
Call for abstracts - #ISSDP2025💥
The 18th International Society for Study of Drug Policy Conference will be held in #Manchester, UK from June 11-13, 2025 with a focus on #DrugPolicy & #SocialJustice.
Submit your abstract today!
⏰ Due: Jan 31 2025 pretalx.com/internationa...
The 18th International Society for Study of Drug Policy Conference will be held in #Manchester, UK from June 11-13, 2025 with a focus on #DrugPolicy & #SocialJustice.
Submit your abstract today!
⏰ Due: Jan 31 2025 pretalx.com/internationa...
January 22, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Call for abstracts - #ISSDP2025💥
The 18th International Society for Study of Drug Policy Conference will be held in #Manchester, UK from June 11-13, 2025 with a focus on #DrugPolicy & #SocialJustice.
Submit your abstract today!
⏰ Due: Jan 31 2025 pretalx.com/internationa...
The 18th International Society for Study of Drug Policy Conference will be held in #Manchester, UK from June 11-13, 2025 with a focus on #DrugPolicy & #SocialJustice.
Submit your abstract today!
⏰ Due: Jan 31 2025 pretalx.com/internationa...
Reposted by Alex Collins
While overdose deaths are dropping overall, some communities of color are seeing overdose deaths increase. Targeted law enforcement, stigma, lack of access to resources like harm reduction and medication are all factors that play a role.
January 16, 2025 at 9:03 PM
While overdose deaths are dropping overall, some communities of color are seeing overdose deaths increase. Targeted law enforcement, stigma, lack of access to resources like harm reduction and medication are all factors that play a role.
Reposted by Alex Collins
After months of negotiations around overdose prevention centers, Massachusetts lawmakers have presented a substance use disorder bill that doesn't mention these lifesaving facilities, reports Alexander Lekhtman:
Lawmakers Omit Overdose Prevention Centers From MA Bill
Massachusetts lawmakers have dropped plans to authorize overdose prevention centers. Despite support from the state’s Senate, health department and voters, ...
filtermag.org
December 19, 2024 at 3:37 PM
After months of negotiations around overdose prevention centers, Massachusetts lawmakers have presented a substance use disorder bill that doesn't mention these lifesaving facilities, reports Alexander Lekhtman:
Reposted by Alex Collins
Ontario’s Unconscionable Supervised Consumption Sites Shutdown filtermag.org/ontarios-unc...
Ontario’s Unconscionable Supervised Consumption Sites Shutdown
On December 2, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, passed a law that will shut down 10 supervised drug consumption ...
filtermag.org
December 14, 2024 at 12:01 AM
Ontario’s Unconscionable Supervised Consumption Sites Shutdown filtermag.org/ontarios-unc...
Reposted by Alex Collins
This week's opening of an overdose prevention center in Providence, Rhode Island—the first to be authorized by a state government—is a milestone, writes Alexander Lekhtman.
Yet a long list of countries began rolling out OPC years or even decades ago:
Yet a long list of countries began rolling out OPC years or even decades ago:
As OPC Opens in Rhode Island, the US Still Lags Far Behind
Rhode Island has made history by opening the United States’ first overdose prevention center (OPC) that’s sanctioned by a state ...
filtermag.org
December 12, 2024 at 5:08 PM
This week's opening of an overdose prevention center in Providence, Rhode Island—the first to be authorized by a state government—is a milestone, writes Alexander Lekhtman.
Yet a long list of countries began rolling out OPC years or even decades ago:
Yet a long list of countries began rolling out OPC years or even decades ago:
Reposted by Alex Collins
A Rhode Island nonprofit will hold a ribbon-cutting for its supervised consumption site next week, marking the first time the controversial harm-reduction service has been offered (officially, anyway) outside New York City
www.statnews.com/2024/12/06/o...
www.statnews.com/2024/12/06/o...
Rhode Island set to open first supervised consumption site for illicit drugs outside NYC
A Rhode Island nonprofit is set to open a government-sanctioned site for illicit drug use this week, making it just the second organization in the U.S. to
www.statnews.com
December 6, 2024 at 6:19 PM
A Rhode Island nonprofit will hold a ribbon-cutting for its supervised consumption site next week, marking the first time the controversial harm-reduction service has been offered (officially, anyway) outside New York City
www.statnews.com/2024/12/06/o...
www.statnews.com/2024/12/06/o...
Reposted by Alex Collins
more harm, less harm reduction: why the fall in overdose deaths is not being seen in Black, Brown and American Indian communities, my latest www.nytimes.com/2024/12/02/o... special thanks to @rnbluthenthal.bsky.social @nabarund.bsky.social & Jon Zibbell & Dan Ciccarone
Opinion | Why Drug Overdose Deaths Are Dropping for Some, Rising for Others
Drug overdose deaths are finally declining. But it’s going to take work to keep this trend going.
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2024 at 2:46 PM
more harm, less harm reduction: why the fall in overdose deaths is not being seen in Black, Brown and American Indian communities, my latest www.nytimes.com/2024/12/02/o... special thanks to @rnbluthenthal.bsky.social @nabarund.bsky.social & Jon Zibbell & Dan Ciccarone
Reposted by Alex Collins
A recently published study on Int J on Drug Policy from Sweden is a case-study of the faults of drug criminalisation. This is particularly damning for a country that has one of the highest rates of drug-related deaths.
Let's dig in 🔎
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Let's dig in 🔎
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
“It should be hard to be a drug abuser” An evaluation of the criminalization of drug use in Sweden
Drug use was criminalized in Sweden in 1988 with aim of reducing the number of consumers and drug-related risks and harms. Imprisonment was introduced…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 28, 2024 at 11:24 AM
A recently published study on Int J on Drug Policy from Sweden is a case-study of the faults of drug criminalisation. This is particularly damning for a country that has one of the highest rates of drug-related deaths.
Let's dig in 🔎
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Let's dig in 🔎
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...