VIDEO: Sam Snodgrass, PhD, “The Struggle for Survival: Opioids, Addiction, and the Brain”
Watch the keynote talk at Harm Reduction Ohio’s annual conference. This talk has helped many parents finally understand what was happening with their children who became addicted to heroin.
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HRO syringe program advocacy director Billy McCall sentenced to prison for addiction to heroin
Court imposes "consequences" for relapse after longest period of sobriety in his adult life Billy McCall, our beloved syringe program advocacy director, was in court in Newark, Ohio, this morning for having a "dirty" urine test last month. Billy, one of the smartest...
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Ohio overdose death toll falls to 3,761 in 2018
Overdose deaths fall about 22.5% from 2017 How many Ohioans died of drug overdoses in 2018? We get asked that question almost every day. The answer is about 3,761, down from 4,854 in 2017. That's a 22.5% decline. The age-adjusted death per per 100,000 residents was...
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NEWS ALERT: Carfentanil returns to Ohio — take precautions!
Dangerous drug concentrated in northeast Ohio (Akron-Youngstown) People who use cocaine, meth and pills need to treat them like an opioid Harm Reduction Ohio issued an immediate alert today warning people who use drugs to exercise extreme caution because ultra-potent...
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Ohio’s 2018 overdose deaths detailed: Who died where.
Scioto County has No. 1 overdose death rate Montgomery County falls to No. 7 Overdose deaths in Ohio fell to 3,758 in 2018, a drop of 22.6% from the state's record high of 4,854 in 2017, a Harm Reduction Ohio analysis of state mortality data found. Sixty-one Ohio...
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Survey: How is medical marijuana working in Ohio?
Please take this consumer survey on Ohio’s medical marijuana program. Harm Reduction Ohio is conducting a survey on how Ohio’s new medical marijuana system is functioning from the consumer/patient perspective. Ohio residents who use (or want to use) marijuana for medical reasons are asked to take this confidential survey.
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An HRO intern walks into a bank…and finds legal marijuana.
What is the legal marijuana system like in Canada? Harm Reduction Ohio intern Christien Kelly accidentally found out. Kelly is a Toronto native and student at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. Read his report.
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The problem with marijuana in Ohio
Ohio’s heavily regulated and overly cumbersome medical marijuana regulatory system is ill-suited for legal marijuana (not to mention medical marijuana!). Here’s an explanation of why.
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Carfentanil unexpectedly returns to Ohio drug supply; overdose deaths surge
Carfentanil is back in Ohio and killing significant numbers of Ohioans again. The ultra-potent fentanyl analog was found in nearly 10% of illegal drugs in April, explaining the surge in overdose deaths in the last six months. Drug checking is needed immediately.
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How much fentanyl will kill you?
A lot less than you think.
Be careful. Be very, very careful.
Art by Hannah Weatherington
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Dennis Cauchon
President, Harm Reduction Ohio
Dennis is the founder of Harm Reduction Ohio. He created the 501(c)3 non-profit organization to advocate for drug policies that reduce overdose death, imprisonment and other drug war harms.
He is a former national reporter at USA TODAY and Knight Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan Medical School. During his 35-year journalism career, he won various awards, including the Champion of Justice award and H.L. Mencken Award for Investigative Journalism for work on the drug war.
“I believe all people, including drug users, should be treated peacefully and with respect,” he says.
Dennis is the father of two boys and lives in Granville, Ohio.