No candidates have launched an eleventh-hour bid to oust State's Attorney Ivan Bates — an illustration of both shameful cowardice and blind loyalty to the carceral state. Read the latest Redux Newsletter 🔽 mobtownredux.news/why-are-we-l...

Why are we letting the drug warriors win?

State's Attorney Ivan Bates will run unchallenged in the primary election this year, paving the way for another four years of drug-war prosecutorial policy. Why isn't the left doing anything about it?

mobtownredux.news

Keep in mind, this is $2 million of nearly $37 million in restitution funds allocated in the latest budget. These organizations are solid picks, but the fact that these are the only dollars the restitution board had a say in illustrates a massive power imbalance.

Read it in Scalawag ⬇️ scalawagmagazine.org/2026/02/dead...

Logan Hullinger@loganhullinger.bsky.social · 7mo ago

As the Baltimore Police Department cracks down harder on those who use drugs, the supply that they claim to be targeting has become increasingly unpredictable and deadly. Read the latest Redux Newsletter. 🔽 mobtownredux.news/deadly-adult...

As the Baltimore Police Department cracks down harder on those who use drugs, the supply that they claim to be targeting has become increasingly unpredictable and deadly. Read the latest Redux Newsletter. 🔽 mobtownredux.news/deadly-adult...

Deadly adulterants have proliferated as drug-war policing escalates in Baltimore

Baltimore has seen low-level drug arrests surge in the past year. Meanwhile, the city's drug supply has been inundated with adulterants. The two phenomena are inextricably linked.

mobtownredux.news

ICYMI: Harm reduction advocates are fighting to repeal laws criminalizing paraphernalia this legislative session, continuing a years-long effort to protect access to syringes and other items.

Logan Hullinger@loganhullinger.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Harm reduction advocates are fighting to repeal laws criminalizing paraphernalia this legislative session, which would dismantle a critical component of the War on Drugs in Maryland. Read the latest Redux Newsletter. 🔽 mobtownredux.news/baltimore-ha...

Read it in Scalawag ⬇️ scalawagmagazine.org/2026/02/balt...

Logan Hullinger@loganhullinger.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Harm reduction advocates are fighting to repeal laws criminalizing paraphernalia this legislative session, which would dismantle a critical component of the War on Drugs in Maryland. Read the latest Redux Newsletter. 🔽 mobtownredux.news/baltimore-ha...

Harm reduction advocates are fighting to repeal laws criminalizing paraphernalia this legislative session, which would dismantle a critical component of the War on Drugs in Maryland. Read the latest Redux Newsletter. 🔽 mobtownredux.news/baltimore-ha...

Baltimore harm reductionists rally in Annapolis to target paraphernalia criminalization

Harm reduction advocates are fighting to repeal laws criminalizing paraphernalia this legislative session, continuing a years-long effort to protect access to syringes and other items. If successful, ...

mobtownredux.news

"Accessing safer supply supported their adherence to HIV medications," said Andrew Ivsins, a researcher with the BC Centre on Substance Use. "It’s a really important relationship."

In British Columbia, Drug Policy Rollbacks Are Limiting HIV Care - Filter

Harley Ransom began practicing harm reduction in southeastern Ontario in the late 1980s, when he was 6 years old. His ...

filtermag.org

A journey through grief: HH Hiaasen asks how Baltimoreans would complete the day of loved ones lost to gun violence baltimorebeat.com/a-journey-th...

A journey through grief: HH Hiaasen asks how Baltimoreans would complete the day of loved ones lost to gun violence

On June 28, 2018, Rob Hiaasen was supposed to get his hair cut. But the 59-year-old editor and columnist at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis didn’t go — and now his family imagines what his day would…

baltimorebeat.com

Read it in Scalawag ⬇️ scalawagmagazine.org/2026/02/balt...

Logan Hullinger@loganhullinger.bsky.social · 8mo ago

As the prospects of drug user liberation in Baltimore remain grim, the drug war continues to rage on. And that death campaign is the reason the city's new mass overdose protocol must exist in the first place. Read the latest Redux Newsletter. 🔽 mobtownredux.news/baltimores-m...

As the prospects of drug user liberation in Baltimore remain grim, the drug war continues to rage on. And that death campaign is the reason the city's new mass overdose protocol must exist in the first place. Read the latest Redux Newsletter. 🔽 mobtownredux.news/baltimores-m...

Baltimore's flawed mass OD protocol is a consequence of its failure to end the drug war

Baltimore officials took to Annapolis last week to detail their new mass overdose protocol. As police crack down harder on drug users and those who sell them, the plan is a band-aid that won't redress...

mobtownredux.news

North Carolina welcomed me with rain (and hope).

We are taking our documentary, "The Beat Goes On: The Story of Baltimore Beat," on tour. baltimorebeat.com/baltimore-be...

Baltimore Beat Documentary Tour 2026

Now more than ever, it’s important for everyone to know what journalism is and how it should serve communities.  You may have noticed in recent years that the wealthy and powerful have increased…

baltimorebeat.com

Read it on Scalawag's website: scalawagmagazine.org/2026/02/a-fr...

A frigid Baltimore storm highlights the cold shoulder from those in power – Scalawag

Since 2015, the state has recorded nearly 900 deaths among those experiencing homelessness in Baltimore, 47 of whom died from hypothermia.

scalawagmagazine.org

Logan Hullinger@loganhullinger.bsky.social · 8mo ago

For the first Redux Newsletter in collaboration with Scalawag Magazine, I look at how a frigid Baltimore storm highlighted the city's failure to protect our most vulnerable neighbors. Read the latest newsletter. 🔽 mobtownredux.news/a-bone-chill...

For the first Redux Newsletter in collaboration with Scalawag Magazine, I look at how a frigid Baltimore storm highlighted the city's failure to protect our most vulnerable neighbors. Read the latest newsletter. 🔽 mobtownredux.news/a-bone-chill...

A frigid Baltimore storm highlights the cold shoulder those in power have given to vulnerable residents

A winter storm and sub-zero windchills recently ravaged a city that already struggles to keep drug users and unhoused residents alive. Like elsewhere in the nation, this weather is a death sentence fo...

mobtownredux.news

Congratulations to The Baltimore Sun on its early entry into the "Dumbest Fucking Headline of 2026" competition. I'm sure there will be many more submissions to come from the all-star David Smith squad.

Reminder: The Redux Newsletter will now be published on Tuesdays as part of a new partnership with Scalawag Magazine. Experts tell me that the new and improved newsletter is best enjoyed while ON THE CLOCK at work, preferably with a fizzy, cold beverage in hand. See you on Tuesday.

“Did you do anything to refresh your memory in order to testify meaningfully today?” asked the judge. At a hearing re DULF's constitutional challenge, a senior Health Canada official struggled to reconcile government claims with past statements on safe supply, reports @godfrey.bsky.social:

DULF Challenge: Health Canada Official Flounders on the Stand - Filter

A senior Canadian bureaucrat struggled on the witness stand to reconcile past statements by the federal government with its claim ...

filtermag.org

Got referred to ketamine treatment today. I'm not getting my hopes up, but just a *litttttle* bit of ketamine may be just what I need to turn my life around.

The statements we're seeing from local electeds in Baltimore denouncing ICE seem incredibly vacuous, given how they've repeatedly signed blank checks for the fascist BPD. If they'd take just a moment to do some self-reflection, maybe they'd see the absurdity of it all.

As some UK politicians seek to end the drug war, it's easy to forget how heroin prescribing existed there for much of the 20th century. It "just works," says Dr. John Marks—who was "vilified" as political pressure shut down his successful clinics in 1995. @sarahlsinclair.bsky.social reports:

The Merseyside Experiment: Will UK Recall Its Heroin-Prescribing History? - Filter

“The war on drugs has failed,” Zack Polanski told reporters in October 2025. The new leader of the Green Party ...

filtermag.org

There were 568 overdose deaths in Baltimore in 2025, marking a historic 27% decrease from the year prior, according to preliminary data. Check out Mobtown Redux's Overdose Data Dashboard to learn more about the latest local and national OD trends. ⬇️ mobtownredux.news/overdosedata...

Data dashboard: Overdoses in Baltimore and beyond

Mobtown Redux advocates for the rights of drug users through independent journalism on addiction, drug policy and the harm reduction movement in Baltimore.

mobtownredux.news

Update: The ACCESS grant request for applications has been extended to January 28. This comes a week after sources told @filtermag.bsky.social that the initial deadline, which gave little time for organizations to adjust their language to align with new state guidance, was "absurd."

Filter | harm reduction journalism@filtermag.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Maryland health dept. has cut all mention of “harm reduction” from its flagship program funding orgs that care for PWUD. It's "taking [federal guidance] to an extreme,” one expert tells @loganhullinger.bsky.social . “I think these are unspoken messages about leadership’s opinion.”

For several years the rising number of overdose deaths was accompanied by a "parallel" increase in proportion of fentanyl in law enforcement seizures. The same does not appear to be true when deaths are trending downward.

Fentanyl's Prevalence in Drug Seizures Not Linked to Drop in OD Deaths, Research Suggests - Filter

As theories continue to emerge for the dramatic turnaround in overdose deaths, a new study indicates that it’s largely unrelated ...

filtermag.org

ICYMI: The harm reduction movement was founded upon boots-on-the-ground organizing, and it must remain organized to serve drug users during these difficult times. The latest Redux Newsletter: mobtownredux.news/hysteria-and...

Logan Hullinger@loganhullinger.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Hysteria and harm reduction: This week's maelstrom was part of a strategic assault on drug users and their right to life — one that is predicated on confusion, disinvestment, destruction or all of the above. Read the latest Redux Newsletter. 🔽 mobtownredux.news/hysteria-and...

Hysteria and harm reduction: This week's maelstrom was part of a strategic assault on drug users and their right to life — one that is predicated on confusion, disinvestment, destruction or all of the above. Read the latest Redux Newsletter. 🔽 mobtownredux.news/hysteria-and...

Hysteria and harm reduction: What the hell is going on?

The harm reduction movement was founded upon boots-on-the-ground organizing, and it must remain organized to serve drug users during these difficult times.

mobtownredux.news

What the fuck is going on? rollcall.com/2026/01/14/h...

White House reverses $2 billion cut to mental health, addiction grants

Many of the affected grant programs had bipartisan support and President Donald Trump has supported them in the past.

rollcall.com

The Trump administration sent hundreds of letters Tuesday terminating federal grants supporting mental health and drug addiction services. n.pr/4qn9Iwz

Trump administration sends letter wiping out addiction, mental health grants

The Trump administration sent hundreds of letters Tuesday terminating federal grants supporting mental health and drug addiction services.

n.pr

The ACCESS program has been responsible for allocating millions to local harm reduction organizations annually. There are fears that there will be a significant decline in grant funding for the upcoming fiscal year. Read my latest for @filtermag.bsky.social 🔽 filtermag.org/maryland-scr...

Maryland Scrubs the Term "Harm Reduction" From Key Grant Program - Filter

The Maryland Department of Health has scrubbed any mention of “harm reduction” from the state’s leading grant program for organizations ...

filtermag.org

Filter | harm reduction journalism@filtermag.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Maryland health dept. has cut all mention of “harm reduction” from its flagship program funding orgs that care for PWUD. It's "taking [federal guidance] to an extreme,” one expert tells @loganhullinger.bsky.social . “I think these are unspoken messages about leadership’s opinion.”

ICYMI: The problem lies not in the numbers proposed in the strategic plan but in the individuals who have the power to implement policies to achieve a sustained reduction in overdose deaths. The latest Redux Newsletter: mobtownredux.news/baltimore-ci...

Logan Hullinger@loganhullinger.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Council members' comments came with a hefty dose of irony. They've largely refrained from pushing for drug policy reform, but they seemingly took no issue with cutting the health department's budget last year. Read the latest Redux Newsletter. 🔽 mobtownredux.news/baltimore-ci...