Honored to be included in this all star lineup of interviewees for the upcoming FREE virtual Harm Reduction Summit Oct 5th to 8th. Learn more and register here: wisepartners.therapywisdom.com/r/sheila-vak...

The audiobook for my book, The Harm Reduction Gap, is on super-sale at 60% off! Get it now! www.audiobooks.com/promotions/p...

60% OFF The Harm Reduction Gap: Helping Individuals Left Behind by Conventional Drug Prevention and Abstinence-only Addiction Treatment

This book teaches how harm reduction can be a safety net for people with substance use disorders that our current addiction treatment rejects, abandons, and leaves behind. Harm reduction is an appr...

audiobooks.com

Thrilled to share that my co-authored Commentary in the International Journal of Drug Policy about overdose death declines has been published. Download here www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

fraudulent addiction treatment will remain common until we actually have standards of care that don't allow billing for "faith based" approaches led by poorly trained peers. www.propublica.org/article/kent... if you wouldn't pay for it for depression or cancer, you shouldn't pay for it for addiction

They Needed Treatment for Drug Addiction. The Company They Turned to May Have Used Them to Commit Fraud.

Kentucky’s largest drug rehab center touts a Christian message and a selfless commitment to helping others. But internally, the organization prioritized money over the well-being of its clients and st...

propublica.org

70% of all people in jails are legally innocent. Many of them are held behind bars simply because they cannot afford bail. Money bail perpetuates an endless cycle of poverty and jail time.

“What you see already is the immediate and extremely dangerous policy of bombing regions without even showing any pretense of evidence that you’re actually hurting the drug trade” www.salon.com/2026/03/31/t...

Trump and Latin allies push rebrand of failed War on Drugs - Salon.com

Using old, failed tactics, Trump puts U.S. influence over legitimate solutions

salon.com

A single day in jail can derail someone's life – imagine the horrific consequences of multiple bookings in a single year. As we enter 2026, it's time for the U.S. to embrace housing-first solutions, not increased policing & criminalization.

1. It was not an accident. 2. It was not a staffer. 3. While the president may have dementia his racism is not due to dementia. 4. He isn’t sorry. He means every racist thought he shares. 5. His base agrees with him. 6. He will do it again. 7. No one in power will hold him accountable.

Devastating. Infuriating. Murderous. These cruel funding cuts will destroy grassroots and treatment programs that are providing vital life-saving services to people who use drugs and those with addictions. www.npr.org/2026/01/14/n...

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. The cuts could total as much as $2 billion.

npr.org

Really excited for this new Congressional briefing series hosted by the Addiction Science Defense Network- Register to join their first session on January 13th 2:30-4pm EDT and share with your member of Congress so we can preserve federal funding! www.npscoalition.org/congressiona...

Protecting Federal Leadership in Addiction Science and Public Health

The Assiction Science Defense Netowrk (ASDN) is hosting a six-part congressional briefing series on the urgent need for sustained federal support for addiction research, prevention, treatment, and rec...

npscoalition.org

"The expansion of coca cultivation is a direct driver of deforestation in the Andean valleys and the Colombian Amazon." - Learn more about how illegal coca cultivation and the drug war are driving climate and environmental disaster www.reformrestorerecover.org/evidence

“The media oftentimes relinquishes its role in public education and public awareness, instead fanning the flames of fear and hysteria that can lead to support for harsher penalties and more stigmatization,” says @myharmreduction.bsky.social. objectivejournalism.org/2025/11/balt...

Baltimore media outlets may be exacerbating overdose crisis

Experts say coverage in Baltimore has spread misinformation and steered a city struggling with the overdose crisis toward police crackdowns.

objectivejournalism.org

The HUGEST congratulations to my friend, colleague, hero @nabarund.bsky.social for being awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for his incredible harm reduction work and research. #MacFellow www.macfound.org/fellows/clas...

Nabarun Dasgupta

Combining scientific studies with community engagement to reduce deaths and other harms from drug use.

macfound.org

Hey Detroit! I will be doing a book talk on Tuesday, October 14th, alongside Kassandra Frederique and Valerie Kelley-Bonner. The event is 3-6 pm, and it is FREE. Simply register using the QR code on the flyer. Help spread the word!

SAVE THE DATE: Sept 25th 4:30-6pm EST Join us for our September Drug Researchers' Roundtable with Drs. Cerda and Allen where they will discuss research on NYC's Overdose Prevention Centers and their impact on neighborhood conditions. Register: bit.ly/Sep2025Roundtable

“They say they want to protect Americans from drugs, but their policies don’t match these words,” says Hanna Sharif-Kazemi as the administration talks up more drug-war strikes. A new tracker helps quantify the damage to people who use drugs of domestic cuts, reports @tganeva.bsky.social:

Trump’s Deadly Drug War Is Also Waged Through Funding Cuts

While waging war in the Caribbean to "protect Americans," the administration is slashing lifesaving care for PWUD, as a new tracker details.

filtermag.org

"Our existing system subjects hundreds of thousands of legally innocent people per year to the horrors of incarceration" @bailproject.org on the importance (and effectiveness!) of ending cash bail for @nytopinion.nytimes.com👇

Opinion | One Concrete Way to Make the Justice System Fairer

nytimes.com

SAVE THE DATE: Sept 25th 4:30-6pm EST Join us for our September Drug Researchers' Roundtable with Drs. Cerda and Allen where they will discuss research on NYC's Overdose Prevention Centers and their impact on neighborhood conditions. Register: bit.ly/Sep2025Roundtable

New episode with @myharmreduction.bsky.social all about the victims of bad drug policy we don't hear about and how to face the attacks on harm reduction. Find it on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, etc. open.spotify.com/episode/2Lzx...

🚨🗞️ JOURNALISTS: As the criminalization of homelessness runs rampant in DC & across the country, it's more important than ever to rely on data to get the story right. Here are some useful resources that can help you to fight through misinformation 🧵

DC will be the testing ground. Next up could be your city. Where do they go? No one knows. The point is to disappear people without addressing the root causes- most notably, our housing affordability crisis.

Brittany Page@brittanyepage.bsky.social · last yr.

Donald Trump calls for “getting rid of people” experiencing homelessness in DC. With more Americans struggling to pay rent and remain housed, and homelessness surging, this disgusting person is only concerned with removing visible poverty from the streets and abusing those who need our help.

Hey fam, my new book, Read This When Things Fall Apart, comes out in three months. That means now is the critical window for preorders, which help get books on shelves, in libraries, and into the hands of the people who need them most. www.pilsencommunitybooks.com/item/vCQt68D...

What an insult to our harm reduction movement and elders who fought so hard for naloxone and fentanyl test strip access. Check out the atrocious language in the latest letter from SAMHSA claiming these tools are "not harm reduction." www.samhsa.gov/sites/defaul...

The wonderful @myharmreduction.bsky.social will be at Red Emma's next month to talk about her book, "The Harm Reduction Gap." It's an excellent read, and I highly recommend attending the event. Details: withfriends.co/event/264441...

8/27 - Sheila Vakharia presents "The Harm Reduction Gap" w/ the Maryland Alliance for Sensible Drug Policy by Red Emma's

Get tickets and support Red Emma's by becoming a member

withfriends.co

SAVE THE DATE: August 27th at 7pm Baltimore I'll be doing an in-person book talk and signing at Red Emma's. Register and bring a friend! I would love to see you there. redemmas.org/events/sheil...

Sheila Vakharia presents "The Harm Reduction Gap" w/ the Maryland Alliance for Sensible Drug Policy

This long-awaited book teaches how harm reduction can be a safety net for people with substance use disorders that our current addiction treatment rejects, abandons, and leaves behind.

redemmas.org

This administration has prioritized punishment, penalties, tariffs, and border enforcement in the name of our loved ones who died of overdose. All while gutting the very programs & strategies that are saving lives, and cutting the research for solutions. www.npr.org/2025/07/16/n...

Exclusive: Trump team withholds $140 million budgeted for fentanyl fight

Threats to $140 million in funds for public health departments battling fentanyl overdoses comes as some experts see the addiction safety net unraveling.

npr.org

"An increasingly hostile political and legal environment appears to be directly translating into greater police interference with health services," write Liam Michaud & co-authors of their new study, for which Ontario service users and providers were interviewed:

Police in Ontario Increasingly Obstruct Harm Reduction Service Delivery

Police surveillance and interference block life-saving care as the province becomes more hostile to harm reduction, our study shows.

filtermag.org

Appreciate this NYT coverage about Contingency Management, one of the most studied approaches to treating addiction- and one of our strongest tools to help people with stimulant use disorders. Rewards, not punishment! www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/h...

Upended by Meth, Some Communities Are Paying Users to Quit

nytimes.com

People always ask me, "Sheila, but what about the kids?" Now I can refer them to this great textbook. Preorder your copy today! It's by Amanda Reiman and Barry Lessin - "Harm Reduction Approaches with Adolescents who use Substances." www.amazon.com/Harm-Reducti...

Harm Reduction Approaches with Adolescents Who Use Substances

Amazon.com: Harm Reduction Approaches with Adolescents Who Use Substances: 9781032940847: Reiman, Amanda, Lessin, Barry: Books

amazon.com

Seeing some posts referring to Kilmar Abrego Garcia as being "kept safe" in jail. No one is safe in jail, fam. Incarceration strips years off people's lives and manufactures premature death. It's very important to understand this, especially now.