Alberta in particular continues to ride the “War on Drugs” policy train from the 1980s. In fact, in many ways the current UCP government has doubled down on it with an approach that basically says “recovery is the only option for addicts” – to the point of actually talking openly
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Accidental Deliberations: On harm exacerbation
Ryan Meili offers an important values-based critique of the Sask Party’s “do more harm” policy on addictions treatment. But it’s worth taking a closer look at who stands to benefit from the pursuit of harm maximization and treatment-for-profit. A single private business, ROSC Solutions Group, has been trotted out by
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Nathalie Grandvaux writes about the causes and impacts of a triple epidemic of respiratory viruses. And Erin Goerlich et al. study the cardiovascular effects of COVID-19, while Beth Mole reports on research showing that COVID vaccinations help protect against strokes and heart attacks
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Ajit Niranjan reports on the Copernicus Climate Change Service’s findings that 2023 is on pace to be the hottest year on record, with October’s temperatures at 1.7 degrees above the pre-industrial level. – Damian Carrington highlights a UN report warning of the destructive insistence of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – William Ripple et al. offer a new and alarming state of the climate report. And Damian Carrington delves into their findings as to the precarious state of the Earth’s living environment, while Becky Ferreira highlights their warning of societal collapse within the next century
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Jamey Keaten and Seth Borenstein report on the World Meteorological Association’s finding that we’ve just had the hottest summer in recorded history. And Chelsey Harvey highlights how the combination of extreme heat and other climate calamities looks to be a harbinger of worse
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Beth Mole writes about the work being done to better define, diagnose and treat long COVID – even as different symptoms appear to be the result of different factors arising out of COVID-19 infection. And Markus Eyting et al. study the connection between infectious
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – The Canadian Health Coalition weighs in on the recent study showing that privatized surgeries in Quebec cost more than twice what public procedures would. And Matt Bruenig discusses the U.S. Democrats’ development of a layer of bureaucracy for a child care subsidy program
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Stephanie Soucheray discusses new research linking COVID-19 to subsequent sleep disturbances and dyspnea. And Linda Geddes reports on findings showing that a growing number of cases of diabetes can also be traced to COVID. – John Bell and Alex MacKenzie argue that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Kenyon Wallace writes that the only reason we’re not observing large COVID waves is that we’ve been pushed to accept a perpetual high tide – with all the avoidable illness and death which comes with that. And Bill Hathaway discusses new research
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: On Drug Deaths, Harm Reduction and Addiction Treatment
Of late, CPC leader Pierre Poilievre has been making a lot of noise about drug addiction, deaths resulting from overdoses, and so on. So far, much of his rhetoric and “solutions” are basically boiling down to pushing people into treatment. Which misses the point entirely. One of many problems with
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Nicole Grether writes about the hundreds of thousands of young people orphaned by COVID-19 in the U.S. alone, while Kyodo News reports on research in Japan documenting how acute brain syndrome following infection can be fatal for children. Lisa Riley Roche tells the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Dyani Lewis writes that we know enough to ensure clean indoor air if we care enough to work on limiting the spread of COVID-19 and other viruses. – Jane Philpott and Danyaal Raza observe that the Libs are endangering both the short-term affordability of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Eric Anderson writes that capitalism has been developed to exploit psychological vulnerability for profit. And Ludvig Weir and Gabriel Zucman highlight how the corporate profits shifted between countries for the purpose of tax avoidance approached a trillion dollars in 2019 (and likely soared past
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Maura Hohman discusses how COVID-19 has been found to cause increased heart problems in young people (among other harm to health) – even as it’s being allowed to inflict that damage population-wide. And Lidia Morawska et al. examine how warnings about the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Richard Denniss calls out Australia’s government for its “nothing to see here” approach to an ongoing public health emergency. And Falko Tesch et al. study the connection between COVID-19 infection and subsequent autoimmune diseases, while Tim Requarth discusses the multiple effects COVID can have on
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and Jennifer Rigby report on the World Health Organization’s recognition that COVID-19 remains a global public health emergency even as far too many jurisdictions pretend otherwise. Andrew Nikiforuk examines the dangers of an evolving set of variants, while David Axe points
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Raywat Deondanan discusses some of the lessons which we should have taken from the COVID-19 pandemic (if it wasn’t being forcibly disappeared down a memory hole for all practical purposes). And Nicole Sarden and Bryan Yipp have found that the lasting effects of COVID
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Ed Browne examines the differences between the Kraken variant and the forms of COVID-19 which have come before. Char Leung, Li Su and Munehito Machida study how transmission different types of venues in Japan was reflected in further spread. And Benjamin Mateus
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Andrew Nikiforuk helpfully lists some of the most important facts which people need to keep in mind in evaluating COVID-19 risks (and which have been dangerously downplayed by governments). Julie Wernau and Jon Kamp report on the U.S.’ jarring drop in life
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