The pervasiveness of opioids across the Bay Area
By Riya Upadhyaya “It amazes me still that people aren’t aware how prevalent this is…my son Corey, he tells me he sees younger and younger-aged kids coming into San Francisco on BART, buying drugs and heading back to the suburbs with them,” said Jacqui Berlinn, a Livermore resident and co-founder of Mothers Against Drug Addiction…
The unequal impact of the opioid crisis in Alameda County
By Kaavya Ravi Shankar Losing a loved one because help was too difficult to reach may seem like a nightmare, but for many families in Alameda County this has become their reality with the opioid crisis. According to data from Alameda County Behavioral Health, Black residents in Alameda County experienced some of the highest opioid…
The good and bad of opioids
By Layla Martinez In the past few years, opioids have become known for their negative effects on society, but there are positive effects. Opioids are responsible for helping numerous people everyday recover from a variety of health issues, ranging from severe things, such as late stage cancer to pain relief after surgery. While they often…
Does more authority lead to more or less chaos?
By Sidhanth Srikanta The biggest question for authority and power is when is too much? Is it too much to have a cop strolling your street once or twice a week? Or is it too much when cameras are always watching you? While authority is the backbone of society, people argue that too much control…
How redlining and structural racism has shaped drug use
By Rowena Boulton Overdoses from opioids have become concentrated in low-income and marginalized communities, where drug use is criminalized and access to treatment is limited. Across America and throughout Alameda County, the structurally racist system of redlining perpetuates a cycle of opioid use that is hard to escape. Redlining, a discriminatory practice in which banks…
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