EXTRA: The Opioid Tragedy — How We Got Here

An update of our 2020 series, in which we spoke with physicians, researchers, and addicts about the root causes of the crisis — and the tension between abstinence and harm reduction. SOURCES: Gail D’Onofrio , professor and chair of emergency medicine at the Yale School of Medicine and chief of emergency services at Yale-New Haven Health. Keith Humphreys , professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University. Stephen Loyd , chief medical officer of Cedar Recovery and chair of the Tennessee Opioid Abatement Council. Nicole O’Donnell , certified recovery specialist at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Addiction Medicine and Policy. Jeanmarie Perrone , professor of emergency medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Eileen Richardson, restaurant manager. RESOURCES: “ Toward Healthy Drug Policy in the United States — The Case of Safehouse ,” by Evan D. Anderson, Leo Beletsky, Scott Burris, and Corey S. Davis ( The New England Journal of Medicine , 2020). “ Buprenorphine Deregulation and Mainstreaming Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder ,” by Leo Beletsky, Kevin Fiscella, and Sarah E. Wakeman ( JAMA Psychiatry , 2018). “ Emergency Department–Initiated Buprenor…