Author name: Daniel Patrick Garrett

I Quit Smoking by Vaping — But Now I’m Taking More Nicotine Than Ever Before

The story of how I got hooked on cigarettes is funny. Well, not “ha ha” funny, but strange — that’s for sure. It was February 2017. I was three months short of earning a bachelor’s degree — a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) in Accounting — and was gearing up to apply for […]

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Why Vaping, Chronic Pain Patient, and Harm Reduction Advocates Need to Join Hands

As of now, the phrase “harm reduction” is generally associated with illicit drugs — particularly “hard” drugs like opioids (e.g., heroin) or “radical,” “hardcore” things like injecting drugs.  Although not watering down our cause and staying true to long-term, often-problematic drug users like me is something virtually all harm reductionists share, with this idea, we’re

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Joining Forces Between Chronic Pain Patient and Drug User Advocates — a Worthwhile Endeavor

If you go to any chronic pain community on social media, Internet forums, or elsewhere, you’ll quickly find patients — who’re often under-treated, giving them good reason to be upset — who blame the drug-seeking habits of many thousands of opportunistic black market entrepreneurs and irreverent recreational drug users for causing modern American pain management

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We Gotta Start Associating Harm Reduction With Tobacco and Vaping More

The phrase “harm reduction” is most often associated with drugs and, to a much lesser extent, sex work — specifically, street prostitution and escorting as opposed to web-based, non-contact sex work — here in North America. So much of our struggle as harm reductionists comes from trying to get our fellow laypeople rolling with SS

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Let’s Start Using “PWLE” in Place of “People With Lived Experience”

We’re all familiar with “people who use drugs” (PWUD) — a person-first phrasing now-often used in place of once-more-common alternatives like “addicts,” “junkies,” and even “drug users.” I actually prefer “drug user” to PWUD, but that’s not important. In the world of harm reduction, we support things like drug-involved organizations hiring active and former drug

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An Easy Guide to Understanding Why Fentanyl Is So Deadly

Want to finally understand why you hear about fentanyl all the time? Maybe without reading a novel or some complicated journal article written by doctors or college professors? Look no further. What Is Fentanyl? Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid available via prescription and the black market that’s about 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine.

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Why We Need “The Big Book of Harm Reduction”

Since I first learned about and became interested in harm reduction — they virtually happened simultaneously some three years ago — I’ve long sought out a manual on building harm reduction (HR) infrastructure: Harm Reduction for Dummies, if you will. I still haven’t found it. Grassroots harm reductionists and fledgling HR-related organizations in places without

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Why Tennessee Lacks a Harm Reduction Infrastructure

Here in Tennessee, we ain’t got shit in the way of harm reduction. We’ve got six syringe services programs (SSP). And other than the often-exclusionary 12-step programs, the outdated rehabs, and the entirely-bullshit drug courts, probation, and parole programs, that’s about it. But why? Why is Tennessee — and much of the South, particularly the

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How Online Drug Reporting Yields Better Harm Reduction

When I used to regularly browse Reddit’s r/Opiates subreddit, I’d sometimes see posts titled “Fentanyl Warning: (City, State).” Even though the site isn’t that active in hosting such warnings, sharing reports on drug forums like fentanyl warnings is an effective harm reduction practice. The most recent fentanyl warning on r/Opiates is three months old. Looking

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Current American Medication-Assisted Treatment Conventions Aren’t All Ideal

While medication-assisted treatment (MAT) programs across the country have reduced harm that enrollees otherwise would have experienced without enrolling, some feel that MAT hasn’t been expanded far enough throughout the United States. I can’t help but feel glad it’s legal here in Tennessee, though I also believe our current MAT system is far from ideal

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