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Articles for Shover

Boba Fett, blue fish, and fettuccine: How L.A. fentanyl sales boomed on Craigslist
7 months ago

Boba Fett, blue fish, and fettuccine: How L.A. fentanyl sales boomed on Craigslist

LA Times  

At first glance, the items listed for sale on Craigslist seemed benign: Blue socks. “All those barriers that kept a lot of people away from drugs, those have been removed,” said Bill Bodner, former special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Los Angeles field division. In one ad, titled “funFETti cupcakes w/ fun fet frosting,” he offered “several …

Law Enforcement China Drugs Ads Sales Dea Blue
Deadly overdoses fell in U.S. for first time in five years, new estimates show
7 months, 3 weeks ago

Deadly overdoses fell in U.S. for first time in five years, new estimates show

LA Times  

Deaths from drug overdoses fell last year in the United States as fewer people lost their lives to fentanyl and other opioids, marking the first time the death toll had dropped in five years, according to newly released estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “I’m thrilled that there wasn’t an increase, but we’re still talking about 107,000 …

Deaths West Fentanyl Overdose Overdoses Burke Overdose Deaths
Some Mexican pharmacies are selling full bottles of Adderall. But it’s actually meth.
1 year ago

Some Mexican pharmacies are selling full bottles of Adderall. But it’s actually meth.

LA Times  

In November 2023, some pharmacies in Puerto Vallarta were selling bottles of fake Adderall containing methamphetamine that were identical to this one that Times reporters purchased from a drug store in the coastal city in May 2023. “It’s really bad to find out that pharmacies are selling whole bottles of fake medication, and clearly an effort has been made to …

Criminal Organizations Pharmacies Mexico Dea Los Angeles Sold Drug
What’s in illegal drugs? A UCLA team takes testing to the streets to find out
1 year, 5 months ago

What’s in illegal drugs? A UCLA team takes testing to the streets to find out

LA Times  

Under a tent pitched in a darkened parking lot in Los Angeles, a 21-year-old man handed pills to Ruby Romero. “The real promise is using this technology to understand something that’s really been mysterious for a long time — what the heck is in the illicit drug supply?” said Chelsea Shover, assistant professor in residence at UCLA’s David Geffen School …

Drugs Test Team Testing Los Angeles County Drug
Sheriff’s Dept. program to track presence of flesh-eating street drug in Los Angeles
1 year, 8 months ago

Sheriff’s Dept. program to track presence of flesh-eating street drug in Los Angeles

LA Times  

A man smokes fentanyl mixed with methamphetamine in an alley in Los Angeles in August. “In the greater Los Angeles area we are seeing xylazine as an additive within fake fentanyl pills,” said Nicole Nishida, spokesperson for the Los Angeles Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Amid troubling signs that a dangerous sedative known as “tranq” has spread …

Drugs Los Angeles Dea Los Angeles Department Drug
L.A. saw signs of deadly street drug xylazine 4 years ago but didn’t alert public
1 year, 9 months ago

L.A. saw signs of deadly street drug xylazine 4 years ago but didn’t alert public

LA Times  

Drug Enforcement Administration badges are displayed at agency headquarters in Arlington, Va. The DEA has issued a warning about xylazine, or “tranq.” It was at least four years ago that Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials say they began finding signs of a dangerous sedative infiltrating the local drug supply. “Our mission is very narrowly focused: We confirm the presence …

Los Angeles Dea Los Angeles Department Public Drug
The complicated — and dangerous — economics of Mexican fentanyl
1 year, 11 months ago

The complicated — and dangerous — economics of Mexican fentanyl

LA Times  

For decades, Mexican cartels have made big money trafficking drugs. “In 2015, they changed the law to make it a little easier in theory, but it seems like doctors are still relatively reluctant to prescribe.” But even if prescribed oxycodone is difficult to come by, as Shover pointed out, “You don’t need a prescription to make a fentanyl fake.” Aside …

Los Angeles Ucla Mexican Fentanyl Selling Pills
What sways homeless people to get COVID-19 shots? It could be other homeless people
3 years, 2 months ago

What sways homeless people to get COVID-19 shots? It could be other homeless people

LA Times  

It was a familiar voice that coaxed Kimberly Conti to step out, barefoot, from the back of the hulking former bookmobile parked in an industrial corner of Lincoln Heights. “It means more to have someone they’ve lived with and spent time with say, ‘I got mine, and it wasn’t a big deal.’” A team from L.A. County Health Services works …

Health Team Homeless Health Services County Department Ucla
Medical pot laws no answer for US opioid deaths, study finds
5 years, 6 months ago

Medical pot laws no answer for US opioid deaths, study finds

Associated Press  

A new study shoots down the notion that medical marijuana laws can prevent opioid overdose deaths, challenging a favorite talking point of legal pot advocates. When the new researchers included data through 2017, they found the reverse: States passing medical marijuana laws saw a 23% higher than expected rate of deaths involving prescription opioids. “We weren’t happy when a billboard …

Medical Deaths Marijuana Opioid Overdose Overdose Deaths Shover