Public health and politics

 Most people would agree that West Virginia is pretty close to being Ground Zero for the opioid crisis after being virtually cluster bombed for years by pharmaceutical companies dumping highly addictive drugs around the state. 

As the supply of pills declined, more people switched to injecting opioids, which of necessity involves needles...and which has become a political hot button issue in places like Charleston, WV. In 2018, the city shut down the needle exchange program operated by the Kanawha Charleston Health Department.

Of course, people with substance use disorder don't stop using when the supply of clean needles goes away, which can lead to all kinds of horror stories, including an underground market in used needles. It's a classic example of what economists call inelastic demand. 

What could possibly go wrong with that scenario? 

A grassroots group called Solutions Oriented Addiction Response (SOAR) took up the slack, which until recently offered sterile syringes, Naloxone, condoms, snacks, HIV testing, conversation and such until they came under fire from city officials. They're still around, although they've stopped syringe distribution.

This excellent report by WV Public Broadcasting shows what can happen when public health is politicized. And you may learn more about reusing needles than you ever expected to.

More on the southern coalfields

Lots of people even beyond WV are starting to track the situation in the southern coalfields, where mining jobs have been dramatically declining. Something about this piece by environmental writer David Roberts in Grist rubbed me the wrong way, at least a little.

It looks like I'm not the only one. Two people I think highly of responded at some length, Ken Ward at Coal Tattoo and WV native Jeremy Richardson with the Union of Concerned Scientists.

On a more positive note, WV Senate President Jeff Kessler announced the formation of a 13 member senate task force on the southern coalfields going by the acronym SCORE (Southern Coalfields Organizing and Revitalizing the Economy), which will hold listening sessions with coalfield residents and develop legislative proposals to assist the region. SCORE is modeled in part on Kentucky's SOAR (Save Our Appalachian Region) program.

Some ideas the group will explore include

Increase funding for tourism advertising and development.

Education and workforce development and retraining initiatives.

Dedicating monies for viable redevelopment projects.

Agribusiness and rural development opportunities.

Increase Broadband access.

Expanding and supporting intermodal transportation.

          Explore development of coalbed methane reserves.

Support clean coal research and development.

Kessler and his fellow senators deserve a lot of credit for taking this on. You can find more about SCORE here and here.