Explore Local Data
To understand trends in overdose death, jail incarceration, and racial disparities, the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) collected national and local data that can be explored using the tools below. Learn more about the data used to compile these tools. In addition, Vera reviewed state policies and conducted case studies of local responses to the overdose crisis in New Mexico and North Carolina to provide context for the numbers.
National trends and racial disparities
Learn More To understand trends in overdose death, jail incarceration, and racial disparities, Vera collected national and local data that can be explored using the tools below. Learn more about data used to compile these tools here. In addition, Vera reviewed state policies and conducted case studies of local responses to the overdose crisis in Ne ...
Case study: New Mexico
Conclusion Against the backdrop of particularly high overdose death rates over many years, advocates and public health experts in Rio Arriba have long embraced harm reduction services. Such services have become more available in recent years amid increased coordination between health and social service providers and criminal legal system partners. ...
Case study: North Carolina
Conclusion Many local stakeholders in Durham County acknowledge that they are uniquely positioned to implement meaningful public health and criminal legal system responses to prevent overdose deaths and reduce jail incarceration. They credit this in part to their access to resources and networks, their proximity to North Carolina’s key research uni ...
Recommendations for local jurisdictions
Incarceration is antithetical to any meaningful response to the overdose crisis—and may exacerbate it. Yet communities across the country continue to face challenges in moving away from criminalization, punishment, and incarceration and toward the implementation of health and [term]harm reduction[/term] centered responses to substance use. Urgent a ...
Methodology and data sources
Case Study Methodology Between March and June 2020, Vera researchers conducted phone and video interviews with local experts in Bernalillo County and Rio Arriba County in New Mexico and Haywood County and Durham County in North Carolina. The sites were chosen based on criteria relating to trends in overdose rates and jail incarceration rates, the p ...
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank our generous contacts in New Mexico and North Carolina. In New Mexico, we thank Barron Jones at the ACLU of New Mexico, Phil Fiuty at the Mountain Center in Rio Arriba, Bernie Lieving at the New Mexico Office of Substance Abuse Prevention, Josh Swatek at the New Mexico Department of Health, Shelly Moeller at M&O ...