
-
AI coming for anime but Ghibli's Miyazaki irreplaceable, son says
-
Swedish insurer drops $160 mn Tesla stake over labour rights
-
Hunger returns to Gaza as Israeli blockade forces bakeries shut
-
Rubio heads to Europe as transatlantic tensions soar
-
Like 'living in hell': Quake-hit Mandalay monastery clears away rubble
-
'Give me a break': Trump tariffs threaten Japan auto sector
-
US approves $5.58 bn fighter jet sale to Philippines
-
Tsunoda embracing pressure of Red Bull debut at home Japanese GP
-
'Outstanding' Hay shines as New Zealand seal Pakistan ODI series
-
El Salvador's Bukele flaunts 'iron fist' alliance with Trump
-
Stock markets mixed as uncertainty rules ahead of Trump tariffs
-
China probes for key target weak spots with 'paralysing' Taiwan drills
-
'Top Gun' and Batman star Val Kilmer dies aged 65: New York Times
-
US lawmakers seek to rename street for Hong Kong's jailed Jimmy Lai
-
Greece to spend big on 'historic' military shake up
-
Trump faces first electoral setback after Wisconsin Supreme Court vote
-
Hay shines as New Zealand beat Pakistan for ODI series win
-
Israel says expands Gaza offensive to seize 'large areas'
-
Curry drops 52 as Warriors win, Jokic bags career-high 61 in Denver loss
-
South Korea mobilising 'all resources' for violence-free Yoon verdict
-
Myanmar quake victim rescued after 5 days as aid calls grow
-
Real Madrid coach Ancelotti tax fraud trial set to begin
-
Warner showcases 'Superman' reboot, new DiCaprio film
-
'Incredible' Curry scores 52 as Warriors down Grizzlies, Bucks edge Suns
-
Asian markets edge up but uncertainty rules ahead of Trump tariffs
-
Nintendo's megahit Switch console: what to know
-
Nintendo to unveil upgrade to best-selling Switch console
-
China practises hitting key ports, energy sites in Taiwan drills
-
Oil, sand and speed: Saudi gearheads take on towering dunes
-
All eyes on Tsunoda at Japan GP after ruthless Red Bull move
-
'Image whisperers' bring vision to the blind at Red Cross museum
-
Hay shines as New Zealand make 292-8 in Pakistan ODI
-
Other governments 'weaponising' Trump language to attack NGOs: rights groups
-
UK imposes online entry permit on European visitors
-
How a Brazilian chief is staving off Amazon destruction
-
Meme politics: White House embraces aggressive alt-right online culture
-
China launches military drills in Taiwan Strait
-
US senator smashes record with 25-hour anti-Trump speech
-
Brazil binman finds newborn baby on garbage route
-
US senator smashes record with marathon anti-Trump speech
-
Trump advisor Waltz faces new pressure over Gmail usage
-
Niger junta frees ministers of overthrown government
-
Trump set to unleash 'Liberation Day' tariffs
-
Boeing chief to acknowledge 'serious missteps' at US Senate hearing
-
Real Madrid hold Real Sociedad in eight-goal thriller to reach Copa del Rey final
-
Nuno salutes 'special' Elanga after stunning strike fires Forest
-
PSG survive scare against Dunkerque to reach French Cup final
-
Sundowns edge Esperance as crowd violence mars quarter-final
-
Nottingham Forest beat Man Utd, Saka scores on Arsenal return
-
Elanga wonder-goal sinks Man Utd as Forest eye Champions League berth

Black Americans bear the brunt of fentanyl 'epidemic' in Washington
Lorando Duncan wears long-sleeved shirts because his arms bear scars he doesn't like to show: those of the drugs he has been injecting into his veins for decades.
Born in the US capital Washington 65 years ago, the slender African American has been using heroin almost all his adult life.
But the advent of fentanyl, an ultra-powerful and addictive synthetic opioid, changed everything.
"Fentanyl killed a lot of my friends," he tells AFP beneath a picture of America's first Black vice president, Kamala Harris, that he has hung in his apartment in Anacostia, one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city.
"Almost every two weeks, I hear about somebody overdosing on fentanyl."
He fears he will be next. "I need to stop... because eventually I'm going to kill myself. And I know it."
Fentanyl -- sold in powder form and cheap to manufacture, so often used as an additive in other drugs such as heroin -- began flooding the market in 2014.
In 2021, 426 people died of opioid overdoses in Washington -- five times as many as in 2014. Of them, 95 percent were fentanyl-related, and 85 percent were Black people. Like Lorando, the majority were between 50 and 69 years old.
Heroin users have been at the forefront of this "poisoning" of supply, as experts call it.
"One day I bought some drug from a guy I know, but I didn't know it was fentanyl," says Lorando, a former prisoner now living on disability benefits.
He passed out, he says, falling on his hip. Now he walks with a cane.
"When I fell, it was day, and when I woke up, it was nighttime. God woke me up this day," he says.
But now he takes fentanyl up to three times a day to feel "normal" and avoid the illness and nausea of withdrawal.
"Now they use fentanyl to cut heroin. So you basically gonna get fentanyl in everything you buy. Everybody uses fentanyl to cut the dope. Make it potent," he says.
The problem, he adds, is that users never know what they are going to get. "You're playing Russian roulette."
- Building trust -
In Washington, long dubbed "Chocolate City" because of its large African American population, Black people were already dying from overdoses at twice the rate of white people in 2010, according to one study.
By 2019, it was 10 times more. For both periods, this disparity was higher than in any state in the country. Experts say one reason is because of how much more vulnerable Black people are -- lower income, less likely to own a home, less likely to have access to resources that can keep them stable and supported.
A few grassroots organizations are doing their best to combat the ravages of the drugs.
Tyrone Pinkney has been working for one of them, the Family and Medical Counseling Service, for 10 years. The 33-year-old travels around the city, especially what he describes as "the crime areas," in a recreational vehicle.
On the RV's floor is a box containing dirty syringes, collected from visitors who are then given clean ones.
And on the seats are cartons of Narcan, the brand name of naloxone, an antidote capable of blocking the effect of opioids -- and thus saving a person in the process of overdosing.
With a tablet in hand, Pinkney questions the few dozen people who turn up each day, checking for example whether they have been tested for the AIDS virus.
"It's not going to keep them from doing what they're doing. But it'll keep them safe," he explains.
Little by little, bonds of trust are created. On his phone, he scrolls through the names of dozens of "clients," as he calls them, who can call him in case of need.
- 'Perfect storm' -
The association helped more than 2,500 people in 2021, and distributed more than 200,000 syringes, according to regional coordinator Mark Robinson.
"It's an emergency. It's endemic," he tells AFP.
"It's an opioid epidemic, layered beneath a (Covid-19) pandemic, layered beneath a health emergency that was already pre-existing amongst Black and brown people," he continues, listing the ways in which Washington's residents are made vulnerable.
"You have multiple epidemics upgrading simultaneously, it's like a perfect storm. And we're right in the midst of it."
For many, the steps needed to access treatment, such as opioid substitutes methadone or buprenorphine, remain too complex -- making it often easier to get drugs than help.
"We've really worked hard on access," Barbara Bazron, who heads Washington's department of behavioral health, tells AFP.
For example, users no longer need to go through a dispatch center to receive prescriptions -- 70 approved entities can directly receive new patients, she explained.
More than 5,000 people are currently enrolled in these care programs.
The city has also prioritized the free distribution of naloxone, giving away 56,000 kits in 2021, and tests to detect whether drugs contain fentanyl.
City Hall is also "gathering information" on safe injection sites, such as those recently set up in New York, says Bazron, who admits she is willing to look at any option.
"Nothing is off the table," she says.
L.Miller--AMWN