Narcomedia

07/19/2025

Today I learned some devestating news: Tino Fuentes, my friend and mentor, without whom PA Groundhogs would not exist, passed away. We lost touch years ago, going from talking every day to not talking at all. As well as i knew Tino he was always som**hing of a mystery. I’ll never forget our first meeting. Ric Curtis was holding court in his office at John Jay College. I was there to accept a fellowship and had popped in to say hi to Ric. There was Tino,  kick back in a chair pontificating on some finer point of harm reduction. We left together and for the next two years pioneered drug checking in philly- running test strips and naloxone from Vocal NYC to El Campamento. You will be missed my old friend. I’m a better person for knowing you. (Photo-Newark NJ 2018)

05/01/2025

RIP Clarita: a fixture for years outside the old site of El Campamento. I had heard a rumor she’d been gunned down by a rival gang. Had to go see for myself today. My heart aches

03/03/2025

Watch “The Site,” a moving documentary about one brave group’s fight to save lives during the peak of the overdose epidemic. In 2018, following a record year of more than 1200 drug-related deaths in Philadelphia, Safehouse had a plan: Copy evidence-based practices from other countries and build the nations first supervised consumption facility. But even an early victory in federal court wouldn’t be enough to break the wall of stigma around drug use needed to make the site a reality. Five years in the making, The Site is a must-see portrait of a community in crisis looking for solutions just out of reach. Six years later and is still waging a legal battle to provide basic medical care to Philadelphia’s most marginalized citizens, and more than 6300 people have died of opioid overdoses that could have been prevented. With a new administration in Washington threatening to roll back gains made in New York, there was never a better time to watch this film and learn just how high the stakes are. https://narcomedia.org/the-site

01/03/2025

Homicides in Sinaloa since outbreak of cartel civil war between Los Chapitos & Sicarios loyal to El Mayo. https://www.noroeste.com.mx/seguridad/informe-diario-arranca-el-2025-con-5-homicidios-entre-ellos-3-decapitados-en-costa-rica-AG8923570

12/15/2024

The Iron Law of Prohibition

12/15/2024

Literally the only other place I’ve heard w**d called “Loud” is in Black neighborhoods of Philly. But Lagos Nigeria? Who’s have thought.

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted multi-billion-naira worth of shipments of Methamphetamine and Loud, a strong synthetic strain of cannabis meant for distribution during the Christmas and New Year festive season, concealed in automobile spare parts impor...

08/30/2024

PAGROUNDHOGS, The Center for Forensic Science Research & Education identify new boutique opioid analog —N-Phenethyl Noroxymorphone.

PA GROUNDHOGS (PAG), Pennsylvania's statewide drug checking organization, has identified a new novel opioid never before documented in the US illicit drugs supply. This is the second new psychoactive substance identified...

08/26/2024

The evolution of Philly’s dope since Xylazine scheduling via PAGROUNDHOGS.org. All samples obtained in July

05/02/2024

A wave of adverse drug reactions is sweeping the US from Austin to Philly. Narcomedia & PAGROUNDHOGS.org is on the case. Follow Twitter AT pgroundhogs or moraffreports for tox, insight and analysis

12/05/2023

PA Groundhogs first NPS monograph. Acquired in Philly some of you may remember my tweet bashing the terrible press job. Little did I know at the time it also contained Rilmazafone, a benzodiazepines pro-drug that has not previously been identified in the US. Proud of my team and the work we’re doing giving people who use drugs in Pennsylvania and elsewhere the transparency they deserve.. visit PAGROUNDHOGS.org for more info.

https://www.cfsre.org/images/monographs/Rilmazafone-New-Drug-Monograph-NPS-Discovery-112923.pdf?

Let Us Test Them FREE Street-to-lab drug checking in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

11/12/2023

Last Thursday I had the honor of giving back to back presentations at the invitation of Health Canada (to speak on my experiences covering tranq dope in Philadelphia) and in Harrisburg at the PA Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) Emerging Drugs Symposium, where I spoke about community based drug checking and PA Groundhogs- my new statewide program. As always I was humbled by the graciousness of my hosts and the audience. If someone told me 25 years ago that the pain I put my family through would one day enable me to give hope to others I would have called them crazy. Yet here we are.

Harrisburg, PA - The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP), in partnership with the Liberty Mid-Atlantic High Intensity Trafficking Area (LMA HIDTA) Program, today hosted Pennsylvania’s Emerging Drug Trend Symposium focused on current drug trends, innovative approaches to con...