journalist and independent producer
Los Angeles-based Sam Quinones is a journalist, and author of three books of narrative nonfiction. He spent 10 years living and reporting from Mexico, where he authored two books about the country and Mexican immigration. He spent another 10 years at the Los Angeles Times, covering immigration, drug trafficking, street gangs and neighborhoods. His most recent book is Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic.
The opioid death toll, and why fentanyl has become the drug of choice for Mexican drug cartels New estimates from the CDC show another increase in overdose deaths last year -- to a record 72,000. That’s a lot more than the number of deaths from guns, car crashes, or even AIDS at its peak. A lot of those deaths can be blamed on fentanyl, the synthetic opioid.
Who’s to blame for the opioid crisis? Overdose deaths from opioid painkillers are epidemic across the country. States and other localities are taking drug companies to court. Taxpayers are stuck with increased costs for public health, courtrooms, jails and coroners’ offices. The governments want compensation. They claim Big Pharma has knowingly played down the risks of opioids and pushed doctors to increase prescriptions that maximize company profits. Who do the companies blame? Drug users--who don’t pay attention to the directions. We’ll hear legal—and moral—arguments.
Mexico's state attorney arrested on drug trafficking charges At the San Diego-Mexico border yesterday, U.S. federal agents arrested Edgar Veytia, the attorney general for the state of Nayarit in western Mexico. He allegedly conspired to smuggle heroin, cocaine and meth into the U.S. That’s according to an indictment from a New York grand jury.
The heartland's opioid epidemic and a vote for Trump The cruel scourge of opiate addiction in America's heartland is described this way by reporter Sam Quinones: "Kids with no criminal record, star athletes, pastors' cops' and mayors' kids all got addicted. Parents [with high expectations] were confronted instead by late-night collect calls from jail, lying, stealing and conniving." On tour for his book, Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic , Quinones made a connection between those tragic conditions and support for Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
Real Talk on LA's Crime Uptick Last week's breaking news in Los Angeles included the first rise in all categories of crime for the first time in ten years. Mayor Garcetti and the LAPD will address the issue next week. But there's another side to the story. Recent figures show that, “yes, Rodney King, we can all get along.” That's according to veteran crime reporter Sam Quinones, who left the LA Times in 2014. He now writes True Tales: A Reporter's Blog .
Tijuana Opera Street art usually means things like graffiti, break dancing, and murals. But every year, the Tijuana Opera puts on a street festival, performing one of the most rarified forms of music outside, in a rough neighborhood steps from the U.S. border. This year’s event happens Saturday .
Heroin Epidemic and the Impact of Medical Marijuana The country is in the midst of an epidemic. Not measles or the flu, but heroin addiction. The rate of heroin use among women doubled over a decade, according to a new study published this week. It has also more than doubled among whites, and it grew 60% among middle-class households. What’s next in the heroin epidemic?
Opioid and Heroin Addictions in America Two epidemics of drug addiction in Middle America have victimized people who suffer from pain. "Fatal heroin overdoses in America have almost tripled in three years. More than 8,250 people a year now die from heroin. At the same time, roughly double that number are dying from prescription opioid painkillers, which are molecularly similar." That's from a recent piece in the New York Times by Sam Quinones, based on his new book, Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic . Portsmouth, Ohio is the unlikely "Ground Zero" for parallel epidemics of drug addiction that have spread nationwide. Expensive, but legal, painkillers have been over-hyped by Big Pharma, creating a market for a cheaper form of relief: "black tar Heroin" from Mexico. Congress is beginning to pay attention. Photo: Elizabeth Roy
A Tijuana Renaissance In the 1990's, Tijuana's strip was lined with strip joints and packed with US Marines and college students looking for a good time. That all stopped when drug violence gripped the city. Now it's returning to life — with an explosion of entrepreneurial activity. Sam Quinones has reported in and around Tijuana for more than 15 years. Pasaje Rodríguez Photo: Sam Quinones Sam Quinones brought us that story in collaboration with KCRW's Independent Producer Project . You can find more images of the people living and working along Avenida Revolución on our website .
The End of Street Gangs in Los Angeles? "Los Angeles gave America the modern street gang. Groups like the Crips and MS-13 have spread from coast to coast and even abroad. But on Southern California's streets, they have been vanishing." That's the lead in an article in the latest Pacific Standard magazine by Sam Quinones, veteran reporter for the LA Times, now a freelancer, and author of several books, including the forthcoming, Dreamland , about black tar heroin distribution in the US. Photo: Jason Taellious
Gang Violence and Demographic Change Earlier this week, we reported that a black family with no gang connections was driven out of its new home in Compton. Two members of a Latino gang have been arrested, and sheriff's deputies are looking for more suspects. The incident was especially shocking to some people, because Compton historically was a black city. Now it's 65 percent Latino.
Black Family in Compton Driven Out by a Latino Gang The City of Compton, population roughly 100,000, was historically a black enclave where Gangsta rappers NWA and Dr. Dre were local heroes. Now Compton is 65 percent Latino and, after a series of violent attacks, a black family was recently forced to leave town. Sam Quinones reports for the LA Times .
Major Crackdown on the Avenues Gang In February a man was shot 17 times while protecting his 2-year old granddaughter. She was unharmed. But he was killed, and a wild shoot out took place among gang members, some using AK-47’s, and between gang members and the LAPD. It all came down in a Northeast Los Angeles neighborhood long dominated by the Drew Street clique of the Avenues Gang. Today, 500 local, state and federal officers swarmed in to serve warrants on 70 people charged with federal crimes.
Idaho or Bust – Californians Make an Impact in Boise The housing crisis is pushing Californians out of the Golden State and into cheaper housing markets around the country. Boise, Idaho, has become the fastest growing metro area in the nation… and a lot of those newcomers are former Californians.Our dollars go a lot further there, but that’s causing a bit of friction with the locals.
Trump Sees ‘Bipartisanship’ on Criminal Justice Reform After decades, America’s draconian crackdown on crime isn’t working. Even most conservatives agree with liberals that it’s worse than a waste of money. President Trump has used a rare word when it comes to proposed reform: “bipartisanship.” It could happen before the new Congress takes office--but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell might be applying the brakes.
[ ██████████ ] Mueller’s sentencing memo for Michael Flynn might have redacted “all the sexy parts,” but Josh Barro and Ken White speculate on the black bars.
A call to prepare for the next natural disaster A local environmentalist says we should spend more time and money preparing for natural disasters than responding to them. A Ventura resident who lost his home in the Thomas Fire says rebuilding is taking longer than he’d hoped. Local animal shelters are becoming critical evacuation centers. And California counties must now hold public meetings on their relationship with federal immigration agents.