Biobot Analytics (YC W18) is possibly the "Massachusetts Institute of Technology–affiliated company" mentioned in the article. They will "scour the waste pipes with robots that suck up sewage, measure drug amounts and remotely report the data". <a href="http://www.biobot.io/" rel="nofollow">http://www.biobot.io/</a><p>The Techcrunch write up: <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/20/these-are-the-64-startups-unveiled-at-y-combinator-w18-demo-day-2/" rel="nofollow">https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/20/these-are-the-64-startups-...</a> mentions "they hope to also measure pharmaceuticals, infectious disease and food consumption".<p>Infectious disease finding could be really cool. Imagine easily mapping where a zika outbreak was happening an hour after an infected person uses the restroom. That same day you could do mosquito abatement and post flyers to come to the hospital for treatment.
If prescription opioids were available legally to addicts, there would be much less of an overdose problem.<p><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/treating-heroin-addiction-with-heroin-what-you-need-to-know-w494829" rel="nofollow">https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/treating-heroin-ad...</a><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/opinion/sunday/portugal-drug-decriminalization.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/opinion/sunday/portugal-d...</a><p><a href="https://www.springboardrecovery.com/switzerlands-approach-heroin-epidemic/" rel="nofollow">https://www.springboardrecovery.com/switzerlands-approach-he...</a>
Some have claimed the opioid epidemic is merely part of the "epidemic of despair" [1]. I am inclined to agree.<p>This may sound harsh but I am inclined to say, <i>instead of sifting shit, cities might consider ways to find to decent jobs, housing and recreation for their citizens</i>.<p>What else can be said? All this a product of the redistribution of wealth upward in an ostensibly wealthy society? What could possibly go wrong?<p>[1] <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5607670/" rel="nofollow">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5607670/</a>
Sewage is “the information superhighway under your feet,”<p>Life imitates art?<p><a href="https://youtu.be/DJklHwoYgBQ" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/DJklHwoYgBQ</a>
Australia recently proposed (and later shelved) drug-testing welfare recipients in certain localities. These areas were to be chosen partially due to the level of illicit drugs and metabolites in their waste water.<p>So, welfare recipients may find themselves drug tested not because they use drugs, but because the people around them do. It stinks of collective punishment.
Spending money on trying to find out who is addicted to opiates is a massive waste compared to offering treatment on demand everywhere. It's a very safe bet to assume that opiate addiction is in every community across the board.
> Flush Out the Opioid Crisis<p>"Clever" titles are annoying to me, and more so when they degrade the clarity of the message.<p>What does "flushing out" even mean, in the context of the opioid crisis?<p>Fixing it?<p>Measuring the crisis?<p>Identifying hot spots?<p>Focusing resources?<p>Identifying specific types of narcotics?<p>The author has decided that "I am clever" is a more important message than whatever the point of the article is.<p>If you exert editorial control over anything, fight the temptation to be clever; especially when it obscures the real message.
Opiods use ttacking seem like one of the potentially less reliable uses for it given legitimate users and high tolerances. It brings to mind a squeaky clean high school in the same pipe as retirement homes and veteran's centers where there are plenty of chronic pain patients and concluding the school must have a drug problem. I am aware that there are statistical levels of usage beyond what would be remotely probable without the area literally being designated for chronic pain patients.<p>Meanwhile you can't go wrong with looking for disease tracking.