USA

Working Group Meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado

February 13, 2026

Washington – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in coordination with federal partners and the People’s Republic of China convened the Bilateral Drug Intelligence Working Group (BDIWG) in Colorado Springs February 10 to 12, 2026. This working group brought together law enforcement, prosecutors, customs, border security, public security, financial supervision, and technical experts to advance practical cooperation against the global threat of illicit synthetic drugs, including fentanyl, and the criminal networks that profit from them.

The shared, urgent, and life‑saving priority to stem fentanyl and other synthetic opioids has been emphasized by both President Trump and President Xi.

The working group reviewed recent progress and agreed on concrete next steps to disrupt chemical supply chains, prevent diversion, and target illicit finance tied to transnational criminal organizations. This included a look at drug trafficking trends in both countries, the impact of precursor chemicals on the drug supply, pill presses and related equipment, and the role of online advertising.

DEA was joined by representatives from the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Department of the Treasury, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection along with counterparts from China’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS), China Customs, Supreme People’s Procuratorate, People’s Bank of China, and staff from key provincial police bureaus.

Recognizing the terrible human toll of synthetic drugs, in particular fentanyl, the United States and China are committed to working together, in line with the guidance from both countries’ leaders, to save lives, protect communities, and uphold the rule of law.

Source: DEA Public Affairs

Filed under: Strategy and Policy,USA :

by Erikka Loftfield, PhD, MPH – NIH – January 26, 2026

Key takeaways:

Consistent heavy alcohol use and higher lifetime consumption may raise risk for colorectal cancer, particularly rectal tumors.
Data suggest a benefit of alcohol cessation among former moderate/heavy drinkers.

An analysis of more than 88,000 U.S. adults provides new insights into how duration and extent of alcohol consumption may affect colorectal cancer risk.

Current and consistent heavy alcohol intake throughout adulthood appeared associated with a near-doubling of risk compared with current, consistent light drinking, data from a population-based randomized screening trial showed.

Data derived from O’Connell CP, et al. Cancer. 2026;doi:10.1002/cncr.70201.

Higher lifetime alcohol consumption also appeared associated with significantly higher risk, particularly for rectal tumors.

In addition, the findings suggested benefits of alcohol cessation, including lower odds for colorectal cancer or nonadvanced adenomas.

Erikka Loftfield states that “The findings of this study support — and really give empirical weight to — guidance from internationally recognized bodies that recommend limiting or abstaining from alcohol intake to reduce cancer risk,” .

Filling an evidence gap

Research has intensified over the past several years into alcohol’s role in cancer development.

A population-based study led by International Agency for Cancer Research linked alcohol consumption to more than 740,000 new cancer diagnoses in 2020, equivalent to 4% of cases worldwide.

Loftfield and colleagues analyzed data from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial — designed to determine the effects of screening on cancer-related mortality among cancer-free adults — to estimate the association between lifetime alcohol consumption and incident colorectal cancer or adenoma.

“Prior studies have established that alcohol consumption is associated with increased risk of cancer, but there’s very little data regarding how lifetime patterns of drinking affect colorectal adenoma and cancer risk,” Loftfield said. “We wanted to try to fill that gap. We know a lot about how smoking cessation lowers cancer risk, but we wanted to learn more about what reduction or cessation of alcohol drinking means for future cancer risk.”

In the PLCO trial, researchers randomly assigned people aged 55 to 74 years to cancer screening or standard care. Colorectal cancer screening consisted of flexible sigmoidoscopy at baseline, and again either 3 years or 5 years later.

Trial participants completed risk factor and dietary history questionnaires. They reported alcohol intake during four age periods —18 to 24 years, 25 to 39 years, 40 to 54 years, and 55 years and older — using 10 predefined frequency categories, as well as current drinking frequency at baseline.

Loftfield and colleagues categorized participants as current drinkers, former drinkers or never drinkers.

They used multiple categories to quantify average lifetime drinking — less than one drink per week, one to less than seven drinks per week, seven to less than 14 per week, or 14 or more per week — and they used past and current drinking frequency to define broader alcohol intake patterns through adulthood.

They used sex-specific U.S. dietary guidelines to classify light drinking (less than 14 drinks per week for men, less than seven per week for women), moderate drinking (14 to 21 drinks per week for men, seven to 14 per week for women) and heavy drinking (22 or more per week for men, 15 or more per week for women).

‘Timely’ findings

During 20 years of follow-up, 1,679 incident colorectal cancer cases occurred among 88,092 PLCO trial participants.

Current drinkers who had an average lifetime alcohol intake of 14 or more drinks per week exhibited a 25% (HR = 1.25; 95% CI, 1.01-1.53) higher risk for colorectal cancer than those with average lifetime intake of one drink or less per week.

Those with higher average lifetime alcohol intake had nearly double the risk for rectal cancer (HR = 1.95; 95% CI, 1.17-3.28).

“This finding is timely because we are seeing increasing rates of colorectal cancer among younger people, and that increase has been driven predominantly by rectal tumors,” Loftfield said.

Consistent heavy drinking appeared associated with a near-doubling of colorectal cancer compared with light drinking (HR = 1.91; 95% CI, 1.17-3.12).

The data also suggested benefits of alcohol cessation.

Former drinkers who had been moderate to heavy drinkers earlier in life exhibited similar colorectal cancer risk as light drinkers.

An analysis of about 12,000 PLCO trial participants who had negative baseline screens compared former drinkers with current drinkers who averaged less than one drink per week in their lifetime. Results showed former drinkers had numerically lower risk for any adenoma (OR = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.59-1.02) and significantly lower risk for nonadvanced adenoma (OR = 0.58; 95% CI, 0.39-0.84).

“From a clinical perspective, that is pretty robust evidence to support that there is a benefit to drinking cessation,” Loftfield said.

The mechanisms of alcohol’s impact on cancer risk have been well studied, specifically related to how alcohol in the body converts to acetaldehyde, a known carcinogen. Less is known about how alcohol affects the gut microbiome and the impact that may have on colorectal cancer risk, Loftfield said.

Loftfield and colleagues hope to conduct additional research exploring the impact of lifetime alcohol use — and alcohol cessation — on other malignancies, such as liver cancer.

Further study into the effects of alcohol cessation on people who average one to two drinks per day also could be valuable, Loftfield said.

“We know a lot more about heavy drinkers who quit drinking or reduce their alcohol intake,” she said. “A better understanding of what happens for moderate drinkers, and how their biology changes when they reduce or quit drinking, may help inform what we know about cancer prevention.”

Source: Herschel Baker – International Liaison Director, Queensland Director, Drug Free Australia

Filed under: Alcohol,Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

published by SAFE GC Coalition – Jan 26, 2026

Cannabis use, vaping and the use of psychedelic drugs are at or near all-time highs, research shows.

The percentage of young and midlife adults using nicotine pouches significantly increased last year, while cannabis use, vaping and the use of psychedelic drugs are at or near all-time highs, according to the latest data from the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future (MTF) Panel survey funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health (NIDA).

Alcohol continues to be the most used substance across age groups, followed by cannabis and nicotine. The patterns of substance use are changing over time, with cannabis use, vaping of both nicotine and cannabis, and psychedelic drug use increasing across all age groups. In 2025, there was also an increase in the use of nicotine pouches across all age groups.

Key findings include:

Nicotine pouch use (past 12-month use) significantly increased from 2023 to 2024 among all age groups (ages 19 to 30, 35 to 50 and 55 to 65). Nicotine pouch use was first measured in 2023, and it has doubled in one year, with 9.5% of 19-to-30-year-olds reporting past 12-month use in 2024.
Cannabis use (past 12-month, past 30-day and daily use) in 2024 remained near or at the recent highest levels ever recorded among adults ages 19 to 30, all with significant increases across the past five and 10 years. Among adults ages 35 to 50, cannabis use (past 12-month, past 30-day and daily use) prevalence has doubled or nearly doubled (and significantly increased) over the past five and 10 years. In addition, cannabis use disorder has increased over the past five years among adults ages 40 to 50.
Vaping cannabis (past 12-month and past 30-day use) reached the highest levels ever recorded in 2024. Among adults ages 19 to 30, prevalence in the past year doubled since it was first measured in 2017 for this group, increasing significantly over the past five years. Vaping cannabis significantly increased among adults ages 35 to 50 (past 12-month) and among adults ages 55 to 65 (past 12-month and past 30-day), also reaching new high levels in 2024.
Vaping nicotine (past 12-month and past 30-day use) reached the highest levels ever recorded in 2024. For example, among adults ages 19 to 30, prevalence in the past month tripled since this measure was first added to the survey in 2017. Vaping nicotine (past 12-month and past 30-day) significantly increased over the past five years among adults ages 19 to 30 and 35 to 50, reaching new historic high levels in 2024.
Use of psychedelic drugs/hallucinogens (past 12-month use) has continued to rise, reaching the highest levels ever recorded in 2024 among adults ages 19 to 30 and 35 to 50, following significant increases over the past five and 10 years in these age groups. In addition, there have been significant increases in stimulant drug use (amphetamines and cocaine, past 12-month) over the past ten years among adults ages 35 to 50.

A longitudinal panel study component of MTF conducts follow-up surveys on a subset of these participants (about 20,000 people per year), collecting data from individuals every other year from ages 19 to 30 and every five years after age 30 to track their drug use through adulthood. Participants self-report their drug use behaviors across various periods, including lifetime, past-year (12 months), past-month (30 days), and other use frequencies depending on the substance type.

Researchers say the power of surveys such as MTF allows for documentation of how substance use evolves in the population over time. As more of the original survey takers—first recruited as teens—now enter later adulthood, researchers are also able to examine the effects of drug use throughout the life course on health and well-being decades later.

Behavior and public perceptions about drug use can shift rapidly, based on drug availability and other factors. It’s important to track this so that public health professionals and communities can be prepared to respond. Collecting data to document these population-level patterns is critical for informing our nation’s public health priorities.

SAFE, Inc. is the only alcohol and substance abuse prevention, intervention and education agency in the City of Glen Cove. Its Coalition is conducting alcohol, marijuana, tobacco and other drug use prevention awareness campaigns entitled, “Keeping Glen Cove SAFE,” to educate and update the community regarding alcohol, prescription and illicit drug use and its consequences. To learn more about the SAFE Glen Cove Coalition please follow us on www.facebook.com/safeglencove or visit SAFE’s website to learn more at www.safeglencove.org.

SOURCE: https://patch.com/new-york/glencove/safe-gc-coalition-nicotine-pouch-cannabis-vaping-psychedelic-use-rise

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Nicotine,Tobacco, smoking,USA,Vaping,Youth :

by Drew Davison and Catherine LaBrenz – UTA – Jan 28, 2026 •

One in four U.S. adolescents is exposed to violence in their neighborhood, and those teens are more than twice as likely to use cigarettes, alcohol or drugs to cope, according to a new study from The University of Texas at Arlington.

Published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, the study was led by UT Arlington School of Social Work Professor Philip Baiden and drew on national data from the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Researchers analyzed responses from 20,005 adolescents ages 12 to 18, offering new insights into early pathways to substance use, a persistent public health concern.

“Our study reminds us that violence is not a rare or isolated experience for many young people—it is a daily reality,” Dr. Baiden said. “Youth exposed to neighborhood violence often carry the psychological weight of chronic stress, fear and trauma. Many turn to alcohol, marijuana, vaping or other substances to self-medicate or numb the emotional impact of these experiences.”

According to the 2024 National Institute on Drug Abuse annual report, 58.3% of individuals ages 12 or older reported using tobacco, vaping nicotine, alcohol or an illicit drug in the prior month. Substance misuse contributes to preventable illness and death nationwide.

Catherine LaBrenz, coauthor of the study and a UTA School of Social Work associate professor, noted that previous research has shown neighborhood violence can alter how the brain processes emotions.

“When teens experience chronic fear or trauma, it can increase vulnerability to substance use,” Dr. LaBrenz said.

The researchers examined five substance categories: cigarette smoking, alcohol use, electronic vaping products, marijuana use, and prescription opioid misuse. Exposure to neighborhood violence was associated with higher odds of using all five substances, even after controlling for demographics, mental health symptoms, physical activity and bullying involvement.

The study also revealed several notable patterns. Cyberbullying is more strongly linked to substance use than traditional school bullying. In addition, students who participate in team sports tend to report higher rates of alcohol use.

“Cyberbullying is distinct in that it follows adolescents everywhere—there is no escape,” Baiden said. “If someone is bullied on a school playground, it’s traumatizing but you could brush it off and might be able to outgrow it. When it is cyberbullying, it spreads widely, persists indefinitely and you don’t know who has access to it, which makes its emotional impact even more traumatic. You can’t just delete it.”

The study also identified a nuanced relationship between team sports and substance use. Participation in team sports such as football, for example, was linked to increased alcohol use.

“Team sports can offer structure, belonging and social support, but they also expose adolescents to peer cultures where alcohol use may be normalized,” Baiden said. “That helps explain why we see increased odds of drinking among youth who participate.”

Baiden and LaBrenz said the findings could help inform policies and prevention strategies aimed at reducing substance use among adolescents. Further research will focus on specific populations and potential interventions.

“It’s not enough to document adverse effects,” Baiden said. “We want to identify interventions that counselors, mental health professionals and social workers can use when working with youth who experience neighborhood violence.”

UTA Social Work professors Angela J. Hall and Joshua Awua were contributing authors to the study.

About The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)

The University of Texas at Arlington is a growing public research university in the heart of the thriving Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. With a student body of over 42,700, UTA is the second-largest institution in the University of Texas System, offering more than 180 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Recognized as a Carnegie R-1 university, UTA stands among the nation’s top 5% of institutions for research activity. UTA and its 280,000 alumni generate an annual economic impact of $28.8 billion for the state. The University has received the Innovation and Economic Prosperity designation from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities and has earned recognition for its focus on student access and success, considered key drivers to economic growth and social progress for North Texas and beyond.

Source: https://www.uta.edu/academics/schools-colleges/social-work/news/releases/2026/01/28/one-in-four-teens-face-violence-higher-substance-use

Filed under: Age-related,Alcohol,Crime/Violence/Prison,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Prevalence,Prevention and Intervention,Tobacco, smoking,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

by Ric Treble and Caroline Copeland – News Release 29-Jan-2026

The illicit drug trade is international, and different countries have developed different strategies intended to minimize its negative effects, most commonly through controls on, or prohibition of, specified substances. But which approaches to banning substances are actually most effective in reducing harm?

The advent of NPS, and the range of subsequent legislative controls introduced by different countries, has created a natural experiment. Using data from the UK’s National Programme on Substance Abuse Mortality (NPSUM), our study examines how different national and international control strategies have translated into real-world outcomes within England, Wales, and Northern Ireland by examining NPS deaths.

Internationally, there has been a high degree of consistency in drug control. The United Nations (UN) annually reviews and updates the lists of substances (and precursors) named in its drugs conventions, based on recommendations from the World Health Organization’s expert committee. All signatory nations of the conventions are then required to incorporate these controls into their national laws. However, this process of problem identification, data compilation, formulation of recommendations, and achieving international consensus followed by national legislation, is inevitably slow. In contrast, the appearance and spread of NPS within drug markets can be incredibly rapid, so there can be significant delays between local identification of issues arising from novel substances and the international introduction of new controls.

Beyond international laws

In response, some nations have therefore chosen to act sooner, introducing their own national controls in response to local concerns, in advance of, or in addition to, those required by the UN. This means that there is an international patchwork of legislation regarding emerging drug threats, with different substances being controlled in different countries at different times. Whilst challenging for policymakers, this variation provides a valuable opportunity to assess the impact of the application of different nations’ controls on particular substances.

In the UK, there have been very few examples of the illicit synthesis of NPS and the vast majority of such substances are imported instead, often facilitated by internet trading and ‘fast parcel’ delivery services. To address the rapid appearance of NPS, the UK’s Misuse of Drugs Act (1971) has been supplemented by other measures, such as the introduction of Temporary Class Drugs Orders (2011) and the much broader Psychoactive Substances Act (2016). These measures effectively prevented open sale of NPS via ‘head shops’ and UK-based websites. However, NPS remained accessible to both individuals and distributors via internet trading and traditional drug distribution networks.

The power of foreign legislation

Over the period studied, the major sources of NPS in the UK were chemical supply companies based in China. In response to both local and international concerns, China introduced a series of national controls over and above those required by UN scheduling, initially on specifically named substances and, more recently, on whole families of NPS by means of ‘generic’ controls.

When we compared trends in NPS detections within the NPSUM’s mortality data with the timing of the UN’s international control requirements and the UK’s and China’s national legislations respectively, a clear pattern emerged: controls implemented in the producing countries were associated with larger reductions in NPS detections in deaths than controls introduced solely within the consuming country.

Action at home

National legislation within consumer countries is, of course, still essential. It enables national law-enforcement activity, including restricting the import and trafficking supply chain and the implementation of possession offences. However, national legislation and enforcement alone cannot eliminate drug use or its associated harms. For this reason, they must be complemented by wide-ranging harm-reduction strategies. However, legislative controls can also drive unintended consequences. Targeted bans on specific substances often stimulate the development of novel NPS, including the production of new, as yet uncontrolled, variants of substances controlled by name. This pattern has been particularly evident in the case of synthetic cannabinoids, where successive generations of legislation-avoiding substances have continued to appear, prompting the development of ever broader generic controls.

However, even generic controls have limits. Where entire families of drugs are prohibited, new drug families which produce similar effects may emerge instead. This dynamic is currently being seen in the case of highly potent synthetic opioids, a particularly concerning cause of drug-related deaths. Broad controls on fentanyl and their pre-cursors have been followed by the appearance of nitazenes and, as controls on nitazenes are being introduced, a new group of potent opioids, the orphines, has begun to appear. These cycles of control and innovation are therefore likely to continue.

Early legislative action by consumer countries remains necessary to limit the distribution and harms of newly emerging NPS. The findings of our study also demonstrate the particular effectiveness of prompt action to restrict production within source countries to prevent international distribution. If, as a result of Chinese legislative actions, production of NPS for the illicit drug trade becomes more geographically diverse, action to identify new sources of production and to encourage and support supplier nations to restrict production as soon as practicable will be required. This will present particular challenges if the substances being produced and exported are not perceived to present a threat within the producing country.

However, supply-side interventions alone cannot provide a lasting solution: as long as there is sustained demand for psychoactive substances, there will be strong incentives for suppliers to adapt, innovate, and profit. Reducing drug harms will therefore require not only responsive legislation and international co-operation, but also investment in education, prevention, and treatment to address the drivers of demand.

Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1113837

Filed under: Crime/Violence/Prison,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

H, please include pic and DEA icon. P.

A billboard in Omaha, Nebraska with Fentanyl Free America written in blue atop of the American flag.

Four billboards with the Fentanyl Free America message have posted in Omaha, Nebraska.

OMAHA, Neb. – Four billboards designed to spark conversation about fentanyl popped up Feb. 2, in eastern Omaha in support of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Fentanyl Free America initiative. Fentanyl Free America is DEA’s commitment to protecting the United States from synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, by disrupting supply chains, reducing availability and saving American lives.

In 2025, agents with the DEA Omaha Field Division removed approximately one million deadly doses of fentanyl from Nebraska communities, enough to kill the entire Omaha metropolitan area population. Among this tally were 46 pounds of fentanyl powder and 146,000 counterfeit pills. Nebraska followed a nationwide trend in which powder seizures were higher than the year prior. Agents continue seeing fentanyl mixed with other substances including heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine, with users often unaware of its presence. In encouraging news, DEA labs reported a decline in fentanyl powder purity dropping from 20% in 2024 to 10/3% in 2025.

The billboards in Omaha emphasize three pillars of the Fentanyl Free America initiative, Protect, Prevent and Support and feature a website for additional information, dea.gov/fentanylfree.

“Enforcement is what we do best,” DEA Omaha Field Division Special Agent in Charge Dustin Gillespie said. “Working with our state, local, tribal and federal law enforcement partners, we shoulder the responsibility of protecting neighborhoods from drug threats. We work investigations that lead us into Mexico and chip away at the cartels pushing lethal substances into Nebraska. Now, we’re calling on the public to help with prevention and support. Don’t assume that your friends know the consequences of fentanyl use. Tell them, remind them, continue the conversation. If we truly want to eliminate fentanyl, we need to support one another, working together through different channels to make a difference.”

Locations of DEA’s Fentanyl Free America billboards are listed below.

Billboard locations in Omaha

Southeast corner of 50th and Northwest Radial Highway (facing east)
I-480 south of Martha (facing south)
13th Street south of Deer Park Boulevard (facing north)
Northeast corner of 20th and Leavenworth (facing west)

Source: https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2026/02/03/deas-fentanyl-free-america-billboards-remind-omaha-community-local-threat

Filed under: Addiction,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Fentanyl,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Image via Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

by Leah Harris – filtermag.org – February 4, 2026

At a sumptuous resort just outside Washington, DC, on February 2 for “Prevention Day,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his Safety Through Recovery, Engagement and Evidence-based Treatment and Supports (STREETS) Initiative. He opened by scapegoating people who use drugs as “negative producers” and “drags on the whole [health care] system.”

STREETS is billed as a $100-million investment to “solve long-standing homelessness issues, fight opioid addiction and improve public safety by expanding treatment.” It will be piloted in eight as-yet-unspecified cities, and is designed to operate in tandem with “assisted outpatient treatment” (AOT)—court-ordered psychiatric probation, similar to probation for drug violations. AOT saddles participants with the ever-present threat of being involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility for noncompliance, or even just a technical violation. HHS will soon offer $10 million in AOT grants (though this amount has been higher in previous years).

Kennedy now wants provider organizations to “take charge of an addict” for a period of one to three years. Providers would receive bundled payments if they ensure that the people in their custody remain in compliance with an abstinence-only model. This will prove beneficial to providers with stake in urinalysis testing—possibly the most notorious financial scheme in the rehab industry—but is not likely to result in long-term abstinence. It also incentivizes providers to employ policies that are increasingly punitive, result in misleading data, or both.

“While ICE terrorizes our families and communities, STREETS will do little to address our addictions, mental health and homelessness crises.”

STREETS furthers President Donald Trump’s July 2025 executive order titled “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets,” which was widely condemned as a declaration of war on unhoused people. The Legal Defense Fund likened it to a resurrection of the Black Codes preceding today’s “vagrancy” laws.

The Housing First model, which does not require abstinence as a precondition of access to permanent supportive housing, was created to address the failures of the “tough on homelessness” approach favored in the 1980s. Trump’s HHS has characterized Housing First and harm reduction-based programs as “misguided,” falsely claiming that they’ve been ineffective and “enabled future drug use.” This is reminiscent of proponents of involuntary commitment falsely contending that deinstitutionalization failed, when it was never fully implemented and was arguably still the most successful decarceration effort in United States history.

“While ICE terrorizes our families and communities, STREETS will do little to address our addictions, mental health and homelessness crises,” former Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration official Paolo del Vecchio told Filter, “turning away from proven harm reduction and Housing First approaches while embracing failed practices of coercion and criminalization.”

In red and blue jurisdictions alike, messaging is shifting from public health to public safety. Policymakers are expanding the reach of civil commitment laws to remove unhoused people from public view, disappeared into a vast system of coercive programs. Some fear these may include forced labor farms and detention camps.

Investment in faith-based treatment and “outcome-oriented” payment models all but guarantee increased coercion from providers.

In 2025 the White House announced its Faith Office, which supports “faith-based entities, community organizations and houses of worship” in competing on “a level playing field” for federal grants and other funding opportunities.

“Faith-based organizations play a critical role in helping people re-establish their connections to community,” Kennedy, a 12-step devotee, told the audience on February 2. The same day, Faith Center Director Monty Burks spoke at a separate, virtual event introducing STREETS to community stakeholders.

Several of the Prevention Day event speakers signaled the desire to phase out the health insurance industry’s current fee-for-service models, in which providers are reimbursed based on quantity, and instead use “outcome-oriented” or “values-based” payments that incentivize based on quality—and are still rife with inequities. The costs and administrative burdens of both approaches could be eliminated if we ditched the predatory health insurance industry in favor of Medicare for All.

Investment in faith-based treatment and “outcome-oriented” payment models all but guarantee increased coercion from providers, potentially in violation of the First Amendment.

In January, a separate executive order establishing the “Great American Recovery Initiative” (of which Kennedy is a co-chair) warned that most people who need treatment don’t think that they do. It appears that the public is being primed for the widespread involuntary detention of unhoused people who use drugs and/or have visible symptoms of mental illness.

“We intervene early,” Kennedy told Chris Cuomo of News Nation on February 3. “We catch people on the street and channel them into treatment, out of crisis through detox, treatment, outpatient and into sober housing.”

Cuomo gently pushed back: “You can’t make people get treatment if they don’t want to.”

“We have a community care program that involves the courts,” Kennedy retorted. This, he said, is a more “efficient, economic and humane” approach to those who refuse services.

Source: https://filtermag.org/hhs-streets-initiative-treatment-prevention-day/amp/

Filed under: Addiction,Crime/Violence/Prison,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Drugs and Accidents,HIV/Injecting-Drug-Users,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Staff Sgt. Shane Sanders – 161st Air Refueling Wing

Red Ribbon Week, the nation’s largest and longest running drug prevention campaign, serves as a reminder of the importance of prevention, education, and community involvement.

by Staff Sgt. Shane Sanders – 01.28.2026 – PHOENIX, ARIZONA, UNITED STATES

Observed annually from Oct. 23 through Oct. 31, the campaign brings together schools, families, and organizations nationwide to promote drug-free lifestyles and encourage young people to make healthy choices.

The campaign was established in honor of Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, who was killed in 1985 while investigating drug cartels in Mexico. His sacrifice sparked a national movement symbolized by the red ribbon, which represents a collective stand against substance misuse and a commitment to protecting future generations. Since then, Red Ribbon Week has educated millions through educational programs, student pledges, rallies, and prevention-focused activities.

In Arizona, the Counterdrug Task Force’s Drug Demand Reduction and Outreach (DDRO) program has played an increasing role in Red Ribbon Week by expanding statewide prevention efforts and access to education and outreach services.

In 2023, DDRO recorded 8,107 engagements during Red Ribbon Week, along with 8,050 student pledges. In 2024, those numbers tripled to 25,183 engagements and 11,110 pledges. In 2025, DDRO reached a new milestone, achieving 82,829 engagements and 28,236 student pledges during the campaign.

These figures represent more than attendance totals, they reflect points of connection where prevention messaging reached students, families, and communities. Engagements included in-person classroom presentations, community outreach events, public service announcements, online interactions, YouTube views, and joint outreach efforts conducted with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). DDRO also expanded access through virtual presentations, ensuring schools and organizations unable to host in-person events could still participate.

A major enhancement in 2025 was DDRO’s decision to extend Red Ribbon Week outreach beyond the traditional calendar. Instead of limiting activities to a single week, prevention efforts were expanded from Oct. 1 through Nov. 5. This extended timeframe provided schools greater flexibility to participate, increased accessibility for underserved communities, and amplified statewide impact.

According to Daniel Morehouse, Community Outreach Specialist with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, collaboration between DDRO and DEA played a critical role in amplifying prevention messaging during this year’s Red Ribbon Week. He emphasized that the scale of reach achieved in 2025 would not have been possible without shared resources and coordinated efforts. When agencies work together, Morehouse noted, audiences, particularly youth, are more engaged and receptive.

“Our drive for a Fentanyl Free America requires not just the enforcement side of things, but also outreach and education,” Morehouse said, adding that DDRO’s professionalism and prevention expertise significantly strengthens DEA’s prevention tools and messaging.

The success of DDRO’s Red Ribbon Week is rooted in strong partnerships. Schools across Arizona coordinated schedules, engaged students, and supported prevention activities. Community organizations, prevention coalitions, and agency partners worked alongside DDRO to strengthen outreach and reinforce consistent prevention messaging.

Merilee Fowler, Executive Director of the Substance Awareness Coalition Leaders of Arizona, highlighted the importance of collaboration in achieving meaningful impact. She shared that it was inspiring to see the number of students and adults reached during the 2025 campaign; noting that students across Arizona proudly pledged to grow up safe, healthy, and drug-free.

Fowler emphasized that coordinated prevention efforts strengthen communities statewide. When prevention organizations and coalitions work together, she explained, they create collective impact that improves the ability to prevent and reduce substance use. She also stressed the importance of a comprehensive approach that balances enforcement with education and outreach.

“Preventing and solving drug problems in our communities is complex and requires a combination of enforcement, education, and outreach,” Fowler said. “Success depends on all of us working together as a united team.”

She further noted that effective prevention must include families as well as youth. Partnerships among DDRO, SACLAZ, DEA, and other organizations have expanded outreach to parents and caregivers, and open conversations at home about the real harms of substance use play a critical role in prevention, she said.

U.S. Arizona Air National Guard Senior Master Sgt. Michael Gunderson, serves as the Non-Commission Officer in Charge of Arizona DDRO. In this role, Gunderson oversees the planning, coordination, and execution of statewide substance-use prevention and education efforts, working closely with schools, community coalitions, law-enforcement agencies, and prevention partners.

“At the heart of Red Ribbon Week and DDRO’s expanding efforts are the students themselves. Each pledge represents a personal commitment, and each engagement reflects a conversation that may influence future decisions,” said Gunderson. “The continued growth of DDRO’s Red Ribbon Week outreach demonstrates the power of prevention when communities unite around a shared purpose, protecting youth, honoring legacy, and building healthier, safer futures.”

As DDRO continues to grow, the program remains committed to refining its practices through evaluation, evidence-based strategies, and flexible delivery methods tailored to community needs. These efforts ensure prevention messaging remains accessible, relevant, and effective.

Source: https://www.dvidshub.net/news/556965/arizona-red-ribbon-week-expands-reach-spreading-prevention-awareness

Filed under: Age-related,Crime/Violence/Prison,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

Boston University School of Public Health – News Release 6-Feb-2026

by Jillian McKoy, Michael Saunders

OPENING STATEMENT BY NDPA:

We publish this article for its general interest, whilst at the same time noticing several remarks favouring policy change, which suggest this article may be loaded with some degree of bias – nevertheless it is worthy of study … we recommend that readers just keep a pinch of salt handy!

As the federal government begins to loosen restrictions on cannabis, a new study found that removing legal barriers to cannabis use may reduce daily opioid use and, thus, the risk of opioid-related overdoses among people who inject drugs

Legalizing cannabis for both medical and recreational use may lead to a decline in daily opioid use among people who inject drugs in the United States, according to a new study led by a Boston University School of Public Health researcher (BUSPH).

Published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, the study found that US states that legalized marijuana for medical and adult recreational use saw a 9-to-11-percentage-point decline in daily opioid use among this population, compared to states that legalized marijuana for medical use only.

While the harms and benefits of cannabis use and cannabis reform continue to be debated on the national stage, these findings highlight one major potential advantage of widespread access to marijuana: this increased access may enable people to substitute their use of the unstable and toxic opioid supply with comparatively safer cannabis and, thus, lower their chances of experiencing opioid-related harms or dying from an overdose. In the US, opioids contribute to more than 75 percent of fatal drug overdoses.

The study was published on the heels of a significant shift in US drug policy that will indeed lower restrictions on cannabis. Last December, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to downgrade cannabis from a Schedule 1 classification (assigned to drugs such as heroin and ecstasy) to a Schedule 3 classification, which refers to drugs that pose minimal to moderate risk of physical or psychological dependence. Nearly all US states and Washington, DC have legalized cannabis for medical use, while 48 percent of states allow cannabis for adult recreational use.

People who inject drugs are part of a population that is at the epicenter of the opioid crisis in America, and they stand to benefit the most from policies that increase access to cannabis. By focusing on this group, the study builds upon past research on cannabis use and opioid mortality that has primarily examined the general population—which has a lower risk of experiencing opioid-related harms—with mixed results.

“The magnitude of decrease in opioid use that we observed among a population that is experienced with opioid use and likely to experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms after reducing this use is very profound and important,” says study lead and corresponding author Dr. Danielle Haley, assistant professor of community health sciences at BUSPH.

The takeaway, she says, is that creating a safe and regulated supply of a substance is a valuable overdose prevention tactic because it can reduce use of non-regulated and more dangerous substances. “Legalized cannabis tends to be higher quality and more potent. As these products become more available and cheaper, people might be able to reduce their opioid use even without increasing how often they use cannabis.”

For the study, Dr. Haley and colleagues utilized data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National HIV Behavioral Surveillance, including self-reported use of cannabis and non-medical opioid use among within the last 12 months among nearly 29,000 people who inject drugs, comparing data from states that did not legalize cannabis, legalized it for medical use only, or legalized it for both medical and adult recreational use. The data spanned 13 states in four waves: 2012, 2015, 2018, and 2022.

The decline in opioid use was equivalent across all racial and ethnic groups, as well as among males and females.

“This study adds to a growing body of evidence that sensible changes to our outdated drug policies can have a positive health impact, especially among some of our most vulnerable neighbors,” says study coauthor Dr. Leo Beletsky, professor of law and health sciences at Northeastern University.

The team did not observe overall links between cannabis legalization and daily cannabis use, but cannabis use did increase by five percentage points among White participants living in states that transitioned from no legalization to legalizing cannabis for medical use only. This increase among White participants could reflect long-standing racial inequities in healthcare that make it easier for White people to navigate health systems and services than people of other races, the researchers say.

Understanding how policies related to substance use benefit the health of people who use drugs is essential for effective cannabis reform.

“What this study shows is the potential impact of decriminalization paired with access to a regulated supply,” says Stephen Murray, adjunct clinical assistant professor of community health sciences at BUSPH, who is also an overdose survivor and former paramedic with expertise in overdose prevention. Murray was not involved in the study. “When legal barriers are removed and people have safer alternatives available, we see meaningful reductions in daily opioid use—even among people with long histories of injection drug use. That’s a powerful signal.”

But the findings also serve as a reminder that the design and implementation of these policies matter, he says. “Commercialized access to cannabis does not benefit all communities equally, and without intentional equity-focused policy, longstanding racial disparities in healthcare access and criminalization can persist even under legalization.”

The researchers say future research should further investigate links between legal medical and recreational cannabis and reduced opioid use, as well consider benefits in other areas, such as a reduction in cases of blood-borne infections through injection.

The study’s senior author is Dr. Hannah Cooper, Rollins Chair of Substance Use Disorders Research and professor of behavioral, social, and health education sciences at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.

About Boston University School of Public Health

Founded in 1976, Boston University School of Public Health is one of the top ten ranked schools of public health in the world. It offers master’s- and doctoral-level education in public health. The faculty in six departments conduct policy-changing public health research around the world, with the mission of improving the health of populations—especially the disadvantaged, underserved, and vulnerable—locally and globally.

SOURCE:

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Opioids,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

by Jan Hoffman, NY Times – 15.12.2025

Medetomidine, a veterinary sedative, mixed into fentanyl has sent thousands to hospitals, not only for overdose but for life-threatening withdrawal. It is spreading to other cities.

Joseph is newly in recovery from fentanyl mixed with medetomidine, a veterinary sedative. Philadelphia’s hospitals are strained by cases of medetomidine withdrawal, which have life-threatening symptoms.

Around 2 a.m., Joseph felt the withdrawal coming on, sudden and hard. He fell to the floor convulsing, vomiting ferociously. The delirium and hallucinations were starting.

He shook awake his friend, who had let him in earlier to shower, wash his clothes and grab some sleep. “Do you have a few dollars?” he pleaded. “I have to get right.”

The friend, a community outreach worker who had been trying for years to get him into treatment, looked up at him standing over her raving and unfocused.

“Either leave or let me call an ambulance,” she demanded.

At 34, Joseph (who, with his friend, recounted the evening in interviews with The New York Times) had been through opioid withdrawals many times — on Philadelphia streets, in jail, in rehab. But he had never experienced anything as terrifyingly all-consuming as this.

A new drug has been saturating the fentanyl supply in Philadelphia and moving to other cities throughout the East and Midwestern United States: medetomidine, a powerful veterinary sedative that causes almost instantaneous blackouts and, if not used every few hours, brings on life-threatening withdrawal symptoms.

It has created a new type of drug crisis — one that is occasioned not by overdosing on the drug, but by withdrawing from it.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/health/medetomidine-withdrawal-symptoms-treatment.html?

Filed under: Addiction,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Harm Reduction,Latest News,Opioids,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Forwarded by Maggie Petito – Dec 31 2025

The following are two articles forwarded by Maggie Petito of Drug Watch International. The first article touches on recruiting young ones as assassins for the rackets/cartels. The second article says: “SFS applauds the Trump Administration for taking this step and encourages it to go further, by expanding the list of individuals and entities working in both countries and broadening it to China and Russia which are also working with Iran to prop up the Maduro regime and weaken the U.S. in the region.”

First article sent by Maggie Petito:

– – The Financial Times – Barney Jopson: “Criminal drug gangs have become a grave threat to European security by flooding the streets with South American cocaine, seeking to corrupt officials and hiring a new wave of paid assassins, according to the EU’s drugs agency. Due to financial crises, terrorism, Covid-19 and the Ukraine war, European policymakers had not paid enough attention to the criminal organisations that had built sprawling drugs businesses, said Alexis Goosdeel, outgoing director of the EU Drugs Agency (EUDA). Now, Europe was belatedly waking up to the “hyper-availability” of illegal drugs and to traffickers’ pervasive attempts to intimidate and corrupt officials in ports, police forces and the judiciary, Goosdeel added. `We discovered the tip of the iceberg and we have not seen what is under the surface,’ he told the Financial Times at the end of his 10-year term as head of the Lisbon-based EUDA. `I think for the moment it’s not even possible to imagine the dimensions.’ This year has served up stark examples. A police union in southern Spain said the state had `lost control’ of the fight against traffickers. A judge said Belgium was at risk of becoming a `narco-state.’ And the killing of an anti-drug activist’s brother in Marseille heightened fears that France was heading the same way. Alexis Goosdeel: ‘Assassination as a service involves young people who are recruited using social media’ Goosdeel warned that the trade in illicit drugs posed a `multidimensional’ menace to Europe, extending from lethal violence to institutional corruption. `The threat today is very high,’ he said. This month, the European Commission unveiled a new narcotics action plan, calling drug trafficking a `major threat to Europeans’ wellbeing’ that demanded a `stronger, co-ordinated response across the EU…’ Goosdeel said there has been an “encouraging” increase in European criminals finally being extradited from their sanctuaries in Dubai, which remains home to notorious figures including Daniel Kinahan, the Irish boss of the Kinahan organised crime group.”

Second article sent by Maggie Petito:

Drug gangs pose grave threat to European security, agency warns

Scale of Europe’s narcotics crisis ‘not even possible to imagine’, says EUDA director Alexis Goosdeel

The Financial Times Barney Jopson in Madrid 12-31-25

Criminal drug gangs have become a grave threat to European security by flooding the streets with South American cocaine, seeking to corrupt officials and hiring a new wave of paid assassins, according to the EU’s drugs agency. Due to financial crises, terrorism, Covid-19 and the Ukraine war, European policymakers had not paid enough attention to the criminal organisations that had built sprawling drugs businesses, said Alexis Goosdeel, outgoing director of the EU Drugs Agency (EUDA). Now, Europe was belatedly waking up to the “hyper-availability” of illegal drugs and to traffickers’ pervasive attempts to intimidate and corrupt officials in ports, police forces and the judiciary, Goosdeel added. “We discovered the tip of the iceberg and we have not seen what is under the surface,” he told the Financial Times at the end of his 10-year term as head of the Lisbon-based EUDA. “I think for the moment it’s not even possible to imagine the dimensions.” This year has served up stark examples. A police union in southern Spain said the state had “lost control” of the fight against traffickers. A judge said Belgium was at risk of becoming a “narco-state”.

And the killing of an anti-drug activist’s brother in Marseille heightened fears that France was heading the same way. Alexis Goosdeel: ‘Assassination as a service involves young people who are recruited using social media’ Goosdeel warned that the trade in illicit drugs posed a “multidimensional” menace to Europe, extending from lethal violence to institutional corruption. “The threat today is very high,” he said.

This month, the European Commission unveiled a new narcotics action plan, calling drug trafficking a “major threat to Europeans’ wellbeing” that demanded a “stronger, co-ordinated response across the EU”. The biggest recent change has been a surge in the production and trafficking of cocaine, mainly from Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, Goosdeel said. “For the last six, seven years we have seen a really exponential increase in the availability of cocaine on the European market, with stable prices, a very high level of purity,” he said. As a result, “there is pressure from the producers to find new customers or to make customers use more”, creating sharper competition between rival drug organisations. Europe is also experiencing a rise of “crime as a service”, including hired assassins to take out rivals and contractors who can set up industrial-scale amphetamine labs. “Assassination as a service involves young people who are recruited using social media,” Goosdeel said. “They are brought to another country to commit a crime, then they are brought back.” Goosdeel said it was not possible to know how US President Donald Trump’s recent strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug trafficking boats would affect Europe “because there is no documentation” and “there were no legal cases brought against those people and those boats”. The ubiquity of drugs in Europe is linked in part to large-scale trafficking via commercial shipping containers, an import route that was far less common 10 years ago, he said. Ports are joining forces to fight trafficking. Some, such as Antwerp, have introduced stricter controls on dockers, including biometric IDs and preset timeframes for access to containers and cranes. But Goosdeel said that had prompted criminal gangs to shift their attention to managers who control container movements. “Criminal organisations will not easily renounce corruption. Corruption is a way for them to reach their objectives,” he said. “They try at every level.” But Goosdeel said there has been an “encouraging” increase in European criminals finally being extradited from their sanctuaries in Dubai, which remains home to notorious figures including Daniel Kinahan, the Irish boss of the Kinahan organised crime group. He argued that governments must go beyond enforcement to address why demand for dangerous substances — both illicit drugs and misused medicines — was rising. “Using substances at different moments in our life or in the day to cope with anxiety, with difficulties or to improve our performance is much more widespread than it was 10 or 20 years ago,” he said. He linked the change to socio-economic pressures, such as the struggles of young people to find a job or afford a home, together with anxiety over Covid and the Ukraine war. “We need to understand that the fact that we have more users doesn’t mean that they are all criminals or all addicts,” Goosdeel said. A new approach would involve more investment in harm reduction, plus new treatment protocols for drug dependence, especially on cocaine. But he said it should also encompass the root causes of drug abuse, even as countries across Europe are pressured to spend less on social welfare and more on defence. “We are at a moment where it’s really time to find a way to reinvest in living together,” he said.

Source: www.drugwatch.org

Filed under: Crime/Violence/Prison,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Latest News,USA,Youth :

As 30 Days of Drug Facts comes to an end this December, we encourage you to take time to learn about drugs. When you know the risks and effects, you can prevent misuse, avoid harmful interactions, and recognize warning signs early to help those in need.

Accurate information also protects against the danger of hearing incorrect information from your peers or through social media. Education strengthens both you and your community’s safety by lowering crime and health issues linked to drug abuse.

DEA.gov offers many drug fact sheets where you can find descriptions of a drug’s effects on the body and mind, history, legal status, and other key facts. Remember, you play a vital role in educating your friends, family, and colleagues on how to make healthy, informed decisions. Learn more today.

To access the full document:

Click on the ‘Source’ link below.
An image of the front page of the full document will appear.
Click on the image to open the full document.

Source: https://www.dea.gov/factsheets?Utm_campaign=20251230_30days&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Latest News,USA :

Published by Michigan State University College of Human Medicine:

Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. (2025). At least 1 in 6 pregnant Michigan women uses cannabis. MSUToday. https://humanmedicine.msu.edu/news/2025-at-least-1-in-6-pregnant-michigan-women-uses-cannabis.html

Marijuana use among pregnant women has exponentially increased over the last 20 years. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), pregnant women, especially those from high-income countries like the United States, have reported use ranging from 3.9% to 22.6%. This change in the landscape of substance use is observed in states like Michigan where both medical and recreational marijuana are legal. As access expands and perception shifts, researchers are racing to understand the number of pregnant women using marijuana and what factors shape that decision.

A recent study from the University of Michigan analyzed data of self-reported marijuana use and urine toxicology testing from 1,100 mothers in Michigan between 2017 and 2023, finding that 1 in 6 pregnant mothers used marijuana and in some parts of the state, that number is as high as 1 in 4.

Other key findings include:

· 25% reported using marijuana 3 months prior to becoming pregnant

· 12.3% self-reported using marijuana while pregnant

· 13.3% tested positive from urine toxicology testing

When self-reported use was considered together with urine toxicology results, the prevalence reached 16.8%, substantially higher than the national average of 9.8%. This study also found that single pregnant individuals, those with lower educational attainment, individuals who presented with symptoms of depression, or who had a history of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) had a higher likelihood of prenatal marijuana use.

Why are pregnant women turning to marijuana?

· Perceived safety: nearly 1 in 5 pregnant women believed that weekly marijuana use poses “no risk”

· Affordability: Michigan’s cannabis market is one the largest in the country, with prices dropping from ~$267 to $65/ounce in 2025

· Symptom relief: 81.5% reported using it to relieve stress, anxiety

· Ease of acquisition: 91.7% of pregnant users said that it was easy to obtain

The increased prevalence of marijuana use discovered in this and many other studies, suggest that many pregnant individuals may not fully understand the risks or may be using marijuana for symptom relief without the guidance of their healthcare provider.

To learn more about the risks of marijuana use during pregnancy and parenthood, visit marijuanaknowthetruth.org/marijuana-and-pregnancy for science-based resources, including fast facts, videos, and the latest research.

Source: Drug Free America Foundation | 333 3rd Ave N Suite 200 | St. Petersburg, FL 33701 US

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Health,Latest News,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

by Staff Sgt. Shane Sanders – 161st Air Refueling Wing – 01.28.2026

Source: https://www.dvidshub.net/news/556965/arizona-red-ribbon-week-expands-reach-spreading-prevention-awareness

Filed under: Age-related,Education,Latest News,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

OPENING STATEMENT BY NDPA:

This article combines two emails – the first from Herschel Baker of Drug Free Australia and the reply from John Coleman, President of the Board of Directors of Drug Watch International, and they therefore need to be studied as a collective assessment by experts on this subject.

From: John Coleman <john.coleman.phd@gmail.com>
Sent: 06 January 2026 14:30
To: Herschel Baker <hmbaker1938@hotmail.com>;
Subject: Re:

Herschel,

Thank you for the very informative report. And yes, there are TV commercials playing in the Washington DC area thanking Trump for closing the border, reducing taxes, and rescheduling cannabis. The ad says that recognizing cannabis as a medicine will end the cartel’s monopoly, help the elderly, and military vets, etc.

It is truly amazing how often we repeat history, much to our own detriment. In 1858, after two wars fought with China over the importation and sale of opium, produced by the East India Company in India, then a British colony, several treaties were executed between the defeated empire and Western powers having assets and interests in the region.

The British treaty (there were four separate treaties between China and Russia, China and the U.S., China and the United Kingdom, and China and Russia) was perhaps the most important at the time because of the UK’s opium interests in India and China and the two very destructive wars that had been fought between the ill-equipped Chinese and the well-trained and well-equipped British forces (supported, of all things, by soldiers of the Second French Empire).

Lord Elgin aka James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, was sent by the U.K. to fight the war and, later, negotiate the peace treaty to end it. He was, to say the least, ruthless in war and cunning in peace. In the treaty, Elgin forced the Chinese to continue to accept British imports of Indian opium that, in turn, would be taxed at the port and the monies used to assist persons and families adversely affected by smoking opium. I give Elgin credit for inventing the theory of Harm Reduction (apologies to Al Lindesmith).

Elgin’s plan worked horribly because overnight a domestic market in China for producing opium sprung up to compete (successfully) with the taxed and more expensive imported British opium. In time, China became not just an opium consuming nation but a prolific opium producer, as well.

In 1893, Queen Victoria, responding to growing criticism at home and abroad, formed a Royal Commission to study the opium trade between India and China. In its report to the Queen whose titles included Empress of India, the Commission concluded that, “the temperate use of opium in India should be viewed in the same light as the temperate use of alcohol in England.” The Commission largely ignored the effect of the opium trade on China where, five years later, The Times of London reported that 70 percent of adult males were using opium.

It would take at least another half-century to undo Elgin’s plan. Beginning in 1949, revolutionary dictator Mao Zedong had to murder and banish millions of addicts over the course of his long reign as head of the PRC to end what Elgin started.

But not to worry. The cannabis industry today and their TV ads promise that this time around things will be better and making cannabis a medicine will accomplish great things and destroy the cartels. The French have a good saying for this: Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose (The more things change, the more they remain the same.)

Amazing!

John Coleman

From: Herschel Baker <hmbaker1938@hotmail.com>
Sent: Monday, January 5, 2026 10:23 PM
To: John Coleman -john.coleman.phd@gmail.com
Subject: DOJ could ignore Trump’s cannabis rescheduling order?

Good Afternoon,

1. It appears that Trump has dismissed the drug prevention network concerns regarding very the harmful effects on America future Generations by strong THC. Please note that both the PAC and MAGA Inc., lists Charles Gantt as its treasurer it appears that MAGA has received $1 million from the marijuana industry.
.,
2. I believe that Erika Kirk of Turning Point maybe the best approach to President Trump who is trying to move Medical Marijuana from Scheduling 1 because Turning Point is strongly focus on students and this change to a very weak Scheduling 3 is just a money maker for Big Cannabis. Erika Kirk of Turning Point is the one that can lead the debate to President Trump that he has been dupe and con regarding both the Mental and Physical health cause to the community by very strong THC in Medical Marijuana and edibles.

Please note additional information below.
Re: President Donald Trump recent marijuana rescheduling order, some are arguing that it will “destroy” the illicit market and support seniors and military veterans who could benefit from cannabis.
“Trump’s action will destroy the cartel’s illicit black market, expand medical research and ensure seniors and veterans safely receive the care they need,”
The description of the impact of the executive order is somewhat exaggerated, in part because it suggests the rescheduling deal is done. In reality, the order directs the attorney general to expeditiously complete the process of moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

The Justice Department has not given a timeline for when that might happen, and congressional researchers recently pointed out that it’s possible the agency could start the process over again, or decline to move forward all together.

But even if and when the process is finalized, it’s unclear how that would “destroy” the illicit market. Rescheduling cannabis wouldn’t federally legalize it, which advocates have argued would be necessary in order to meaningfully disrupt illegal sales.
The tax parity impact of moving marijuana to Schedule III is one of the more significant reasons industry stakeholders have been pushing for the incremental reform, even if it doesn’t immediately legalize cannabis. Beyond that, a Schedule III designation would symbolically recognize the plant’s medical value and loosen certain research restrictions tied to Schedule I drugs.
Notably, the organization behind the new ad is associated with the similarly named America First Agriculture Action Inc., a PAC that lists Charles Gantt as its treasurer. Gantt is also the treasurer of Trump’s own political committee, MAGA Inc., which reported receiving $1 million from a marijuana industry PAC that’s supported by multiple major cannabis companies.

That committee, the American Rights and Reform PAC, separately released ads in May that attacked former President Joe Biden’s marijuana policy record in an apparent attempt to push Trump to go further on the issue.

Meanwhile, a coalition of Republican state attorneys general are criticizing Trump’s decision to federally reschedule marijuana, saying cannabis is “properly” classified as a Schedule I drug with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.
Earlier this month, groups of House and Senate Republican lawmakers also sent letters urging Trump not to reschedule cannabis. Trump, however, dismissed those concerns—pointing out that an overwhelming majority of Americans support the reform and that cannabis can help people who are suffering from serious health issues, including his personal friends.

This following link is to a piece is from a pro pot source but sheds light on what is behind the move:.
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/group-with-ties-to-trump-linked-pac-applauds-marijuana-rescheduling-move-in-new-ad-saying-itll-help-veterans-and-destroy-illicit-market/

Kind regards

Herschel Baker
International Liaison Director
Queensland Director
Drug Free Australia

Source: President of the Board of Directors of Drug Watch International -john.coleman.phd@gmail.com

Filed under: Latest News,Political Sector,USA :

The Lexington Times

by Anabel Peterman (This post was originally published by CivicLex) – January 11, 2026

This story was produced as part of a joint Equitable Cities Reporting Fellowship for Rural-Urban Issues between CivicLex and Next City.

While serving a three-year prison sentence for meth trafficking, Matewood Gerald got the call that she’d soon be a grandmother.

Gerald started abusing drugs when she was just 13, and she says everyone in the small town of Irvine has seen her at her worst. But she had to become the best version of herself for her granddaughter.

“I would lay there and think, is she gonna like me? Am I going to be perfect whenever I get out?” Gerald says.

Less than five years later, she is a peer support specialist with Mercy Health Marcum and Wallace Hospital in rural Irvine, Kentucky. It’s the only hospital serving a four-county region, including Estill County. In this role, she and other medical professionals meet with people struggling with active addiction – people who almost always recognize her – and ensure they have clean supplies and are in a safe environment. They always offer rehabilitation services for anyone who’s ready.

Harm reduction measures, like syringe exchanges and narcan distribution, are gaining strength in Estill County. It became a state-certified ‘Recovery Ready’ county last month. The Irvine city council prohibited syringe exchange in 2020, so hospital officials and the Estill County Health Department found creative ways to reach people in active addiction, including a mobile clinic.

“It has not always been popular in our area. Actually, just about six months ago, [syringe exchange] wasn’t even allowed in the city limits,” says Trena Lynn Stocker, president of Mercy Health Marcum and Wallace Hospital in Irvine, Kentucky. “We are now garnering support at the city level. We didn’t always have that. We had a police chief that, at one point, if you had fentanyl testing strips, he was going to get you for paraphernalia.”

Across all of Kentucky, too, harm reduction is gaining traction. More than 30 of its counties are deemed ‘recovery ready,’ signifying they run accessible drug and alcohol abuse programs. More than half of the state has implemented harm reduction protocols. These numbers encourage the idea that the Commonwealth is taking steps to protect those battling addiction.

Estill County ranked fifth out of Kentucky’s 120 counties for drug overdose deaths per 100,000 residents in 2024. But that’s an improvement – Estill had the highest rate of overdose deaths statewide in both 2021 and 2023.

These practitioners explain that harm reduction, which brings resources and life-saving materials to people already abusing drugs, is helping save lives in rural Kentucky. Yet, it doesn’t get to the root cause of drug abuse. That’s why they showed up on a rainy Tuesday evening to the Estill Development Alliance’s second Parent Cafe.

It’s one piece of the Estill Pathfinder Initiative Coalition (EPIC), a holistic approach to drug prevention in the local youth that’s inspired by an evidence-based model from overseas. Officials say the Development Alliance supports this programming through its unique development model, focused on being a one-stop shop for community health and wellbeing.

“GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO DO”

Since 1983, the D.A.R.E program has been the standard for drug prevention across America. Police officers give lecture-style presentations to elementary schoolers about the dangers of drug and alcohol use, encouraging them to ‘just say no.’ D.A.R.E does not address root factors in individual communities or teach its students how to be safe if they do engage in drugs. Critics say that’s why the program has been ineffective. Yet, the curriculum is still actively used in many Kentucky schools.

Suzanne Waite has worked in the Estill County school system for years, so she saw these trends firsthand and sought out a different approach. Two years ago, she came across a better fit for residents’ needs, which inspired her to team up with the Estill Development Alliance and create EPIC.

The Icelandic Prevention Model was first conceptualized in the 1990s, when rates of drinking and drug use among European teenagers were at their peak. About 23% of 15- and 16- year olds in Iceland had reported smoking daily, and 42% had drank alcohol in the previous month.

In response, the Icelandic government decided to implement new regulations for its youth. A mandatory country-wide curfew for children under 16 was set, though that facet of the model hasn’t gained much traction outside of its home country.

What did stick: parental involvement and bolstering recreational programs for students. When Waite took on leadership of EPIC this year, that’s what she honed in on.

“It’s looking at your community, coming together to address this issue, and looking at things that are more preventative upstream”, Waite says.

The Icelandic prevention model has been adopted by organizations in 19 countries, though EPIC is one of the few official partners in the United States. The process starts with the same in-depth survey that the Icelandic Model uses, provided by a global group called Planet Youth.

Waite’s learned they can’t always take survey responses at face value, as many teens start off afraid to admit their own drug use.

“They do ask the questions in multiple ways, like many tests. It’ll say, ‘have you engaged in drugs?’ [and] 23% of them might say yes,” Waite explains. “But amazingly, 85% know a friend that has.”

She says it’s no wonder why kids turn to substance use instead of recreation. The small town of 2,000 has limited infrastructure; at first glance, it can be hard to find variety in activities, especially for kids.

“There’s no local movie theater. There’s no local bowling alley. There’s no local skating rink. You’ve got to go out of town for all of those things. And there’s not a community center that would just be [for] fun activity,” Waite says. “And then, there’s no public transportation.”

Many of these kids can only congregate with each other at school. So that’s where Waite started: a new leadership club at Estill County High School. In EPIC’s first two years, students launched and took full charge of the “Council of Engineers Leading for Tomorrow.”

“Our schools’ mascots are the engineers,” Waite explains. “Last year’s group, they did a color run to raise some funding [and] raise some awareness … Currently, we got a grant through the Kentucky Retail Survey Project. And we went out into the environment and did an environmental scan of the different tobacco retailer outlets here.”

These students are learning about environmental factors that correlate to certain shops selling tobacco products to underage customers. Another advantage of this ‘environmental scan’ is that they are eagerly engaging with the Estill County community and local leadership.

“We actually got them on the agendas for four different groups in the county,” Waite says. The club was signed up to present this environmental scan at the local city council, fiscal court, school board and Estill Development Alliance’s chamber meeting. “[I told them], ‘OK, you don’t have to do all four. But these are the adults that would like to hear from you and what you found out.’ And they said, ‘we’ll do them all!’”

It gives young students a sense of accomplishment and involvement, especially hard to find in a rural county, she says. That’s what resonated most with EPIC when its leaders learned about the Icelandic Prevention Model from Planet Youth.

“Drug abuse ends up being because something is broken. So, what is broken that you’re trying to fix?” Waite says. “We’re trying to let you see that you don’t have to be dependent upon some substance, to get that feeling of, ‘I feel good about myself,’ if you can get that from people in your life that do care about you.”

EPIC is planning a lot more activities; through a grant with Operation UNITE, she anticipates hosting a youth talent show in the spring, where local musicians will mentor students hoping to perform. And last year, the CELT club began working with Irvine City Council to build a city park on a vacant parcel of land in town.

In the next two years, officials with the Estill Development Alliance also hope to convert their facility into a gathering spot for youth to drop in as they wish. Once that’s complete, their offices will provide yet another service to their community.

ESTILL DEVELOPMENT ALLIANCE

EPIC is one of multiple divisions within the Estill Development Alliance. Even within such a small town, Estill Development Alliance communications director Payten Rice says, the Chamber of Commerce itself is bustling.

“We have about 104 businesses that are members of our chamber that serve to support our local economy. We always are doing events and fundraising in ways [so] businesses can get involved with the community,” Rice says.

In most cases, the local chamber of commerce is more connected to the city or county municipal government, often independent organizations that benefit from government support. The Estill Development Alliance instead hosts the Chamber of Commerce, which Rice says helps the organization avoid any sort of bias.

“It’s a working relationship, but we’re pretty independent,” Rice explains.

The money invested into the Chamber of Commerce gets a positive return; those funds, combined with grants, very limited local government contributions, and personal donations, have kept the Estill Development Alliance’s lights on for more than 20 years.

In turn, it powers the organization’s other divisions, like the outdoor-recreation based Estill County Action Group, the five-county regional leadership group LEAP, and several philanthropic and civic engagement initiatives. One division, the River City Players, leads a community theatre group and supports the revitalization of the local historic theatre.

“There’s not a lot of development alliances that have a very old movie theater that they’re rebuilding. And let me tell you, that’s a passionate group of people,” says Stocker. In addition to her role at Mercy Health, she is also a board member of almost every Estill Development Alliance division.

Stocker explains these branches may seem unrelated, but they all serve the purpose of strengthening the infrastructure and social health of their town. This further contributes to the mission of EPIC.

“We have it here,” Stocker says. “You just have to have some ownership in figuring out what is going on in your community.”

She says Estill County has enough economic momentum; it will take a combination of the preventative work from EPIC and Mercy Health’s harm reduction to help this money go toward local businesses instead of drugs.

“It goes hand in hand because of the amount of money that is being wasted on drugs by community members and the tax on the healthcare system,” Stocker says. “Nobody can get a job – or the money.”

GETTING PEOPLE IN THE DOOR

The Estill Development Alliance’s new Parent Cafe program is meant to provide a quiet space for parents to learn about warning signs of early drug addiction in their kids; the event was catered, and childcare was ready. Instead, the library basement sat empty, aside from the EPIC coordinators and Mercy Health members.

That’s a problem for drug awareness and prevention events in any place, Stocker says. Even when hosting events for the community’s only hospital, she says, attendance for these addiction-related events can be extremely volatile. Just last month, she saw it first hand.

“On a miserably rainy evening, [we] had over 160 people come to the recovery rally. But then a week later, we have the memorial event for those that we’ve lost this year [to addiction], and we had six show up,” Stocker says.

EPIC has great participation in the school system through the CELT club, and Waite and Stocker consistently secure new grants– soon they’ll have customized T-shirts, the youth talent show, and more recreational programs for kids to get immersed in.

The next challenge is getting their movement off the ground. EPIC is faced with a community that lacks public transportation and relies on social media algorithms to get the word out about local events. Leaders are working vigorously to build community trust – which is especially difficult in a small town, they explain – and get the word out.

EPIC’s current goal: Find the best way to get people, even adults, excited and ready to participate.

“I wish I knew,” Waite laughs. “[I] sat down with the board members, talked to them about, hey, what else can we be doing … what else have I not thought of?”

Filed under: Culture,Drug use-various effects,Latest News,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

Commentary- Articles| – January 18, 2026

by Brian Walker, RPh

Substances marketed as “legal” or “natural” alternatives are increasingly accessible to adolescents through gas stations, convenience stores, and vape shops. Although legality may reassure consumers, pharmacists are seeing a growing disconnect between regulatory status and clinical risk. Products such as nitrous oxide inhalants, kratom, Delta-8 and Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and Salvia divinorum are associated with dependence, neurologic injury, psychiatric effects, and accidental harm—particularly in younger populations.

As medication experts, pharmacists are uniquely positioned to recognize the public health implications of these products and to educate patients, caregivers, and policymakers on risks that often remain hidden in plain sight.

Nitrous Oxide: Retail Availability, Clinical Consequences

Nitrous oxide—commonly referred to as “whippets” or “laughing gas” and increasingly marketed under brand names such as “Galaxy Gas”—has gained popularity among adolescents through social media exposure. Although intended for culinary use, flavored nitrous oxide canisters are frequently misused for their euphoric effects.³

Clinically, nitrous oxide misuse has been associated with hypoxia, syncope, cardiac arrhythmias, and vitamin B12 depletion leading to myeloneuropathy.^4-6 Chronic exposure can result in irreversible neurologic injury, including gait disturbance and sensory loss. Of concern to pharmacists, no standardized manufacturing or purity requirements exist for recreational nitrous oxide products sold at retail, contributing to unpredictable dosing and adverse outcomes.⁷

Kratom: Opioid Activity Without Oversight

Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) is marketed as a dietary supplement for pain relief, anxiety, and opioid withdrawal. Its primary alkaloids—mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine—exert activity at μ-opioid receptors, conferring both analgesic and addictive potential.^8.9

Although not federally scheduled, kratom has been linked to seizures, hepatotoxicity, hypertension, and opioid-like withdrawal symptoms.^10,11 FDA analyses have identified contamination with heavy metals and pathogenic organisms in unregulated products.¹² Regulatory approaches vary by state, creating inconsistent consumer protections and increasing the likelihood of misuse.

Delta-8 and Delta-9 THC: Potency and Labeling Concerns

Delta-8 THC and Delta-9 THC products are widely marketed as legal cannabis alternatives in the form of edibles, vape cartridges, and tinctures. Delta-9 THC is the primary psychoactive component of cannabis, and Delta-8 THC is a synthetically derived isomer with similar psychoactive effects.¹³

FDA and CDC warnings have highlighted concerns regarding inaccurate labeling, excessive THC concentrations, and contamination with residual solvents from chemical synthesis.^14,15 Adverse events reported include anxiety, paranoia, impaired cognition, and psychosis—effects that may be amplified in adolescents and young adults.¹⁶

Salvia Divinorum: A Legal Hallucinogen

Salvia divinorum, a potent kappa-opioid receptor agonist, remains legal in several US jurisdictions despite its intense psychoactive effects. When smoked or chewed, salvinorin A produces rapid-onset hallucinations, dissociation, and loss of environmental awareness.¹⁷

From a safety perspective, Salvia use has been associated with panic reactions, accidental injuries, and prolonged psychological distress.¹⁸ Its sale as a novelty or incense product may obscure its clinical risks.

Implications for Pharmacy Practice

The normalization of these substances—amplified by influencer culture and online marketing—has outpaced regulatory oversight. Many do not appear on standard toxicology screens, complicating detection and counseling.¹⁹

Pharmacists can play a critical role by:

Educating patients and caregivers on risks associated with legally marketed substances
Monitoring emerging substance-use trends
Encouraging age restrictions and improved labeling standards
Collaborating with clinicians and public health organizations

Legality does not equate to safety. Increased awareness and pharmacist engagement are essential to addressing the public health risks posed by these widely available products.

Source: https://www.drugtopics.com/view/hidden-in-plain-sight-legal-substances-putting-children-at-risk

Filed under: Age-related,Drug use-various effects,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Health,Kratom,Marijuana and Medicine,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

OPINION

By Michael T. Abrams, M.P.H., Ph.D. – January 20, 2026

On January 14, 2026, an estimated 2,800 grants under the auspices of the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) were abruptly and completely defunded. SAMHSA’s expert staff, already diminished by large cuts in 2025, were reportedly not consulted prior to the announcement that their agency would immediately cancel an additional $2 billion in committed funds for frontline efforts to prevent and treat brain-based illnesses including opioid addiction, depression and schizophrenia. Fortunately, within 24 hours — due to resistance from many behavioral health advocates and some members of Congress — those SAMHSA cuts were rescinded, for now.

With yet another budgetary shutdown looming at the close of January 2026, and given Trump’s strident desire to slash government services in exchange for tax breaks for billionaires, more reckless cuts to SAMHSA must be anticipated and resisted for the good of the nation’s overall well-being.

Here’s what is at stake.

SAMHSA is a 33-year-old agency under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This subagency’s mission is to lead public health efforts that advance the nation’s behavioral health, especially the oversight and evolution of systems that address addiction and other serious disorders such as generalized anxiety; post-traumatic stress; and social, emotional and learning disability experienced by children (school-based violence prevention programs, for example, are the purview of SAMHSA).

The programs targeted for defunding reportedly included those that aim to help people recover from psychiatric breakdowns and overdoses, among other serious and often recurring illness episodes. Important subpopulations of interest in these projects are vulnerable groups such as racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals, young children or transition-age adults, low-income people, rural residents and people who have been arrested or incarcerated. Reportedly, the administration aimed to eliminate these grants because they do not comport with President Trump’s and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s health priorities. At least one report noted the irony of the health secretary’s destructive approach given his personal challenges with addiction.

Had these latest SAMHSA budget cuts been implemented, they would have exacerbated the ones instigated in 2025 that slashed $1.7 billion dollars from that agency. Prior to the 2025 cuts, SAMHSA’s total budget was $7.5 billion. For comparison, consider that this year’s budget for the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is nearly $10 billion, and under legislation recently signed by President Trump, the ICE budget will swell to over $30 billion per year through 2029. The 2025 SAMHSA cuts began the evisceration of the nation’s mental health and substance use prevention and treatment effort. Here are of some of the program and staff reductions that occurred in 2025:

500 of 900 total employees left or were terminated, turning the headquarters of SAMHSA into what some referred to as a “ghost town” and further hobbling its expert independence.
- Departures of at least 12 of 17 senior leaders
- Cutting 130 staff from the Center for Mental Health Services, including all but one individual responsible for youth programs
- Losing other key leadership such as Yngvild Olsen, M.D., M.P.H., who in 2024 led the effort to advance the nation’s antiquated and stigmatizing approach to delivering methadone treatment to people with opioid use disorders
- “Temporary reassignment” of senior staff from SAMHSA’s Washington, D.C., headquarters to remote locations in the west, including the reassignment (to an Indian Health Service facility in Montana) of the respected biostatistics researcher and the Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, Captain Christopher M. Jones, Pharm.D., Dr.P.H., M.P.H.
- Laying off numerous personnel involved in convening a new workgroup studying the use of psychedelics as potential therapies for psychiatric illnesses, including addiction
- Laying off personnel involved in developing “involuntary commitment” as a strategy to address the most severe manifestations of psychiatric illness
$350 million in reductions specifically regarding addiction and overdose prevention
Halting a crisis hotline in Wisconsin
Dropping clients at a Pennsylvania recovery organization
Laying off state employees at an organization in Nevada that supports children with “severe emotional disturbances”
Laying off local personnel focused on reducing the scourge of homelessness

Had the January 2026 SAMHSA cuts been implemented, the following types of local programs would have been damaged or completely eliminated:

Programs delivering “comprehensive treatment” of opioid addiction, including adolescent and young-adult addiction-prevention efforts, harm-reduction strategies including naloxone rescue and referral-to-treatment strategies, and buprenorphine induction and maintenance programs
The $15-million-per-year Opioid Response Network, a program that specifically offers training to local authorities
The $6 million Building Communities of Recovery Program, which provides resources enabling recovery for people with substance use disorders, illnesses that typically are long term and cycling
Programs delivering tailored services to people with behavioral health challenges who also face the common comorbidities of serious infectious diseases such as HIV or hepatitis
Mental health and substance abuse “first-responder” programs, which are designed to address in-community crises where law enforcement is ill equipped
The American Psychiatric Association Foundation’s (APAF’s) behavioral health Workforce Development Initiative, which encourages high school and college students to consider a career in psychiatry
The APAF’s Notice. Talk. Act. At School Program, which provides free mental health training for K-12 staff
Chicago’s Haymarket Center, the largest nonprofit center in that city, which treats individuals with all types of addiction. Haymarket also faced the immediate loss of $1.8 million to offer employment training to individuals suffering from homelessness.
Programs specifically designed to treat pregnant women suffering from addiction
Programs aimed at reducing the occurrence of suicide
A $5.2 million program to train staff to appropriately use overdose-reversal medications such as naloxone (NARCAN)
$20 million to the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry’s programs that educate 500,000 doctors, social workers and nurses about screening and treating individuals addicted to opioids and further addresses the prevention of such disorders as well as the stigma that is persistently tied to them
Programs to reduce underage drinking and cannabis use

Accordingly, as SAMHSA shrinks under the cruel, ideologic weight of President Trump’s second term in office, the behavioral health of the U.S. population worsens. Moreover, as SAMHSA faces additional unwarranted budgetary assaults, damage mounts because of the uncertainty and stigma such threats bring to the already challenging endeavor of coping with behavioral health issues, which are distinctively exacerbated by such machinations and undeniably connected to our overall wellbeing. The only hope one can take from Trump and Kennedy’s latest attempt to eviscerate SAMHSA is that their brazen effort was thwarted by advocates, including families, patients and experts on the frontline of service implementation.

As a public health researcher for more than 30 years, I have often relied on SAMHSA as a quintessential source of trustworthy data and practical solutions related to the ongoing challenges posed by illnesses impacting brain health. The Trump administration seems both foolish and wicked regarding their management of SAMHA; indeed, Trump and Kennedy seem bent on near-complete destruction of that effort. Evidence-based resistance against these harmful Trump/Kennedy tendencies is more important than ever. Our collective wellbeing is at stake.

Source: https://www.citizen.org/news/chaos-reigns-as-trump-administration-cancels-then-reinstates-2-billion-worth-of-federal-grants-supporting-addiction-and-mental-health-services/

Filed under: Social Affairs (Papers),USA :

Opening Statement by National Drug Prevention Alliance – 11 Jan 2026:

This article, forwarded to NDPA by DWI’s Maggie Petito, is included in NDPA’s website to complete the contemporaneous picture around this extraordinary initiative by President Trump … it is noteworthy that the three main protagonists of this proposal were a CEO of a marijuana company which has donated $750,000 to the (presidential?) inauguration; a police sheriff who has become a supporter of legalising marijuana for recreational use (not just for medicinal use); and a long-term friend of the President in the Mar-a-Lago membership body. It has to be said that this whole episode smells of interest-led lobbying gaining what it wanted, rather than any research-based development of drug policy – this may be an uncharitable conclusion, but time will tell where the truth lies.

From: drug-watch-international – On Behalf Of Maggie Petito – Sent: 28 December 2025
Subject: The Wall Street Journal’sPiece12-28-25

Paraphrasing an article by The Wall Street Journal’s Josh Dawsey, in a front-page story (included below) Maggie Petito informs on details of how a concerted lobbying push by a cannabis CEO, a Florida sheriff and a Mar-a-Lago member helped persuade the president …

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

After a two-hour Oval Office debate about marijuana in December, President Trump overrode some on the religious right, White House aides and senior Republican lawmakers and decided to reschedule the green leaf as a lower-level drug.

Trump watched as Kim Rivers, the CEO of Trulieve, a Florida-based marijuana company, Gordon Smith, a Florida sheriff, and Howard Kessler, a Mar-a-Lago member and longtime Trump friend, argued the president should reschedule marijuana, according to people with knowledge of the meeting… The decision to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug followed an aggressive 18-month lobbying campaign by Rivers. The CEO and her company cut large checks to Trump’s political groups, attended at least three fundraisers, repeatedly raised the issue with White House aides and hired influential lobbyists. Rivers’s efforts delivered the marijuana industry one of its biggest victories. In addition to making medical research easier, the order is expected to eliminate tax burdens that have made profitability an uphill battle for many cannabis companies. Cannabis executives say the order will help normalize the business environment for marijuana sellers and improve access for buyers… Rivers first met with Trump on marijuana in summer 2024, when she cut a seven-figure check to a political group helping him, people familiar with the meeting said. Trump then supported a referendum allowing recreational marijuana in Florida… Rivers hired lobbyists close to Trump, including Brian Ballard and Nick Iarossi. The lobbyists pitched conservatives to write positive op-eds about the marijuana push, among other things, and generate support within the administration. White House officials described Rivers as particularly aggressive in making her case. Trulieve gave another $750,000 to the inauguration. After Trump indicated to Rivers and other donors at a New Jersey fundraiser this summer that he would follow through on rescheduling the drug, industry officials were hopeful. That fundraiser was billed at $1 million a guest… A follow-up meeting was scheduled, and Rivers asked Gordon Smith, the sheriff of Bradford County—a small county in northern Florida between Jacksonville and Tallahassee—to join her. She also brought two cancer survivors and a Duke University professor. Smith had introduced Trump at a rally about a decade ago and had become one of the first conservative sheriffs to endorse recreational marijuana use.

Inside the Oval Office, Trump talked with Kessler, a financial executive who has advocated for medical cannabis, and others about expensive properties in Palm Beach, donations to the White House ballroom and a golf course he wanted to renovate in Washington, Smith recalled. Trump gave opinions on appearances from daughter-in-law Lara Trump on Fox News and talked about Sylvester Stallone’s climbing trees and hurting his back… Trump reviewed polling on rescheduling and said he had heard from many people—including boxer Mike Tyson—that he should reschedule. He continually reiterated they were not legalizing it. Smith said Dr. Mehmet Oz, who leads Medicaid and Medicare, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles also watched the debate… Smith’s brother, a military veteran, had been helped by medical marijuana, he said, and he believed it was safer than alcohol and other substances. The sheriff’s concern, he said, was fentanyl-laced marijuana that killed people. When Speaker Johnson called in, the president put him on the phone with the sheriff, who tried to persuade Johnson. `It’s a gateway drug,’ Johnson argued, according to the sheriff. Smith said Johnson was a `nice guy’ and he answered Johnson’s questions. Another person familiar with the meeting said Johnson cited studies and research. Oz argued for rescheduling as Schedule II, Smith and others said. Johnson declined to comment through a spokesman.”

Again from Dawsey: “…the order is expected to eliminate tax burdens that have made profitability an uphill battle for many cannabis companies. Cannabis executives say the order will help normalize the business environment for marijuana sellers and improve access for buyers.”

We do not have a fulsome roster of who or what these largesse-receiving “companies” are or do. “Normalizing” differing from “legalizing” loses its distinction when financial access for little known companies or rackets gain tax reductions and financial access, forbidden to similar rackets sometimes called vice or “businesses” and crypto/bitcoin’s opaque/unaccountable systems seeking false junctures with sound monetary structures. We do not know whose polling was applied. I do not check Trulieve’s financial statements.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE: by Josh Dawsey Dec. 27, 2025

How Trump Became the Unlikely Champion of Easing Marijuana Restrictions – Concerted lobbying push by a cannabis CEO, a Florida sheriff and a Mar-a-Lago member helped persuade the president

The president agreed to make marijuana a Schedule III drug. Evan Vucci/AP

President Trump decided to reschedule marijuana as a lower-level drug after an Oval Office debate, overriding some Republicans and religious right figures.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) on speakerphone urged the president against the decision and senior aides warned the move could be dangerous to some Americans.

After listening, Trump, a teetotaler who eschews alcohol and drugs, sided with the pro-marijuana camp and delivered the biggest softening of federal cannabis policy since U.S. states began legalizing recreational marijuana in 2012.

“It was a little surreal,” Rivers said in an interview.

The decision to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug followed an aggressive 18-month lobbying campaign by Rivers. The CEO and her company cut large checks to Trump’s political groups, attended at least three fundraisers, repeatedly raised the issue with White House aides and hired influential lobbyists.

Rivers’s efforts delivered the marijuana industry one of its biggest victories. In addition to making medical research easier, the order is expected to eliminate tax burdens that have made profitability an uphill battle for many cannabis companies. Cannabis executives say the order will help normalize the business environment for marijuana sellers and improve access for buyers.

“The president heard from many different people on this issue and ultimately felt it was the best policy and political decision to make for the country. On all issues, the president is the final decision maker,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Conservative and religious leaders, such as the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Ralph Reed, had asked the White House not to reclassify the drug, saying it could be a gateway to other drugs and didn’t fit with the president’s agenda. Reed and allies argued medical studies had not shown health or medicinal benefits. Heidi Overton, a top aide on the conservative domestic policy council, repeatedly weighed in against it, including in the meeting where Trump made the decision, people with knowledge of the meeting said. Through a spokeswoman, she declined to comment.

Some White House officials, including deputy chief of staff James Blair, told Trump that many Republicans were opposed, and aides showed him a letter signed by 22 senators urging against it, White House officials said.

“The only winners from rescheduling will be bad actors such as Communist China, while Americans will be left paying the bill,” the senators wrote.

Leavitt, the White House spokeswoman, said that “it’s Blair’s job to convey to the president what the Hill thinks, and what the politics are, on every issue.”

For many months, the policy seemed on hold. Rivers first met with Trump on marijuana in summer 2024, when she cut a seven-figure check to a political group helping him, people familiar with the meeting said. Trump then supported a referendum allowing recreational marijuana in Florida. Trump also said on the campaign trail that he would reschedule the drug, but it wasn’t in his first slate of executive orders. Some in the industry grew frustrated, believing Trump’s staff was stalling.

Rivers hired lobbyists close to Trump, including Brian Ballard and Nick Iarossi. The lobbyists pitched conservatives to write positive op-eds about the marijuana push, among other things, and generate support within the administration. White House officials described Rivers as particularly aggressive in making her case. Trulieve gave another $750,000 to the inauguration.

After Trump indicated to Rivers and other donors at a New Jersey fundraiser this summer that he would follow through on rescheduling the drug, industry officials were hopeful. That fundraiser was billed at $1 million a guest. Behind the scenes, White House officials expressed frustration, people familiar with the matter said, and Trump waffled when publicly asked about rescheduling days later.

Rivers didn’t give up, and again came to a golf fundraiser for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) in November. She and Trump spoke briefly, and she asked for a White House meeting.

“When I’m there, it’s a natural conversation topic—he asks me about business and how things are going,” Rivers said of the fundraiser. “The president has been very consistent on this issue.”

Rivers’s efforts appeared to be bearing fruit when Trump invited her to the Oval Office to make her case. She was met in the Oval by Overton, who disagreed, and Trump didn’t make a final decision.

A follow-up meeting was scheduled, and Rivers asked Gordon Smith, the sheriff of Bradford County—a small county in northern Florida between Jacksonville and Tallahassee—to join her. She also brought two cancer survivors and a Duke University professor. Smith had introduced Trump at a rally about a decade ago and had become one of the first conservative sheriffs to endorse recreational marijuana use.

Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers triumphed despite objections from some of those close to the president. Douglas R. Clifford/Zuma Press

“Some of the conversation was way above my pay grade,” Smith said. Kessler didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Trump reviewed polling on rescheduling and said he had heard from many people—including boxer Mike Tyson—that he should reschedule. He continually reiterated they were not legalizing it. Smith said Dr. Mehmet Oz, who leads Medicaid and Medicare, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles also watched the debate. Wiles left early. At one point, Trump zeroed in on Smith.

“He turned to me and said, ‘Sheriff, what do you think?’ ” Smith’s brother, a military veteran, had been helped by medical marijuana, he said, and he believed it was safer than alcohol and other substances. The sheriff’s concern, he said, was fentanyl-laced marijuana that killed people.

When Speaker Johnson called in, the president put him on the phone with the sheriff, who tried to persuade Johnson. “It’s a gateway drug,” Johnson argued, according to the sheriff. Smith said Johnson was a “nice guy” and he answered Johnson’s questions. Another person familiar with the meeting said Johnson cited studies and research. Oz argued for rescheduling as Schedule II, Smith and others said. Johnson declined to comment through a spokesman.

The president said Democrats should have rescheduled the drug “because it was really a Democratic issue.” The Biden administration started the process of reclassifying pot last year, but didn’t finish. After about two hours, Trump said he was going to reschedule the drug and said he wanted to post on Truth Social, the sheriff recalled. Trump said he wanted everyone on board.

“The lawyers and his staff, they started yelling, ‘No sir, you can’t yet; there’s a 30-day period, it’s gotta go through this and that,’ ” Smith said. “They had to stop him from posting.”

Trump then instructed the sheriff and staffers to go into another room and put together an executive order. Trump wanted to put the “real story of why we are doing this in the order,” Smith said.

“I was in awe of the whole thing,” he said.

Trump invited Smith to come back the next week and see him sign the order, but Smith said he couldn’t—he had to attend an execution in Florida that evening. Trump told others that Rivers had pushed him to do it, said people familiar with the matter.

Announcing the order from the White House podium on Dec. 18, Trump thanked Kessler, saying, “We have people begging for me to do this, people that are in great pain. I have probably received more phone calls on this, on doing what we’re doing.”

Source: www.drugwatch.org

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Crime/Violence/Prison,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Hemp,Marijuana and Medicine,Prevalence,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

Opening Statement by NDPA:

President Trump’s initiative – by Executive Order – for cannabis rescheduling has generated a flood of correspondence on the subject – not least in the pro-legalisation camp, which apparently sees this as a ‘hole in the dam’ that is prohibition. But the legalisation camp are not alone – the reality is somewhat different, as this paper observes, and the implications of the proposed change have seemingly been widely misunderstood, including by some of those who reject the idea of legalisation. This one, as the journalists say, will run and run …

By Raymond J. March – January 9, 2026 (Research Fellow at the Independent Institute)

Any marijuana-related policy garners considerable attention from medical professionals, lawyers, politicians, and, of course, the general public. President Trump’s recent executive order provides another example.

A quick Google reveals headlines and articles from Fox News, PBS News, ABC News, CNBC, and the New York Times declaring President Trump has “reclassified marijuana.” You can find similar headlines across the pond.

Many others question what this “historic policy shift” means for cannabis users, for marijuana policy in each state, for the Republican Party, and even for the entire US.

These are interesting questions—but a close reading of the executive order shows they might be overzealous. As featured on the White House website, the executive order is for “increasing medical marijuana and cannabidiol research.” It never mentions recreational marijuana use.

Trump’s order highlights a troublesome problem—a drug scheduling deeming marijuana “no currently accepted medical use” with medical research clearly indicating this is not true.

Noting marijuana’s classification serves as a roadblock to better research, the order reads, “decades of Federal drug control policy have neglected marijuana’s medical uses. That oversight has limited the ability of scientists and manufacturers to complete the necessary research on safety and efficacy to inform doctors and patients.” It continues, “It is critical to close the gap between current medical marijuana and CBD use and medical knowledge of risks and benefits, including for specific populations and conditions.”

But what does the executive order do to help “close the gap?” Simply this:

“The Attorney General shall take all necessary steps to complete the rulemaking process related to rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III of the CSA in the most expeditious manner in accordance with Federal law, including 21 U.S.C. 811.”

The passage gives no direct order to reclassify—only to “complete the rulemaking process,” which might lead to rescheduling. Plenty of petitions in the past trying to reschedule marijuana were denied. It also gives no timeline for when rescheduling will happen. Even if marijuana becomes a Schedule III substance, the process can take 9 years.

This is the only command issued in the entire executive order. Headlines and interpretations that indicate anything more are speculative. Nonetheless, this underwhelming executive order could become the impetus for rescheduling marijuana, driven by grassroots efforts and state-level reform.

Scheduling aside, 47 states allow marijuana for medicinal use, with 38 of these states providing comprehensive medical marijuana programs. Over 6 million patients benefit from these treatments. Marijuana is legal for recreational use in 24 states, and several more states are likely to legalize it this year.

We have seen local and state-level efforts drive national policy before. In 2001, Arizona became the first state to allow terminally ill patients access to try potentially life-saving experimental medical treatments. This “right-to-try legislation” spread rapidly. By 2017, 37 states had enacted right-to-try laws. Over the same period, the FDA received more than 9,000 petitions from patients and physicians requesting access to experimental medications. In 2018, under President Trump’s first term, right-to-try became federal law.

Advocates of marijuana legalization still have reason for optimism because reform is possible with enough pressure. President Trump’s recent executive order could be a sign that a long-overdue rescheduling is on the horizon. But it is nowhere near sufficient itself.

Raymond J. March is a Research Fellow and Director of FDAReview.org at the Independent Institute. He is Faculty Fellow, Center for the Study of Public Choice and Private Enterprise – Assistant Professor, Agribusiness and Applied Economics at North Dakota State University

Source: https://www.independent.org/article/2026/01/09/trump-executive-order-marijuana-reclassification/

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Marijuana and Medicine,Prevalence,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

Use of most drugs remains low among U.S. teens and abstention from drug use remains at historic highs, according to NIDA.

by SAFE (Substance Abuse Free Environment) – Jan 5, 2026

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), reported use of most drugs remains low among U.S. teens and abstention from drug use remains at historic highs, according to the 2025 Monitoring the Future Survey. Monitoring the Future (MTF) is one of the nation’s most relied upon scientific sources of valid information on trends in use of licit and illicit psychoactive drugs by U.S. adolescents, college students, young adults, and adults up to age 60. MTF is conducted each year by researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health and has been doing so since 1975.

The MTF survey is given annually to students in eighth, 10th, and 12th grades who self-report their substance use behaviors over various time periods, such as past 30 days, past 12 months, and lifetime. The survey also documents students’ perception of harm, disapproval of use, and perceived availability of drugs. The results were gathered from a national representative sample, and the data were statistically weighted to provide national numbers. The investigators collected 23,726 surveys from students enrolled across 270 public and private schools nationwide from February through June 2025. Students took the in-school survey via the web – either on tablets or on a computer.

For the fifth year in a row, use of most substances among teenagers in the United States has continued to hover around the low-water mark reached in 2021. Researchers detected a sharp decline in reported use of most drugs from 2020 to 2021. This substantial falloff was largely attributed to disruptions in drug availability and in the social lives of teens during the pandemic, when many were isolated at home with parents or other caregivers and spending less time with friends. The researchers also found that the percentage of teens currently abstaining from alcohol, tobacco, and nicotine use held steady at historically high levels.

The data indicates that, compared to 2024, reported use of most drugs in most grades held steady in 2025. These are some of the key findings:

Abstaining from, or not using, marijuana, alcohol, and nicotine remained stable for all grades, with 91% of eighth graders 82% of 10th graders, and 66% of 12th graders reporting abstaining in the past 30 days.
Alcohol use remained stable among all three grade levels, with 11% of eighth graders, 24% of 10th graders, and 41% of 12th graders reporting use in the past 12 months.
Cannabis use remained stable among all grades, with 8% of eighth graders, 16% of 10th graders, and 26% of 12th graders reporting use in the past 12 months. Of note, 2% of 8th graders, 6% of 10th graders, and 9% of 12th graders reported use of cannabis products made from hemp, which include intoxicating products such as delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol, in the past 12 months.
Nicotine vaping remained stable among all grades, with 9% of eighth graders, 14% of 10th graders, and 20% of 12th graders reporting use in the past 12 months.
Nicotine pouch use remained stable among all grades, with 1% of eighth graders, 3% of 10th graders, and 7% of 12th graders reporting use in the past 12 months.
Nicotine pouch use remained stable among all grades, with 1% of eighth graders, 3% of 10th graders, and 7% of 12th graders reporting use in the past 12 months.
Cocaine use also remained low and stable for 10th graders, with 0.7% reporting use in the past 12 months; though values increased significantly among the other grades surveyed, with 0.6% of eighth graders (compared to 0.2% in 2024) and 1.4% of 12th graders (compared to 0.9% in 2024) reporting use in the past 12 months.
Heroin use among all three grades remains low, though values increased significantly from 2024, with 0.5% of eighth graders (compared to 0.2% in 2024), 0.5% of 10th graders (compared to 0.1% in 2024), and 0.9% of 12th graders (compared to 0.2% in 2024) reporting use in the past 12 months.

Researchers maintain the slight increase in cocaine and heroin use warrants close monitoring. However, to put these current levels of use in context, they are leagues below what they were decades ago.

SAFE, Inc. is the only alcohol and substance abuse prevention, intervention and education agency in the City of Glen Cove. Its Coalition is conducting alcohol, tobacco and other drug use prevention awareness campaigns entitled, “Keeping Glen Cove SAFE,” to educate and update the community regarding alcohol, prescription and illicit drug use and its consequences. To learn more about the SAFE Glen Cove Coalition please follow us on www.facebook.com/safeglencove or visit SAFE’s website to learn more at www.safeglencove.org.

Source: https://patch.com/new-york/glencove/safe-gc-coalition-nida-reports-encouraging-news-regarding-youth-alcohol-substance

Filed under: Age-related,Alcohol,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

By Amanda Friedman and Carmen Paun – Politico – 01/06/2026

Former Fox News contributor Sara Carter will oversee the White House drug policy agenda.

A former Fox News contributor who has reported on drug trafficking, Carter will lead the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy as President Donald Trump’s top drug policy adviser. In his second term, Trump has used the fight against illicit drug trafficking to depose Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and to threaten other countries in the region with military action.

Trump touted Carter’s coverage of the illegal drug trade when he tapped her for the job last March.

“My work in the frontlines wasn’t just about telling stories, it was about mapping the enemy,” Carter told senators in the Judiciary Committee during her September nomination hearing. She touted her work covering drug cartels and said Trump’s border crackdown reduced the flow of drugs like fentanyl into the United States. That crackdown also reduced the flow of U.S. weapons into Mexico, she argued, which often end up in cartels’ possession.

“I have seen these predatory criminal empires operate with impunity in our hemisphere. That impunity ends now,” Carter told senators. “This is not just a public health crisis, it’s a chemical war being waged against the American people.”

As head of ONDCP, Carter will play a crucial role in overseeing federal policy and funding related to drug trafficking, substance use prevention, treatment and recovery.

But some Democrats don’t think she’s the right person for the role.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, pointed to Carter’s lack of government, public health or law enforcement experience, which he said makes her unqualified for ONDCP’s top job.

Carter said that while she isn’t “a doctor, a general or a lawyer,” she is a “more than two-decade investigative journalist who was on the ground in the field, witnessing firsthand what these cartels and what these terrorist organizations have not only done to our nation and to the rest of the world, but to our children.”

While her Senate testimony largely focused on stopping the supply of drugs by aggressive action against foreign drug cartels, Carter also pointed to reducing domestic demand for drugs “through robust prevention, treatment and recovery support.” She said educators, faith and community leaders and law enforcement need to work together to prevent drug use by creating a “culture of resilience, where staying drug-free is the norm.”

The Judiciary Committee advanced Carter’s nomination on a 12-10 party-line vote in October.

Carter’s confirmation comes weeks after Trump signed an executive order directing the Justice Department to speed efforts to expand access to marijuana for medical purposes. While Carter won’t control the process of rescheduling the drug that’s necessary to make it more widely available to medical researchers and patients, she could play a key role in influencing medical marijuana policy.

Though she has previously championed cannabis for “medicinal purposes and medical reasons,” Carter did not confirm whether she’d work to help legalize medical marijuana on the federal level in her written response to a follow-up question from Judiciary Committee members after her nomination hearing. Instead, Carter wrote that she’d “comply with all federal laws” and “ensure an examination of all the facts and evidence as part of any scheduling or policy actions.”

Lead Article: President Donald Trump touted Sara Carter’s journalistic coverage of the illegal drug trade when he tapped her for the job last March. | Jenny Kane/AP

Source: https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/01/06/congress/senators-confirm-trumps-drug-czar-00713038

Filed under: Political Sector,USA :

By Press Advantage – January 01, 2026

Muse Treatment Alcohol & Drug Rehab Los Angeles has published a new educational resource examining how opioid tolerance develops and why it plays a significant role in substance use disorder progression and treatment planning. The article, titled “How Does Opioid Tolerance Develop”, provides research-informed context for patients, families, and healthcare professionals seeking a clearer understanding of opioid-related risk, dependence, and recovery pathways.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, opioid tolerance occurs when repeated exposure to opioids reduces the body’s response to the drug, leading people to require higher doses to achieve the same effect. This physiological adaptation is a central driver of escalating use and overdose risk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that opioids remain a major contributor to drug-related mortality in the United States, with tolerance and dose escalation frequently cited in toxicology findings. Peer-reviewed research published in journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine further confirms that tolerance alters brain chemistry and reward pathways, making cessation more complex without structured treatment support.

The newly published resource outlines how tolerance develops at the cellular and neurological level, emphasizing that it is not a failure of willpower but a predictable biological response. This distinction is supported by guidance from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which frames substance use disorders as chronic medical conditions requiring evidence-based care. By presenting opioid tolerance through a clinical lens, the article reinforces the importance of early intervention and medically appropriate treatment selection.

This educational release aligns with the clinical services at the Los Angeles location, where inpatient treatment programs are designed around evidence-based frameworks used in accredited addiction treatment facilities. Program information is available at Muse Treatment Los Angeles. Services include medically supervised care models that address alcohol and opioid use disorders through structured programming, including intensive outpatient alcohol rehab and partial hospitalization alcohol rehab. These levels of care reflect standards outlined by SAMHSA, which identifies continuity of care and treatment intensity matching as key predictors of positive outcomes.

Patients seeking care often come from across Los Angeles and surrounding communities, reflecting the regional need for accessible, medically grounded addiction treatment. People searching for drug rehab near me in LA frequently include residents from West LA, where proximity and flexible treatment scheduling influence engagement. Downtown LA is also represented among patients accessing services, highlighting the demand for structured care models that integrate clinical oversight with community-based recovery. East LA similarly relies on nearby treatment options that support consistent participation without extended travel.

The reach of care extends into neighborhoods such as Glendale,Westwood and Westwood Village, where patients often seek programs that balance privacy with evidence-based clinical support. Little Holmby and Holmby Hills are included as well, underscoring the role of localized treatment availability when families evaluate the best alcohol rehab centers and related services. Bel Air shows similar patterns, reinforcing the importance of geographically relevant care when people decide whether to initiate treatment and follow through.

National outcome data support the treatment approaches discussed in the article. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that relapse rates for substance use disorders are comparable to those of other chronic conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, emphasizing that effective care focuses on long-term management rather than short-term detoxification alone. Programs offering partial hospitalization alcohol rehab and intensive outpatient alcohol rehab are well-positioned to support patients as they transition between levels of care, particularly when tolerance and withdrawal symptoms complicate recovery.

The article also contributes to broader public health education around opioid risk. The CDC notes that tolerance can lower perceived risk while increasing physiological danger, as higher doses strain respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Understanding this dynamic is critical for patients and families evaluating treatment options, particularly in regions with sustained opioid exposure.

Accreditation standards further inform the clinical framework reflected in the services described. Organizations such as The Joint Commission emphasize medication management, patient safety, and evidence-based treatment protocols as benchmarks for quality addiction care. Independent analyses have shown that accredited programs demonstrate stronger adherence to clinical guidelines and improved coordination between medical and behavioral health services.

As healthcare search trends continue to show rising interest in opioid tolerance, overdose prevention, and structured treatment pathways, educational resources grounded in third-party research play a critical role in informed decision-making. By publishing this article and integrating it within a broader continuum that includes intensive outpatient alcohol rehab and partial hospitalization alcohol rehab services, Muse Treatment reinforces the role of education as a foundation of effective addiction treatment.

The resource serves as a reference point for patients, families, and healthcare professionals seeking clarity on how opioid tolerance develops, while supporting broader efforts to reduce preventable harm and improve recovery outcomes through evidence-based care across Los Angeles and surrounding communities.

Source: https://markets.financialcontent.com/wral/article/pressadvantage-2026-1-1-opioid-tolerance-explained-in-new-educational-resource-published-by-muse-treatment

Filed under: Addiction,Brain and Behaviour,Drug use-various effects,Latest News,Opioids,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Flagstaff Business News

By Stan Bindell, FBN – January 1, 2026 By FBN Leave a Comment

HOPI Substance Abuse Prevention Center offers a 12-step program. Also beneficial, says Prevention Center Manager Bryan Humetewa. are community wellness programs.

The HOPI Substance Abuse Prevention Center reports great success with clients being successfully reintegrated as members of the community. Manager Bryan Humetewa says he has had the joy of seeing clients return to their homes, holding jobs and witnessing “the miracle” of being back with their children.

“Working with the community collaboratively is key, especially with limited resources,” he said.

The center works cooperatively with First Mesa Elementary School, Hopi Junior Senior High School, Hopi Court and the Navajo Department of Corrections in Tuba City. For those who need a higher level of care, they can be referred to Hopi Behavioral Health, Native Americans for Community Action, Sonora Prevention Works in the Phoenix area or Scottsdale Recovery Center.

Humetewa said the staff is committed to helping clients who have used illegal drugs and alcohol. “It depends on what the individual needs,” he said.

Of the 79 clients served last year, only five individuals were referred to higher levels of service. Humetewa says most of their clients are coming to them as part of their aftercare program.

Hopi Behavioral Health assesses the clients. “We utilize our lived experiences to provide evidence-based curriculum, utilizing our teachings and values,” he said.

Clients are influenced by where they grew up and their environment, says Humetewa. Generational disconnection has been a problem, he reports. Many individuals have problems living in the two worlds: One of their homeland and the other the Western European way of life.

“We use language and culture to reintroduce the values and teachings. They need to first find out where they were disconnected and then reconnect with their culture. They need to be right with themselves first before they can be in touch with a higher power.”

HOPI Substance Abuse Prevention Center offers a 12-step program. Also beneficial, he says, are community wellness programs. Humetewa says clients return to their communities to help and mentor others. Many have returned to education and earned degrees.

Humetewa has been through his own ordeal, but recently celebrated 21 years of recovery. He graduated from an Indian recovery program in 2004. He says he learned that sobriety and recovery are two different things: Sobriety is being sober, and recovery is realizing the work it takes to be well, physically, spiritually and psychologically.

Humetewa said finding transitional housing for those in recovery, especially on Hopi where housing is limited, can be a challenge. This is where peer support becomes crucial. “I’m working on this, but it’s not easy.”

Humetewa said it’s always encouraging to come home to help your people, but when people come home, they find few jobs or resources to help them. Still, Humetewa has seen many successes. “I enjoy watching the miracles of change and seeing people as they start looking well,” he said. “They share their stories of recovery. They work at getting well.”

The HOPI Substance Abuse Prevention Center is part of the Hopi Foundation and funded through grants It serves clients from the Navajo Nation, as well. Humetewa praises his staff and mentors Cordell Sakeva and Kristie Kewenvoyouma for the work they do.

The HOPI Substance Abuse Prevention Center provides daily support in recovery through programs, satellite locations and on-call services. It also promotes collaborative work that strengthens individuals, families and cultural values. FBN

Source: https://www.flagstaffbusinessnews.com/hopi-recovery-center-sees-miracles-of-change-through-culture-based-healing/

Filed under: Culture,Drug use-various effects,Education,Latest News,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

Posted by drug-watch-international@googlegroups.com On Behalf Of Maggie Petito (of DWI) – Subject: TelegraphArticle12-22-25

Opening comments by Maggie Petito of DWI: the following is a report from The Telegraph, UK on transnational multi-purpose/multi-crime rackets/cartels. The report confirms much reliance on bitcoin/crypto to avoid detection. An FBI agent in Baltimore over a year ago told me that several of these Chinese-backed crime centers have located in rural India and now several in Pakistan and across Africa with a few in Mexico. I have no additional facts. -Maggie Petito

And a correspondent of Maggie added this comment: Subject: Re: TheAtlanticArticle12-20-25 – Maggie, You are correct in stating that there are Americans cooperating with the Chinese. I found several real estate transactions between Americans and Chinese in rural Colorado that are very suspect and could even represent a form of money laundering. The big problem is that these shady transactions are being overlooked or just outright ignored. Best, Jay

TELEGRAPH ARTICLE – by Sarah Newey – 12.22.2025 :

The ‘special economic zone’ on the banks of the Mekong river has become famed for boundless criminality. Has its luck run out?

Newey reports “ The Telegraph has travelled to `Sin City’, a lawless zone in the Golden Triangle, where Laos, Thailand and Myanmar meet. Set up almost 20 years ago by Zhao Wei, a Chinese gambling magnate, the `special economic zone’ on the banks of the Mekong river has become famed for boundless criminality. The Zhao Wei Transnational Criminal Organisation (TCO) – as the operation is known to the US authorities – is allegedly involved in the illicit drug trade, human trafficking, bribery, wildlife trafficking and other forms of organised crime… In 2018, the US Treasury placed sanctions on it for alleged involvement in laundering money and assisting in the storage and distribution of heroin, methamphetamine, and other narcotics. Then in 2023, the UK followed up with sanctions on Zhao and his wife, Su, for their links to human trafficking and forced criminality.

`Wei is the owner and president of Kings Romans Group which controls the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone,’ reads the UK deposition. `Therefore, he bears responsibility for, supported and obtained benefit from the trafficking of individuals to the Zone, where they were forced to work as scammers targeting English-speaking individuals and subject to physical abuse and further cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.’

`Chatting companies’ is the euphemism locals use for the brutal scam centres described in the UK sanctions deposition quoted above.

Poor locals and migrant workers from across the developing world are trafficked or tricked into joining the `chatting companies’, which swindle billions from unsuspecting individuals and businesses across the globe.

Schemes – often aided with AI – include romance scams, cryptocurrency cons, impersonation schemes, long haul fraud and cyber crime.

Even as recently as August 2024, Sin City was booming. A census put the overall population at around 120,000 people, while karaoke bars, casinos and hotels were full and construction of new buildings continued apace.

At its height, it is estimated that roughly 300,000 people – many of them victims of human trafficking – were working in scam centres across the wider Golden Triangle region, including some 85,000 in Sin City and Laos.

Aided by armed groups and corrupt officials, the criminal syndicates operating these centres have made billions. In Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos combined, at least $43.8 billion (£33.8bn) is being stolen yearly, according to a report from the US Institute of Peace.

There is little doubt that on his way up Zhao Wei benefited from support from Beijing and close ties to the Laos government.

Only last year he was awarded a state medal for “contributions to policing” by the authorities in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, while local media have reported on friendships with the political elite. The Laotian authorities did not respond to Telegraph requests for comment.

`The evidence is just overwhelming that these are state-sponsored criminal industries,’ said Jacob Sims, a visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Asia Centre and expert on cybercrime in the Mekong. `The level of collaboration is historically unprecedented, in terms of the scale and the volume of money passing through these industries…’ `While we’re seeing less of the ‘dungeon’ set up with overt trafficking and torture, this is still a very abusive system… You don’t have a strong hand when a crime syndicate has taken your passport.’

There is also little sign of a real plan to systematically dismantle Sin City or Zhao Wei’s Kings Romans Group.”

Inside ‘Sin city’

The gamblers at the baccarat table have lost all track of time. Outside, night has given way to day, but inside the game of chance rolls on.

It’s a gaudy scene. The players – mostly Chinese and Thais, with a handful of Russians – smoke continuously, their bleary eyes fixed on the hands of an immaculately dressed croupier as she deals yet another round of cards. They all hoard chips denominated in Chinese Yuan, though the biggest pile now sits with the House.

As we look on, an unsmiling security guard eyes the Telegraph suspiciously. “There are no Western games here,” he says cryptically, pausing next to us on his patrol of the lush casino floor. The hint taken, we nod politely and get up to go.

Outside, a stretch Hummer and three Polaris Slingshots are parked by a side entrance, while a pair of gleaming Rolls Royce take pride of place in the forecourt. Across a waterway is a vast Venetian-style plaza, which looks like an abandoned set from a Hollywood fairytale.

The Telegraph has travelled to “Sin City”, a lawless zone in the Golden Triangle, where Laos, Thailand and Myanmar meet. Set up almost 20 years ago by Zhao Wei, a Chinese gambling magnate, the “special economic zone” on the banks of the Mekong river has become famed for boundless criminality.

The Zhao Wei Transnational Criminal Organisation (TCO) – as the operation is known to the US authorities – is allegedly involved in the illicit drug trade, human trafficking, bribery, wildlife trafficking and other forms of organised crime.

In 2018, the US Treasury placed sanctions on it for alleged involvement in laundering money and assisting in the storage and distribution of heroin, methamphetamine, and other narcotics. Then in 2023, the UK followed up with sanctions on Zhao and his wife, Su, for their links to human trafficking and forced criminality.

“Wei is the owner and president of Kings Romans Group which controls the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone,” reads the UK deposition. “Therefore, he bears responsibility for, supported and obtained benefit from the trafficking of individuals to the Zone, where they were forced to work as scammers targeting English-speaking individuals and subject to physical abuse and further cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.”

Much of this illicit activity is said to be conducted through the Kings Romans gambling group – the flagship casino of which we have just departe ‘The chatting companies have left’: If you are thinking Sin City sounds like a real-life Bond villain’s hideout you would not be wrong. Yet its golden facade now seems to be fracturing.

Less than a year ago, the streets, bars and brothels of this enclave were a hive of activity. But today the 10,000 hectare stretch of land, in which Zhoa is estimated to have invested $3.5bn since acquiring it in 2007, is all but a ghost town, its illicit industries relocating to new ground.

When the Telegraph visited ahead of Christmas, the streets were eerily quiet and new high rise buildings stood empty, their development stalled. At night, the faux-Venetian playground was cloaked in darkness, while the turreted casino – usually illuminated – had only a few lights on.

“They do not turn on those lights,” said a receptionist at Kings Romans casino and hotel, where we were able to book rooms at a discounted rate. “It’s to save the cost, the economy is not so good. It’s been bad for two months.”

Later that night at a strip of bars where images of scantily clad women are plastered across nightclub walls, locals told the same story.

“There is almost no one here because the situation is not good,” said one woman in her 20s, gesturing with long, claw-like nails. “I don’t know much about it, but I saw the police coming in and checking [buildings]. It was not so long ago.”

A barman adds: “It’s quiet because the chatting companies have left.” “Chatting companies” is the euphemism locals use for the brutal scam centres described in the UK sanctions deposition quoted above.

Since the pandemic, the enclave has become the global epicentre for this new type of industrialised telephone and internet fraud.

Poor locals and migrant workers from across the developing world are trafficked or tricked into joining the “chatting companies”, which swindle billions from unsuspecting individuals and businesses across the globe.

Schemes – often aided with AI – include romance scams, cryptocurrency cons, impersonation schemes, long haul fraud and cyber crime.

The scam centres in Sin City and Laos alone were estimated to be generating $10.9bn (£8.76bn) in illicit revenue annually, it said.

But now things are changing. The criminal boom in Sin City has turned to bust as global regulatory authorities, including the Chinese have moved in.

‘State-sponsored criminal industries’: There is little doubt that on his way up Zhao Wei benefited from support from Beijing and close ties to the Laos government.

“The evidence is just overwhelming that these are state-sponsored criminal industries,” said Jacob Sims, a visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Asia Centre and expert on cybercrime in the Mekong. “The level of collaboration is historically unprecedented, in terms of the scale and the volume of money passing through these industries.” But across the Mekong, efforts to crack down on the scam centres have been ramping up – with police raids, sanctions and even military action.

The junta in Myanmar, under pressure from China, recently bombed and demolished buildings used for fraud in two notorious scam centres called KK Park and Shwe Kokko, for instance.

International pressure is driving the change. Across Europe, America, the Middle East and even China itself too many citizens have been either defrauded or trafficked for the problem to be ignored.

In October, the US and UK sanctioned 146 entities and individuals connected to the Prince Group, another “sprawling cyberfraud empire”, this one based in Cambodia. Its chairman, Chen Zhi, was among those targeted.

“The leader of the network, Chen Zhi, and his web of enablers have incorporated their businesses in the British Virgin Islands and invested in the London property market, including a £12 million mansion on Avenue Road in North London, a £100 million office building on Fenchurch Street in the City of London, and seventeen flats on New Oxford Street and in Nine Elms in South London”, said the Home Office. “The sanctions will freeze these businesses and properties with immediate effect, locking Chen and his network out of the UK’s financial system”.

The Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper added: “The masterminds behind these horrific scam centres are ruining the lives of vulnerable people and buying up London homes to store their money.

“Together with our US allies, we are taking decisive action to combat the growing transnational threat posed by this network – upholding human rights, protecting British nationals and keeping dirty money off our streets”.

Mr Sims of Harvard said the action being taken by the US and others was changing the calculus of the fraudsters. “Instead of just raiding and performatively arresting low level perpetrators, you’re actually going after the kingpins,” he said.

Richard Horsey, a senior Myanmar analyst at Crisis Group, agreed. Noting the action of the Myanmar government, he said: “Claims of destruction have run ahead of the dynamite, but there’s a definite intent by the regime to demonstrate – to China, to the US, to the Thais and to everyone else – that they’re trying to do something serious about this problem. Even though the military are themselves complicit in some of it.”

“The same thing has happened in Laos – there was a crackdown because the scam centre became too high profile.”

‘Things may not be going well for Zhao’s criminal network’

As China has boomed, it has exported criminality to many areas, like most expansionist powers. Gambling and prostitution in particular have proliferated across the Pacific and large parts of Asia and Africa as Chinese businesses and entrepreneurs have set up there.

Such criminality is not typically sanctioned by Beijing but nor is it actively moved against until it becomes a diplomatic impediment.

Now, it seems, Zhao and the Kings Romans Group have crossed this line. Last August, just eight months after the first round of UK sanctions targeting Sin City’s scam centres, he appeared at a ceremony with a local governor and ordered all illegal online activity in the Special Economic Zone to be dismantled within a fortnight.

By December this year, some 900 people working in the scam centres had been arrested and repatriated by Laos authorities, according to the Mekong Risk Monitor published last week.

“Things may not be going well for Zhao’s criminal network,” according to Jason Tower, a senior expert at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime and co-author of the Mekong Risk Monitor.

Zhao at a rare public appearance in 2024 Credit: SOPA Images

Not only have Zhao and his family been largely absent from public appearances, but the entire executive leadership of the Special Economic Zone have left their jobs. Census data suggests the city’s population has halved, to 65,300 people, while there was another crackdown targeting scam compounds there between the 2 and 18 November.

“At present, the strategy of the Kings Romans Group seems to be to work with authorities in a ‘campaign style’ to advance what are portrayed as crackdowns,” wrote Mr Towers. “This means that scam syndicates need to hand over several hundred individuals per crackdown and spend significant amounts of time operating outside of the zone.”

“The police raided there,” confirmed a rickshaw driver in Sin City, pointing at a padlocked brown high rise as we cruised through the outskirts of town. “A lot of African and South Asian people recruited to run cyber scams used to live here, but it’s all shut now.”

‘This is still a very abusive system’: So what now for Sin City and the scam centres across the Mekong?

Most experts are not optimistic and say the current enforcement actions are unlikely to lead to lasting change. For the most part they are just displacing the problem, they say.

“We’re seeing a metamorphisation of the scam centres,” said Mr Horsey of the Crisis Group. “They’re constantly evolving across the region … after a crackdown, we see them dislodged to other areas.

“At the moment, there’s a sense that the big hotspots are expensive to build but too easy to shut down if there’s a will. So a tonne of the operators, especially smaller ones, are spreading to office buildings or guest houses in new areas.”

One such area is Vientiane, some 400 miles downstream from the Golden Triangle. Here taxi drivers told the Telegraph that the last six months had seen a surge in people from South Asia and Africa who said they were in Laos to work rather than travel. The city’s casinos are also booming. “The general trend is that scam centres are now trying to blend in and not be obvious,” said Mr Horsey. “There’s always been a range, from really sordid operators who treat their staff as prisoners, to those who let them do whatever they want when not on shift.

“While we’re seeing less of the ‘dungeon’ set up with overt trafficking and torture, this is still a very abusive system… You don’t have a strong hand when a crime syndicate has taken your passport.”

There is also little sign of a real plan to systematically dismantle Sin City or Zhao Wei’s Kings Romans Group.

“The primary issue is that Laos and Chinese authorities continue to rely on the Kings Romans Group as a partner to address problems,” Mr Tower wrote in the Mekong Risk Monitor.

Within Sin City, locals hope things will bounce back. They believe they just have to ride out a tough few months – and whispers are circulating of a plan to both reverse the exodus.

“I heard at the end of the year, there will be another investment project … they say they will bring something big,” said a restaurant owner. “The business will be back.”

And it’s true that in Telegram channels seen by the Telegraph, there are a near-constant stream of posts advertising jobs as models, developers, receptionists and “chat support specialists” in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. Some mention “chatting platforms” or “call centres” obliquely – others more explicitly reference “scms”. But for now at least, Sin City is down, if not out.

In its intricately decorated version of “Chinatown”, a distressed monkey paces a small, rusting cage while a Porsche without number plates has stopped outside a gold shop.

We take a seat at a hotpot restaurant for a bite to eat before heading back across the Mekong to Thailand. After taking our food order, the owner offers to procure “girls” should we want them later that night. Prices start at 800 yuan (£85) for a Laotian woman for two hours, rising to 1,400 if we prefer someone Vietnamese. We make our excuses and leave.

Source: www.drugwatch.org drug-watch-international@googlegroups.com

Filed under: Crime/Violence/Prison,Culture,Gambling,Latest News,Trafficking,USA :

by Mark S. Gold M.D. – Addiction Outlook – Posted December 26, 2025

The change was made despite lack of evidence of medicinal benefits.

Key points

President Trump directed federal agencies to expedite the process of reclassifying cannabis to Schedule III.
Now what? Many actions are needed, including new research and protection of adolescents.
Placebo-controlled, double-blind trials of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis constituents are needed.

The most consequential shift in cannabis policy in more than 50 years is now happening. A December 2025 executive order from President Trump has directed the federal government to down-schedule cannabis from Schedule I (illegal) to Schedule III (a lawful drug designation with a lower level of harm than Schedules I or II) . This is despite the alarming lack of research evidence for medicinal cannabis.

Rescheduling cannabis will provide significant tax advantages to the industry, allowing billions in previously banned business expense deductions that could hugely boost marketing efforts, research, or both. The executive order (EO) does not explicitly recognize cannabis as medicine. It also does not set national standards for cannabis labeling, dosages, or youth protection, all of which are essential.

Whether you view the EO as long overdue or ill-advised, the key questions now are how this change will be implemented, who will control the downstream effects of cannabis, and whether public health experts or lobbyists seeking to accelerate commercial momentum will define what happens next.

Currently, any cannabis warning labels are inconsistent across states, often minimal, and frequently omit critical risks, such as mental health effects, breastfeeding harms, and other dangers stemming from high-potency cannabis products.

The executive order simultaneously instructs federal agencies—particularly the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration—to expand, streamline, and lower barriers to cannabis/cannabinoid research.

Indeed, the now-history LSD-like Schedule I status of cannabis imposed hurdles to research. Nevertheless, considerable research has been done, even though a special license was necessary to use the drug in studies. However, rescheduling marijuana doesn’t guarantee adequate research funding, FDA approval for cannabis, THC, or CBD, or high-quality research.

What Drug Experts Say

Among the EO’s most vocal critics is Kevin Sabet, drug policy expert who served both Republican and Democratic administrations and now president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, who sees the order as devoid of public health wisdom. Sabet warns that rescheduling signals medical endorsement despite cannabis’s association with significant health risks, especially for young users. Sabet highlights that the EO moves cannabis from Schedule I (not legal) to Schedule III (controlled but legal), although the medicinal effects of cannabis have never been FDA-proven or approved.

Harvard’s Kevin Hill, M.D., supports rescheduling for improving research facilitation, arguing that current cannabis use lacks clinical guidance. He emphasizes funding as crucial for quality research. Hill ‘s position is pragmatic: Lack of scientific certainty is not a reason to avoid research—it’s the reason research is needed.

Hill also places responsibility for research funding on states and industry. Legal cannabis markets generate billions in revenue, yet only a fraction is reinvested in rigorous research, prevention, or treatment. Ethical stewardship, he argues, demands that those profiting from cannabis bear responsibility for understanding its risks and benefits.

Thirty percent of cannabis users, including adolescents, develop a substance use disorder, according to Mt Sinai School of Medicine’s Dr. Yasmin Hurd. She emphasizes the importance of pairing research expansion with clear regulations to avoid exacerbating risks linked with cannabis.

A crucial area for future research is safe and effective dosing of THC (the intoxicant in cannabis) amid imminently rising sales of high-potency products. Large-scale, longitudinal studies tracking neurodevelopmental outcomes in relation to timing and potency of cannabis exposure are essential.

At the same time, policymakers face a proliferation of unregulated intoxicating cannabinoids sold outside state-licensed cannabis systems. Products such as delta-8 and other synthetic or semi-synthetic cannabinoids are widely available in gas stations and convenience stores, often with minimal oversight. These products disproportionately attract youth, undermining consumer safety. Closing loopholes has become a public-health necessity.

Recognizing the Rising Risks

Some media reports suggest the EO was pushed through despite vociferous objections highlighting the risks of cannabis use among adolescents and young adults. The link between early-age cannabis exposure and increased risk of schizophrenia, mood disorders, and long-term functional impairment is no longer speculative. The disorders carry lifelong healthcare, social, and economic costs. Yet current data are insufficient to guide prevention efforts. Without guidelines, prevention efforts will remain reactive and politically vulnerable. Nowhere are the stakes higher than among adolescents and young adults.

One of the nation’s leading scientists and long-time vocal opponents of legalizing cannabis, Yale’s Deepak D’Souza, M.D., has focused on the increasing amount of cannabis, its increased potency, frequency of use, and duration of effects, causing severe consequences in young people. Cannabis and some of its constituents produce acute impairments in memory, attention, executive function, impulsivity and risk-taking behaviour, and psychomotor coordination, critical for driving a car. Nora Volkow, M.D., director of the National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) has underscored the need for balanced research, acknowledging both benefits and risks of cannabis.

Dose is another urgent research priority, since higher THC concentrations are associated with increased risks of psychosis, cannabis use disorder, cardiovascular events, and cognitive impairment. More isn’t always better. A post-rescheduling agenda should include an investigation into minimum effective doses, upper safety thresholds, and the feasibility of reducing THC concentrations while preserving potential therapeutic effects.

Since rescheduling will be interpreted as an implicit medical endorsement, regardless of official intent, a national, evidence-based prevention strategy is needed, modeled on successful tobacco-control frameworks Such a strategy needs to include school-based education, clinician training, parental guidance, and public-health messaging that’s scientifically grounded rather than moralistic/alarmist.

Federal consumer protection agencies need to become empowered to monitor misleading cannabis advertising.

Finally, the integrity of emerging research depends on maintaining a firewall between scientific inquiry and commercial influence. Industry participation in research isn’t inherently problematic, but it must be governed by transparency, independent oversight, and conflict-of-interest safeguards.

Acceptance Without Complacency

The December 2025 executive order is now a reality. There is likely to be a huge cash infusion without regulation, causing a commercialization boom in cannabis, with the potential to harm our youth more than ever. Industry needs to step up and fund academic research.

Youth protection and guardrails are indispensable. A good start would be warning labels, funding of prevention efforts directed toward teens and young adults, and increasing NIDA’s funding for cannabis/THC/CBD translational research .

If cannabis products remain legal and available, consumers need clear, standardized warnings reflecting the best available evidence on cannabis use disorder and psychosis risk; impaired driving; memory effects; and adolescent brain vulnerability. Public health warnings should not be optional, nor diluted by marketing language implying medical endorsement where none exists.

Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/addiction-outlook/202512/marijuana-rescheduling-is-now-real

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Health,Hemp,Marijuana and Medicine,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

by Ryan Mancini – The Hill – 12/03/25

A vomiting disorder linked to frequent marijuana use is on the rise, prompting global health officials to allow researchers to track the condition and study it.

Dubbed on social media as “scromiting,” short for screaming and vomiting, cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) cases saw a jump in emergency department visits between 2016 and 2022, according to a November study by the medical journal JAMA Network Open released in November. CHS was first identified in Australia in 2004.

Specifically, researchers found that the jump in visits was isolated to 2020 and 2021, when there were 188 million reported emergency department visits among adults between 18 and 35 years old.

Symptoms of CHS include cyclical nausea and vomiting, with abdominal pain with no organic cause, according to the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Library of Medicine. Those with CHS will compulsively bathe in hot water, which long-term marijuana use of more than a year can induce.

“It’s pretty universal for these patients to say they need a really, really hot shower, or a really hot bath, to improve their symptoms,” Dr. Sam Wang, pediatric emergency medicine specialist and toxicologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, told CNN.

Wang described patients who were “writhing, holding their stomach, complaining of really bad abdominal pain and nausea,” with painful vomiting that lasted for hours before they took “a scalding hot shower before they came to the ER but it didn’t help.”

The hot water side-effect of CHS appears to be a learned behavior, NIH noted. After a short while, the hot water bathing can become a compulsion.

How someone can develop CHS is unclear, as researchers do not yet know how much marijuana use on a daily or weekly basis can cause it. Patients could go through years of suffering from debilitating CHS symptoms and, even with several diagnostic tests, still not have a clear diagnosis or treatment plan, NIH stated.

It can take days, weeks or months for someone with CHS to recover after a “scromiting” incident. This can be fueled by general wellness and normal eating patterns, along with regained weight and a regular bathing routine, NIH stated. If someone continues to use marijuana, CHS symptoms can start all over again.

A study conducted by the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences found that 44 percent of those surveyed were hospitalized once due to CHS symptoms. The study also found that 40 percent of respondents used marijuana over five times a day before CHS symptoms developed. Using marijuana at an early age was also more likely to lead to CHS.

Researchers argue that while there are limitations in understanding CHS, including why patients bathe themselves with scalding water, there is a need for greater clinical awareness.

“Targeted screening for cannabis use and recognition of symptom patterns could improve diagnostic accuracy,” JAMA Network Open wrote, adding that more studies can help prevent a misdiagnosis for someone with CHS symptoms.

Source: drug-watch-international@googlegroups.com

—
www.drugwatch.org
drug-watch-international@googlegroups.com

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Health,Latest News,Marijuana and Medicine,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

by Morgan Ebert, Managing Editor – contemporarypediatrics.com. – morgan-petronelliDecember 23, 2025

Teen use of alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine remained stable in 2025, while daily energy drink use rose and heroin and cocaine use showed small increases.

Substance use among adolescents in the United States has remained at historically low levels for the fifth consecutive year, according to new data from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study conducted by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. The findings suggest that declines in teen drug use observed during the COVID-19 pandemic have persisted, rather than rebounding to pre-pandemic levels as many experts anticipated.^1,2

The MTF study is an annual, nationally representative survey of substance use behaviors and attitudes among eighth, 10th, and 12th graders and has been supported by the National Institutes of Health for more than five decades. The 2025 report reflects responses from 23,726 students enrolled in 270 public and private schools across the United States, with data collected between February and June 2025. Students completed the survey online while in school, and results were statistically weighted to generate national estimates.

Researchers found that the proportion of adolescents abstaining from alcohol, tobacco, and nicotine remained stable at levels first documented in 2021, following a sharp decline in reported substance use between 2020 and 2021. That earlier decline was widely attributed to pandemic-related disruptions, including reduced social interaction, limited access to substances, and increased time spent at home with caregivers.

“One of the main findings from the survey this year is that teen use of the most common drugs has not rebounded after the large decline during the pandemic,” said Richard Miech, PhD, research professor at the Institute for Social Research and team lead of the MTF study. “Many expected teen drug use levels to return to pre-pandemic levels once the social distancing policies were lifted, but this has not happened.”

Abstinence and common substances

In 2025, abstinence from marijuana, alcohol, and nicotine in the past 30 days remained high across all grades. Among eighth graders, 91% reported abstaining, compared with 82% of 10th graders and 66% of 12th graders.

Alcohol use over the past 12 months also remained stable, reported by 11% of eighth graders, 24% of 10th graders, and 41% of 12th graders. Cannabis use showed a similar pattern, with 8% of eighth graders, 16% of 10th graders, and 26% of 12th graders reporting use in the past year.

The survey also assessed use of cannabis products derived from hemp, including intoxicating products such as delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol. In the past 12 months, 2% of eighth graders, 6% of 10th graders, and 9% of 12th graders reported using these products.

Nicotine vaping remained stable across grades, with past-year use reported by 9% of eighth graders, 14% of 10th graders, and 20% of 12th graders. Use of nicotine pouches was less common but also stable, reported by 1% of eighth graders, 3% of 10th graders, and 7% of 12th graders.

Energy drinks and illicit substances

One notable exception to overall stability was daily consumption of energy drinks or energy shots. Daily use in the past 30 days was reported by 18% of eighth graders, 20% of 10th graders, and 23% of 12th graders. Among 10th graders, this represented a statistically significant increase from 17% in 2024.

Use of heroin and cocaine remained uncommon across all grades but showed statistically significant increases compared with the previous year. Past-year heroin use was reported by 0.5% of eighth graders, 0.5% of 10th graders, and 0.9% of 12th graders, up from 2024 levels. Cocaine use remained stable among 10th graders at 0.7% but increased among eighth graders to 0.6% and among 12th graders to 1.4%.

“The slight but significant increase we see in heroin and cocaine use warrants close monitoring. However, to put these current levels of use in context, they are leagues below what they were decades ago,” Miech said.

Implications for clinicians and prevention

Nora Volkow, MD, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, emphasized the importance of continued surveillance and prevention efforts, noting that overall levels of adolescent drug use remain low.

“It is encouraging that adolescent drug use overall remains relatively low and that so many teens choose not to use drugs at all,” Volkow said. “It is critical to continue to monitor these trends closely to understand how we can continue to support teens in making healthy choices and target interventions where and when they are needed.”

For pediatricians and other clinicians caring for adolescents, the findings underscore the value of routine screening, anticipatory guidance, and counseling tailored to emerging trends, including energy drink consumption and evolving cannabis products.

Source: https://www.contemporarypediatrics.com/view/teen-substance-use-remains-historically-low-in-2025-with-stability-across-most-drugs

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Latest News,Prevalence,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

This glamorized image shapes how teens and young adults think about opioids, making the risks seem smaller and the consequences less real.

In music videos, party scenes, and viral content, opioids like Percocet or Oxycodone are often linked to the idea of “relaxing,” “forgetting your problems,” or just “vibing.”

According to researchers at the University of Texas, popular rap songs mentioning opioids increased over 100 percent between 2010 and 2020, and the lyrics usually portray the drugs as recreational or harmless.

When teens hear their favorite artists talk about pills casually, it can normalize misuse and blur the line between entertainment and real-life danger.

Social media adds another layer. On platforms like TikTok and Instagram, trends involving “party drugs” often show pills as colorful, fun, or part of a night out. Content creators rarely show addiction, emergency room visits, or the long-term mental and physical damage.

The problem with this portrayal is that it hides the truth. Opioids are not harmless party favors. They are powerful drugs that can alter the brain’s reward system, cause dependence in a short amount of time, and lead to deadly overdoses.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that opioid-involved overdose deaths reached more than 80,000 people in 2023, the highest number ever recorded.

Nothing about that is glamorous.

The media’s glamorization also contributes to stigma. By focusing on “fun” drug imagery, entertainment prevents people from seeing addiction as a medical condition.

Instead of understanding opioid use disorder as something that requires treatment, support, and compassion, society often sees it as a “bad decision” gone wrong. This stigma makes it harder for people to seek help and easier for audiences to ignore the suffering behind the real opioid epidemic.

Perception shapes reality. When teens constantly see pills framed as harmless fun, it becomes easier to underestimate the risks. It also becomes harder to recognize warning signs in themselves or friends. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) warns that early exposure to positive portrayals of opioids increases the likelihood of experimentation, especially among younger audiences.

The solution isn’t to ban music or shut down social media. It’s to shift the conversation.

Entertainment platforms can show the full reality of drug use, not just the parts that look exciting on screen. Schools and families can teach teens to question what they see online and understand the difference between a fictional party scene and a real overdose. Communities can focus on education, mental health support, and honest conversations about substance misuse.

This article was written as part of a program to educate youth and others about Alameda County’s opioid crisis, prevention and treatment options. The program is funded by the Alameda County Behavioral Health Department and the grant is administered by Three Valleys Community Foundation.

Source: https://www.pleasantonweekly.com/alameda-county/2025/12/22/entertainment-vs-reality-how-media-glamorizes-opioids-and-warps-teens-perception/

Filed under: Culture,Drug use-various effects,Latest News,Opioids,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

THIS ARTICLE IS A COLLATION OF THE SUBMISSION BY DAVID EVANS OF A JAMA RESEARCH BY MICHAEL HSU ET AL, PLUS COMMENTS BY JOHN COLEMAN AND BERTHA MADRAS

Comment by John Coleman, – john.coleman.phd@gmail.com- 14 December 2025

Subject: Re: FROM DAVID EVANS MOST RECENT META ANALYSIS OF THERAPUETIC USE OF CANNABIS

Bertha,

You raise an interesting point, i.e., could someone argue (and who would it be?) that because cannabis was a medicine prior to the 1938 Amendments to the Food and Drug Act, is pre-market approval required, or can it be considered “grandfathered-in”? My copy of the 1936 National Formulary lists the only cannabis medicine as a tincture and gives the formula for the medicinal composition (see below). The 1937 Marihuana Tax Act prohibited prescribing and dispensing marihuana without a federal registration and payment of a special tax. That, in effect, dissuaded its use as a medicine, and by 1941, it was removed from the U.S. Pharmacopeia.

In 1968, Harvard Professor Timothy Leary brought his case to the Supreme Court. Leary and his daughter had been arrested entering Texas from Mexico with a kilo of marijuana. In deciding for Leary, the Court invalidated much of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, under which Leary had been convicted in lower courts. This problem was addressed by Congress in 1970 with the enactment of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Control Act, Title II of which is the Controlled Substances Act. This ended the uncertainty and placed cannabis (marihuana and THCs) in Schedule I, confirming that it was not approved for use in treatment in the U.S.

The 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act grandfathered all drugs on the market at the time the bill was enacted. They did not require additional safety and effectiveness testing required for all new drugs. But this came with a caveat requiring grandfathered drugs to retain the same formulation and chemical composition as before the 1938 Act. This means that the Tincture described in the attachment would have to be replicated today, assuming such an argument might prevail. Personally, I think the CSA of 1970 mooted this issue forever, and anyone making such an argument today would likely be laughed at … (But it is an interesting hypothesis!)

John Coleman

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Comment by Bertha Madras, <bertha_madras@hms.harvard.edu> Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2025

Subject: Re: FROM DAVID EVANS MOST RECENT META ANALYSIS OF THERAPUETIC USE OF CANNABIS

Let us not forget that FDA approval is highly desirable for a drug to be included in S2-S5, but it is not essential. A number of drugs were “grandfathered in”. I am unaware of any recent drug that landed in a “medical” S2-S5 schedule without FDA approval. Perhaps Philip Drum is aware of them. That’s how HHS shaped their argument, on the basis of 8-factor analysis and not FDA approval.

The best rebuttal for how S1 prevents research is to use CBD as an example. It was S1 (and generic CBD remains there) but GW decided to invest in it, did the clinical trials, generated Phase 3 data sufficiently adequate for the FDA to approve. Then Epidiolex eventually was removed from CSA (de-scheduled) because of any evidence it has abuse liability.

Bertha K Madras

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Submission by DAVID EVANS – December 14, 2025

MOST RECENT META ANALYSIS OF THERAPEUTIC USE OF CANNABIS – 11.26.2025

Approximately 27% of adults in the US and Canada report having ever used cannabis for medical purposes. An estimated 10.5% of the US population reports using cannabidiol (CBD), a chemical compound extracted from cannabis that does not have psychoactive effects, for therapeutic purposes.

Observations Conditions for which cannabinoids have approval from the US Food and Drug Administration include HIV/AIDS–related anorexia, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, and certain pediatric seizure disorders. A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials reported a small but significant reduction in nausea and vomiting from various causes (eg, chemotherapy, cancer) when comparing prescribed cannabinoids (eg, dronabinol, nabilone) with placebo or active comparators (eg, alizapride, chlorpromazine; standardized mean difference [SMD], −0.29 [95% CI, −0.39 to −0.18]). A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials among patients with HIV/AIDS reported that cannabinoids had a moderate effect on increasing body weight compared with placebo (SMD, 0.57 [95% CI, 0.22 to 0.92]). Evidence-based guidelines do not recommend the use of inhaled or high-potency cannabis (≥10% or 10 mg Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol [Δ9-THC]) for medical purposes. High-potency cannabis compared with low-potency cannabis use is associated with increased risk of psychotic symptoms (12.4% vs 7.1%) and generalized anxiety disorder (19.1% vs 11.6%). A meta-analysis of observational studies reported that 29% of individuals who used cannabis for medical purposes met criteria for cannabis use disorder. Daily inhaled cannabis use compared with nondaily use was associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (2.0% vs 0.9%), myocardial infarction (1.7% vs 1.3%), and stroke (2.6% vs 1.0%). Evidence from randomized clinical trials does not support the use of cannabis or cannabinoids for most conditions for which it is promoted, such as acute pain and insomnia. Before considering cannabis or cannabinoids for medical use, clinicians should consult applicable institutional, state, and national regulations; evaluate for drug-drug interactions; and assess for contraindications (eg, pregnancy) or conditions in which risks likely outweigh benefits (eg, schizophrenia or ischemic heart disease). For patients using cannabis or cannabinoids for treatment of medical conditions, clinicians should discuss harm reduction strategies, including avoiding concurrent use with alcohol or other central nervous system depressants such as benzodiazepines, using the lowest effective dose, and avoiding use when driving or operating machinery.

Conclusions and Relevance Evidence is insufficient for the use of cannabis or cannabinoids for most medical indications. Clear guidance from clinicians is essential to support safe, evidence-based decision-making. Clinicians should weigh benefits against risks when engaging patients in informed discussions about cannabis or cannabinoid use.

ABSTRACT:

Importance Approximately 27% of adults in the US and Canada report having ever used cannabis for medical purposes. An estimated 10.5% of the US population reports using cannabidiol (CBD), a chemical compound extracted from cannabis that does not have psychoactive effects, for therapeutic purposes.

Source: www.drugwatch.org

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Latest News,Marijuana and Medicine,USA :

Forwarded by Maggie Petito, DWI – 03 December 2025

A variety of news reports* are out concurrently regarding the massive drugs transit schemes to move cocaine, etc. on horrifyingly diseased cattle, etc. illegally flagged tankers. Other tankers ferried sheep and cocaine via the al Kuwait relying on Croatian rackets.

* Drug cartels are using ships packed with disease-ridden cattle to smuggle huge quantities of cocaine to Europe.

Police do not seize the vessels because it is a “logistical nightmare” to deal with the thousands of cows, intelligence sources have told The Telegraph.

The festering and foul-smelling conditions on board, with many of the animals dead or having spent months wallowing in faeces, put officers off searching the ships.

In the gang-controlled ports of Santos and Belem in Brazil, and in Colombia’s Cartagena, up to 10,000 cows at a time are loaded on to the decrepit 200m long ships, according to sources at the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre, Narcotics (MAOC-N).”

Every single part of these reports indicates criminal – racketeering- actions where no justice prevails. Source ports in Colombia and Brazil pack for the uninspected ocean carriers. Near-failed state Lebanon and Egypt, previously linked with Latin America’s Hezbollah cartels, receive the tankers of diseased cattle. No reports on the health of the tanker crew.

Moreover: “The 50-year-old carriers set sail around the Caribbean or South America to collect cocaine packages from smaller ships, typically picking up four to 10 tons, worth up to around £450m. The crew conceal the packages in the ship’s giant grain silos and other hiding places, the sources said. The vessels will fly flags of convenience – where the ship is registered in a country different to its ownership, often in those with less stringent maritime regulations, such as Panama and Tanzania.

The vessels are officially bound for the ports of Beirut in Lebanon or Damietta in Egypt, where sanitation regulations for livestock are less stringent than in Europe. However, the ship’s most lucrative cargo is destined for the major seaports of Antwerp or Rotterdam, Europe’s gateways for cocaine. At some point across the Atlantic, the crew tie the packages of cocaine to inflatables, attach GPS devices, and jettison them overboard where they are then picked up by “go-fast boats” and smuggled to Belgium and the Netherlands.

The method is so effective that in the past 18 years, European police have seized only one livestock vessel carrying cocaine. At least one suspicious livestock ship departs every week from South America towards Europe, The Telegraph understands.

The law enforcement group is made up of 10 member countries, including the UK, and works closely with the National Crime Agency, Britain’s equivalent of the FBI.”

One must ask: If 10,000 diseased cattle are shipped to Africa or Europe or the Middle East weekly, in three months this is over 100,000 diseased cows entering such zones. What becomes of these animals?

Hats off to Australia: “Meanwhile, last week Australian police disclosed that a livestock ship carrying sheep had been used to try to smuggle £84m of cocaine into the country.

Fishermen found the cocaine tied to a floating drum off the western coast of Lancelin, about 75 miles north of Perth, on Nov 6.

The Western Australia Joint Organised Crime Taskforce alleged the drugs were dropped into the ocean from a livestock carrier, the Al Kuwait, on its way to Fremantle Harbour.”

So-called shadow fleets and rickety tankers moving god-knows-what, under fake flags and no transponders, are the tools of criminal rackets.

Recently Spain suffered an outbreak of swine flu derived from Spain’s large holiday ham sales. Fearing swine flu transmittal, unsafe ham is being banned.

Unsafe, filthy practices permit the spread of the food of addictions and attendant deadly diseases.

It has been penny wise, so some think, yet pound foolish to curtail USDA staff.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Cocaine cows: How cartels use livestock to smuggle drugs to Europe

Gangs pack narcotics into carriers with dead and dying cattle to deter police from searching on board

Telegraph Max Stephens International Crime Correspondent 02 December 2025

Drug cartels are using ships packed with disease-ridden cattle to smuggle huge quantities of cocaine to Europe.

Police do not seize the vessels because it is a “logistical nightmare” to deal with the thousands of cows, intelligence sources have told The Telegraph.

The festering and foul-smelling conditions on board, with many of the animals dead or having spent months wallowing in faeces, put officers off searching the ships.

MAOC-N is an EU law enforcement group based in Lisbon that combats drug-trafficking by sea.

The Orion V was intercepted in the Canary Islands carrying 4,500 kilos of cocaine in Jan 2023 Credit: Policia Nacional

The 50-year-old carriers set sail around the Caribbean or South America to collect cocaine packages from smaller ships, typically picking up four to 10 tons, worth up to around £450m. The crew conceal the packages in the ship’s giant grain silos and other hiding places, the sources said.

The vessels will fly flags of convenience – where the ship is registered in a country different to its ownership, often in those with less stringent maritime regulations, such as Panama and Tanzania.

The vessels are officially bound for the ports of Beirut in Lebanon or Damietta in Egypt, where sanitation regulations for livestock are less stringent than in Europe.

However, the ship’s most lucrative cargo is destined for the major seaports of Antwerp or Rotterdam, Europe’s gateways for cocaine.

At some point across the Atlantic, the crew tie the packages of cocaine to inflatables, attach GPS devices, and jettison them overboard where they are then picked up by “go-fast boats” and smuggled to Belgium and the Netherlands.

The law enforcement group is made up of 10 member countries, including the UK, and works closely with the National Crime Agency, Britain’s equivalent of the FBI.

An intelligence analyst for the MAOC-N told The Telegraph: “You would not want to spend more than one minute on one of these vessels, you can only imagine the smell. The authorities don’t want to have these vessels at their ports.

“Logistically, the countries don’t like to do inspections on board these vessels. The bad guys, they know this and that’s why they are using it.”

When police and customs officers reached the Orion V they faced the terrible stench of dead and dying cows Credit: Policia Nacional

Sniffer dogs are near useless at detecting drugs because they are so put off by the cows and their stench, they added.

The source described the scale of the problem as a “black hole”. Without intelligence detailing exactly where the drugs were onboard, it was almost impossible to meet the threshold for convincing national police authorities to do a seizure.

They said: “You can imagine the cost of such an operation, to get to a port, take all the cattle out, get all the authorities in to do an inspection on a vessel that is very big, a lot of concealment [for drugs]. They [the gangs] are very professional and they know exactly what they can take advantage of.”

On January 24 2023, Spanish police made the first ever seizure of a cattle ship trafficking cocaine in European waters. Armed police intercepted the 100m long Orion V 62 nautical miles south-west of the Canary Islands during its voyage from Colombia to Lebanon.

Officers discovered 4,500kg of cocaine, with a value of around £82m, hidden in packages in cattle food silos. Footage from body-worn police cameras showed officers wading through dung and urine from the 1,750 cows on board.

Packages of drugs, alleged by Australian police to have been carried on a ship full of sheep Credit: Western Australia Police

The vessel, flying a Togolese flag, was towed to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and its 28 crew members, of nine different nationalities, were arrested. Locals in the port city reportedly complained of the rotting smell emanating from the vessel.

Meanwhile, last week Australian police disclosed that a livestock ship carrying sheep had been used to try to smuggle £84m of cocaine into the country.

Fishermen found the cocaine tied to a floating drum off the western coast of Lancelin, about 75 miles north of Perth, on Nov 6.

The Western Australia Joint Organised Crime Taskforce alleged the drugs were dropped into the ocean from a livestock carrier, the Al Kuwait, on its way to Fremantle Harbour.

Police said the drugs were dropped into the ocean from a livestock carrier Credit: Western Australia Police

The day after the drugs were found, police charged the vessel’s chief officer, a 46-year-old Croatian national, with attempting to import a commercial quantity of cocaine. Investigators searched his ship and found a blue drum and ropes similar to those allegedly found with the drugs.

Two men from Sydney, aged 19 and 36, and a 52-year-old Perth man were all allegedly part of the shore party, and responsible for collecting the cocaine and bringing it to shore.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Trump’s Pardon for Cocaine Juan

A jury found Honduras’s former President guilty. Why set him free?

Wall Street Journal The Editorial Board Dec. 2, 2025

President Trump, like other politicians, sometimes does something unpopular to please his base. But what is the audience for Mr. Trump’s pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández?

He was sentenced in 2024 to 45 years in prison, after a federal jury in New York found him guilty of participating in a conspiracy to traffic 400 tons of cocaine to the U.S.

“The jury heard the testimony of Juan Orlando Hernández, and saw right through his polished demeanor,” Judge P. Kevin Castel told the court during last year’s sentencing. “They saw him for what he was, a two-faced politician, hungry for power, who presented himself as a champion against gangs, murder, crime, and drug trafficking, but secretly protected a select group of drug traffickers.”

Those 400 tons of cocaine, trans-shipped via Honduras, were worth $10 billion in the U.S. “In 2013, El Chapo Guzman, head of the Sinaloa Cartel, paid a $1 million bribe to Hernández and his campaign, delivered directly to Hernández’s brother,” the judge said. While the former Honduran leader wasn’t accused of a direct role in the conspiracy’s killings, “he knew and understood the violence that accompanies drug trafficking, and in facilitating trafficking, he knowingly facilitated the violence.”

That’s the voice of the federal judge who presided over the trial, saw the evidence, and supervised the jury. So why did Mr. Trump decide to set Mr. Hernández free?

“I was asked by Honduras, many of the people of Honduras, they said it was a Biden set up,” Mr. Trump told a reporter Sunday on Air Force One. “They basically said he was a drug dealer because he was the President of the country. And they said it was a Biden Administration set up, and I looked at the facts, and I agreed with them.”

Would Mr. Trump care to elaborate for a perplexed public, including Republicans on Capitol Hill? The Trump Administration is saying that illegal drugs are a threat serious enough to justify U.S. military strikes on alleged trafficking boats in the Caribbean, and it’s also trying to push out Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. “Why would we pardon this guy and then go after Maduro for running drugs into the United States?” Sen. Bill Cassidy wrote on social media. “Lock up every drug runner! Don’t understand why he is being pardoned.”

Mr. Hernández pleaded for clemency in a sycophantic letter to Mr. Trump that is dated Oct. 28. “I have found strength from you, Sir, your resilience to get back in that great office notwithstanding the persecution and prosecution you faced, all for what, because you wished to make your country Great Again,” the Honduran wrote. “Like you, I was recklessly attacked by radical leftist forces.”

The White House denied that Mr. Trump saw this fawning message before he announced the pardon late last week, but the letter was reportedly passed along to him by Roger Stone, the Beltway gadfly whom Mr. Trump pardoned in the first term after a conviction for lying to Congress.

Meantime, the results of Sunday’s presidential election in Honduras remain too close to call. Mr. Stone had argued on his blog that a “well-timed pardon” for Mr. Hernández could help to prod the election in a direction favorable to American interests.

What a strange turn of events. Perhaps Mr. Trump thinks he’s playing geopolitical chess, but he has a long record of high susceptibility to flattery, and his pardon without explanation undermines the rule of law and the prosecutors who put Mr. Hernández away. Which convicted criminals will be the next to discover that praising Donald Trump’s magnificence is a get-out-of-jail-free card?

Source: www.drugwatch.org

Filed under: All countries,Cocaine,Crime/Violence/Prison,Drug use-various effects,Latest News,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

Opening Statement by NDPA:

This essay by Gillis-Smith is published here not through any support of its content, but as an example of the published works in this area of the drugs policy/practice field at large. Readers must draw their own conclusions as to its validity and value.

by Paul Gillis-Smith – program lead on psychedelics and spirituality, Harvard Law School – November 30, 2025

“psychedelics golden age” of access, research, and culture. A significant reason is their assumption that psychedelics were easy to get because few laws criminalized their possession or sale prior to the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970. But that story leaves out the legal predecessors to the Controlled Substances Act, specifically the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) of 1938.

This essay corrects the false notion of a legal psychedelic “free-for-all” through the story of Lisa Bieberman, an LSD enthusiast and Harvard Square denizen of the 1960s. I draw upon archival research at the Peter Stafford Papers at Columbia University for Bieberman’s bimonthly publication, the Psychedelic Information Center Bulletin, and the Cambridge Public Library Archives for Bieberman’s never-published memoir manuscript, To Mark A Spot: A Psychedelic Pilgrimage. Bieberman was prosecuted under the FDCA, which gave the FDA authority to regulate food, drugs, medical devices, and cosmetics. According to a story in the Harvard Crimson, she was the first person in New England prosecuted for an LSD violation under the FDCA, for illegally shipping LSD through the mail.

Bieberman was a Radcliffe graduate (’63) who encountered psychedelics through Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, two faculty in Harvard’s Department of Social Relations, just as their time at Harvard screeched to a halt. Upon her graduation, she worked for Leary and Alpert’s para-academic organization, the International Federation for Internal Freedom, which Bieberman describes in her memoir as continuing Leary and Alpert’s research, starting a pharmaceutical lab, and launching a combination clinic-utopian colony (71-72). She kept their Cambridge headquarters afloat while Leary, Alpert, and company flew off to Mexico, the Caribbean, and eventually upstate New York.

Bieberman started the Psychedelic Information Center (PIC) in Harvard Square in 1965, releasing a bimonthly bulletin where she reported on changing drug laws, sold mushroom grow guides, publicized new psychedelic churches, and attempted to correct myths, like whether smoked banana peels are a psychedelic (they aren’t).

IMAGE: Psychedelic Information Center Bulletin 3; December 1965; Peter G. Stafford papers; Box 29 Folder “Psychedelic Information Center Bulletin (Cambridge, Mass.)”; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library

In 1965, in the third installment of her PIC Bulletin, Bieberman provided an open offer for LSD for Christmas: “Santa Claus has a batch of LSD, but the law won’t let him carry it across state lines in his little red sleigh.” Based on the offer, it is clear she was aware of her limitations per the FDCA. Nevertheless, based on information in her memoir, she mailed LSD to a handful of out-of-state requests (242). Bieberman reports that on March 18, 1966, she received a letter from the FDA that threatened prosecution for shipments of LSD across state lines to Kansas, Missouri, and California with improper labeling (under FDCA, (502)(e)(1)(A)(i), per the FDA Papers, 35). She had sent sugar cubes to a student in Kansas who had apparently publicized his acquisition a bit too loudly; and Bieberman alleged that the FDA caught wind of him (242-243). She was arraigned in the summer of 1966 and pleaded not guilty. The day after her arraignment, Bieberman left Boston for UC Berkeley’s LSD Conference.

In mid-November of 1966, Bieberman at last had her day in court — three days, in fact. According to her memoir, she found her lawyer inept —Bieberman felt she had done far more research on her case than her lawyer could ever be convinced of doing (295-297). The judge found her guilty of violating the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act: four counts of mailing LSD without proper labeling. She was sentenced to a year of probation.

While the state’s sentence was light, the extralegal consequences were worse. After her sentencing, Bieberman reported that she was urged by her department at Brandeis University, where she had just begun a PhD in Psychology, to resign (299). Because of her drug conviction, the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles refused to renew her driver’s license.

Bieberman’s run-in with the law did not dissuade her from psychedelic advocacy. Two months after her sentencing, she published Session Games People Play: A Manual for the Use of LSD. In her Bulletin in April 1967, she devoted several paragraphs to the confused state of the law regarding psychedelic research and how researchers can obtain and manufacture their own LSD. She implores her readers to pick up the Drug Abuse and Control Amendments (1965) for themselves, as “too few people read the law books, and (contrary to popular belief) they are really not hard to read.”

Bieberman’s case demonstrates that the FDA would prosecute cases involving psychedelics in the ’60s, counter to the common conception that all activities involving psychedelics were legally unrestricted until the Controlled Substances Act. In fact, this was a known risk, as Bieberman notes in her Christmas coupon, and in her frequent admonitions against secrecy and paranoia among psychedelic enthusiasts.

In an essay for The Boston Globe Magazine in 1968, Bieberman insisted that paranoia and underground activities cannot be the winning strategy – nor were religious arguments likely to be compelling if they were disingenuous: “Most psychedelic groups up till now have kept their activities nine-tenths submerged; when they get in trouble they scream religious persecution. But I do not think our courts will ultimately choose to persecute religion, where it proves itself genuine and conscientious.” While Bieberman did not take up a legal defense on the grounds of religion for her use and advocacy of LSD, she did become a devout Quaker. In an essay titled “Phanerothyme: A Western Approach to the Religious Use of Psychochemicals,” Bieberman offered a model of using psychedelics in a Quaker style. Rather than offering legal protection, Bieberman’s religious approach to LSD was intended to support the lessons that a psychedelic experience “has to teach, to support one’s companions in their search, and to put the insights gained into practice in living.”

This post is part of a digital symposium titled The PULSE of Psychedelics, Law, and Spirituality.

About the author – Paul Gillis-Smith

Paul Gillis-Smith is a program lead on psychedelics and spirituality, as part of the Transcendence and Transformation Initiative at the Center for the Study of World Religions. He is an alum of Harvard Divinity School (M.Div ’24), where he focused on the history of psychiatry as it relates to psychedelic medicine and chaplaincy.

Source: https://petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2025/11/30/lsd-gospel-christmas-tidings-and-the-fda-during-the-psychedelic-sixties/

Filed under: Culture,Drug use-various effects,Latest News,Psychedelics,Strategy and Policy,Synthetics,USA :

by Wall Street Journal The Editorial Board Dec. 19, 2025

Forwarded by Maggie Petito, DWI – 20 Dec 2025

Rescheduling pot sends the wrong message to vulnerable young brains.

Joe Biden sought to wave away student debt to attract young people. Now President Trump is making a play for the bro vote by relaxing federal regulations on marijuana. Can’t afford to buy a home? Don’t worry, dude. Puff away your economic anxieties in mom and dad’s basement.

Mr. Trump’s move on Thursday to reschedule marijuana runs counter to his Administration’s goals on public health, the economy and culture. Mr. Trump said his order “doesn’t legalize marijuana in any way, shape, or form, and in no way sanctions its use as a recreational drug.”

Marijuana is currently a Schedule I drug, meaning it has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Mr. Trump aims to change it to Schedule III—akin to anabolic steroids—indicating that it has some legitimate medical uses and “a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.”

Yet a recent review of 15 years of research found the evidence of marijuana’s medical benefits to be weak or inconclusive. “The evidence does not support the use of cannabis or cannabinoids at this point for most of the indications that folks are using it for,” said the study’s lead author Michael Hsu.

Far stronger evidence points to its potential harm. Mr. Trump may not realize that weed today is four to five times more potent than in the 1990s. The drug’s dangers and risks of dependency increase with potency. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that about three in 10 people who use marijuana will develop an addiction.

A study this year found that 40% of car drivers who died in accidents in an Ohio county tested positive for THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Marijuana advocates claim weed is no worse than alcohol. They ignore that cannabis has longer-term impact than alcohol, especially among the young.

As the CDC says, “cannabis use directly affects the parts of the brain responsible for memory, learning, attention, decision-making, coordination, emotion, and reaction time.” Medical imaging of adolescent brains shows structural changes in areas involved in impulse control and decision-making.

It can cause psychotic symptoms, especially at higher potency. A bag of cannabis gummies can cause a bad trip for some users. The CDC this summer reported that at least 85 people who frequented a Wisconsin restaurant that had mistakenly used THC-infused oil in pizza dough experienced symptoms of cannabis intoxication. Nearly half of those who got sick suffered paranoia and a quarter hallucinated. The number of cannabis-related incidents reported to poison-control centers has surged 23-fold since 2009, mostly among teens and children.

As we reported last week, young pot users are showing up with rising frequency at emergency rooms with uncontrolled vomiting and psychotic symptoms. One study this year found young users had a sixfold higher risk of heart attacks and fourfold greater of strokes. Yet the same Administration that targets Tylenol—which has proven benefits and minimal risks—now says marijuana is fine.

The cannabis lobby claims rescheduling will allow more research on the drug, but the industry can run trials on marijuana now. It simply has no incentive to do so because it can sell its products in most states without Food and Drug Administration approval. ***

So why ease regulation on pot? Occam’s razor says Mr. Trump wants to shore up support among young voters. On Thursday he volunteered that rescheduling polls well.

Is he sure? Ballot measures to legalize the drug for recreational use failed in South and North Dakota, Arkansas and Florida in recent years. Voters in Maine and Massachusetts have launched referenda campaigns to repeal legalization. Pot smoking is a leading reason employers reject job applicants after drug tests.

We’re not for punishing casual pot smokers. But sending a message to teens and 20-year-olds that marijuana is harmless is a recipe for more damaged brains and human tragedy.

COMMENTARY FOLLOWS ON THE ABOVE WSJ ARTICLE, PUBLISHED IN A VIDEO, FEATURING TWO COMMENTATORS – MS FINLEY AND MS STRASSEL

The Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board, in today’s edition, astutely notates the contra-indicators of lives under the cloud of marijuana.

“Now President Trump is making a play for the bro vote by relaxing federal regulations on marijuana. Can’t afford to buy a home? Don’t worry, dude. Puff away your economic anxieties in mom and dad’s basement.

Yes, and no. Reclassifying marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act doesn’t legalize the drug under federal law. But it does let marijuana sellers deduct expenses from their taxes like other companies. It also sends the signal to young people that marijuana isn’t all that harmful, despite mounting evidence that it is… Mr. Trump may not realize that weed today is four to five times more potent than in the 1990s… So why ease regulation on pot? Occam’s razor says Mr. Trump wants to shore up support among young voters. On Thursday he volunteered that rescheduling polls well. Is he sure? Ballot measures to legalize the drug for recreational use failed in South and North Dakota, Arkansas and Florida in recent years. Voters in Maine and Massachusetts have launched referenda campaigns to repeal legalization. Pot smoking is a leading reason employers reject job applicants after drug tests. We’re not for punishing casual pot smokers. But sending a message to teens and 20-year-olds that marijuana is harmless is a recipe for more damaged brains and human tragedy.”

Ms. Finley states that the new EO benefits the marijuana conglomerates/rackets to be treated as if a bona fide “legitimate” pharmaceutical company….at @ 2:40

She says the EO’s position, as claimed, needs the change to ease research….which she claims as “hooey.”

The “high risk for abuse” and addiction/dependency is a fact of marijuana.

Ms. Strassel notes that Marijuana’s potency is 4 to 5 xx more potent. The psychoactive ingredient of marijuana “soaks into the brain” impacting coordination, memory, reduces impulse control, causes psychotic behaviors…and so on.

Over 17 million Americans use marijuana daily.

The arguments deliver more than enough factors to reconsider the benefits of the new EO on reclassifying marijuana, much of which ignores medical and psychiatric crises as well as public safety.

Ms. Finley claims that marijuana regulation is quite faulty, mostly a `trust but verify’ non-regulatory structure passing off marijuana as an experiment.

I believe this Executive Order was issued based on flawed justifications which could benefit the marijuana and attendant other rackets but not human health. Personally, I do not hold that America’s Veterans are furthered with marijuana addiction.

Ms. Strassel, whose professional track record indicates her preference for President Trump’s on-the-job behaviors, cites Trump’s Oval Office comments as if he is speaking out of both sides of his mouth.

Strassel states that the EO does not alter the standing but “directs.” She claims that many lawsuits will soon follow. Marijuana is a non-FDA approved drug.

MAHA = Make America High Again is now a slogan by some. Strassel notes that the claimed 82% public approval for re-classifying is suspicious with untested public health consequences.

Ms. Strassel claims “sending a message” is underway with recreational drugs exploding. Getting the warnings before the public is missing as public approval for de-classifying proceeds.

SOURCE: www.drugwatch.org

Virus-free.www.avast.com

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Culture,Latest News,Marijuana and Medicine,Political Sector,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,USA :

by Robert F. Bukaty/Associated Press – Wall Street Journal The Editorial Board Dec. 9, 2025

Forwarded by Maggie Petito, DWI – 10 December 2025

Two new studies show that the ill effects of THC are increasing.

Here’s some surprising political news: A referendum campaign is gaining support in Massachusetts, of all places, to reverse the state’s 2016 legalization of recreational marijuana. Not coincidentally, two new studies report a surge in young pot users showing up at hospital emergency rooms.

Doctors at Mass General Brigham hospital found that the share of adolescents with psychiatric emergencies who tested positive for THC—the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana—jumped nearly four-fold after the drug was legalized for recreational sale and consumption in the state. The prevalence of other cannabis-related disorders among adolescents increased by a similar amount.

“Young people with mental health challenges are more vulnerable to the negative effects of cannabis use, which can catalyze or worsen psychiatric symptoms,” author Cheryl Yunn Shee Foo writes. She adds that legalization of the drug can lead to “greater accessibility, social acceptability, and advertising” that increases use among young people.

This last point is common sense. Legalization removes a stigma from marijuana use, as well as increasing its availability.

Meantime, a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) finds a surge in young adults nationwide showing up at hospital emergency rooms with cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS). This is cyclical vomiting, often with nausea or stomach pain, that is far more severe than what someone might experience after a night of binge drinking. It is caused by heavy marijuana use, especially at high potencies.

ER visits for the disorder increased nearly eight-fold in the spring of 2020 as Covid lockdowns took hold. Visits dropped some in 2022, but remained about five times higher than before the pandemic. The U.S. Northeast and West experienced the biggest spikes, perhaps not surprising since most states in those regions have legalized marijuana and they also imposed strict lockdowns.

California, New York and other progressive states allowed pot dispensaries to stay open during the lockdowns by deeming them “essential businesses.” Instead of working, young people got high at home.

The study notes that better awareness among physicians of the disorder may contribute to the increase in ER diagnoses. An earlier study found that patients with the syndrome visited the ER on average 18 times before getting diagnosed, costing on average $76,920 per patient. Maybe someone can investigate how much Medicaid is spending on treating pothead maladies.

An accompanying commentary in JAMA says that stopping marijuana use is the “cornerstone” of preventing the syndrome, but “abrupt discontinuation may lead to withdrawal and high rates of relapse.” Legalization proponents downplay marijuana’s negative effects and addictive potential, but daily marijuana use is more common than daily alcohol use, according to a Carnegie Mellon University analysis last year of national survey data.

A group in Massachusetts last week submitted more than 74,000 signatures for a ballot referendum next November to reverse the state’s legalization experiment. These days this is a counterculture cause, but it’s one that may gain momentum as the ills of pothead culture and especially from pot use among the young become more widespread.

Source: www.drugwatch.org

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

Opening Statement by DEA Administrator Terrance Cole – December 15, 2025:

“Fentanyl Designated a Weapon of Mass Destruction

Today, I stood in the Oval Office as the President signed the Executive Order designating illicit fentanyl and core precursors as Weapons of Mass Destruction—because this is a mass-casualty threat, not a routine narcotics case. Being in the room underscored, in unmistakable terms, the urgency of this fight and the weight of what this Order enables across the federal government. DEA will use every lawful tool to dismantle the networks that manufacture, move, and profit from this poison. If you traffic fentanyl, you are dealing in death—and we will treat you accordingly.”

DEA Administrator Terrance Cole

DESIGNATING FENTANYL AS A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION

Executive Orders

December 15, 2025

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. Purpose and Policy. Illicit fentanyl is closer to a chemical weapon than a narcotic. Two milligrams, an almost undetectable trace amount equivalent to 10 to 15 grains of table salt, constitutes a lethal dose. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died from fentanyl overdoses.

The manufacture and distribution of fentanyl, primarily performed by organized criminal networks, threatens our national security and fuels lawlessness in our hemisphere and at our borders. The production and sale of fentanyl by Foreign Terrorist Organizations and cartels fund these entities’ operations — which include assassinations, terrorist acts, and insurgencies around the world — and allow these entities to erode our domestic security and the well-being of our Nation. The two cartels that are predominantly responsible for the distribution of fentanyl in the United States engage in armed conflict over territory and to protect their operations, resulting in large-scale violence and death that go beyond the immediate threat of fentanyl itself. Further, the potential for fentanyl to be weaponized for concentrated, large-scale terror attacks by organized adversaries is a serious threat to the United States.

As President of the United States, my highest duty is the defense of the country and its citizens. Accordingly, I hereby designate illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals as Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).

Sec. 2. Implementation. The heads of relevant executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall take appropriate action to implement this order and eliminate the threat of illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals to the United States. This includes the following actions:

(a) the Attorney General shall immediately pursue investigations and prosecutions into fentanyl trafficking, including through criminal charges as appropriate, sentencing enhancements, and sentencing variances;

(b) the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury shall pursue appropriate actions against relevant assets and financial institutions in accordance with applicable law for those involved in or supporting the manufacture, distribution, and sale of illicit fentanyl and its core precursor chemicals;

(c) the Secretary of War and the Attorney General shall determine whether the threats posed by illicit fentanyl and its impact on the United States warrant the provision of resources from the Department of War to the Department of Justice to aid in the enforcement of title 18 of the United States Code, as consistent with 10 U.S.C. 282;

(d) the Secretary of War, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall update all directives regarding the Armed Forces’ response to chemical incidents in the homeland to include the threat of illicit fentanyl; and

(e) to ensure the United States uses the full array of appropriate counter-fentanyl tools, the Secretary of Homeland Security, as consistent with applicable law and in coordination with the heads of relevant agencies, as appropriate, shall identify threat networks related to fentanyl smuggling using WMD- and nonproliferation-related threat intelligence to support the full spectrum of counter-fentanyl operations.

Sec. 3. Definitions. (a) “Illicit fentanyl” means fentanyl that is manufactured, distributed, or dispensed, or possessed with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense in violation of section 401 and 406 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 841, 846).

(b) “Core precursor chemicals” means the core chemicals that create illicit fentanyl and its analogues, such as Piperidone or other Piperidone-based substances.

Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

(d) The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department of Justice.

DONALD J. TRUMP

THE WHITE HOUSE,

December 15, 2025.

Source: https://www.dea.gov/documents/2025/2025-12/2025-12-15/fentanyl-designated-weapon-mass-destruction

Filed under: Fentanyl,Political Sector,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Published December 15, 2025

A new and growing drug threat is quietly reaching communities across the country, including rural areas like ours. It’s being called “fentanyl-plus,” and it’s different from what many people think of when they hear the word fentanyl.

This danger is not limited to people seeking opioids. In many cases, individuals never intend to use fentanyl at all.

What is “Fentanyl-Plus”?

“Fentanyl-plus” refers to fentanyl mixed with other substances, such as:

Methamphetamine
Cocaine
Xanax or other anti-anxiety pills
Unknown chemicals like xylazine or powerful sedatives

Sometimes the mixing is intentional. Other times, it happens without the user knowing, especially when pills or powders are bought on the street or shared by friends.

National drug surveillance systems report that this type of drug mixing has become more common in the later stages of the opioid crisis, increasing the risk of overdose and death.

Why this matters in rural communities

Rural areas face unique risks when it comes to fentanyl-plus:

Slower emergency response times
Limited access to treatment and detox services
Greater reliance on shared or non-prescribed medications
Higher exposure to methamphetamine and counterfeit pills

In Arkansas, youth prevention data already shows early experimentation with alcohol, vaping, marijuana, and prescription drugs. These substances can unintentionally expose young people and adults to fentanyl through contaminated or counterfeit products.

The hidden pill problem

One of the most alarming trends involves counterfeit pills. Fake Xanax and pain pills are being manufactured to look nearly identical to real prescriptions but often contain fentanyl or other dangerous drugs.

Someone may believe they are taking a pill to relax, sleep, or ease anxiety — but instead are exposed to a substance that can slow or stop breathing within minutes.

Parents, grandparents, and caregivers should know:

Not all pills are what they appear to be.

Naloxone helps — but it’s not enough

Naloxone (Narcan) saves lives and should always be used in an overdose emergency. However, some substances now found mixed with fentanyl do not fully respond to naloxone, especially when sedatives like benzodiazepines or xylazine are involved.

This makes prevention, awareness, and early education more important than ever.

What families and communities can do

Prevention begins with awareness and conversation. Health experts recommend:

Talking openly with youth about mixed drugs and fake pills
Never sharing prescription medications
Locking up medications at home
Learning the signs of overdose
Calling 911 immediately in any overdose situation
Keeping naloxone available, even if opioids are not used in the home

A community responsibility

Churches, schools, civic groups, and families all play a vital role by creating safe spaces for education without stigma or shame.

This issue is not about blame. It is about protecting lives.

Fentanyl-plus is appearing in places many never expected — including small towns, farming communities, and close-knit neighborhoods. Awareness today can prevent tragedy tomorrow.

For more information about local prevention programs, parent education, or community trainings, contact Bridging The Gaps of Arkansas at 1.888.978.8441 or www.BTGArkansas.org

Sources & Data

This article is based on national and state public health data, including:

National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS)
U.S. Special Report on EMS encounters for nonfatal fentanyl-plus overdoses (2024–2025) — Reports over 31,000 nonfatal overdoses involving fentanyl mixed with stimulants or other substances, with 29% occurring in Southern states.
Ciccarone, D. (2025). “Fentanyl-Plus”
Donovan Memorial Fund Lecture; NDEWS Scientific Advisory Group — Documents the rise of intentional and unintentional drug mixing involving fentanyl, stimulants, benzodiazepines, and adulterants.
Peer-Reviewed Research
Nature Neuropsychopharmacology (2025): Research on fentanyl mixed with other psychoactive substances and increased overdose risk.
Journal of Prevention Science / Springer (2025): Studies highlighting polysubstance use and fatal overdose patterns.
Arkansas Prevention Needs Assessment (APNA), 2024
Arkansas Department of Human Services / UA Little Rock MidSOUTH Center — Regional data showing early substance initiation and prescription drug misuse among youth in Southwest Arkansas.

________________________________________

About Bridging The Gaps of Arkansas

Bridging The Gaps of Arkansas provides community-based substance misuse prevention, youth leadership development, and family education services across Southwest Arkansas, working with schools, churches, and local partners to build healthier, safer communities.

Source: https://www.eldoradonews.com/news/2025/dec/15/a-new-drug-danger-is-emerging-and-its-not-what/

Filed under: Fentanyl,Prevention and Intervention,Synthetics,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

Kevin Sabet’s message is getting through. Credit: Getty

by Sohrab Ahmari – US editor of UnHerd – 29 Nov 2025

In June 2014, Maureen Dowd published a column that has since acquired legendary status in drug-policy circles. In it, the New York Times writer recounted her experience trying a marijuana candy bar on a visit to Denver not long after Colorado legalized pot. After a calm first hour, the drug plunged her into a personal hell: panting, shudders, confusion, deep paranoia. Eventually: “I became convinced that I had died, and no one was telling me.”

Social media gently mocked Dowd when her column first appeared: silly Boomer, she didn’t dose it right — couldn’t handle the ride. Momentum for legalization was gathering back then, driven by the anti-antidrug Left, the free-market Right, and lobbyists and entrepreneurs who could just hear the cha-ching sounding from the next big vice industry. Twenty-three states plus the District of Columbia would follow in Colorado’s footsteps in the decade that followed.

The picture of weed shared by many older Americans, drawn from their own college years, helped ease the path of legalization. Weed, the mellow drug. The Cheech-and-Chong drug. The Grateful-Dead-road-trip drug. The munchies drug. The drug that, if anything, makes you overly cautious behind the wheel. Dowd thought of marijuana along similar lines — that is, until she tried the legalized stuff for herself and nearly lost her ever-loving mind.

Since then, weed potency has only intensified, with some concentrates reaching near-pure levels of THC, the plant’s primary psychoactive compound. Only now are policy makers and opinion elites reckoning with what Big Weed has wrought: “turning a drug that used to be 5% THC, and made people pass out for a few hours and eat Cheetos, into one that triggers psycho killers,” as Kevin Sabet, a former drug adviser in successive Democratic and GOP administrations, tells me.

Sabet admits that such talk can make him sound like Reefer Madness, the classic anti-weed propaganda film from 1936. “But if you look at almost every single mass shooting in this country, there are many common denominators, and one of them is a substance. And it’s not alcohol, and it’s not meth, and it’s not fentanyl. So you can guess what it is. It’s marijuana.”

Take Robert Westman, the 23-year-old who murdered two children and wounded 30 people in a gun rampage at a Minnesota Catholic school in August. In his diaries, Westman, who both used weed and worked at a dispensary, blamed the drug for his violent tendencies. “Gender and weed fucked up my head,” he wrote. “I wish I never tried experimenting with either. Don’t let your kids smoke weed or change gender until they are, like, 17.”

A 2025 study, published in the East Asian Archives of Psychiatry, found a definite and growing link between US mass-shooting perpetrators and the use, possession, and distribution of cannabis. Moreover, the researchers found that younger mass killers are more likely to be involved with marijuana. They concluded that the drug is particularly harmful to “subgroups of individuals” prone to such violent eruptions.

Even if they don’t go full Columbine, young people who regularly use today’s high-potency varieties are at elevated risk for psychosis, per a 2019 study published in Lancet Psychiatry. King’s College London, home to the lead author, sums up the grim finding: “In cities where high-potency cannabis is widely available, such as London and Amsterdam, . . . a significant proportion of new cases of psychosis are associated with daily cannabis use.”

Things have gotten so bad that The Guardian, which once pooh-poohed concerns about weed, now regularly runs warnings about its adverse effects on health (it doubles the risk of heart death, to mention just one recent finding). Most recently, the paper took readers inside a pioneering London clinic specially dedicated to addressing cannabis psychosis. It’s a crisis that goes far beyond a typical “bad trip,” shattering minds and leading many users to take their own lives.

“We are dealing with a fundamentally different drug,” says Sabet, “that has been genetically modified and bred by a powerful industry that we are now sanctioning and encouraging, and allowing to contribute to inaugurations.. . . The fact that we are allowing this, to me, that’s immoral.” Despite bipartisan opposition from a pro-weed lobby led by the likes of John Boehner, the former Republican House speaker, Sabet’s calls for limits have begun to break through.

Most notably, Sabet has led the campaign urging President Trump not to remove marijuana from Schedule I, the most serious category in the federal government’s scheme for classifying drugs. As he wrote in a widely read UnHerd essay, reclassification wouldn’t mean federal legalization. But it would grant the drug a false federal “imprimatur of being safer,” thus allowing Big Weed to enjoy tax deductions from which they are currently barred.

So far, Sabet’s campaign seems to have stayed Trump’s hand, even as the president has floated the idea of Medicaid coverage of marijuana products as a stress and pain balm for seniors. “This [reclassification] isn’t a priority for the president,” Sabet tells me. “But on the other hand, there are some lobbyists and maybe friends of his son-in-law and others in the business” who would benefit from rescheduling and its associated tax benefits, meaning Sabet’s work is far from over.

Kevin Sabet came to the drug problem from an unusual personal angle. Born in the Midwest to a Bahai family that left Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, he remembers a childhood in which he didn’t know anyone who so much as drank. (The Bahai religion, which is persecuted by Iran’s ruling Islamists, preaches the unity of all faiths — and total abstinence). When he moved to Orange County as a teenager, his perspective was radically different from that of his peers. And what he saw of addiction encouraged him to fight it.

As an undergrad at the University of California, Berkeley, in the mid-’90s, he says, “I saw the influence of the [drug] culture. I saw marijuana shops before that was even a thing.” Then the rave culture arrived, giving rise to what he describes as a “mini-epidemic” associated with the hallucinogen ecstasy, also known as MDMA. As a student, he’d go to clubs and hand out postcards showing scans of drug-addled brains on one side, and a call-for-help number on the other.

His activism won him some attention in the press — and then a phone call from Barry McCaffrey, the retired US Army general then serving as President Bill Clinton’s drug czar. “I thought the call was fake,” Sabet recalls. But it wasn’t. Gen. McCaffrey was offering him a job as a speechwriter. Sabet accepted and moved to Washington before heading to Oxford to earn a master’s degree in social policy.

“Weed potency has only intensified, with some concentrates reaching near-pure levels of THC.”

After 9/11, many of Sabet’s friends went off to Afghanistan in defense of the homeland, and he felt guilty writing papers at “Oxford, of all places, a comfortable place.” As it happens, the White House called again — this time, the George W. Bush administration with an offer to hire him as a senior speech writer on drug policy. “ ‘We want you to serve your country,’ ” he remembers the caller saying. “ ‘We know you’re not a Republican, but we also know you’re not a Democrat, and that’s fine with us.’ ” (His politics, as far as I can tell, are: whatever will stop this scourge.)

Yet another White House stint came during the Obama administration, which tapped him as senior drug-policy adviser (by then he’d finished his master’s and a doctorate at Oxford). It was around that time, the 2010s, that marijuana legalization went from a pothead’s dream to a serious business and political enterprise. Weed, the legalizers said, is harmless. Sabet disagreed, and he published a book, Reefer Sanity, to push back against the complacent mythology.

The book, in turn, led to his founding of a restrictionist advocacy group, Smart Approaches to Marijuana, or SAM, today the most visible drug-policy organization in Washington (a telling indicator of the growing concern about Big Weed).

But why the focus on marijuana? Why not the likes of fentanyl or heroin? Marijuana, Sabet answers, “is the most dangerous drug in my mind because it’s the most misunderstood.” There was a time when one could “experiment” with pot as part of the transition to adult responsibility and success. “The marijuana of today is doing the opposite,” he says, potentially derailing a person for life. “It’s causing violence, it’s causing erratic people to lose any sense of reality.”

And it’s addictive, a truth that Americans are still reluctant to accept. Sabet recalls speaking to a large group about the addiction angle, only for a member of the audience to tell him during the Q&A portion: “I use it every day, Kevin, and I’m qualified to tell you it’s not addictive.”

The numbers say otherwise. As the Associated Press reported on Tuesday, regular use of marijuana has now outpaced drinking, with 18 million Americans reporting daily use, up from fewer than 1 million in the 1990s. In tandem, there has been an explosion in diagnoses of cannabis-use disorder — an insatiable craving for the drug that leaves people incapable of fulfilling ordinary responsibilities; 1 in 3 pot users suffers from it, with symptoms classified from mild to severe.

But aren’t alcohol and tobacco just as destructive? Why not call for a new Prohibition and extend it to cigarettes for good measure?

“The reason I would say that Prohibition wasn’t sustainable as a policy in America is because alcohol has been so ingrained in Western civilization, since before the time of the Old Testament.” Then, too, alcohol is associated with human sociality, and for most people, the substance and its effects leave the body after 24 hours. Not so with weed, which lingers for much longer and at a cellular level. Sabet thus dismisses the argument that we shouldn’t restrict marijuana until alcohol is under control: “That’s like saying my headlights are broken, and just to be consistent, I’m going to break my tail lights, too.”

As for smoking: “Ninety percent of the people who built the Brooklyn Bridge were smokers. They were smoking at the time they built the Brooklyn Bridge. They could function. Maybe it even made them concentrate better,” Sabet says. The cigarette — unlike tobacco itself — “is a relatively new invention.”

Lung-cancer deaths before the 1920s were almost unheard of. Only with the rise of a cigarette industry did the smoking crisis appear. And that, he says, is also what’s happening with legalized, industrial weed, a product hawked by growers chasing ever higher THC yields — mental health be damned. Moreover, as cigarette smoking rates decline, Big Tobacco is looking to enter the weed market, Sabet says.

So what to do now, beyond restriction (a cause that’s already lost in half of US states)? At the root of the drug crisis, Sabet thinks, is a “moral and spiritual breakdown.” Drugs, he suggests, offer too-easy answers to the search for meaning; or else they palliate the pain associated with modern life. Even so, Western societies can erect guardrails, for example by hindering the spread of weed advertising to ever-younger audiences.

As for those already trapped, Sabet sees a role for behavioral incentive systems, such as programs that offer cash rewards for addicts who don’t use — or ones in which they face a choice between doing time or going to rehab.

“I’m calling for a new effort on drugs,” he says, aware of the odium attached to the War on Drugs. “I don’t love the war analogy because wars have defined ends, or they should. And this will never stop. We will never stop having to stop drug use among young generations. . . . I embrace aiming for a drug-free society, even if it’s not possible. We’ve never had a violence-free society, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t want to aim for that.”

Source : https://archive.is/DrvMY#selection-480.0-487.55

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Crime/Violence/Prison,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Marijuana and Medicine,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Drug Enforcement Administration

by Rosa Valle-Lopez – December 03, 2025

|LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is intensifying its fight against the deadly threat of synthetic opioids with the launch of Fentanyl Free America, a comprehensive enforcement initiative and public awareness campaign aimed at reducing both the supply and demand for fentanyl. This effort underscores DEA’s unwavering commitment to protecting American lives and communities from the devastating impacts of fentanyl, which claimed nearly 50,000 lives last year according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Through intensified enforcement operations and heightened intelligence, DEA is applying unprecedented pressure on the global fentanyl supply chain, forcing narco-terrorists, like the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG Cartel, to change their business practices. This has led to encouraging signs of progress. DEA laboratory testing indicates 29% of fentanyl pills analyzed during fiscal year (FY) 2025 contained a potentially lethal dose, a significant drop from 76% of pills tested just two years prior in FY 2023. Additionally, fentanyl powder purity decreased to 10.3%, down from 19.5% during the same time period. These reductions in potency and purity correlate with a decline in synthetic opioid deaths to levels not seen since April 2020.

As of December 1, 2025, DEA has seized more than 45 million fentanyl pills, and more than 9,320 pounds of fentanyl powder, removing an estimated 347 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl from our communities. DEA intelligence indicates a shift in cartel operations, with increased trafficking of fentanyl powder and domestic production of fentanyl pills. The seizure of more than two dozen pill press machines in October further highlights this trend.

“Fentanyl Free America represents DEA’s unwavering commitment to save American lives and end the fentanyl crisis, we are making significant progress in this fight, and we must continue to intensify efforts to disrupt the fentanyl supply and reduce demand,” said DEA Administrator Terrance Cole. “DEA is striking harder and evolving faster to dismantle the foreign terrorists fueling this crisis, while empowering all our partners to join the fight to prevent fentanyl-related tragedies. Together, we can achieve a fentanyl free America and create a safer future for generations to come.”

The DEA Los Angeles Field Division was one of 23 domestic field divisions and seven foreign divisions that initiated Operation Fentanyl Free America in October. This targeted enforcement effort resulted in the seizure of:

1,027,206 Counterfeit pills
70.97 kilograms of fentanyl powder
978 kilograms methamphetamine
149.32 kilograms of cocaine
3 pill press machines
15 firearms
$28,852,441 U.S. currency

Brian Clark, Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles Field Division, said, “Our country will be safer, healthier, and more secure when fentanyl no longer threatens our communities. A fentanyl-free America is within reach thanks to increased enforcement, education, awareness, and prevention. We all play a critical role in the fight against fentanyl. We’ve made substantial progress, but we can’t stop now.”

The threat of poly-drug organizations; cartels that traffic a portfolio of drugs opposed to a single substance became even more apparent during Operation Fentanyl Free America. Aside from producing less potent fentanyl, the cartels have increasingly diversified their operations in an attempt to minimize their risks and maximize profits, an evolution driven by opportunity and greed.

DEA remains at the forefront of the fight to disrupt trafficking networks and strengthen the government’s response to this epidemic. Fentanyl Free America represents DEA’s heightened focus on enforcement, education, public awareness, and strategic partnerships. The goal of the campaign is clear: eliminate the fentanyl supply fueling the nation’s deadliest drug crisis. Since 2021, synthetic opioids have claimed nearly 325,000 American lives.

The Fentanyl Free America campaign also emphasizes the importance of public engagement. DEA encourages everyone from community leaders, clergy, educators, parents, physicians, pharmacists, and law enforcement to take an active role in raising awareness by protecting others through education; preventing fentanyl poisonings by understanding the dangers; and supporting those impacted. Free resources including posters, radio advertising, billboards, and social media resources are available at dea.gov/fentanylfree.

DEA’s efforts are part of a larger whole-of-government strategy to dismantle transnational criminal organizations and protect U.S. communities from fentanyl.

Source: https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2025/12/03/dea-launches-fentanyl-free-america-initiative-combat-synthetic-drug-2

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Fentanyl,Prevention and Intervention,Synthetics,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

by Jared Culligan – Program Manager, Safety – Dec 16, 2025

This December, join NAHB in recognizing National Drunk and Drug Impaired Driving Prevention Month and learn how to prevent the devastating consequences that result from impaired driving.

From 2019 to 2023, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recorded more than 4,931 deaths in drunk driving traffic crashes during the month of December. In addition, a study by NHTSA found more than 54% of injured drivers had some amount of alcohol or drugs in their system at the time of the incident.

While this month focuses primarily on reducing impaired driving on the road, it’s also crucial to extend this conversation to safety in the workplace and how drunk and drug impaired driving can impact the construction industry.

What can your organization do to prevent drunk and drug impaired driving incidents?

Perform random and post-incident drug testing and have a recovery-ready workplace to engage and support employees in stopping substance misuse whenever possible.
Provide education and training materials on the effects of certain substances.

NAHB has several Video Toolbox Talks, available in English and Spanish, that cover drunk and drug impaired driving and its underlying causes. Please be sure to check out our content and help spread awareness as we approach the holidays:

In addition, several government establishments are promoting materials during this time of year. Check out their available resources here:

If you know of anybody that needs immediate help, please reach out to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Filed under: Drug Driving,Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,USA,Workplace :

In fact, 20% of people over 50 who use cannabis products reported that at least once in the past year, they had driven within two hours of using the drug.

That means they likely got on the road while the THC in cannabis still impaired their reaction times, attention and other abilities that are important to driving safely.

The findings, from a University of Michigan team led by addiction psychologist Erin E. Bonar, Ph.D., are published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence. The data behind the study come from the National Poll on Healthy Aging, based at the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation.

Bonar and the poll team published an initial analysis in late 2024, but the new paper dives deeper into the data.

So much of the effort to reduce ‘driving while high’ through awareness campaigns has focused on young people, but our findings show this is a cross-generational issue. Targeting messages at those middle age and older adults with the highest risk of post-use driving could also include message about the options for addressing the health issues that they may be trying to self-treat with cannabis.”

Erin E. Bonar, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry, U-M Medical School

Those most likely to drive after using cannabis

Adults age 50 and over who use cannabis products daily or nearly daily were three times as likely to say they had driven soon after using, compared with those who only use cannabis rarely, the study finds.

Those who use cannabis for mental health reasons were twice as likely to say they’d driven after using it, compared with those who didn’t list mental health among their reasons for choosing to use cannabis.

And men over 50 who use cannabis were 72% more likely to drive after using THC-containing products, compared with women in the same age group who use cannabis.

In all, the poll showed that 21% of people age 50 and up had used a cannabis product at least once in the last year, including 27% of those aged 50 to 64 and 17% of those aged 65 and up.

Of the 729 respondents over 50 who said they had used cannabis in the past year, 27% said they use it daily or almost daily, while 43% had used it only once or twice. The rest were divided between those who use monthly (14%) and weekly (16%).

Beyond the riskiest groups

While the study results suggest some groups of people over 50 who could especially benefit from targeted preventive messaging about the risks of driving after using cannabis, broad-based messaging appears to be needed, Bonar says.

In all, 65% of the people in the survey who said they use cannabis were between the ages of 50 and 64, with the rest over 65. But there was no difference between the age groups in likelihood of post-cannabis-use driving.

There were also no differences in post-use driving by age, race, ethnicity, income, history of loneliness, or caregiver status.

Those who live in states where recreational cannabis has been legalized were no more likely to drive after using the drug than those living in other states.

In addition to mental health, the poll asked about other reasons that adults over 50 might use cannabis, including several related to health. In all, 52% of people over 50 who use cannabis cited a mental health or mood-related motive for using cannabis, and 67% cited a sleep-related motive.

There was no difference in whether participants drove after cannabis use based on using it for pain, other medical reasons or sleep-related reasons, once the researchers adjusted the data. However, there was some signal that those who use it for sleep reasons may be more likely to drive after using.

This suggests a need to help adults age 50 and up understand that there are options for treating these conditions that have much more evidence behind them than cannabis, said Bonar. It also highlights the need for more robust research on which health conditions cannabis might address most effectively.

Age-specific messaging

Bonar and her coauthors also note that driving guidelines for people over age 50 who choose to use cannabis should also consider the effects of aging on cognitive and motor abilities, and the potential for interactions between cannabis and the prescription drugs that these adults are more likely to take.

Helping adults over 50 who choose to use cannabis understand the potential impacts of today’s more potent cannabis, compared with the forms available in their younger years, is also important, says Bonar.

And when advising people over 50 about reducing driving risks related to their cannabis use, she said, health care providers and public health agencies may want to focus on strategies like using cannabis at times when they’re unlikely to need to drive, such as before bedtime, and the importance of planning ahead for safe transportation via a designated driver or ride share service.

Bonar is a member of IHPI and of the U-M Addiction Center, the U-M Injury Prevention Center and the U-M Eisenberg Family Depression Center.

In addition to the new paper on cannabis use and driving among people over 50, the National Poll on Healthy Aging recently issued a report on driving behaviors among people age 65 and over. Find it at https://michmed.org/w4Ayn

Bonar and colleagues also recently published an Injury Prevention Center report on the impact of recreational cannabis legalization in Michigan, including data on motor vehicle crashes and fatalities linked to cannabis.

In addition to Bonar, the study’s authors are Lianlian Lei, Matthias Kirch, Kristen P. Hassett, Erica Solway, Dianne C. Singer, Sydney N. Strunk, J. Scott Roberts, Preeti N. Malani, and NPHA director Jeffrey T. Kullgren.

Source: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20251209/Prevention-efforts-for-cannabis-impaired-driving-should-also-focus-on-older-adults.aspx

Filed under: Age-related,Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug Driving,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

by Erin E. Bonar, Ph.D et al. – News Release 9-Dec-2025 – Michigan Medicine – University of Michigan

Among people over 50 who use cannabis, those most likely to drive after partaking are men, people who use daily, and those who use THC-containing products for mental health reasons

With cannabis-related vehicle crashes on the rise, a new study suggests that prevention campaigns shouldn’t focus just on young people.

In fact, 20% of people over 50 who use cannabis products reported that at least once in the past year, they had driven within two hours of using the drug.

That means they likely got on the road while the THC in cannabis still impaired their reaction times, attention and other abilities that are important to driving safely.

Bonar and the poll team published an initial analysis in late 2024, but the new paper dives deeper into the data.

“So much of the effort to reduce ‘driving while high’ through awareness campaigns has focused on young people, but our findings show this is a cross-generational issue,” said Bonar, a professor of psychiatry at the U-M Medical School. “Targeting messages at those middle age and older adults with the highest risk of post-use driving could also include message about the options for addressing the health issues that they may be trying to self-treat with cannabis.”

Those most likely to drive after using cannabis

And men over 50 who use cannabis were 72% more likely to drive after using THC-containing products, compared with women in the same age group who use cannabis.

In all, the poll showed that 21% of people age 50 and up had used a cannabis product at least once in the last year, including 27% of those aged 50 to 64 and 17% of those aged 65 and up.

Beyond the riskiest groups

There were also no differences in post-use driving by age, race, ethnicity, income, history of loneliness, or caregiver status.

Those who live in states where recreational cannabis has been legalized were no more likely to drive after using the drug than those living in other states.

Age-specific messaging

Bonar and her co-authors also note that driving guidelines for people over age 50 who choose to use cannabis should also consider the effects of aging on cognitive and motor abilities, and the potential for interactions between cannabis and the prescription drugs that these adults are more likely to take.

Bonar is a member of IHPI and of the U-M Addiction Center, the U-M Injury Prevention Center and the U-M Eisenberg Family Depression Center.

Citation: Driving after cannabis consumption among US adults ages 50 years and older: A short communication, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, DOI:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2025.112985, https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1mCG51LiD3LPLZ

Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1109142

Filed under: Age-related,Cannabis/Marijuana,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,USA,Youth :

By Ryan McLaughlin & Josh Babcock, College of Veterinary Medicine, Washington State University – December 11, 2025

It isn’t just people — when given the chance rats may also use cannabis to cope with stress, according to a study by researchers at Washington State University.

Published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, the study was designed to examine cannabis-seeking behavior and found that rats with higher natural stress levels are far more likely to self-administer the popular recreational drug.

“We ran rats through this extensive battery of behavioral and biological tests, and what we found was that when we look at all of these different factors and all the variables that we measured, stress levels seem to matter the most when it comes to cannabis use,” said Ryan McLaughlin, associate professor in WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Looking at traits ranging from social behaviors to sex, cognition, reward, and arousal, McLaughlin and his team of undergraduate and graduate student researchers created a behavioral profile for each rat. Then, over the course of three weeks, rats were observed for one hour daily as they were given the option to self-administer cannabis by poking their nose in a vapor port to release a three-second dispersal of cannabis vapor in an air-tight chamber.

During that one-hour period, student researchers tracked the number of “nose-pokes” by each rat and found a direct correlation to the number of nose-pokes and baseline stress hormone levels.

By measuring the stress hormone corticosterone in the rodents, the equivalent to the stress hormone cortisol in humans, the team found rats with higher natural stress hormone levels were far more likely to self-administer cannabis.

“If you want to really boil it down, there are baseline levels of stress hormones that can predict rates of cannabis self-administration, and I think that only makes sense given that the most common reason that people habitually use cannabis is to cope with stress,” McLaughlin said.

He said it’s important to note that it was a rat’s resting baseline stress levels that were associated with cannabis self-administration, not stress that fluctuates in real time with exercise or mentally challenging tasks. Stress hormone levels were also calculated after exposure to a stressor and showed no significant link to cannabis-seeking behavior.

There were also significant relationships between rates of cannabis self-administration and measures of “cognitive flexibility”, which is our ability to adapt to changing rules.

“Animals that were less flexible in shifting between rules, when we tested them in a cognitive task, tended to show stronger rates of cannabis-seeking behavior,” he said. “So, animals that rely more heavily on visual cues to guide their decision making, those rats, when we tested their motivation to self-administer cannabis vapor, were also very highly motivated rats.”

The study also identified a link between high morning corticosterone and low endocannabinoid levels to cannabis self-administration, although not as strongly as baseline stress.

‘Our findings highlight potential early or pre-use markers that could one day support screening and prevention strategies’ – Ryan McLaughlin, associate professor, Washington State University

Endocannabinoids are compounds produced on demand to help the body maintain a state of physiological balance, or homeostasis.

“There’s some thought behind why people might be more prone to use cannabis, and that maybe THC serves as a reasonable substitute for endocannabinoids in individuals that have lower endocannabinoid levels,” McLaughlin said. “So, perhaps there’s more of a drive to supplement that with cannabis.”

With more and more states decriminalizing cannabis and legalizing recreational cannabis, McLaughlin said it’s critical to understand the effects of the drug and the grips of drug abuse.

“Our findings highlight potential early or pre-use markers that could one day support screening and prevention strategies,” McLaughlin said. “I could certainly envision a scenario where having an assessment of baseline cortisol might provide some level of insight into whether there’s an increased propensity for you to develop problematic drug use patterns later in life.”

Media Contacts

Ryan McLaughlin and Josh Babcock, WSU Department of Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience

Source:https://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2025/12/11/rats-may-seek-cannabis-to-cope-with-stress-wsu-research-finds/

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Mental Health,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

By CLAIRE RUSH, Associated Press –

November 17, 2025

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge on Monday ruled there would be no prison time for a former Alaska Airlines pilot who had taken psychedelic mushrooms days before he tried to cut the engines of a passenger flight in 2023 while riding off-duty in the cockpit.

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Baggio in Portland, Oregon, sentenced Joseph Emerson to time served and three years’ supervised release, ending a case that drew attention to the need for cockpit safety and more mental health support for pilots.

Federal prosecutors wanted a year in prison, while his attorneys sought probation.

“Pilots are not perfect. They are human,” Baggio said. “They are people and all people need help sometimes.”

Emerson hugged his attorneys and tearfully embraced his wife after he was sentenced.

Emerson was subdued by the flight crew after trying to cut the engines of a Horizon Air flight from Everett, Washington, to San Francisco on Oct. 22, 2023, while he was riding in an extra seat in the cockpit. The plane was diverted and landed in Portland with more than 80 people.

Emerson told police he was despondent over a friend’s recent death, had taken psychedelic mushrooms about two days earlier, and hadn’t slept in over 40 hours. He has said he believed he was dreaming and was trying to wake up by grabbing two red handles that would have activated the fire suppression system and cut fuel to the engines.

He spent 46 days in jail and was released pending trial in December 2023, with requirements that he undergo mental health services, stay off drugs and alcohol, and keep away from aircraft.

Attorney Ethan Levi described his client’s actions as “a product of untreated alcohol use disorder.” Emerson had been drinking and accepted mushrooms “because of his lower inhibitions,” Levi said.

Emerson went to treatment after jail and has been sober since, he added.

Baggio said the case is a cautionary tale. Before she sentenced him, Emerson said he regretted the harm he caused.

“I’m not a victim. I am here as a direct result of my actions,” he told the court. “I can tell you that this very tragic event has forced me to grow as an individual.”

The judge sentenced Emerson to time served (46 days) and put him on probation for 3 years, with some restrictions.

Source: Claire Rush – Associated Press

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Addendum by John Coleman Ph D, President, Drug Watch International

From: John J. Coleman. PhD <john.coleman.phd@gmail.com>
Sent: 19 November 2025 13:21
To: ndpa@drugprevent.org.uk
Subject: RE: Question about Psilocybin

It is now known that his employer, Horizon Airlines, terminated him as soon as his arrest was reported. Feelings here are very mixed over this outcome and some thought he should have been given some additional prison time. Had he been drunk on alcohol, things would have been different and he likely would have wound up in prison. In John Coleman’s opinion, being under the influence of psychedelics is even worse because the person can appear normal, as this fellow did, and still pose a serious risk to self and others.

Coleman wrote the judge a letter and recommended she include several thousand hours of community service in the form of lecturing school children and young adults on the dangers of psychedelics, but she apparently didn’t consider it.

Here’s what Coleman advised the judge:

November 11, 2025 to The Hon. Amy M. Baggio – United States District Judge – District of Oregon

In re: Sentencing of Joseph David Emerson, defendant in case #3:25-cr-00306, USA v. Emerson

Dear Judge Baggio,

Please forgive me for using an email to send this letter to you. I’m afraid regular mail would be too slow to get from one side of the country to the other.

On Monday, November 17, 2025, I believe you have scheduled a sentencing hearing for the defendant, Joseph David Emerson, who, in 2023, while under the influence of psilocybin, a Schedule I controlled substance, attempted to cause the destruction of an Alaska Airlines flight containing 84 passengers and crew, including himself. Emerson has admitted to the charge, among others, of interfering with a flight and flight crew (Title 49, United States Code, Section 46504). He has signed a plea agreement, and media reports indicate that the federal prosecutor has agreed to recommend a sentence of one year, along with restitution for costs incurred in the emergency landing and the rebooking of stranded passengers.

On a personal note, I served 33 years as a special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration and headed several offices, including that of Assistant Administrator for Operations, the top non-appointed position in the agency. During the course of my long career, especially when working as a street agent in New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Newark, and Boston, I was often asked what the most dangerous drug a drug abuser could take. My answer, your honor, was always the same: psilocybin. Over the years, I witnessed hundreds of people severely addicted to opiates and stimulants (like amphetamines and cocaine), and after completing treatment, they would bounce back and be productive members of society again. Some today are famous people, even high-level government officials, people I knew when they were hitting the bottom of the proverbial barrel. Many, indeed, most, rebounded in ways that I can only say were inspiring for me and my fellow officers.

The sole exception for which recovery never seemed possible involved those using psilocybin, especially chronic users of the drug. I was told by someone who would know that in street parlance, “psilocybin burns out the brain cells.” Some of the most bizarre crimes I ever encountered – people cutting off their own limbs and the heads of their spouses and children – were more often than not the result of taking psilocybin. Some were just too gruesome for words. My colleagues and I, in such instances, would suspect long before the tox or autopsy reports came in that psilocybin was the causative agent.

In closing, I would ask that, whatever you decide to do with Mr. Emerson as a result of his imprudent use of psilocybin, you consider including several thousand hours of directed community service in which he is accepted by an appropriate state or federal department, on behalf of which he will make presentations to school audiences and others about the dangers of using psychedelic drugs, especially psilocybin. Mr. Emerson was a commercial pilot, someone who even now might draw a considerable amount of attention. His personal experiences, given in a format of educating others, would surely go a long way toward keeping this and other dangerous drugs away from vulnerable people. And it might even go a long way toward helping him to deal with his own mental health issues.

Thank you for considering this suggestion, and thank you for your service to our nation.

Sincerely, – J. Coleman – [signed]

Source: John J. Coleman, PhD. President – Drug Watch International, Inc.

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Psychedelics,USA :

The synthetic opioid is 100 times more potent than Fentanyl

LOS ANGELES – An operation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration Los Angeles Field Division in October uncovered 628,000 pills containing carfentanil. According to the DEA, carfentanil is a synthetic opioid approximately 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl. The majority of the pills were seized from one stash location in Los Angeles County. The operation also resulted in the arrest of one suspected drug trafficker.

Brian Clark, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Los Angeles Field Division, said, “This is a massive seizure, 628,000 carfentanil pills taken from a single drug trafficker. Our agents, with vital backing from local partners, mitigated a catastrophic danger. The urgency of this matter cannot be overstated, another stark reminder to those vulnerable to drug misuse. Know what you’re taking, because one pill can kill.”

According to the DEA, carfentanil was originally developed for veterinary use, more specifically to tranquilize large animals such as elephants. The white powdery drug closely resembles other substances like fentanyl or cocaine and can come in several forms. The DEA warns that carfentanil and other fentanyl analogues present a serious risk to public safety, first responder, medical, treatment, and laboratory personnel.

This operation was led by DEA L.A. Field Division Southwest Border Group 1 special agents and task force officers, with key support from the Vernon Police Department, the Baldwin Park Police Department, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Testing of the seized pills was performed by the DEA Southwest Regional Laboratory.

According to DEA L.A. Field Division, local law enforcement and first responders have recently seen an increased presence of carfentanil in the illicit drug market, which has been linked to a number of overdose deaths in various parts of the country. According to the CDC, deaths involving carfentanil increased approximately sevenfold – from 29 deaths from January to June 2023, to 238 deaths from January to June 2024. Carfentanil has now been detected in 37 states.

The L.A. Field Division stands as one of the DEA’s most complex and high-impact divisions, covering Southern California, Nevada, Hawaii, and the U.S. Territories of Guam and Saipan.

For additional safety information, please see the resource below:

https://www.dea.gov/stories/2025/2025-05/2025-05-14/carfentanil-synthetic-opioid-unlike-any-other

Source: https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2025/11/19/dea-operation-nets-628000-carfentanil-pills-la-county

Filed under: Addiction,Carfentanil,Drug use-various effects,Fentanyl,Opioids,Prevention and Intervention,Synthetics,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

There is “insufficient” evidence supporting the use of cannabis or cannabinoids for most medical purposes, a new review has concluded.

“We reviewed the totality of the evidence—over a thousand studies with emphasis on randomized trials, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews,” Dr Kevin Hill, one of the review authors, and director of addiction psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and a professor of psychiatry at Harvard University, told Newsweek.

He said that “beyond the FDA-approved indications, the evidence for cannabis and cannabinoids as a medical treatment is limited.”

The review was published online in the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Network on November 26.

Why It Matters

There has been increasing use of cannabis and cannabinoids for medical treatment in recent years. It has gained popularity among cancer patients, for managing nausea, pain and reduced appetite, and it is favored among patients with chronic pain for its analgesic properties.

However, its use medically has gathered some concern, as while certain patients may experience benefits, some medical professionals have said that there is not enough research to determine if the positives outweigh any future negatives.

More recently research has also highlighted how cannabis use among cancer patients may reduce the effectiveness of immunotherapy treatments, and that its use can impact female egg quality and embryo development.

After the Senate passed its funding package to end the U.S. government shutdown, which included a measure that will lead to the banning of many THC products, the issue of cannabis use has been in the spotlight.

What The Review Found

The review found that 27 percent of adults from the U.S. and Canada have used cannabis for medical purposes, while 10.5 percent of Americans report using cannabidiol (CBD) for therapeutic purposes.

“Cannabis and cannabinoids like CBD have a broad range of effects, so, with so many people suffering from medical problems, it is not hard to see why they might consider cannabis and cannabinoids as treatments,” Hill said.

However, he said that “the evidence is not strong” for their use medically.

While doctors may “consider cannabis and cannabinoids as third-line treatments in various clinical scenarios,” Hill said, “the lack of evidence coupled with significant risks means that, most often, the risks outweigh the benefits.”

The review found that almost a third of adult users of medical cannabis go on to develop a cannabis use disorder—a complex condition that is a type of substance use disorder, where a patient can experience a problematic pattern of cannabis use that causes them distress or impairs their life.

It also found that daily inhaled cannabis use compared to nondaily use was associated with higher risks of coronary heart disease, heart attack, and stroke,

“The adverse effects of cannabis upon one’s physical health are becoming more well-defined,” Hill said.

He said that the purpose of this review was to provide clinicians and patients with “better information with which to have sensible, evidence-based conversations,” conversations about medical treatment which he said should take place between doctors and patients, and “not between budtenders and customers in dispensaries.”

What Other Experts Think

Jonathan Caulkins, a professor of operations research and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, who was not involved in the review, told Newsweek that while there is “high-quality evidence supporting certain very specific medical uses,” most medical use is “predicated on much less evidentiary basis, and below what is expected for FDA approval.”

He said that what is “important” about this review is that it helps “counter the messaging from cannabis treatment advocates, who promote the good news, and the hopes, without balance or caution.”

“The actual situation is nuanced, and more gets written that pushes for an overly optimistic view of cannabis’ medical value,” he said.

Yasmin Hurd, chair of translational neuroscience and the director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai, also told Newsweek that the findings are “notable” because it “confirms what has been previously published from other reviews and consensus reports like those from the National Academies, noting that there is insufficient evidence for the use of cannabis to treat most medical conditions.”

While the authors have “done a very comprehensive and in my view very useful review of this topic,” Dr Igor Grant, a professor of psychiatry and director of the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Program and Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, at the University of California, San Diego, told Newsweek, “it is clear from the way the article is written that the authors have significant concerns about the use of medicinal cannabis, and as such have tended to emphasize many of the negatives, including potential side effects.”

He said that this “does not mean that the side effects are not there, nor does it negate the fact that evidence for efficacy of medicinal cannabis is weak in many areas. But there does seem to be a definite slant.”

He also said that while this review highlights cardiovascular risks, other research has also shown there is “actually no statistically reliable evidence to suggest that cannabis users suffer more cardiovascular risk, including no effect on hypertension, myocardial infarction, and presence of coronary atherosclerosis.”

What People Are Saying

Caulkins told Newsweek: “We customarily expect medicinal drugs to be produced in a way that guarantees consistency from dose to dose. Every pill in a bottle of pills that is prescribed by a physician, manufactured by a pharmaceutical company and distributed by a licensed pharmacy should have essentially the exact same dose. With the exception of the FDA-approved and regulated cannabinoids (which account for a tiny share of all consumption that is described or understood to be “medical cannabis”), there is not that same quality control for medical cannabis.”

He added: “Cannabis smoke contains known carcinogens. Sometimes good medical practice exposes patients to carcinogenic risk, notably radiation treatment does. But we do that carefully and knowingly, because the risk of untreated cancer is greater than the risk that radiation therapy will create new cancer. But given that in many cases the upside benefit of medical cannabis is not well established, it is striking how cavalier the system is with respect to known carcinogens present in cannabis smoke. For most categories of consumer products, the presence of known carcinogens is sufficient to have that product taken off the shelves, even if there are not epidemiological studies documenting effects on cancer rates at the population level. For whatever reason or reasons, we collectively seem surprisingly unconcerned about that risk regarding smoked cannabis, medical or non-medical.”

Hurd told Newsweek: “There remain numerous concerns about cannabis for medical use since there is so little known about whether it works, what particular conditions it might be helpful to treat and what dose and dosing regime for clinicians to recommend. In addition, there are also concerns that individuals will use ‘medicinal cannabis’ obtained from sources where the contents are not verified and cannabis with high THC concentration has well known significant side effects. Cannabis should be used with caution in medical settings. As such, like many medicines, especially where there is very limited information available, it is best to start low dose and go slow. Also, cannabis should not be the first line therapy and instead used only for conditions where conventional therapies have failed.”

She added: “It is important that the public also begins to better understand that cannabis is a very complex plant with hundreds of chemicals whereas ‘medicine’ is normally a product that has specific, well studied components. Also, cannabis is different from specific cannabinoids, like cannabidiol (CBD), which has FDA approval for the treatment of certain epilepsy conditions.”

Grant told Newsweek: “While I agree that physicians who are counseling patients about potential use of cannabis for various indications need to both warn patients about lack of evidence in many cases, the possibility of side effects, and certainly evaluate a patient in the event they have major psychiatric or substance use disorder, there are, as they note protocols for doing this, and in some ways, assuring safety. I believe also that the risk of people who use medicinal cannabis, who are often people who are older with various kinds of chronic conditions, is rather low that they will systematically increase their use to the point of developing a cannabis use disorder. Cannabis use disorder is real, and a concern, but very unlikely to be a problem in the clinical setting. The article tends at times to conflate recreational and medicinal use: that’s a bit like using data from opioid addiction to comment on appropriate use of opioids in a clinical setting.”

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/does-cannabis-actually-have-medical-benefits-11118810

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Health,Marijuana and Medicine,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,USA :

Story by Camilla Jessen – Received by DWI: 02 December 2025

Cannabis users warn of painful syndrome linked to long-term use

A growing number of regular cannabis users in the U.S. are coming forward with accounts of a severe and little-known disorder linked to long-term marijuana use.

The condition, now officially recognized by global health authorities, has led some people to hospital with pain so intense they describe it as unbearable.

Troubling symptoms

As of 2023, roughly 17% of Americans reported using cannabis, with 24 states legalizing recreational use.

But while the drug is widely used for its therapeutic and recreational effects, doctors are increasingly treating patients who present with repeated vomiting, severe abdominal pain and dehydration.

The pattern has been identified as cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), a disorder seen primarily in people who use cannabis daily or near-daily over long periods.

UW Medicine says symptoms often appear within 24 hours of the most recent use and can persist for days.

The syndrome is sometimes nicknamed “scromiting,” a blend of “screaming” and “vomiting,” due to the intensity of the episodes.

Users speak out

Many who have experienced CHS have shared their stories online.

One TikTok user described the onset as “the worst physical pain I’ve ever experienced… and I birthed a 9-pound baby.”

Another said she “almost died,” explaining she couldn’t keep food or water down for a week.

Despite the episodes, some users admitted they continued smoking, which only worsened the symptoms. One woman, now six months sober, said quitting was the only way to stop the cycle.

“Smoking nearly killed me,” she said.

Medical uncertainty

Doctors still do not fully understand why the condition occurs.

The Cleveland Clinic says one leading theory is that chronic use overstimulates cannabinoid receptors in the body’s endocannabinoid system, disrupting normal digestive regulation.

The World Health Organization has listed CHS in its International Classification of Diseases, allowing clinicians to formally track cases for the first time.

Researchers say the new designation will provide more reliable data on cannabis-related health problems.

Calls for more awareness

Beatriz Carlini of the University of Washington School of Medicine said the classification will help quantify a growing issue.

“A new code for cannabis hyperemesis syndrome will supply important hard evidence on cannabis-adverse events,” she noted.

Sources: UW Medicine; Cleveland Clinic; WHO ICD, Unilad

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-au/health/other/cannabis-users-warn-of-painful-syndrome-linked-to-long-term-use/ar-AA1Rya8d?

Filed under: Addiction,Brain and Behaviour,Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Mental Health,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

December 03, 2025

Houston –The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is intensifying its fight against the deadly threat of synthetic opioids with the launch of Fentanyl Free America, a comprehensive enforcement initiative and public awareness campaign aimed at reducing both the supply and demand for fentanyl. This effort underscores DEA’s unwavering commitment to protecting American lives and communities from the devastating impacts of fentanyl, which claimed nearly 50,000 lives last year according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The DEA Houston Field Division was one of 23 domestic field divisions and seven foreign divisions that initiated Operation Fentanyl Free America in October. During a period of a month, this targeted enforcement effort resulted in the seizure of:

350 Counterfeit pills
- which is equivalent to 103 deadly doses
149 pounds fentanyl powder
3154 pounds methamphetamine
30 pounds of cocaine
36 firearms
$249,285 U.S. currency

“Operation Fentanyl Free America seizures in October highlighted the ongoing threat of fentanyl. Despite the steady decline in overdoses in most of the South Texas,” said Special Agent in Charge of the Houston Field Division Jonathan C. Pullen. Fentanyl is still an imminent threat, and we can’t afford to look the other way. We will continue to get this poison off the streets, ensuring safer communities for generations to come”

DEA’s efforts are part of a larger whole-of-government strategy to dismantle transnational criminal organizations and protect U.S. communities from fentanyl.

SOURCE: https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2025/12/03/dea-launches-fentanyl-free-america-initiative-combat-synthetic-drug-3

Filed under: Carfentanil,Fentanyl,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,Synthetics,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Coordinator for this subject : David G. Evans, Esq. Senior Counsel, Cannabis Industry Victims Educating Litigators (CIVEL)

Contribution from: thinkon908 via Drug Watch International <drug-watch-international@googlegroups.com>
Sent: 19 November 2025 15:27
Subject: FROM DAVE EVANS REPORT OF THE CANNABIS REGULATORS ASSOCIATION WHAT IS WRONG IN POT STATES?

FOR SOME OF YOU THE FILE ATTACHED WAS TOO LARGE – YOU CAN GET IT ONLINE – SEE BELOW:

https://www.ncdhhs.gov/national-landscape-cannabis-regulators-association-cannra-presentation/download?attachment

Cannabis Regulators Association

CRITIQUE BY DAVID EVANS:

They claim to be a national organization of cannabis regulators that provides policy makers and regulatory agencies with the resources to make informed decisions when considering whether and how to legalize and regulate cannabis.

However, in our experience, the state agencies protect the marijuana industry and not the public. They engage in a denial of the harms of marijuana use and its addictiveness. They falsely support the medical utility of cannabis and THC products.

THIS IS A SCANDAL THAT NEEDS TO BE EXPOSED

In their power point presentation to the North Carolina Cannabis Advisory Council, it notes specific problems:

SLIDE 6: The industry is innovative and fast moving (faster than science). THIS ALSO MEANS THE INDUSTRY ARE FASTER (AND SMARTER) THAN THE STATE AGENCIES

State regulatory agencies have been limited in their resources given the needs. THEY DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH RESOURCES TO ENFORCE REGULATION. THE LEGALIZATION BILLS SEE TO THAT BY NOT AUTHORIZING FUNDS.

SLIDE 25: There are regulatory gaps concerning these products:

Chemically derived impairing cannabinoids (Delta8, Delta-10. HHC, THCO, etc.)

THCA gap – Products being marketed with high levels of THCA that are indistinguishable from cannabis products.

0.3% gap – Impairing amounts of Delta-9 THO in products that meet the legal definition of “hemp” per the 2018 farm bill.

SLIDE 27: Consumer Safety Concerns
Consumer confusion
Molecules that are new and unknown
Lack of product testing and oversight
Medical claims that are not approved by the FDA and/or supported by research

IN OTHER WORDS, THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE DOING !!

SLIDE 29: State Regulatory Challenges from the Current Landscape

No or limited state regulatory authority over cannabinoid hemp products

Lack of research to help guide regulatory decisions on many of these molecules; insufficient surveillance for current landscape. IN OTHER WORDS, THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE DOING

Increased challenges understanding data on safety and adverse events. IN OTHER WORDS, THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE DOING

Enforcement challenges

Increasingly blurred lines with the illicit market; increased cartel activity. INABILITY TO CONTROL CARTELS. WASN’T LEGALIZATION SUPPOSED TO STOP THE CARTELS?

SLIDE 37: Research finds that cannabis smoke contains many of the same carcinogens as tobacco smoke.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>

Comments by J. Coleman. PhD: drug-watch-international@googlegroups.com <drug-watch-international@googlegroups.com> Sent: 19 November 2025 16:38

To: thinkon908@aol.com;

David,

Good work exposing these folks as frauds. It’s a common strategy for cannabis promoters to recommend stringent rules, knowing full well they cannot be enforced. An example of this is the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized the production and distribution of “lawful hemp” and its derivatives. Reading the statute, one might think that the restrictions in the law, e.g., 0.3 percent or below THC content by dry weight in hemp, would keep commercial pot out of the market. The bill obviously was written by hemp lobbyists, knowing that the complex and confusing regulations would impress hardliners but have no practical effect on the industry because a) there were no resources in the bill to enforce them, and b) determining compliance with the statute would take expensive in-lab analysis that no one was likely to do.

Of course, now that we have seen the lawful hemp industry operate for several years, it’s evident that the controls initially included in the statute are now being ignored. Just last week, Congress had to revisit the 2018 Farm Act to tighten up the hemp provisions to prohibit hemp products with excessive levels of THC from being sold.

Enacting statutes that have no practical effect is one way to prevent the government from regulating the industry. Another way is getting Congress to include in its appropriations bills restrictions prohibiting the DEA from making so-called medical marijuana cases in states where this activity has become a surrogate for legalizing the drug.

For example, in each fiscal year since FY2015, a decade ago, Congress has included provisions in appropriations acts to prohibit the Department of Justice from using appropriated funds to prevent states, territories, and the District of Columbia from “implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.” The FY2024 provision lists 52 jurisdictions, including every U.S. jurisdiction that has legalized medical cannabis use at the time it was enacted.

There seems to be a constitutional issue here, but I have no idea how to make it justiciable. Whether the issue is immigration or drugs, it seems like some states no longer recognize the Supremacy Clause or what it means.

According to the NSDUH: In 2023, 21.8 percent of people aged 12 or older (or 61.8 million people) used marijuana in the past year regardless of mode (Figures 12 and 13 and Table A.5B). The percentage was highest among young adults aged 18 to 25 (36.5 percent or 12.4 million people), followed by adults aged 26 or older (20.8 percent or 46.5 million people), then by adolescents aged 12 to 17 (11.2 percent or 2.9 million people). (See: Key Substance Use and Mental Health Indicators in the United States: Results from the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health)

The same government survey (NSDUH) in 2013 reported: As noted in the illicit drug use section, an estimated 22.2 million Americans aged 12 or older in 2014 were current users of marijuana (Figure 1). The number of past-month marijuana users corresponds to 8.4 percent of the population aged 12 or older (Figure 3). The percentage of people aged 12 or older who were current marijuana users in 2014 was higher than the percentages from 2002 to 2013. This rise in marijuana use among those aged 12 or older may reflect the increase in marijuana use by adults aged 26 or older and, to a lesser extent, increases in marijuana use among young adults aged 18 to 25 compared with the percentages of young adults who reported marijuana use in 2002 to 2009 (See: Behavioral Health Trends in the United States: Results from the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health).

Of interest here is the increase in use that appears linear with the expansion of the “legal” cannabis industry. The percentage of Americans 12 years or older reporting use of cannabis increased 178 percent, from 22.2 million in 2013, to 61.8 million in 2023.

I’ve often compared the cannabis industry to winemaking. With the latter, as anyone who’s ever tried making homemade wine knows, after adding the yeast to the mashed grapes, the yeast consumes the sugar and excretes alcohol in the process. At a certain level, the alcohol produced will kill off the remaining live yeast. There are ways of fortifying the wine, but left on its own, it will settle at about 11-14 percent alcohol, depending upon the sugar content of the source material. At some point in the future (hopefully soon), the cannabis industry may reach a level at which its success draws the attention of state attorneys general who will do the math and realize that the return in tax revenue is a lot less each year from pot than the potential return on suing the industry for harm and suffering, etc. The opiates MDL in Cleveland is a good model. Like those hapless wine yeasts, the action of the industry will have put itself out of business just by doing what it does.

John Coleman – www.drugwatch.org

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Marijuana and Medicine,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Dr. Smita Das often hears the same myth: You can’t get hooked on pot .

And the misconception has become more widespread as a growing number of states legalize marijuana . Around half now allow recreational use for adults and 40 states allow medical use.

It’s called cannabis use disorder and it’s on the rise, affecting about 3 in 10 people who use pot, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Here’s how to know whether you or a loved one are addicted to marijuana — and what kinds of treatment exist.

How to identify signs of cannabis use disorder

If pot interferes with your daily life, health or relationships, those are red flags.

Health & wellness

“The more that somebody uses and the higher potency that somebody uses, the higher the risk of that,” Das said.

It’s become more common as cannabis has gotten stronger in recent years. In the 1960s, most pot that people smoked contained less than 5% THC, the ingredient that gets you high. Today, the THC potency in cannabis flower and concentrates in dispensaries can reach 40% or more, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Cannabis use disorder is diagnosed the same way as any other substance use disorder — by looking at whether someone meets certain criteria laid out in the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the main guide for mental health providers.

These include needing more of the drug to get the same effect, having withdrawal symptoms and spending a lot of time trying to get or use it.

“When we break it down into these criteria that have to do with the impacts of their use, it’s a lot more relatable,” Das said.

What the different levels of addiction are

If you’ve met just two of the criteria for cannabis use disorder in the last year, doctors say you have a mild form of the condition. If you meet six or more, you have a more severe form.

According to the latest version of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 7% of all people 12 or older had cannabis use disorder in 2024 and most had a mild form. About 1 in 5 had a severe form.

People can be dependent on and addicted to substances. Dependence is physical, while addiction involves behavior changes.

Marijuana doesn’t affect everyone the same way, though. The same amount can have “major impacts” on one person’s daily life but have no impact on another person’s, Das said. “It really comes down to: How much is that substance impacting someone’s functioning and life day-to-day?”

Where people can get help for cannabis use disorder

Many marijuana users first come to Das for help coping with something else, like alcohol use disorder. Later, she said, they’ll often come back and mention a struggle with cannabis.

She assures them that there are effective treatments for the disorder.

One is called motivational interviewing, a goal-oriented counseling style that helps people find internal motivation to change their behavior. Another is cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT, a form of talk therapy that helps people to challenge negative thought patterns and reduce unhelpful behaviors.

Twelve-step programs like Marijuana Anonymous can also be helpful, Das said. But whether someone chooses to join a group or not, even being able to lean on a community of people who aren’t using pot is an important part for recovery.

Dave Bushnell, a retired digital executive creative director, started a Reddit group 14 years ago for people who, like him, had developed an addiction or dependency to cannabis and wanted help recovering. Its discussion forum has 350,000 members and continues to grow.

Bushnell, 60, said peer support is essential to recovery and some people feel more comfortable chatting online than in person. “This is potheads taking care of potheads,” he said.

Doctors urged people who need help to get it, whether it’s with a professional or in a peer group.

As with alcohol, “just because something’s legal doesn’t mean that it’s safe,” Das said.

___

Associated Press reporter Leah Willingham in Boston contributed to this story.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/11/22/pot-cannabis-use-disorder-marijuana-addiction/dcfff9a4-c7ac-11f0-be23-3ccb704f61ac_story.html

Filed under: Addiction,Brain and Behaviour,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Marijuana and Medicine,Mental Health,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

by DFAF – November 26, 2025

YOUTH DECLARATION – NOTES FROM THE PROCEEDINGS:

In this episode of Pathways to Prevention, host Dave Closson spotlights a powerful youth-led global effort: the Youth Declaration on Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery.

What began as a spark at a CND side event in Vienna grew into a global core youth group, a multi-country survey, and a declaration that centers one clear message: nothing about us without us.

Dave is joined by youth leaders and organizers from across the world, including Cressida (World Federation Against Drugs), Sana, Fuhaira, and Muhammad (Pakistan Youth Organization). Together, they unpack how this declaration came to life, what they learned from youth in 60+ countries, and why meaningful youth participation must be treated as a design principle—not a box to tick.

In This Episode:

How it all started
- The side event at CND that sparked the idea for a global youth declaration
- How WFAD, Drug Free America Foundation, and Pakistan Youth Organization partnered to form a global core youth group
Mobilizing a global youth survey
- How youth leaders reached respondents in Pakistan, Kenya, the U.S., Colombia, Macau, China, and beyond
- The practical challenges of mobilizing youth across time zones, cultures, and contexts
- Why open-ended questions were essential to capturing authentic youth voices, even when they made participation harder
What the data revealed
- Key themes that showed up again and again across regions:
  - “Listen to us and involve us” – youth want real seats at the table, not symbolic roles
  - The importance of education, jobs, and opportunities as prevention factors
  - The need for youth-sensitive, timely, and accessible services
- Early takeaways from both the quantitative and qualitative analysis
From survey results to a Youth Declaration
- How the team analyzed thousands of responses and distilled them into six core recommendations
- Why the declaration is best understood as youth empowerment in its truest form—moving beyond paper commitments to real participation in:
  - Prevention
  - Treatment
  - Recovery
  - Policy formulation
What didn’t work (and what they changed)
- Initial struggles with low response rates
- How youth coordinators used WhatsApp, campus focal persons, and in-person conversations to increase participation
- Lessons learned about communication, trust, and making youth feel their contribution matters
Why this matters now
- How global recognition of the Youth Declaration signals a powerful shift toward taking youth expertise seriously
- The “triangle” of government, community, and youth and why all three must be engaged for prevention to work

Key Themes

Youth participation is not a token gesture. It is a design principle.
Prevention and recovery efforts must be:
- Co-created with youth
- Modern in outreach, including social platforms and mobile-first content
- Non-stigmatizing and grounded in real lived experience
When youth are trusted and given real space to contribute, they bring innovative ideas, energy, and solutions that adults alone will never generate.

Call to Action

If you are a youth leader or work with youth-serving organizations, this episode is your invitation to:

Read the Youth Declaration and its full report to see where your current work already aligns with the six recommendations.
Share your story: If you’re already taking action that reflects the declaration—programs, policies, campaigns, or peer-led initiatives—send your activities and outcomes to info@wfad.se for possible inclusion in an upcoming global youth declaration web magazine.
Create real seats at the table: In your organization, community, or network, ask where youth are currently informed versus where they are truly involved in decision-making.

Source: https://www.dfaf.org/the-road-to-youth-declaration-mobilizing-a-global-youth-movement/

Filed under: Culture,Prevention and Intervention,Social Media,USA,Youth :

Identifying early neural vulnerabilities in adolescence could help guide prevention before substance abuse begins.

Credit: Neuroscience News

from neurosciencenews.com – – Barbara Prempeh – Weill Cornell University – November 21, 2025

Key Facts:

Distinct Neural Patterns: Girls at risk showed higher transition energy in default-mode networks, while boys showed lower transition energy in attention networks.
Risk Before Substance Use: Differences appeared at ages 9–11, indicating early vulnerability unrelated to drug exposure.
Tailored Prevention: Findings point toward sex-specific early interventions targeting rumination in girls and impulse control in boys.

Source: Weill Cornell University

The roots of addiction risk may lie in how young brains function long before substance use begins, according to a new study from Weill Cornell Medicine.

The investigators found that children with a family history of substance use disorder (SUD) already showed distinctive patterns of brain activity that differ between boys and girls, which may reflect separate predispositions for addiction.

The research, published Nov. 21, in Nature Mental Health, analyzed brain scans from nearly 1,900 children ages 9 to 11 participating in the National Institutes of Health’s Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.

“These findings may help explain why boys and girls often follow different paths toward substance use and addiction,” said senior author Dr. Amy Kuceyeski, professor of mathematics and neuroscience in the Department of Radiology and the Feil Family Brain & Mind Research Institute at Weill Cornell. “Understanding those pathways could eventually help guide how we tailor prevention and treatment for each group.”

Tracking Neural Energy Shifts

To explore these neural differences, the researchers used a computational approach called “network control theory” to measure how the brain transitions between different patterns of activity during rest.

“When you lie in an MRI scanner, your brain isn’t idle; it cycles through recurring patterns of activation,” said first author Louisa Schilling, doctoral candidate in the Computational Connectomics Laboratory at Weill Cornell.

“Network control theory lets us calculate how much effort the brain expends to shift between these patterns.” This transition energy indicates the brain’s flexibility, or its ability to shift from inward, self-reflective thought to external focus.

Disruptions in this process have been observed in people with heavy alcohol use and cocaine use disorder, and when under the influence of psychedelics.

Opposing Patterns in Boys and Girls

The study found that girls with a family history of SUD displayed higher transition energy in the brain’s default-mode network, which is associated with introspection. Compared with girls without such a family history, this elevated energy suggests their brains may work harder to shift gears from internal-focused thinking.

“That may mean greater difficulty disengaging from negative internal states like stress or rumination,” Schilling said.

“Such inflexibility could set the stage for later risk, when substances are used as a way to escape or self-soothe.”

In contrast, boys with a family history showed lower transition energy in attention networks that control focus and response to external cues.

“Their brains seem to require less effort to switch states, which might sound good, but it may lead to unrestrained behavior,” Dr. Kuceyeski said.

“They may be more reactive to their environment and more drawn to rewarding or stimulating experiences.”

Put simply, she said, “Girls may have a harder time stepping on the brakes, while boys may find it easier to step on the gas when it comes to risky behaviors and addiction.” Since the brain differences appeared before any substance use, they may indicate inherited or early-life environmental vulnerability rather than the effects of drugs.

Toward More Personalized Prevention

The researchers emphasize the need to analyze data from boys and girls separately, since averaging results across both groups masked the contrasts. Separate analyses revealed distinct patterns, underscoring the importance of sex as a biological variable in brain and behavioral research.

The findings mirror what clinicians see in adults: women are more likely to use substances to relieve distress and progress more quickly to dependence, while men are more likely to seek substances to feel euphoria or excitement. Identifying early neural vulnerabilities in adolescence could help guide prevention before substance abuse begins.

“Recognizing that boys and girls may travel different neural roads toward the same disorder can help tailor how we intervene,” Dr. Kuceyeski said. “For example, programs for girls might focus on coping with internal stress, while for boys the emphasis might be on attention and impulse control.”

Key Questions Answered:1

Q: How does family history of substance use disorder affect young brains?

A: It is linked to distinct patterns of neural transition energy before any substance use begins.

Q: Why do boys and girls show different addiction risk pathways?

A: They display opposing neural flexibility patterns in attention and introspection networks.

Q: How can this research guide prevention?

A: It suggests tailored early interventions targeting stress coping for girls and impulse control for boys.

Source: https://neurosciencenews.com/neurodevelopment-addiction-sex-differences-29965/

Filed under: Addiction,Brain and Behaviour,Mental Health,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

Emerging drugs, which include designer drugs and new psychoactive substances, are substances that have appeared or become more popular in the drug market in recent years.
Emerging drugs have unpredictable health effects. They may be as powerful or more powerful than existing drugs, and may be fatal.
Because drug markets change quickly, NIDA supports the National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS), which tracks emerging substances. NIDA also advances the science on emerging drugs by supporting research on their use and on their health effects.

Source: https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/emerging-drug-trends

Filed under: Political Sector,Psychedelics,Strategy and Policy,Synthetics,USA :

by Email From Maggie Petito – 19.11.25

Neither the casino nor the four defendants admitted to knowingly laundering money for cartels or anyone else. But some investigators said that their actions helped bad actors hide the source of their illicit money.

“Federal laws that regulate the reporting of financial transactions are in place to detect and stop illegal activities,” said Carissa Messick, the special agent in charge for the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal investigations unit in Las Vegas, in a statement at the time. “Deliberately avoiding Bank Secrecy Act requirements is a form of money laundering.”

In a statement to CNN, Wynn Resorts said the company fully cooperated with the investigation and “immediately terminated the few employees involved because their actions violated the Company’s compliance program.”

“Wynn is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, compliance, and regulatory responsibility,” the Wynn casino said. “We accept responsibility for the historical deficiencies identified, have taken meaningful remediation, and are dedicated to ensuring that such failures do not reoccur.”

The cases of the four defendants that helped lead to Wynn’s historic settlement show how casinos have profited from having dirty money come through their coffers, and how drug cartels seek to legitimize the huge profits they generate from the sale of fentanyl and other drugs through legal gambling establishments, experts and investigators said. One prosecutor in Zhang’s case estimated that at least a hundred million dollars annually was being laundered through American casinos.

“Forty-eight hours ago, that was the proceeds of fentanyl,” said Chris Urben, a former assistant special agent in charge with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Special Operations Division, speaking about some of the cash that Zhang and others moved through the Wynn and other casinos.

Although federal regulators and authorities have cracked down on banks and demanded tighter scrutiny on the cash deposits favored by cartels, regulators have been slower to apply that same pressure to casinos — despite their financial interest in looking the other way or even facilitating these crimes.

“They haven’t received as much scrutiny as financial institutions have in the past,” said Ian Messenger, founder and CEO of the Association of Certified Gaming Compliance Specialists in Toronto. “That is changing, with cases like Wynn.”

Hunger for cash

The schemes to move illicit money at Vegas casinos traced back to a simple problem: High-rolling gamblers from China — who are known to drop up to a million dollars on a single hand of blackjack — were having problems accessing their funds in the US.

A corruption crackdown by the Chinese government starting around 2016 led to stricter enforcement of rules prohibiting individuals from taking more than $50,000 a year out of the country.

How Chinese gamblers get illicit US cash to use at casinos

When big-money Chinese gamblers can’t get enough American cash to use at casinos because of Chinese government restrictions, they sometimes turn to a black market for the money. Here’s how middlemen in the US convert money from drug cartels and other illicit businesses into cash for them:

An “underground banker” drives around Las Vegas collecting money from customers who may have earned cash from illicit means – ranging from drug cartels to prostitution rings.

The underground banker pays them back for the cash by transferring the same amount, minus his fee, to a Chinese bank account, circumventing US safeguards.

A high stakes Chinese gambler arrives in Vegas, but he has a problem: He legally can’t bring more than $50,000 annually into the U.S. under Chinese law, and needs more to gamble.

The casino wants the gambler’s business. So a casino host calls the underground banker and asks him to bring cash, according to US authorities.

In a private room at the casino, the underground banker gives cash to the high-stakes Chinese gambler.

The Chinese gambler pays the underground banker back, plus a fee, by transferring Chinese money to a Chinese bank account — again evading US scrutiny.

The gambler takes that cash, which may have started with drug cartels, prostitutes and other illicit businesses, and turns it into chips at the casino.

For US authorities, this rule has created supersized demand among well-heeled Chinese visitors and expats. When they need large sums for purchasing real estate, buying a luxury car or other big expenses, many turn to underground bankers.

These illicit bankers, who are also often Chinese, have turned to criminal gangs such as Mexican drug cartels and prostitution rings, law enforcement officials told CNN.

In exchange for cash, the cartels and other providers are paid back through Chinese bank accounts that face no US financial scrutiny.

In recent years, these Chinese middlemen have essentially become the go-to bankers for the biggest players in the US drug trade, authorities have said, wresting control from Latin American interests in what has amounted to a bloodless coup.

And high-stakes Chinese gamblers quickly became important players in the financial scheme, authorities say.

The big break

In late 2018, Dave Mesler, a special agent with the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal investigation unit, got an intriguing tip from employees at another Las Vegas casino.

They’d noticed a strange pattern: A man would walk into the casino carrying a satchel and then would meet a host — a casino employee in charge of keeping high-value gamblers happy. The host would summon a high-roller, and the trio would disappear to a private setting like a hotel room. Then the man who came with the satchel would depart, often without having gambled.

Staff at the casino, which Mesler confirmed was not Wynn but declined to identify due to DOJ policy, eventually notified law enforcement about a handful of men all following the same pattern.

“The casino didn’t quite figure out what they were up to,” Mesler said, but “they realized these guys were up to something.”

Mesler and other investigators soon learned the IDs of four of the men: Lei Zhang, Bing Han, Liang Zhou and Fan Wang. All were Chinese nationals in their late 30s or 40s living in Las Vegas. (None of the men responded to CNN’s multiple efforts to reach them. )

Mesler, who at the time led the IRS’s Las Vegas Financial Crimes Task Force, subpoenaed their cell records. The results excited him so much he flew from his office in Las Vegas to San Diego to meet with a federal prosecutor.

“I found that these guys were talking to Wynn casino hosts multiple times a day every day,” Mesler said. “Hundreds a week. … I mean, I don’t even talk to my girlfriend this much.”

Investigators had already been interested in Wynn, a high-end resort with a sleek glass design with locations worldwide, including Macao – the only place in China where gambling is legal.

Investigators had earlier looked into bank accounts they suspected were being used by drug cartels to fund gambling at the casino, DEA sources said, but none of those probes led to any charges being filed. (Wynn said in its statement that the accounts were “established to allow out-of-state guests to make normal and customary payments to the Company” and that the casino followed all proper financial reporting procedures.)

Mesler believed something bigger was afoot with the new evidence involving the four Chinese men. “It was happening now – it didn’t happen years ago,” Mesler said. “This breathed a lot of new energy into the case.”

Mesler started reviewing surveillance footage from Wynn, and sure enough, the four men were making regular visits with casino hosts and high-rolling gamblers there.

With the evidence mounting in early 2019, other agencies joined the case: the US attorney’s office in San Diego, the DEA, the Department of Homeland Security and even the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

Through surveillance footage, undercover assignments and interviews with informants and the defendants, investigators were able to piece together a more complete picture of the sophisticated scheme.

Wynn casino and Mexican cartels

Investigators began watching as the four underground bankers or couriers working for them drove in and around Las Vegas and Los Angeles making cash pickups, law enforcement sources told CNN.

“They would take cash from anybody that had cash they didn’t want to deposit in a bank account for various reasons,” Mesler said.

The men would then shuttle the ill-gotten cash to Wynn and other casinos in Vegas, where they would meet with a casino host and an elite gambler from China for a hand-off.

“It didn’t always happen in a hotel room, but it could. It could happen in the hotel bathroom as well,” said Peter Fuller, a former detective in the Las Vegas police department who worked on the case. “It also happened in vehicles.”

Phone data seized from the four suspects showed they were frequently communicating with Wynn casino hosts, said Urben, the former DEA official — but also that some of their communications traced back to Mexican cartel operatives. He added that other intelligence, including surveillance and post-arrest interviews, also pointed to cartels as a significant source of cash.

CNN obtained an unclassified internal DEA document, which reported that agents suspected money launderers were feeding cash from Latin American drug cartels to Chinese gamblers, who were “reliable customers to purchase cash drug proceeds.” The intelligence report, which was shared with field offices across the country in 2021, also linked Vegas casino hosts with members of US-based drug trafficking organizations “seeking to launder drug proceeds.”

“The majority and the driver of this was Mexican cartel proceeds,” said Urben, who now works as a managing director at Nardello & Co., a private global investigations firm that specializes in corporate matters. “When I say that, I mean fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine.”

A Homeland Security investigator, who worked closely on the case and asked that his name not be used out of safety concerns, said much of the cash being sold by underground bankers to Chinese gamblers in Vegas at the time appeared to come from cartels.

It’s unclear how much the casino hosts or Chinese gamblers knew about the source of the money when coordinating the transactions, officials said.

But they all knew enough to be secretive about the activity, the Homeland Security investigator said, “so they must have known they were doing something bad.”

After using a Chinese social-messaging and mobile-payment app called WeChat to make a quick money transfer, the gambler would often take the cash, bring it inside the casino and exchange it for chips, officials said.

The end result was that everybody got what they wanted. The casino host got the golden-goose gambler to play at Wynn, the gambler received the cash, the “third-party” source was able to replace their dirty cash with a clean deposit in a financial institution, and the underground banker got his fee, all without having to send hefty dollar amounts across international borders.

In May 2019, investigators on the case carried out the first sting operation. It targeted Zhang.

Zhang had been lured to a Las Vegas casino hotel room by an undercover federal agent who called the money mover posing as a wealthy gambler looking to obtain $150,000 in cash.

As he made his way through the casino floor to the hotel room, agents working with Homeland Security Investigations waited in an adjoining room. Zhang had been instructed to show up alone, but he came with a woman. Zhang knocked on the door and the undercover agent answered.

The agents barged in.

“He looked very cool and suave,” said the Homeland Security investigator. “Cool sunglasses and hair. … Very Vegas.” The agents opened the satchel and discovered four brick-sized stacks of cash, the investigator said.

The woman, who had a handful of cell phones on her, was a “madam” who ran an escort service, he said. Two-thirds of the cash belonged to her, and she wanted to make sure the transaction went smoothly. The agents seized the cash; the woman was not arrested, he said.

That bust, he added, helped lead investigators to the other three suspects, who were arrested in similar stings throughout Las Vegas that summer.

The four defendants

With the evidence collected by Mesler and others, Zhang, Han, Zhou and Wang were charged in federal court between May and September of 2019 with operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

Prosecutors said their scheme was just a fraction of the illicit money moving through casinos.

“The total magnitude of this problem, especially in Las Vegas, catering to high-roller Chinese gamblers who come into Las Vegas without easy access to United States cash, is certainly in the nine figures on an annual basis,” said prosecutor Mark Pletcher during Zhang’s sentencing hearing in 2020. “We’re talking about a problem in the hundred-million dollar range” yearly, he added.

In court, the defendants — who had all emigrated from China — described how they’d been drawn into the underground banking schemes because they needed money to help care for children or elderly parents, in a country where they had few connections and spoke little English.

By fall of 2020, all four pleaded guilty to a lesser crime than money laundering: operating an “unlicensed money transmitting business.” Investigators told CNN the money-laundering charge would require proving that the defendants themselves knew the source of the dirty cash they were bringing into the casino.

But another prosecutor, Daniel Silva, told the court that the activity “totally undermines the United States’ anti-money laundering laws.” The networks, he added, “are a huge, huge problem in the United States” and “will not be tolerated.”

Zhou, now 42, was ordered to repay the government $446,000. He was sentenced to six months in prison. The lightest sentence went to Wang, who received three months in home detention and was ordered to repay $225,000 for his role in the scheme.

A former professional poker player who also worked in the “junket” industry that brought Chinese gamblers to Las Vegas, Wang, now about 43, was charged last year with lying about his felony conviction while trying to purchase a semiautomatic assault rifle in Las Vegas, court documents state. He pleaded guilty to the weapons charge in April and was sentenced to time served.

The steepest forfeiture penalty went to Han, now 50, who was ordered to repay $500,000. Han told the courts he was granted asylum in the US in 2019 after suffering religious persecution in China for starting a church in his home, according to court records.

The stiffest prison sentence went to Zhang, now about 45, who’d claimed through his lawyer in court that he had no idea he was doing anything wrong. The judge handed Zhang 15 months in prison and ordered him to repay $150,000 – a formality as authorities had already seized that amount in the raid.

Fuller, the former detective with the Las Vegas police department, said it’s important to recognize the harm in the crime.

“You just can’t go take cash from anybody, because what ends up happening is, you end up taking it from Pablo Escobar,” said Fuller, who now works as a special agent for the IRS. “It’s basically the same thing that took place in the ’30s with Al Capone and all that, all the bankers and everybody. ‘Oh no, I, I don’t sell drugs. I’m not in organized crime. I just set up companies for people. I just move money.’”

Last fall, a little over two years after the last of the four men were sentenced, Wynn casino signed the non-prosecution agreement and admitted to its employees’ involvement in a range of schemes, including those catering to high-rolling Chinese gamblers. The casino, in a statement to CNN, said it was unaware of the details of the four individual criminal cases as they played out in court.

The agreement also highlighted earlier cases dating back to 2014 in which the Wynn casino “knowingly and intentionally conspired” with individuals – some with connections to Latin America – to set up illicit ways to get money to gamblers at the casino and to recruit foreign gamblers from places the US has identified as “major money laundering countries.”

In another scheme – referred to in the document as “human head gambling” – patrons who were prohibited by anti-money-laundering laws from gambling would stand behind a proxy gambler and give orders. One such patron had suspected connections to a transnational organized crime group.

Wynn casino’s involvement in the illicit activity wasn’t limited to casino hosts – it also included a company marketing executive and a senior executive of a company affiliate, the agreement says.

In its statement, Wynn said it has since made improvements outlined in its settlement, including adding high-level staff members to an office dedicated to enforcing anti-money-laundering laws, and establishing an independent compliance committee whose members are unaffiliated with the company.

An ‘explosion’ of Chinese money laundering

When Zhang and Han pleaded guilty in early 2020, they were the first in the US to be prosecuted for this form of underground banking, according to the DOJ.

Today, networks of Chinese underground bankers are the primary money launderers for not only the Mexican drug cartels, but organized crime groups around the world, including various Italian mafia groups, said Vanda Felbab-Brown, an expert on international organized crime with the Brookings Institution.

“Over the past eight years or so, you have this big explosion of Chinese money laundering in the states, in Mexico, in Europe,” she said.

Wynn isn’t the only casino that has been caught aiding criminals who evade banking laws.

In Australia, Crown Resorts casino was hit with a $300 million fine (in US dollars) in 2023 for running afoul of anti-money-laundering laws and continuing a business relationship with a junket operator despite the casino’s awareness of allegations the firm was connected to Chinese organized crime. “The company that committed these unacceptable, historic breaches is far removed from the company that exists today,” Crown Resorts said in a statement at the time.

In Canada, where this kind of crime has been rampant, a 2022 report by a government commission established to look into the issue revealed a common scheme in Vancouver that closely mirrors what investigators say was happening at Wynn: drug traffickers and Chinese loan sharks selling hockey bags filled with cash to Chinese gamblers who would wheel them into casinos to play a card game called baccarat.

Messenger, the gaming-compliance expert, said he wasn’t surprised that the historic Wynn settlement and similar cases haven’t attracted much public interest.

“The general public don’t typically have high expectations when it comes to the casino industry,” he said. “Everyone has Netflix. They’ve seen ‘Casino’; they’ve seen the other movies.”

The casino industry, however, has taken notice, and the culture of compliance with laws to prevent money laundering is improving, he said.

Even so, Messenger said, casinos – with their large volumes of cash and intensifying pressure to boost foot traffic and bring in high-rollers as online gambling gains in popularity – remain a rich venue for rinsing criminal proceeds.

“We see many, many cases of criminal funds or criminals attempting to deposit funds into the casino environment,” he said. “Not for the purposes of entertainment, but for the purposes of creating layers, creating explanations.”

Those criminal funds come from a business that has left a trail of devastation.

DEA official Brian Clark noted that the rise of Chinese money laundering coincided with a drug epidemic that in recent years has claimed over 100,000 lives annually in the US – the vast majority from opioids such as fentanyl.

“It’s all being fueled from this money laundering trade,” he said, “and it results in the death of Americans.”

Source: www.drugwatch.org

Filed under: Crime/Violence/Prison,Gambling,USA :

OPINION PIECE :

by Patrik Ward [ University of Tampa ] and Abigail R. Hall [ University of Tampa ] – Published Nov. 10. 2025

Patrik Ward is an economics student and member of the Adam Smith Society at the University of Tampa.

Abigail R. Hall is a senior fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland, Calif., and an associate professor of economics at the University of Tampa.

What looks like an anti-drug measure may, in practice, be a show of power.

The recent U.S. strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug-traffickers in the Caribbean were framed as a necessary measure against transnational crime. Beyond their questionable legality, these measures risk deepening the very markets they seek to destroy. In attempting to sink traffickers at sea, the U.S. may have buoyed the economics of the drug trade.

In late October, U.S. naval forces carried out multiple strikes against vessels in the Caribbean suspected of transporting drugs linked to Venezuelan criminal networks. According to U.S. officials, the strikes sought to disrupt smuggling routes and weaken cartels. Venezuelan officials condemned the attacks as a violation of sovereignty.

Although U.S. leaders defended them as part of a broader campaign against narcotics trafficking, the timing and targets suggest a broader strategic move. Venezuela’s government remains deeply corrupt and internationally isolated, making it an easy symbol for demonstrating U.S. strength in the region. What looks like an anti-drug measure may, in practice, be a show of power—a bid to assert influence and signal strength, rather than a coordinated effort to reduce trafficking.

On a baseline level, a tougher stance on trafficking sounds like a beneficial policy. If the United States government raises the “punishment” for trafficking (i.e., killing traffickers on the open sea), smugglers may reconsider their choice.

However, illicit markets don’t mirror textbook logic. They adapt. By raising the risks, these strikes may have also raised the rewards, inflating prices, shifting routes and enriching the most dangerous agents.

This dynamic, common in financial markets, is often referred to as the “risk premium” — higher expected punishment leads traffickers to demand higher prices to compensate for the danger.

In the short run, some suppliers in the drug trade may exit the market. But those who stay are those most willing to take extreme risks or who already have the means to absorb them. In this case, cartels with deep pockets and little concern for collateral damage. Enforcement ends up selecting the most violent, not the most vulnerable.

As enforcement intensifies in one region, illegal activity doesn’t disappear — it relocates. This “balloon effect” means that squeezing the supposed drug trade in Venezuelan waters may simply push it toward alternative routes through Central America, the Caribbean or the West Coast. This doesn’t reduce the flow of drugs, but the geography of violence and corruption shifts, destabilizing communities far from the original target.

The economic effects don’t end there. As risk and costs climb, drug producers face incentives to cut corners and stretch profits by diluting drug purity. This generally takes the form of mixing cheaper — and often deadlier — additives like fentanyl. What begins as a “security measure abroad” can quickly spiral into a public-health crisis at home as domestic demand persists, and drug supply grows more potent and unpredictable.

These mechanisms reveal that when policy targets symptoms rather than the underlying causes or incentives, markets evolve faster than enforcement can adapt. The United States has spent decades trying to outgun an industry whose demand base is resilient and concentrated domestically. The real question isn’t whether to combat trafficking — it’s how. Every dollar spent on maritime strikes is a dollar not spent on reducing domestic demand, expanding treatment capacity or fostering economic alternatives in producer countries.

So, what can we do differently?

If the goal is to weaken trafficking networks, policymakers would do better to strike the cartels economically, not their boats. Forty years of interdictions — from the Caribbean to Plan Colombia — show that cutting supply routes rarely cuts supply. Research suggests that every dollar spent on treatment and prevention reduces drug consumption up to five times more than enforcement and interdiction spending.

Real deterrence starts at home. Expanding access to treatment, addressing poverty and mental health crises and targeting the financial pipelines that launder cartel profits strike demand and incentives directly. Cooperation with Latin American governments can then make enforcement smarter, not louder. The point isn’t to dominate the Caribbean — it’s to make drug trafficking a losing business model.

A purely militarized approach treats illicit markets as a law enforcement problem when it’s fundamentally an economic one. The logic of the market doesn’t vanish at sea — it simply resurfaces somewhere else.

Source: https://www.tampabay.com

Filed under: Crime/Violence/Prison,Economic,Strategy and Policy,USA :

Contact: Keila DePape – Organization: Media Relations, McGill University

Published: 18 November 2025

Researchers using brain imaging gain rare insight into how prenatal exposure to modern, high-THC cannabis affects brain development into adulthood

McGill University researchers at the Douglas Research Centre have found evidence that heavy cannabis use during pregnancy can cause delays in brain development in the fetus that persist into adulthood.

Using advanced MRI techniques, the team tracked the effects of prenatal cannabis exposure in mice across key developmental stages.

While public health agencies caution against cannabis use during pregnancy, most supporting evidence from humans is observational. The findings add biological evidence showing how heavy use can disrupt brain growth from early development to adulthood.

Published in Molecular Psychiatry, a Nature Portfolio journal, the preclinical study also reflects the higher-potency cannabis available today, helping to fill a gap in understanding its potential risks.

“Since cannabis legalization is relatively recent, we don’t yet have long-term human data on newer THC products,” said senior author Mallar Chakravarty, Full Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and researcher at the Douglas. “Our findings offer an early glimpse of possible outcomes a decade or two down the line.”

Tracking brain development over time

The average THC potency in dried cannabis has risen from about three per cent in the 1980s to roughly 15 per cent in 2022, with some strains reaching 30 per cent, according to Health Canada.

To model heavy use, researchers simulated daily exposure equivalent to one or two joints containing more than 10 per cent THC during a stage comparable to the first trimester of human pregnancy.

They observed developmental changes across three life stages:

Late pregnancy: Embryos exposed to THC had smaller bodies and larger brain ventricles that signal abnormal brain development.
Early life: Newborns gained weight faster, but their brains developed more slowly, suggesting a mismatch or delay.
Adolescence to adulthood: Smaller brain volumes persisted, especially in females, who also showed more anxiety-like behaviours.

“The good news is that many of these developmental delays are subtle and could likely be offset with a supportive environment,” said Chakravarty.

3D model of the neonatal brain showing regions of reduced growth (blue) and increased growth in the ventricles (red). (Source: Lani Cupo)

A rare look across the lifespan

The methods used provided a level of detail not often achieved in preclinical studies, the researchers explain.

“That’s partly because this type of research is incredibly resource intensive,” said first author Lani Cupo, who carried out the work over six years during her PhD at McGill. “We used live brain imaging to follow development across the lifespan, which isn’t commonly done in mice.”

Collaborators at the University of Victoria later used ultra-high-resolution microscopy to examine how brain cells changed after THC exposure.

Supporting informed choices

The researchers note that some people use cannabis before realizing they are pregnant, while others use it to manage nausea or to cope with anxiety and depression, conditions that can also affect pregnancy outcomes.

“There is no ‘ideal’ pregnancy,” said Chakravarty. “This isn’t about what is good or bad, it’s about giving people the information they need to make informed decisions.”

A follow-up study will explore whether other forms of cannabis, such as edibles, vaping and CBD products affect the brain differently.

About the study

“Impact of prenatal delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol exposure on mouse brain development: a fetal-to-adulthood magnetic resonance imaging study” by Lani Cupo and Mallar Chakravarty et al., was published in Molecular Psychiatry. It was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Source: https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/heavy-cannabis-use-during-pregnancy-linked-disruption-brain-growth-368978

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

From CADCA – 19 November 2025

“Our honorees represent the very best of public service and community leadership, and we look forward to celebrating their achievements at our National Leadership Forum,” said CADCA President and CEO General Barrye L. Price, Ph.D. “These distinguished leaders have shown what it means to stand up for the well-being of our communities.”

This year’s honorees exemplify innovation and dedication to creating safer, healthier, and stronger communities.

Outstanding Youth Leader: Sharmada Venkataramani

Recognizes an outstanding young person for service to a coalition and their dedication to preventing substance misuse

Sharmada is a rising junior at South Forsyth High School, passionate about youth advocacy and prevention work. She began by publishing a piece on Big Pharma’s role in the opioid crisis for the state social studies fair and further engaged with the Forsyth County Drug Awareness Council. There, she launched the “Elevate with Awareness” campaign, highlighting the importance of teen marijuana use awareness. Sharmada also led students in advocating for nicotine regulation bill HB 1260. As the youth sector lead for the 2024-2025 school year, she guides 30+ students on various prevention projects.

Additionally, she collaborated with District 4 Commissioner Cindy Jones Mills to establish the Forsyth County Youth Mental Health Coalition, distributing over 750 mental health resource guides. Sharmada serves as the county organizing deputy director at the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition, representing over 1500+ students to advocate for youth-focused reforms. She is also the JV president of her school’s mock trial team, a state-level award winner, and an officer in her school’s Future Business Leaders of America Club. In her free time, she enjoys Indian classical dancing and spending time with friends. Sharmada aims to attend law school and pursue a career in securities law.

National Newsmaker Award: Amy Neville & Alexander Neville Foundation

Recognizes an individual or organization that has used their platform or media presence to bring national attention to substance use prevention issues

Amy Neville is the President of the Alexander Neville Foundation (ANF), an organization her family founded after the tragic loss of her 14-year-old son, Alexander. A drug dealer on Snapchat sold Alex a counterfeit pill laced with fentanyl that took his life. This unimaginable loss compelled Amy to confront the fentanyl crisis and the growing dangers of unregulated social media platforms.

Through ANF, Amy works closely with young people to co-create meaningful drug prevention and social media education programs. The foundation is rooted in youth collaboration and has become a guiding voice in efforts to curb substance misuse and reshape the digital environment for children and teens. Amy continues to speak nationally on synthetic drug dangers, social media harms, and the urgent need for corporate and legislative accountability.

In April 2025, Amy appeared in Bloomberg Media’s acclaimed documentary Can’t Look Away: The Case Against Social Media, which explores the real-life consequences of Big Tech’s unchecked power. Her powerful presence in the film underscores her message: “This is all about money… We need to take back the power from these companies.”

Amy has also shared her family’s story and insights on CNN, FOX, CBS, ABC, and in Rolling Stone’s investigative piece “Inside Snapchat’s Teen Opioid Crisis.” Her mission remains clear: to prevent more families from experiencing the devastation hers has endured and to ensure youth are protected both offline and online.

National Leadership Award: Kirk Lane

Recognizes leaders who have been longtime supporters of the community coalition movement and who use their voice and influence to educate the community about the importance of substance abuse prevention

Arkansas Drug Director Kirk Lane was appointed by Governor Asa Hutchinson on August 7, 2017. In his current role, Lane serves as the Director of the Arkansas Opioid Recovery Partnership (ARORP), which works to support communities across the state through innovative prevention, treatment, and recovery initiatives. Under his leadership, ARORP partnered with CADCA to help Arkansas coalitions build capacity to secure federal Drug-Free Communities (DFC) funding. As a result of this partnership, seven of 13 ARORP-supported coalitions were awarded DFC grants, bringing $4.3 million in federal investment to Arkansas communities.

Previously, Director Lane served as the Chief of Police for the City of Benton, Arkansas. Director Lane began his law enforcement career in 1982. In 1986, he worked for the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office for 22 years rising to the rank of Captain. His assignments during this time period included Patrol, Narcotics, Investigations, SWAT and Honor Guard. In January of 2009, Lane retired from the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office as the Investigation Division Commander and was appointed the Chief of Police of the Benton Police Department.

He attended the University of Virginia and the University of Arkansas-Little Rock. He is a graduate of the Arkansas Law Enforcement Academy, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Drug Commander’s Academy and the FBI National Academy 197th session. He has served on boards representing Arkansas for the Regional Organized Crime Information Center and was the Chairman of the Arkansas Chief’s Association Legislative Committee. Director Lane also served on advisory boards for the Criminal Justice Institute, the Arkansas Prescription Monitoring Program and the Arkansas Alcohol and Drug Coordinating Council.

Director Lane is an active member of the Arkansas State working group for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention and received the 2012 Marie Interfaith Leadership Award for his work in this area. He also serves on the CADCA Board of Directors.

CADCA Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr. Mark Gold

Honors an individual whose career and contributions have had a profound and sustained impact on the prevention field

Mark S. Gold, M.D. is a world-renowned expert on addiction-related diseases and has worked for 40+ years developing models for understanding the effects of opioid, tobacco, cocaine, and other drugs, as well as food, on the brain and behavior. Today, Dr. Gold continues his research, teaching, and consulting as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis. He publishes a weekly article for Psychology Today that translates the latest science on addiction-related issues into easy to understand, accessible information for the general public that CADCA distributes to its members.

About CADCA

CADCA is the premier prevention association equipping coalitions with tools, knowledge, and support to create positive change in their communities. CADCA’s vision is safer, healthier, and stronger communities everywhere. Through our work we have built a network of more than 7,000 coalitions across the United States and over 28 countries. At the core of CADCA’s creation is the belief in the effectiveness and efficiency of local coalitions as catalysts for drug-free communities globally, combating substance misuse through the implementation of comprehensive strategies for community change.

Source: https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/cadca-honor-outstanding-leaders-substance-151500024.html

Filed under: Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

by: Rebecca Petit – Nov 25, 2025

LAKELAND, Fla. — Officials are warning young people about the risks of an opioid-related ingredient increasingly added to energy drinks.

In her 25 years with InnerAct Alliance, a youth substance abuse prevention organization, Angie Ellison has witnessed the emergence of various drugs.

“We watch those things and try to let the community know about them because when it starts with college kids, it trickles down to high school and middle school,” said Ellison.

Ellison said energy drinks made with the synthetic form of kratom, known as 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) are now widely available at gas stations, smoke shops and online.

“We’re just trying to make sure that everybody is aware of it, especially parents. Because a lot of times those drinks just look like maybe something to help you stay awake, but it could have very addictive traits to it,” said Ellison.

Natural kratom leaf products have gained popularity in the U.S. as an unapproved treatment for pain, anxiety and drug dependence. Doctors say the synthetic form of kratom triggers the same brain receptors as opioid drugs like heroin and fentanyl.

“It is a substance that can be dangerous when taken too much. It can cause dependence and addiction and when stopped, it can cause a pretty serious withdrawal syndrome,” said Dr. Eric Shamas, ER physician with Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital.

At the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, they are seeing more college students experiencing withdrawal from the kratom byproduct.

“They get told to buy this kratom energy drink because it helped me get through studying for the finals. They start drinking it and then they get hooked. That’s when we find out it wasn’t containing natural kratom,” said Cameron Pelzel, community paramedic manager for Crisis Center of TampaBay.

Although Florida has recently made it illegal to sell 7-OH products, Pelzel said the ingredient can still be found in energy drinks, gummies and supplements.

“A lot of manufacturers are finding other synthetic compounds that mimic the 7-OH part, and they are adding it into it to get passed all the loopholes in the legal system so they can keep people buying these drinks. So we’re getting a lot of people that are solely addicted to it,” Pelzel said.

The Food and Drug Administration is recommending that the synthetic ingredient be placed on the federal government’s most restrictive list of illegal drugs.

Source: https://www.tampabay28.com/news/region-polk/experts-raising-awareness-on-addiction-associated-with-energy-drinks-containing-kratom

Filed under: Addiction,Brain and Behaviour,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Kratom,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

Monitoring the Future study finds percentage of 12th graders admitting they would use marijuana reaching levels never before seen in 43-year history

More 12th graders than ever admitted they would use marijuana if it were legal, according to new numbers from the largest drug use survey in the United States. Specifically, one in four 12th graders thought that they would try marijuana, or that their use would increase, if marijuana were legalized. Prevalence of annual marijuana use also rose by a significant 1.3 percentage points to 23.9% in 2017, based on data from 8th, 10th, and 12th grades combined.

The survey reported “a greater proportion of youth than ever predicted they would use marijuana if it were legally available. Historic highs over the 43 years of the study were reached in the percentage of 12th grade students who reported that they would try marijuana if it were legal (15.2%), as well as users who reported that they would use it more often than their current level of use (10.1%). The percentage who reported they would not use marijuana even if it were legal significantly declined to less than 50% for the first time ever over the 43-year life of the study (specifically, to 46.5%).”

Overall, the rate of 12th graders saying they would not use marijuana if it were legalized fell 30% in the last ten years. Additionally, the rate of 12th graders who said they would use more marijuana if it were legal increased by almost 100% in the past decade. These changes are also significant when comparing rates from 2016. Marijuana sales are now allowed in eight states and D.C.

“These findings fly in the face of the Big Marijuana argument that somehow fewer young people will use marijuana if it is legalized,” said Dr. Kevin Sabet, founder and president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana. “These data are clear. As more states move to commercialize, legalize, and normalize marijuana – more young people are going to use today’s super-strength drug.”

The survey reported that “it is likely that the growing number of states that have legalized recreational marijuana use for adults plays a role in the increasing tolerance of marijuana use among 12th grade students, who may interpret increasing legalization as a sign that marijuana use is safe and state-sanctioned.”

Interestingly, the survey also found that 17% of 12th graders today believe that their parents would not disapprove of marijuana use. This is almost double that of the 8% average from the late 1970’s.

The 2017 Monitoring the Future survey, compiled by researchers at the University of Michigan and funded by the National Institutes of Health, is the benchmark for student drug use in the United States.

According to the survey, the combination of low levels of perceived risk when it comes to using marijuana and the low disapproval for regular use sets the stage for “potentially substantial” increases in the use of the substance in the future. In 2017 the proportion of 12th graders who favor legalization of marijuana was at the highest level ever recorded, at 49%.

“This survey confirms what public health advocates have long claimed: as more is done to make THC candies, cookies, sodas, concentrates look innocent and safe, young people are more attracted to them and hold favorable views of them,” said Dr. Sabet. “In states that have loosened their marijuana laws youth use is steadily rising. This is a trend that will continue if we do not pump the brakes on this failed experiment.”

Source: https://learnaboutsam.org/2018/06/new-study-finds-one-four-12th-graders-likely-use-marijuana-legalized/ June 2018

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts,USA,Youth :

301 deaths. 301 names, ages, faces removed. 301 families, communities, homes (or home equivalents) emptied.

In 2023, there were 301 opioid-related overdose deaths in Alameda County. Standing alone, that figure isn’t alarming to those of us reading behind “safe” walls on our expensive devices.

Nothing exposes us to the truth more than cold numbers. This data-driven meta-analysis will show there is far more to concern about the complexities that eventually result in the plague of opioids claiming those 301, and thousands more, lives.

The acceleration of the Alameda County crisis

Those 301 Alameda County lives claimed by opioids in 2023 represent a 60% increase from 2022. Alameda County experienced the worst increase of all Bay Area counties in opioid overdose deaths from 2018-2021; Alameda’s rates tripled over this time while neighboring (Courtesy Alameda County)

There is an apparent inequity within the county. African-Americans’ fatal overdose rates are triple that of the county average, and the homeless comprise 30% of all overdose deaths.

The teen paradox: Less use, more deaths

The focus is on teens, right? That would make sense. After all, teen substance use excluding cannabis is DOWN, compared to the 20.9% of high school juniors in 2002, the 8% figure of 2022 represents major improvement.

Despite this, death rates are not improving. In fact, teen overdose deaths doubled in the eight short months between August 2019 and March 2020. As of 2022, 22 teens were dying WEEKLY from drug overdose in the United States. And overdoses are now the third leading cause of death for the youth, after guns and cars.

Fentanyl changed it all.

Now, over 75% of teen overdose victims’ lives are claimed by fentanyl. There was nearly a 300% INCREASE in fentanyl deaths aged 15-19 from 2018 to 2021.

The problem isn’t necessarily addiction. It’s contamination.

84% of teen overdose deaths are unintentional, and around a quarter of teen overdose deaths involve fake prescriptions. Fatal drugs like fentanyl spread through adult markets due to their potency and make their way to teens by accident. Most teens do not even get hooked onto the drugs that kill them.

Treatment inequality and solutions

Teen treatment right now is almost a scandal. While 42% of adults aged 45+ receive medications for opioid use disorder within three months of diagnosis, only 5% of teens do. Out of every five teens with substance use disorder, only one gets treatment.

Regardless of everything, prevention programs are still a solution. Project Towards No Drug Abuse (Project TND) has shown a 25% reduction in hard drug use. Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) reduces overdose deaths by 70-80%. Endless life-saving rescues by naloxone have been documented by near-death survivors.

It is not that there are no solutions. Ironically, teens are the ones with the least access to drugs. We know what works, and Alameda County cares for its people. The change to prevent teen opioid overdose deaths must originate in expanding access and awareness to the systems proven to save lives.

Source: https://www.pleasantonweekly.com/alameda-county/2025/11/17/the-data-driven-paradox-of-prevention/

Filed under: Addiction,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Health,Opioids,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

At some point, just about every business will face the challenge of an employee struggling with substance use. While these situations can be complex and emotional, they also present an opportunity for employers to show compassion, strengthen their workplace culture, and retain valuable talent. Supporting an employee through treatment and recovery isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s also good business.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Recovery Ready Workplace program asserts that “workers with SUDs take nearly 50% more days of unscheduled leave than other workers and have an average annual turnover rate 44% higher than the workforce as a whole.”1 While it may seem like the best choice is to terminate an employee with a substance use disorder, workers who are in “SUD recovery average nearly 10% fewer days of unscheduled leave per year than other workers. And, the turnover rate for employees in recovery is 12% lower than the overall average.”

Employees in recovery who feel supported often bring loyalty, commitment, and a strong work ethic. All of this helps to demonstrate the tangible labor and economic benefits of supporting employees through treatment and in recovery within your workplace. As an employer, understanding the basics of the treatment process can help you respond effectively.

Rehabilitation programs generally fall into two categories:

Inpatient programs, where an individual stays at a treatment facility for a set period of time.
Outpatient programs, which allow individuals to continue working while attending therapy sessions and medical appointments.

Employers should also remember that mental health conditions related to substance use disorders may qualify for protection under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Small business owners need to know that both the FMLA and ADA include important provisions related to treatment:

FMLA: Employees may qualify for job-protected leave to participate in a treatment program, as long as it’s directed by a healthcare provider. However, absences due to using drugs (rather than receiving treatment) are not covered. Employers can still enforce clear, consistently applied drug-free workplace policies.
ADA: Employees currently using illegal drugs are not protected under the ADA. However, individuals who have completed treatment or are actively participating in a supervised rehabilitation program are protected. Employers must avoid discrimination and provide reasonable accommodations, such as flexible scheduling for therapy appointments, when possible.

Navigating these laws can be tricky, and because city and state regulations also vary, consulting legal counsel before making major employment decisions is a smart step.

Even with clear policies in place, compassion should be at the heart of your response. Here are some ways small business owners can help employees in treatment and recovery:

Know your resources. Understand what your group health plan, employee assistance program (EAP), and short-term disability coverage offer.
Encourage open communication. Let employees know that asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.
Review your policies. Ensure your drug-free workplace policy outlines procedures for support and rehabilitation, not just discipline.
Train supervisors. Help managers recognize signs of distress and know how to connect employees with resources.
Plan for return-to-work. Recovery doesn’t end when treatment does. Have a reintegration plan that includes flexibility, support, and accountability.

Helping an employee navigate treatment and recovery is challenging, but it can also be one of the most meaningful things a small business owner can do. When you foster a culture of understanding and support, you strengthen your team, reduce turnover, and contribute to a healthier community.

Source: Drug Free America Foundation | 333 3rd Avenue N Suite 200 | St. Petersburg, FL 33701 US

Supplementary Source:

A continuing discussion on the opioid epidemic in the workplace – Part 3. (2024, February 26). JD Supra. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/a-continuing-discussion-on-the-opioid-4776444/

NATIONAL DRUG-FREE WORKPLACE ALLIANCE

As the workplace division of Drug Free America Foundation, NDWA’s mission is to be a national leader in the drug-free workplace industry by directly assisting employers and stakeholders, providing drug-free workplace program resources and assistance, and supporting a national coalition of drug-free workplace service providers.

For more information and drug-free workplace resources, visit NDWA at www.ndwa.org.

Filed under: Addiction,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Mental Health,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Workplace :

Rutgers University – News Release 12-Nov-2025

Rutgers Health researchers reveal how attention difficulties and impulsivity may heighten vulnerability to early and frequent substance use among young sexual minority men

Young sexual minority men – a term used to describe gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men – with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms are more likely to begin using substances such as cigarettes, alcohol, cannabis, stimulants and illicit drugs at an earlier age, according to Rutgers Health researchers.

The study, published in the Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health and led by the Center for Health, Identity, Behavior & Prevention Studies (CHIBPS) at the Rutgers School of Public Health, analyzed data from 597 young sexual minority men to assess ADHD symptoms and their associations with substance use.

The researchers found clinically significant ADHD symptoms were both common and strongly associated with heightened risk and earlier initiation of substance use. Inattentive symptoms were closely tied to cigarette use, while both inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive symptoms predicted earlier use across all substances assessed.

“Given that young sexual minority men are disproportionately impacted by several other mental and physical health problems, this phenomenon warrants further attention from healthcare providers, researchers, and policymakers alike,” said Kristen Krause, an assistant professor at the School of Public Health and co-author of the study.

Findings also suggested key differences across subgroups. The connection between ADHD and early-onset substance use was stronger among bisexual men than among gay men, suggesting that tailored prevention strategies may be needed to address distinct vulnerabilities within the sexual minority population.

Krause, who also is the deputy director of the center, said the findings underscore the importance of integrating mental health and substance use screening and prevention efforts for sexual minority youth, particularly young men. Early identification of ADHD and intervention strategies could help reduce long-term health disparities in this group.

“At CHIBPS, we have long understood that health risks do not occur in a vacuum but that they are the result of the complex interplay of person, social conditions, and physical and mental health,” said Perry N. Halkitis, dean of the School of Public Health and senior author of the study. “Modern and relevant public health approaches recognize that simply telling people to become vaccinated, wear a condom every time, and/or of banning menthol cigarettes is simply not enough.”

“The focus must be on the person not the drug or the pathogen,” said Halkitis, whose forthcoming book, Humanizing Public Health: How Pathogen-Centered Approaches Have Failed Us, will be published by Johns Hopkins University Press in the winter.

Halkitis, who is the director of the center, and the researchers said future studies should use different measurement tools to better estimate ADHD prevalence and severity in sexual minority men. Longitudinal approaches that account for factors such as resilience, mental health comorbidities and social support could offer deeper insights and inform more effective interventions.

Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1105751

ABOUT RUTGERS HEALTH

As New Jersey’s academic health center, Rutgers Health takes the integrated approach of educating students, providing specialized and compassionate clinical care for its communities, and conducting innovative research, with the goal of life-changing health for all. Rutgers Health is a “bench-to-bedside” institution, bringing discoveries in the lab directly to patients across the state and around the world. It includes eight schools, a behavioral health network, and 11 centers and institutes in Newark and New Brunswick

Filed under: Age-related,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Mental Health,Prevalence,Sexual Behaviour,USA,Youth :

From: Drug Free America Foundation – 11 November 2025 19:28

New research from the Journal of Adolescent Health reveals critical insights about how cannabis legalization affects youth behavior, and why local policies matter more than ever. The study, led by researchers at the Public Health Institute, Kaiser Permanente and University of California, examined cannabis use among over 377,000 California high school juniors before and after the state legalized recreational cannabis retail in 2018.

The findings highlight an alarming trend: Frequent cannabis use among teens increased significantly after legalization, particularly in communities that permitted retail storefronts and delivery.

What the Research Shows:

Teen cannabis use increased significantly following legalization (except in areas that permitted only medical delivery of cannabis products).
Frequent use, defined as 20 or more days a month, grew the most, reversing a previous downwards trend and continued to increase through 2020.
Communities that banned retail cannabis sales entirely, consistently had lower rates of youth use, both before and after legalization.
Local policies made an impact. Jurisdictions that allowed storefront or delivery sales saw a significantly higher rate of use among high school juniors.

Why Does This Matter for Prevention?

Teen Vulnerability– The teenage brain is still developing until the mid-twenties, making it especially sensitive to substances like THC. Early cannabis use has been linked to problems with memory, mental health disorders and increased risk of addiction.
Frequent use– Using marijuana on 20 or more days per month is a serious concern for teens. Regular or heavy use greatly increases the risk of dependency and the development of cannabis use disorder, potentially disrupting academic, social, and emotional growth.
Increased exposure– Legalization brings broader marketing, normalized use and greater access, especially when retail stores and delivery services are allowed in local neighborhoods/communities.

Recommendations for Communities:

Adapt or maintain retail bans to limit access and reduce normalization of use.
Restrict cannabis marketing, particularly near schools or on digital platforms frequently visited by young people.
Support local prevention coalitions to help educate families and youth about the real risks of early cannabis use.
Have open conversations with teens.

The Bottom Line:

Legalization does not mean safety. As this study demonstrates, when cannabis becomes more visible and accessible, youth use follows. Communities that stand firm with restrictive policies and invest in prevention can make a real difference in protecting their teens.

Source: Drug Free America Foundation | 333 3rd Ave N Suite 200 | St. Petersburg, FL 33701 US

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,USA,Youth :

by La Derecha Diario – Editorial Team 17/10/2025

Submitted by Maggie Petito, DWI – 20 October 2025

Opening remark by Maggie Petito:

This article is out of Argentina. The Cartel de los Soles has morphed, as many Latin cartels do, into differing allegiances and profit streams, it remains a fact that drug running corrupts.

Who is ‘El Pollo’ Carvajal: the Chavista spy who confessed to having financed the Kirchners with drug trafficking money

Hugo Carvajal confessed before the United States justice system that Hugo Chávez allocated millions of dollars from drug trafficking to support left-wing governments

Hugo Armando “El Pollo” Carvajal, former chief of military intelligence for the Hugo Chávez regime, became a key figure for the U.S. justice system. Extradited from Spain in 2023, Carvajal faces charges of drug trafficking and narco-terrorism in the United States. In exchange for a reduced sentence, he decided to cooperate with the DEA and the Department of Justice, revealing how Chavismo used the state oil company PDVSA to finance left-wing movements throughout the region.

On June 25, Carvajal pleaded guilty to four drug trafficking-related offenses before Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in the Southern District Court of New York. There, he admitted his membership in the Cartel de los Soles, a criminal organization embedded in the Venezuelan Armed Forces and considered terrorist by Washington. He also acknowledged having collaborated with Colombian guerrillas and supervised the shipment of tons of cocaine to North America.

Carvajal’s confession not only exposed the structure of Chavista drug trafficking, but also its international political financing network. In court statements and documents leaked to European media, the former spy claimed that Chavismo illegally financed left-wing movements for at least fifteen years, channeling money to allied leaders and parties in Latin America and Europe.

According to his testimony, among the main recipients of funds were Néstor Kirchner in Argentina, Lula da Silva in Brazil, Evo Morales in Bolivia, Gustavo Petro in Colombia, Fernando Lugo in Paraguay, and the Podemos party in Spain, as well as the Five Star Movement in Italy. “All of them were recipients of money sent by the Venezuelan Government,” the former military officer stated before the court.

Carvajal explained that the Bolivarian regime operated through diplomatic pouches and official flights to move the funds, coordinated by Tareck El Aissami, then Minister of the Interior, with the direct approval of Nicolás Maduro, who at that time was foreign minister. He stated that the same method was used to send money to the Kirchners.

In his most explosive testimony, Carvajal claimed that Hugo Chávez financed Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s 2007 presidential campaign with 21 million dollars. The money allegedly arrived in Buenos Aires on 21 diplomatic flights, organized when Jorge Taiana—currently Fuerza Patria’s candidate—was Argentine foreign minister and a key figure in the political alliance between Caracas and Buenos Aires.

“The Venezuelan Government has illegally financed left-wing political movements around the world for at least 15 years,” Carvajal reiterated in a document submitted to the U.S. judge, also committing to provide unpublished documentation that would prove the route of those funds. The revelation shook both the international judicial sphere and Argentine politics, once again putting Chavista influence over Kirchnerism under scrutiny.

Who is Hugo Armando Carvajal?

Born in Puerto La Cruz in 1960, Carvajal was one of Hugo Chávez’s most trusted men. He reached the rank of major general in the Bolivarian Army, and for years led the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM), where he controlled the regime’s secret operations. In 2008, he was sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States for his role in cocaine trafficking and his cooperation with the FARC. Since then, his name has appeared on the Clinton List, which identifies officials linked to drug trafficking and terrorism.

His political career took him to the Venezuelan Parliament as a PSUV deputy, but over time he distanced himself from Maduro and denounced internal corruption and the regime’s authoritarian drift. After breaking ranks, he fled the country and ended up detained in Spain, where he remained a fugitive until his extradition.

Today, on U.S. soil, Carvajal seeks to reduce his sentence—estimated at about 20 years—by offering evidence of how Chavismo bought political loyalties with drug trafficking money.

His testimony, which combines espionage, cocaine, and political corruption, could open a new judicial chapter in Latin America, exposing the illicit financing network that connected the Venezuelan narco-dictatorship with Kirchnerism and other left-wing governments.

Source: www.drugwatch.org

Filed under: Crime/Violence/Prison,Culture,Others (International News),Strategy and Policy,USA :

from BioMed/Substance Abuse Policy unit – 03 November 2025

by Amanda L. Graham, Sarah Cha, Elizabeth K. Do, Megan A. Jacobs, Giselle Edwards & George D. Papandonatos

Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy volume 20, Article number: 48 (2025) Cite this article

[References not included – ignore all reference numbers. To see references, click on the Source link at the foot of this article]

Abstract

Objective

To examine patterns of abstinence from nicotine vaping and cannabis use among adolescent and young adult (YA) e-cigarette users in two text message vaping cessation trials.

Methods

Among adolescents with complete 7-month data (n = 1,016) at baseline, 25.4% were Exclusive E-cigarette Users (no past 30-day cannabis use) and 74.6% were Dual Users (past 30-day cannabis use). Among YAs with complete 7-month data (n = 1,829), 40.8% were Exclusive E-cigarette Users and 59.2% were Dual Users at baseline. Primary analyses examined the proportion of participants who were Dual Abstinent at 7-months by treatment arm differences. We also examined for interaction effects between baseline product use and vaping status at 7 months on cannabis use outcomes.

Results

At 7-months, adolescent categories of use were: Dual Abstinent, 31.7% (95% CI: 28.8, 34.6); Exclusive E-cigarette Users, 18.2% (95% CI: 15.9, 20.7); Exclusive Cannabis Users, 15.1% (95% CI: 12.9, 17.4); Dual Users, 35.0% (95% CI: 32.1, 38.1). Among YAs: Dual Abstinent, 15.6% (95% CI: 13.9, 17.3); Exclusive E-cigarette Users, 29.4% (95% CI: 27.3, 31.6); Exclusive Cannabis Users, 12.8% (95% CI: 11.3, 14.5); Dual Users, 42.2% (95% CI: 39.9, 44.5). Intervention outperformed Control in promoting rates of Dual Abstinence among adolescents (38.5% vs. 25.0%, p < 0.0001) and YAs (17.9% vs. 13.3%, p = 0.007). A higher proportion of Exclusive E-cigarette Users compared to Dual Users were Dual Abstinent at follow-up (adolescents: 37.6% vs. 29.7%, p = 0.019; YAs: 25.8% vs. 8.5%, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

A text message nicotine vaping cessation intervention promoted dual abstinence from e-cigarettes and cannabis among adolescents and YAs. Dual abstinence rates were higher among exclusive vapers than dual users, signaling the need to optimize cessation programs for dual users.

Trial Registration

Studies included were registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04251273, registered on January 31, 2020; NCT04919590, registered on June 9, 2021)

Background

E-cigarettes have been the most used tobacco product among young people for a decade [1]. More recently, co-use of cannabis alongside nicotine e-cigarettes (“co-use”) has become more common among adolescents and young adults (YA) [2, 3]. Estimates for the prevalence of nicotine vaping and cannabis co-use range from 16 to 50% among adolescent e-cigarette users [4, 5] and 34–60% among YA e-cigarette users [6,7,8].

Despite the high prevalence of co-use, few studies have addressed concurrent nicotine and cannabis use or cessation [9,10,11] and there are no clinical practice guidelines regarding cessation treatment approaches for co-use. In the limited number of nicotine vaping cessation trials that have been conducted among young people [12,13,14,15], high rates of co-use were documented (72–75% among adolescents, 59% among YA) but treatment effects on cannabis use or co-use were not examined [16].

This research gap is particularly concerning given the compounded health risks associated with co-use. Nicotine vaping carries serious consequences including respiratory problems [17], mental health issues [18], and addiction [19]. Cannabis use during adolescence is associated with structural brain changes affecting cognitive function [20, 21], increased depression and suicidality risk [22], and heightened addiction liability [23]. Cannabis vaping, in particular, introduces additional risks including respiratory symptoms [24], EVALI [25], and acute psychological effects [26, 27]. Co-use of nicotine and cannabis compounds these risks, leading to increased frequency and dependence for both products, poorer cessation outcomes [28, 29], and worse overall health functioning compared to single-substance use [30]. Research is needed to inform the development of cessation treatment approaches for nicotine and cannabis co-use [11].

The nicotine vaping cessation intervention tested in two trials among young people demonstrated a significant treatment effect in promoting dual abstinence from nicotine e-cigarettes and combustible tobacco products [14, 31], suggesting that targeting one form of substance use may have broader impacts on related substance use behaviors through shared mechanisms of behavior change. This study builds on these earlier findings to examine the following research questions about the co-use of nicotine e-cigarettes and cannabis: 1) What were the overall patterns of abstinence from nicotine e-cigarettes and cannabis at the primary 7-month study endpoint? 2) Were there treatment group differences in promoting abstinence from nicotine e-cigarettes and cannabis at follow-up? and 3) Did treatment effects vary by baseline product use? We also explored interactions between nicotine vaping status at 7 months and baseline tobacco product use on cannabis use outcomes. Addressing these questions is crucial for understanding the interplay between nicotine vaping and cannabis use in the context of cessation interventions, with important implications for the development of efficient and effective cessation programs for young people.

Methods

Trial design

This manuscript presents secondary analyses of data from two separate parallel, two-group, double-blind individually randomized controlled trials (RCT) that compared a tailored, interactive vaping cessation text message intervention to a text message assessment-only control. Study methods in the two trials were nearly identical. The RCT among n = 1,503 adolescent (13–17 years old) e-cigarette users was conducted from October 2021 to October 2023 and randomized participants to intervention (n = 759) or assessment-only control (n = 744); a third waitlist control group was included in the parent study [14] but is not included in these analyses. The RCT among n = 2,588 young adult (YA; 18–24 years old) e-cigarette users was conducted from December 2019 to November 2020 and randomized participants to intervention (n = 1304) or assessment-only control (n = 1284) [13].

Interventions

This is Quitting: This is Quitting (TIQ, now part of EX^® Program), is an automated, tailored, interactive text message program for nicotine vaping cessation designed for adolescents (13–17 years old) and young adults (18–24 years old) [32]. It is grounded in best practices [33] and our experience delivering digital tobacco cessation interventions to people of all ages and informed by formative research with young people. The program is anchored around social cognitive theory [34] and positioned as a nonjudgmental friend. To reinforce perceived social norms and social support for quitting, messages written by other users (with appropriate editorial review) are incorporated throughout the program. The program is tailored to a user’s age, enrollment date or quit date, and vape brand. Those who do not set a quit date receive 4 weeks of messages focused on building skills and confidence. Those who set a quit date receive messages 6 weeks before and 8 weeks after their quit date that focus on the risks of vaping and benefits of quitting, exercises to build coping skills and self-efficacy, encouragement and support. Mental health support (e.g., mindfulness training, self-care), breathing training, and information about Crisis Text Line are delivered to all users. For adolescents, messages about nicotine replacement therapy describe its utility but note that consultation with a healthcare provider is required. Keywords such as TIPS, FEELS, and STRESS deliver cognitive and behavioral strategies for quitting and on-demand support for managing mood and stress, respectively. Support for quitting cannabis was not explicitly provided in the intervention.

From 2020 through December 2024, TIQ was promoted nationally through the truth^® campaign, earned media, and local/national outreach. To isolate treatment effects and ensure participant blinding, all branding was removed from the intervention.

Assessment-Only Control: After a text message confirming enrollment, participants received only the retention messages described below. After completing the 7-month assessment, participants were instructed how to enroll in TIQ, if interested.

Recruitment, enrollment, and randomization

Eligibility criteria for both parent trials included: age (adolescents: 13–17 years; YAs: 18–24 years), past 30-day nicotine e-cigarette use, interest in quitting vaping in the next 30 days, mobile phone ownership with active text message plan, and US residence. Advertisements on Facebook/Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat promoted a quit vaping study. Interested individuals were asked to complete online eligibility screening. A link to online informed assent/consent was emailed, requiring a valid email for study enrollment. Assent/consent information indicated that participants would be randomly assigned to a text message intervention; specific details about the nature of each study group were not provided, ensuring double blinding.

Assent/consent differed in the two trials. In the adolescent trial, a waiver of parental consent was approved by the review board. Eligible adolescents were required to provide assent and correctly answer a series of questions indicating decisional capacity to enroll. Providing assent and answering all decisional capacity questions correctly launched the baseline assessment. In the YA trial, acceptance of informed consent launched the baseline assessment. For both trials, those who completed the baseline assessment were randomly assigned to intervention or control via the survey platform and instructed to text the study number to complete enrollment. Those who responded to the confirmation text message within 24 hours were fully enrolled.

Detailed descriptions of the study samples have been published elsewhere [13, 14]. Briefly, the adolescent sample (n = 1,503) had an average age of 16.4 years (SD = 0.8), was 50.6% female, 42.5% sexual minority, 16.2% Hispanic ethnicity, and 62.6% White race. Participants were primarily daily e-cigarette users (median vaping days in the past month: 30) with moderate-high scores on multiple measures of nicotine dependence. The young adult sample (n = 2,588) had an average age of 20.4 years (SD = 1.7), was 50.3% female, 19.0% sexual minority, 10.6% Hispanic ethnicity, and 83.4% White race. A majority reported vaping nicotine daily (93.1%) and 82.3% reported vaping within 30 minutes of waking. Study groups in both samples were balanced on baseline characteristics.

Retention

To minimize differential attrition and optimize follow-up rates in both trials, incentivized text message assessments ($5 each) regarding e-cigarette use were sent to all participants 14 days post-randomization (Checking in: Have you cut down how much you vape nicotine in the past 2 weeks? Respond w/letter: A = I still use the same amount, B = I use less, C = I don’t use at all anymore) and monthly thereafter through the 6-month follow-up (How’s the quit going? When was the last time you vaped nicotine, even a puff of someone else’s? Respond w/letter: A = In the past 7 days, B = 8–30 days ago, C = More than 30 days ago). Data from these assessments were not used in outcome analyses.

Measures

The baseline survey in both trials was conducted online, hosted on a secure server. The 7-month assessment was conducted via mixed-mode follow-up: online non-responders were contacted by phone by research staff blind to treatment assignment; text messages and emails were final means of gathering data on vaping abstinence from non-responders. Participants earned $20 for completing the follow-up, with a $10 incentive for responding within 24 hours of initial invitation.

The full battery of measures administered at baseline and 7 months have been previously described [13, 14]. These secondary analyses focus on self-reported past 30-day use of nicotine e-cigarettes and cannabis at baseline and 7 months post-randomization. For e-cigarette use, participants were instructed at both timepoints “For these questions, please think of your use of vape product(s) that contain nicotine in your responses” and responded to the question “In the past 30 days, did you vape at all, even a puff of someone else’s?” Similarly, participants reported past 30-day use of other substances, including cannabis; the mode of cannabis use was not specified.

Statistical analyses

At baseline, participants were categorized as 1) Exclusive E-cigarette Users if they reported no past 30-day cannabis use, or 2) Dual Users if they also reported past 30-day cannabis use. At 7 months post-randomization, four groups of interest were defined: 1) Dual Abstinent, no past 30-day nicotine e-cigarette or cannabis use, 2) Exclusive E-cigarette Users: no past 30-day cannabis use, but any past 30-day nicotine e-cigarette use, 3) Exclusive Cannabis Users: no past 30-day nicotine e-cigarette use, but any past 30-day cannabis use, and 4) Dual Users: any past 30-day use of nicotine e-cigarettes and cannabis.

Primary analyses focused on the proportion of participants who were Dual Abstinent as the outcome of interest. We employed 2-sample Z-tests based on a normal approximation to the binomial distribution to examine between-arm differences in Dual Abstinence rates, both in the overall sample and by baseline substance use pattern (Exclusive E-cigarette vs. Dual Use).

Within-subject comparisons of cannabis use at baseline and 7-month follow-up were based on McNemar’s test [35]. Additional analyses of 7-month follow-up data explored whether cannabis use at follow-up was associated with nicotine vaping cessation.

All statistical analyses were conducted in R (v 4.5) [36].

Results

Among 1,503 adolescents randomized, the 7-month follow-up rate was 70.8% (n = 1,064). Data on cannabis use was missing for 48 participants, who provided data only on 7-month nicotine vaping status. Thus, the adolescent analytic sample comprised n = 1,016 participants with follow-up data on both e-cigarette and cannabis use. There was no differential attrition by treatment assignment (p = 0.20), with 66.0% (501 of 759) of Intervention participants retained at 7 months versus 69.2% (515 of 744) of Control. Likewise, there was no differential attrition by baseline cannabis use (p = 0.74), with 68.4% (258 of 377) of Exclusive E-cigarette Users retained at 7 months versus 67.3% (758 of 1126) of Dual Users. At baseline, 74.6% (95% CI = 71.8, 77.3) of adolescents reported past 30-day cannabis use, which decreased to 50.1% (47.0, 53.2) at 7 months, a 24.5% point change (95% CI = 20.8, 28.0; McNemar’s test p < 0.001).

Among 2,588 YAs randomized, the 7-month follow-up rate was 76.0% (n = 1,967). Data on cannabis use was missing for 138 participants, who provided data only on 7-month nicotine vaping status. Thus, the YA analytic sample comprised n = 1,829 participants with follow-up data on both e-cigarette and cannabis use. There was no differential attrition by treatment assignment (p = 0.14), with 69.3% (904 of 1304) of Intervention participants retained at 7 months versus 72.0% (925 of 1284) of Control. Likewise, there was no differential attrition by baseline cannabis use (p = 0.86), with 70.9% (747 of 1053) of Exclusive E-cigarette Users retained at 7 months versus 70.5% (1,082 of 1534) of Dual Users. At baseline, 59.2% (95% CI = 56.9, 61.4) of YAs reported past 30-day cannabis use, which decreased to 55.0% (95% CI = 52.7, 57.3) at 7 months, a 4.2% point change (95% CI = 1.9, 6.4; McNemar’s test p < 0.001).

What were the overall patterns of abstinence from e-cigarettes and cannabis at 7-months?

As shown in Table 1, 31.7% (95% CI = 28.8, 34.6) of adolescents were Dual Abstinent, 18.2% (95% CI = 15.9, 20.7) were Exclusive E-cigarette Users, 15.1% (95% CI = 12.9, 17.4) were Exclusive Cannabis Users, and 35.0% (95% CI = 32.1, 38.1) were Dual Users.

Table 1 Dual use of nicotine e-cigarettes and cannabis at 7 months by treatment assignment and baseline product use among adolescents (13–17 years) enrolled in a randomized trial of vaping cessation, n (%)

As shown in Table 2, 15.6% (95% CI = 13.9, 17.3) of YAs were Dual Abstinent, 29.4% (95% CI = 27.3, 31.6) were Exclusive E-cigarette Users, 12.8% (95% CI = 11.3, 14.5) were Exclusive Cannabis Users, and 42.2% (95% CI = 39.9, 44.5) were Dual Users.

Table 2 Dual use of nicotine e-cigarettes and cannabis at 7 months by treatment assignment and baseline product use among young adults (18–24 years) enrolled in a randomized trial of vaping cessation, n (%)

Was there a treatment effect in promoting dual abstinence at follow-up?

Yes. As shown in Table 1, among adolescents, the rate of Dual Abstinence was 13.5% points higher (95% CI = 7.8, 19.1; p < 0.0001) among those randomized to Intervention (38.5%; 95% CI = 34.4, 42.9) vs. Control (25.0%; 95% CI = 21.5, 29.0). As shown in Table 2, among YAs, the rate of Dual Abstinence was 4.6% points higher (95% CI = 1.3, 7.9; p = 0.007) among those randomized to Intervention (17.9%; 95% CI = 15.5, 20.6) vs. Control (13.3%; 95% CI = 11.2, 15.7).

Did treatment effects in promoting dual abstinence vary by baseline product use?

No. In the adolescent sample, the treatment advantage of Intervention over Control was comparable for Exclusive E-cigarette Users (12.4 points; 95% CI = 0.6, 23.8) and Dual Users (13.9 points; 95% CI = 7.4, 20.3), interaction p = 0.82 (Table 1). Among Exclusive E-cigarette Users, 44.0% of adolescents randomized to Intervention were Dual Abstinent (95% CI = 35.1, 53.1) compared to 31.6% of Control (95% CI = 23.8, 40.2). Among Dual Users, 36.7% of Intervention participants were Dual Abstinent (95% CI = 31.8, 41.8) compared to 22.8% of Control (95% CI = 18.7, 27.3).

Likewise, in the YA sample, the treatment advantage of Intervention over Control was comparable for Exclusive E-cigarette Users (7.4 points; 95% CI = 1.1, 13.7; p = 0.02) and Dual Users (3.7 points; 95% CI = 0.0, 7.1, p = 0.03), interaction p = 0.28 (Table 2). Among Exclusive E-cigarette Users, 29.7% of YAs randomized to Intervention were Dual Abstinent (95% CI = 25.0, 34.8) compared to 22.3% of Control (95% CI = 18.3, 26.8). Among Dual Users, 10.3% of Intervention participants were Dual Abstinent (95% CI = 7.9, 13.2) compared to 6.6% of Control (95% CI = 4.6, 9.0).

Was there an interaction effect between vaping status at 7 months and baseline tobacco product use on cannabis use outcomes?

Among adolescents, the difference in cannabis use at follow-up between continuing vapers and vaping abstainers was significantly weaker among baseline Exclusive E-cigarette Users than among baseline Dual Users (interaction p < 0.001). As shown in Supplemental Table 1, among 258 adolescent baseline Exclusive E-cigarette Users, cannabis use at 7 months was reported by 31.1% (95% CI = 23.4, 39.6) of those who were still nicotine vaping versus 21.1% (95% CI = 14.8, 29.2) of those who were vaping abstinent, a 10% point difference (95% CI = −0.8, 20.3). Among 758 baseline Dual Users, cannabis use at 7 months was reported by 77.3% (95% CI = 72.9, 81.3) of those who were still nicotine vaping versus 36.1% (95% CI = 31.1, 41.3) of those who were vaping abstinent, a 41.3% point difference (95% CI = 34.5, 47.4). In total, 97 out of 258 baseline Exclusive E-cigarette Users were dual abstinent (37.6%) compared to 225 out of 758 baseline Dual Users (29.7%), a significant difference at p = 0.019.

Among YAs, the difference in cannabis use at follow-up between continuing vapers and vaping abstainers was comparable (interaction p = 0.81) for baseline Exclusive E-cigarette Users and baseline Dual Users. As shown in Supplemental Table 2, among 747 YA baseline Exclusive E-cigarette Users, cannabis use at 7 months was reported by 27.2% (95% CI = 23.4, 31.2) of continuing nicotine vapers versus 16.8% (95% CI = 12.2, 22.3) of vaping abstainers, a 10.4% point difference (95% CI = 3.9, 16.2, p < 0.001). Among 1,082 baseline Dual Users, cannabis use at 7 months was reported by 79.5% (95% CI = 76.5, 82.2) of continuing nicotine vapers versus 68.1% (95% CI = 62.3, 73.4) of vaping abstainers, an 11.4% point difference (95% CI = 5.5, 17.6). In total, 193 out of 747 baseline Exclusive E-cigarette Users were dual abstinent (25.8%) compared to 92 out of 1082 baseline Dual Users (8.5%), a significant difference at p < 0.001.

Discussion

This study provides the first evidence that a text message intervention designed to promote nicotine vaping cessation also promoted dual abstinence from both nicotine e-cigarettes and cannabis among adolescents and young adults. The observed treatment effect is particularly noteworthy given that the intervention contained no explicit cannabis-specific content, highlighting the potential for spillover effects across substances that share common use patterns, contexts, and delivery mechanisms. The magnitude of the treatment effect was substantial, with the intervention demonstrating a 13.5% point advantage over control in promoting dual abstinence among adolescents (38.5% vs. 25.0%) and a 4.6% point advantage among young adults (17.9% vs. 13.3%). Importantly, these treatment effects were observed regardless of baseline cannabis use status, indicating the intervention’s broad efficacy across different patterns of substance use. The stronger effect observed in adolescents compared to young adults suggests potentially greater malleability of substance use behaviors during earlier developmental stages.

Several mechanisms may explain this beneficial spillover effect on cannabis use. First, it may reflect the increasingly common practice of cannabis vaping [37] the use of electronic delivery systems similar or identical to those used for nicotine to aerosolize liquid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). When young people successfully quit using their vaping devices for nicotine, this behavior change would naturally extend to decreased cannabis consumption via the same delivery method, creating an incidental cessation effect for both substances simultaneously. Additionally, as young people stopped using e-cigarettes, they may have experienced decreased exposure to the people, places, and cues associated with cannabis use. The fact that baseline dual users who successfully quit vaping were significantly less likely to continue cannabis use compared to those who continued vaping aligns with this hypothesis. Second, participation in a cessation study may have triggered broader self-reflection about substance use patterns, prompting young people to reconsider their cannabis use independently. Third, the cognitive and behavioral skills taught for nicotine vaping cessation (e.g., identifying triggers, developing coping strategies, building self-efficacy) may have generalized to cannabis use behaviors through shared psychological mechanisms of behavior change. Fourth, the text message intervention may have resonated with dual users’ motivations to reduce multiple substances. Finally, young people’s perceptions of health risks associated with vaping may have extended to cannabis due to shared delivery mechanisms and overlapping health concerns. While some observed changes in cannabis use may reflect experimentation, the significant treatment group differences and interaction effects with vaping cessation status suggest intervention-specific mechanisms beyond spontaneous cessation patterns. These potential mechanisms represent a critical area for future research that could inform more efficient interventions addressing polysubstance use.

While these findings demonstrate promising spillover effects, they also reveal important heterogeneity in treatment response that has implications for future intervention development. The lower dual abstinence rates among baseline dual users compared to exclusive e-cigarette users suggest that while some young people may benefit from shared behavioral strategies that address both nicotine vaping and cannabis use simultaneously, individuals with established patterns of polysubstance use may require additional or enhanced intervention components beyond those targeting nicotine vaping alone. The nature of this additional support – whether it involves cannabis-specific content, modified behavioral strategies, increased intervention intensity, or entirely different therapeutic approaches – represents a critical area for future research. Developing and testing interventions that systematically address both substances while identifying which young people are most likely to benefit from integrated versus sequential treatment approaches are critical next steps.

The remarkably high rates of cannabis use observed in both trials (74.6% among adolescents and 59.2% among young adults) far exceeded national prevalence estimates from population-based surveys (approximately 25% for adolescents and 23% for young adults [38]). This disparity suggests that young people who vape nicotine represent a distinct high-risk population for polysubstance use. Notably, similarly high rates of cannabis use (71%) were reported in another recent vaping cessation trial targeting 16- to 25-year-olds [12], confirming that this pattern is not unique to our sample but rather characteristic of young people seeking nicotine vaping cessation support.

A notable age-related pattern emerged in our data: while adolescents reported higher baseline rates of cannabis use compared to young adults (74.6% vs. 59.2%), they also demonstrated substantially greater reductions in cannabis use at follow-up (24.5% points vs. 4.2% points). Adolescents also achieved higher rates of dual abstinence compared to young adults (31.7% vs. 15.6%), suggesting that younger populations may be more responsive to cessation interventions, potentially due to shorter duration of use, less entrenched habits, or greater neuroplasticity during this developmental period [39].

This study has several notable strengths. To our knowledge, it is the first to document treatment effects on cannabis use from a nicotine vaping cessation intervention that did not explicitly target cannabis. This finding is significant as it provides evidence that substance-specific interventions may yield beneficial effects on other substances, potentially reducing implementation burden for addressing multiple substance use. The large sample sizes across two distinct age groups enhance the generalizability of our findings and allow for meaningful age comparisons, which are particularly important given developmental differences in substance use patterns and cessation outcomes. Additionally, the randomized controlled trial design with high follow-up rates and no differential attrition provides robust evidence of intervention effects while mitigating selection bias.

An important limitation of our study is that assessment of cannabis use did not distinguish between different modes of administration (e.g., smoking, vaping, dabbing, edible). This limitation prevents us from determining whether reported reductions were specific to certain modes of administration, particularly vaping. We also cannot examine whether the intervention might have had stronger effects on cannabis vaping specifically, given similarities with nicotine vaping in terms of behavior patterns, devices, and contexts of use. Future research should assess mode of administration to enable more nuanced analyses of cessation patterns and intervention effects across different cannabis products. A second limitation is that abstinence from vaping and cannabis were not biochemically verified. Biochemical verification of substance use has shown to be challenging in other digital cessation studies [40]. Despite reliance on self-reported data that may be susceptible to social desirability bias, this low-intensity, fully automated intervention trial with low-demand characteristics that did not explicitly intend to address cannabis use, rates of misreporting are anticipated to be minimal. Two aspects of our measurement approach warrant comment: examination of interim timepoints beyond baseline and 7-month endpoints could provide important insights into the temporal dynamics of behavior change, and our use of a 30-day assessment window for cannabis use may not have captured infrequent or experimental use patterns, potentially underestimating baseline prevalence of cannabis use or overestimating cessation rates among less-than-monthly users. Another limitation is that both trials were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, which introduced unique stressors [41] and altered substance use patterns among young people [42, 43]. This context may have influenced both baseline substance use rates and cessation outcomes in ways that limit generalizability to non-pandemic conditions.

Conclusions

A text message nicotine vaping cessation intervention was effective in promoting abstinence from nicotine e-cigarettes and cannabis among adolescents and young adults, with stronger effects observed in adolescents. Treatment efficacy was comparable across exclusive e-cigarette users and dual users, though baseline exclusive e-cigarette users achieved higher dual abstinence rates. These findings demonstrate that substance-specific interventions can yield broader health benefits across multiple substances simultaneously, while also highlighting the need for enhanced approaches specifically targeting young people who use multiple substances.

Continued monitoring of substance use patterns among youth is needed given the evolving e-cigarette and cannabis landscape. The increasing prevalence of co-use highlights the growing need for concurrent treatment approaches [11]. This study demonstrates a promising, efficient pathway to address polysubstance use by leveraging existing intervention frameworks, potentially reducing implementation burden while maximizing public health impact.

Source: https://substanceabusepolicy.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13011-025-00679-1

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,Tobacco, smoking,USA,Vaping,Youth :

by Mark Gold M.D. – Reviewed by Michelle Quirk – November 3, 2025 –

Key points

We screen and intervene early for hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and cancer; we can do the same for addiction.
Preaddiction thinking supports early engagement, attacks denial, and normalizes a harm-reducing mindset.
Delaying treatment increases risks and harms, contradicting outcomes research and ethical medical practice.

Raising “rock bottom” with early diagnosis and intervention in substance use.

The mistaken belief that people with substance use disorders (SUDs) must “hit rock bottom” has shaped addiction care for decades. This model contrasts with how medicine manages chronic illnesses, where early detection and proactive treatment are normal. The “bottom” in addiction is a moment of maximum despair and hopelessness. It also may be a life-changing event like getting fired, losing a relationship, or facing legal charges. It could mean a moment between considering changing one’s life or suicide.

For more than 30 years, I have proposed that addiction treatment must “move up the bottom” to reduce harm and have a better chance of working. Applying preaddiction logic holds promise for lowering SUD-related suffering, illness, and mortality. Denying early diagnosis and treatment may primarily stem from addiction stigma.

“Let them hit bottom” was (and is) the refrain in addiction care; suffering supposedly must crescendo before people with an SUD accept the need to stop using drugs. Whether arising from fear of people gaming the system and seeking opioids for fake injuries or the inherent austerity of public institutions, this belief still shapes policy and practice.

In the early 1970s, I encountered this idea as a medical student. People who came to the emergency room with overdoses were not admitted. Medicine had little to offer and might undermine a person’s journey toward readiness; a person might feel ready for treatment, but someone else decided they’d not hit bottom. How ridiculous is this?

But when physicians misuse substances, then early intervention, long-term monitoring, and structured support are considered necessary. These practices, codified in physicians’ health programs (PHPs) across the United States, help most physicians, yielding an excellent return-to-work rate and resumed function. The message is clear: The “rock bottom” model is neither ethical nor clinically efficient.

National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora Volkow has called the belief that someone must “hit rock bottom” before treatment “a myth that can have dire consequences.” While the rock-bottom narrative offers psychological neatness—drama, surrender, catharsis—it lacks scientific grounding. Substance use disorders rarely emerge overnight; they evolve with “use,” then “risky use,” often in adolescence or early adulthood. By the time someone meets all criteria for severe SUD, the hijacked brain is adept at finding and using drugs, and not getting caught or sent to treatment. The longer SUD continues, the more complex and complicated the reversal is.

Ethically, “waiting” is untenable. Delayed intervention amplifies harm, entrenches bad behavior, and puts family, friends, and others at risk of harm. An earlier intervention and treatment might prevent loss of friends, family, and job, as well as halt the addiction from becoming entrenched.

We don’t withhold antihypertensives until catastrophic bleeds occur. We don’t wait for myocardial infarction to begin statins. Medicine emphasizes upstream prevention and treatment. While many perceive addiction as a choice, impaired MDs will tell you they wish someone had intervened and helped them earlier.

The directors of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism proposed, in 2022, earlier identification and intervention for substance use and its consequences. Volkow, Koob, and McLellan introduced this preaddiction concept by paralleling prediabetes. These researchers used mild to moderate Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, SUD criteria to help define pre-addiction, allowing early detection, brief treatment, or intervention before addiction-related neurobehavioral and psychosocial collapses occurred.

Research shows that at mild to moderate levels of SUD severity, patients often retain executive function, can reassert control over drugs, and may still re-engage and preserve intact relationships, work roles, and decision-making. At this preaddiction point, brief interventions, outpatient treatment, or educational measures have great potential to resolve the preaddiction. Sometimes, treatment might comprise advice and education rather than weeks in a treatment facility. In addition, early interventions may not require anti-craving medications, detoxification, opioid treatment medications, hospitalization, or extensive monitoring.

Preaddiction thinking supports early engagement, attacks denial, and normalizes a preventive mindset. Preaddiction communicates risk while preserving agency, as with prediabetes. It gives clinicians a structured rationale to screen, counsel, and refer before severe illness.

Early Intervention Works

Nowhere is “raising the bottom” more visible than in PHPs. These state-based programs often identify impaired doctors from anonymous reports of patients, staff, or other providers. They protect patients from impaired physicians by managing them through structured evaluation, mandated treatment, regular toxicology testing, workplace monitoring, and ongoing recovery support—often for five or more years.

This model is widely celebrated, even though its success depends partly on external leverage: Physicians are often told noncompliance may result in license suspension and loss of professional status. In a five-year, multi-state study, DuPont and colleagues found that more than 70 percent of the doctors returned to practice, sustaining functional recovery. The model used early identification, accountability, structured care, serial urine testing, and long-term follow-up. It’s preventive, continuous, and outcome-driven.

The PHP system contradicts the “hitting bottom” mantra. It’s a real-life demonstration of what addiction care could be: long-term, hopeful, and outcome-driven, but with accountability. The limited application of such systems beyond professional circles reflects a profound inequity—not a clinical limitation.

Physician colleagues have moral, ethical, and legal obligations to report coworkers whose impairment threatens patients. Avoiding “punishment” and promoting sharing, shame reduction, and physicians helping each other in camaraderie while in treatment is critical to the success of physician programs.

When structured and ethical, coercion may paradoxically enhance autonomy by restoring capacity. Treat coercion as a clinical tool—not punishment. Integrate preaddiction into medical education, focusing on prevention, brain changes, and ethical duties.

“Bottom” need not be the destination just before treatment. Waiting or delaying intervention until full disorder or voluntary self-referral risks disease progression, more entrenched brain/behavior changes, worse prognosis, and higher costs.

Summary

To align addiction with other chronic medical conditions, SUD screening must be routine for every healthcare, clinic, or emergency department visit. Duration, age of initiation at use, and severity should be assessed. The preaddiction concept provides a teachable inflection point rather than the binary “normal vs addicted,” and intervention may change the trajectory. Brief interventions may be the only treatment needed if interventions start early enough.

Medicine should abandon the myth that people with SUDs must earn the right to be helped by suffering “enough.” Medicine has shown numerous benefits of early screening, intervention, and assisting patients in changing. If we can intervene early for hypertension, for type 2 diabetes, and for breast and colon cancer, we can do the same for addiction. What’s holding us back?

Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/addiction-outlook/202511/preaddiction-intervention-could-save-lives

Filed under: Addiction,Brain and Behaviour,Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

OPINION PIECE by Wesley J. Smith – November 12, 2025

The New England Journal of Medicine is again promoting failed progressive public policies. This time, it is “harm reduction.” From “The Erosion of Harm Reduction,” by Joshua Barocas, M.D.

Unlike the targets of many other recent attacks on public health and medicine in the United States, harm reduction is not a formal bureaucracy, but a philosophy and an approach to health care. As defined by the Drug Policy Alliance, it is “a set of ideas and interventions that seek to reduce the harms associated with both drug use and punitive drug policies.” Harm reduction is embodied in syringe-services programs (SSPs), naloxone distribution, overdose education, overdose-prevention centers [i.e. “safe injection sites”], and decriminalization of drugs.

Barocas decries the Trump Administration’s executive order that limits such policies:

Perhaps most concerning, an executive order focused on homelessness and civil commitment issued on July 24, 2025, prohibits federal SAMHSA discretionary grants from being used to fund harm-reduction activities, proposes a freeze on federal funding to organizations that provide “drug paraphernalia,” and threatens legal action against harm-reduction organizations. The executive order states that these approaches “only facilitate illegal drug use and its attendant harm.”

The Streets of San Francisco

My wife, the Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Debra J. Saunders, covered San Francisco’s harm reduction drug policies extensively back when she worked for the San Francisco Chronicle. It started with “needle exchange,” which she initially supported as a means of preventing the spread of HIV. The idea was for addicts to “exchange” dirty needles — a prime source of HIV transmission — for clean ones. The rule was: no used needle, no free clean replacement. Unfortunately, the program led to greater drug abuse. “Harm reduction” zealots eventually dropped the exchange requirement, which resulted in dangerous used needles littering San Francisco’s sidewalks and even children’s playgrounds.

Debra noticed the decay and decided to investigate. I’ll let her describe it. From a 2019 Review-Journal column:

In 2015, I learned that San Francisco had abandoned the “needle exchange” model — clinics would dispense one new needle in exchange for each used needle — in favor of needle “access.” Which means free needles.

So I walked into a downtown clinic and walked out with a “starter kit” of 20 needles in a paper bag filled with other paraphernalia meant to make it safer to shoot up. It was that easy.

You see, it had become too much to expect the city’s many junkies to return used needles to get free needles. (It also was too much to expect drug users to buy their own needles, which had been legalized.)

Instead the Special City, as some call it, put out drop boxes in the hope that the civic-minded would use them. How did that work out? Just look at the sidewalks. It’s not working.

Can You Imagine?

San Francisco was allowing harm reducers to give away “starter kits” to people so they could begin injecting drugs! That’s harm causation.

Policies have consequences. Those of San Francisco’s homelessness “harm reduction” protocols were dire. Human feces befouled the streets, to the point that a “poop map” was published to warn people about unsanitary messes. The downtown commercial center imploded. Once-thriving shopping hubs closed. Union Square became a ghost town. Squalor ruled blocks of Market Street. A total “harm reduction” catastrophe.

The Good Doctor Barocas

But don’t tell that to the good doctor Barocas, who concludes his NEJM piece thusly:

Harm reduction is evidence-based health care that is rooted in public health principles. There is no single best form of harm reduction — this model depends on the availability of an array of services that meet patients where they are. Undermining harm reduction and cutting related programs isn’t merely a funding decision; it is an assault on an approach to health care that prioritizes evidence, compassion, and dignity — values that are central to the medical profession. Such actions are in keeping with other moves by the federal government that encroach on clinical practice and the professional judgment of clinicians and undermine the autonomy of patients. Like many other aspects of public health and medical care, harm reduction is being dangerously and rapidly eroded.

I don’t think that “personal autonomy” and “human dignity” entail shooting up harmful substances, defecating in public, living (and dying) on the streets, or engaging in the many other behaviors associated with drug abuse (and mental illness) that have ruined too many of America’s formerly world-class cities.

Helping drug abusers as well as we can is an ethical imperative. The question therefore becomes: Do we love our addicted countrymen enough to insist that they diligently engage in programs to restore themselves to lives of dignity and self-respect? Harm reduction isn’t that. Indeed, the more we take that path, the worse things get. Facilitating drug abuse — which is what “harm reduction” does — causes terrible harm, often to the people it purports to help and certainly to the communities in which they reside.

Filed under: Addiction,Brain and Behaviour,Drug use-various effects,Harm Reduction,Mental Health,USA :

Opening Statement from NDPA:

Commentary on psychiatry and its interaction with drug problems: Whilst this article sometimes includes CCHR’s campaigning rhetoric (and CCHR do much good work) there is also much of generic interest and usefulness on this specific subject – both in the article text and in the sources listed. For this reason, we include this in NDPA’s archive. (CCHR’s background and work can be reviewed via info@cchr.org.uk)

CCHR says real mental health awareness must confront, not conceal, psychiatry’s coercion,

child drugging, and electroshock behind pharmaceutical influence. |

Each May and October, millions are urged to “raise awareness” for mental health through national and international campaigns, including World Mental Health Day in October. Yet, according to the mental health industry watchdog, Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR), many of the advocacy campaigns driving these observances are dominated by pharmaceutical interests and a biomedical model reliant on psychotropic drugs, electroshock, and even psychosurgery.

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Nov. 3, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Each May and October, millions are urged to “raise awareness” for mental health through national and international campaigns, including World Mental Health Day in October. Yet, according to the mental health industry watchdog, Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR), many of the advocacy campaigns driving these observances are dominated by pharmaceutical interests and a biomedical model reliant on psychotropic drugs, electroshock, and even psychosurgery. The outcome has been catastrophic: more than 76 million Americans take psychiatric drugs, and an estimated 100,000—including children as young as five—are electroshocked annually.

CCHR warns that modern mental-health awareness campaigns are not about understanding the mind but promoting psychiatry’s drug-driven model of “treatment.” Since its founding in 1969, the organization has used these awareness months to expose psychiatric abuse and coercion—particularly the drugging, electroshocking, and violent restraint of children in behavioral facilities. Working with parents, doctors, and lawmakers, CCHR has helped establish hundreds of laws globally to protect against psychiatric harm, including the first U.S. bans on electroshock for minors in California (1976) and Texas (1993), and the 1983 prohibition of Deep Sleep Treatment in Australia following 48 patient deaths—now a criminal offense to administer it in New South Wales and Western Australia.

CHALLENGING DRUG-INDUCED VIOLENCE

CCHR has documented the tragic outcomes of psychiatry’s drug-based approach, including its potential links to acts of senseless violence. It testified before the first inquest into the deaths of eight victims of a Kentucky mass shooting in 1989, where the perpetrator’s psychiatrist acknowledged that the antidepressant Prozac (fluoxetine) potentially contributed to the crime. A decade later, CCHR obtained confirmation that Columbine ringleader Eric Harris had the antidepressant Luvox in his system—despite clinical trials showing the drug could “form of psychosis characterized by exalted feelings, delusions of grandeur…and overproduction of ideas.”[1]

The watchdog’s efforts led to a 1999 Colorado government hearing on psychiatric drugs and violence, with the chair, State Rep. Penn Pfiffner, stating: “There is enough coincidence and enough professional opinion from legitimate scientists to cause us to raise the issue and to ask further questions.”[2] Working with Patricia Johnson, then-member of the Colorado State Board of Education, CCHR helped obtain a precedent-setting resolution urging academic—not chemical—solutions for classroom issues.[3]

CCHR also joined with medical experts and parents to press the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to issue its 2004 “black box” warning that antidepressants can cause suicidal behavior in children, which was later expanded in 2007 to include young adults up to age 24. Today, studies confirm that 46–71% of antidepressant users experience emotional blunting, dulling empathy, and increasing detachment—a factor present in numerous violent tragedies.[4]

Further reforms followed. In 2004, CCHR helped secure the federal Prohibition of Mandatory Medication amendment, banning schools from forcing children to take psychotropic drugs as a condition of education. Three years later, language CCHR helped introduce into the FDA reform bill required pharmaceutical ads to direct consumers to report drug side effects, causing adverse drug reporting to increase by 33 percent.[5]

CCHR’s investigations have also helped expose corruption and abuse in the psychiatric hospital and “troubled teen treatment” industry. Working with whistleblowers and journalists, it uncovered coercive admissions and insurance fraud within major private psychiatric hospital chains, leading to multiple state and federal investigations, criminal penalties, and closure of hundreds of abusive facilities. New laws were enacted to prohibit “bounty hunter” practices used to capture insured individuals for involuntary commitment and billing exploitation.[6]

Raising awareness, CCHR emphasizes, means parents can make better-informed choices and seek non-invasive, evidence-based help for their children. One expert has described the psychiatric polypharmacy trend as creating “a generation of child guinea pigs.” As The New York Times reported, “many psychiatric drugs commonly prescribed to adolescents are not approved for people under 18. And they are being prescribed in combinations that have not been studied for safety or for their long-term impact on the developing brain.”[7]

In 2013, nearly 8.4 million American children were taking psychiatric drugs.[8] By 2020, the IQVIA Total Patient Tracker Database showed that number had dropped to 6.1 million[9]—a notable decline that CCHR attributes in part to heightened public awareness, stronger warnings, and parental advocacy. However, millions of children remain drugged, underscoring that while progress has been made, the systemic overreliance on psychotropic drugs continues.

In addition to its feature-length documentaries, CCHR produces short educational videos on its YouTube channel to inform the public about mental health abuses and their prevention. Working alongside doctors, whistleblowers, parents, consumers, and civil and human rights organizations, CCHR continues to supply legislators and government agencies with documentation exposing psychiatric abuses and driving legislative reform to safeguard consumer and patient rights.

Today, both the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations agencies are calling for an end to coercive psychiatric practices—particularly those inflicted on children. Yet much of the mental-health establishment, including “patient-advocacy” groups with deep pharmaceutical ties, remains silent—endorsing mass drugging instead of confronting its documented dangers.

For more than five decades, CCHR International, which was originally established by the Church of Scientology and eminent professor of psychiatry, Dr. Thomas Szasz, has been a catalyst for reform, exposing human-rights violations in psychiatry and helping to achieve legislative and cultural change that has already begun to reduce child drugging and public acceptance of coercion. Its continuing campaigns seek a mental-health system based on transparency, informed consent, and respect for human dignity—affirming that lasting mental health will come not through drugs or shocks, but through compassion, truth, and accountability.

To learn more, visit: https://www.cchrint.org/2025/10/31/cchr-exposes-harms-behind-todays-mental-health-awareness-campaigns/

Sources:

[1] https://www.cchrint.org/2023/01/16/school-mental-health-programs-questioned-after-6-year-old-shot-teacher/

[2] https://www.cchrint.org/2023/01/16/school-mental-health-programs-questioned-after-6-year-old-shot-teacher/; Kelly P. O’Meara, “A Different Kind of Drug War,” Insight Magazine, 13 Dec. 1999

[3] https://www.cchrint.org/2023/01/16/school-mental-health-programs-questioned-after-6-year-old-shot-teacher/; “Resolution: Promoting the Use of Academic Solutions to Resolve Problems with Behavior, Attention, and Learning,” Colorado State Board of Education, 11 Nov. 1999

[4] https://www.cchrint.org/2022/09/05/the-travesty-of-6-million-youths-on-psychotropics-a-expert-calls-it-a-generation-of-child-guinea-pigs/; https://www.verywellmind.com/can-antidepressants-make-you-feel-emotionally-numb-1067348

[5] https://www.cchrint.org/about-us/cchr-accomplishments/

[6] https://www.cchrint.org/about-us/cchr-accomplishments/

[7] https://www.cchrint.org/2022/09/05/the-travesty-of-6-million-youths-on-psychotropics-a-expert-calls-it-a-generation-of-child-guinea-pigs/; https://nypost.com/2022/08/29/the-ny-times-suddenly-discovered-were-giving-kids-dangerous-drugs/; https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/27/health/teens-psychiatric-drugs.html

[8] https://www.cchrint.org/2016/11/30/cchr-launches-parents-know-your-rights-campaign/

[9] https://www.cchrint.org/psychiatric-drugs/children-on-psychiatric-drugs/

Source: https://www.yourvalley.net/stories/cchr-warns-mental-health-awareness-masking-drug-and-shock-abuse,630679

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Drug use-various effects,Mental Health,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Red Ribbon Week and Cobb County School District, Georgia – Oct. 30, 2025

Every October, schools across the nation celebrate Red Ribbon Week, a time dedicated to promoting healthy, drug-free lifestyles for students of all ages. This year, the Cobb County School District and our school resource officers are joining forces to remind families that staying drug-free isn’t just a one-week message, but a lifelong commitment that begins with open and honest communication.

While traditional drugs are a concern, School Resource Officer Edwin Ainsworth says vaping has become one of the most visible and dangerous trends among students.

Ainsworth explained that a distinct fruity scent is a telltale sign that students have been vaping. The smell of THC also doesn’t get past him.

Officer Ainsworth estimates that as many as eight in ten high school students have tried vaping at least once.

“These kids like them because they’re easy. They can pull them out and smoke them quickly. Some of them are odourless, some don’t even have smoke coming out of them, and kids can hide them,” he said.

Beyond the discreet design and flavours, the health risks are real and long-lasting. “It can cause them to have a hole in their lung, and if they get really addicted, their attitude changes. They start being a little more defensive when you talk to them,” Ainsworth added, “If your lung capacity gets full with popcorn lung, you could end up on a ventilator.”

Best Practices from Cobb Schools Police

Cobb School Resource Officers emphasize that parents play the most powerful role in prevention. The best protection is to get involved.

Here are some strategies to help keep students drug-free!

Know the Signs. Watch for changes in friends, social groups, mood, and sleep patterns.
Stay Involved. Get to know your students’ teachers, coaches, and friends. Encourage participation in sports, clubs, and community activities.
Set Clear Expectations. Be explicit about rules and consequences. Discuss them calmly and consistently.
Teach the Facts. Talk about how drugs and vaping can affect decision-making, athletic performance, and future goals.
Start Early. Begin age-appropriate conversations in elementary school about making healthy choices.
Model Healthy Behaviour. Avoid using substances in front of students.
Be Proactive. Conduct regular checks of bedrooms, backpacks, and vehicles.

When students make safe, healthy choices, classrooms become stronger, and communities thrive. Red Ribbon Week serves as a reminder that prevention begins at home through honest conversations, clear expectations, and supportive environments.

Together, we can help every Cobb student stay drug-free for life.

Source: https://www.cobbk12.org/osborne/_ci/p/120665

Filed under: Age-related,Drug use-various effects,Education,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Vaping :

Recent research indicates a staggering increase of nearly 60% in drug-related accidental injury deaths across the United States over the past five years. This alarming trend was highlighted during the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress held in Chicago, revealing significant implications for public health and trauma care.

According to the study, which utilized data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the rise in deaths related to unintentional drug injuries has notably affected middle-aged adults. The study underscores the urgent need to reevaluate trauma response strategies to account for the complexities introduced by drug use. The researchers emphasized the importance of addressing overdoses not only as isolated incidents but as part of a broader issue of accidental injuries.

From 2018 to 2023, the total count of unintentional injury deaths in the U.S. reached approximately 534,000. Within this timeframe, drug-related mortality rates from these injuries rose from 19.5% to 30.8%. Notably, individuals aged 35 to 44 accounted for more than half (51.4%) of these deaths, indicating a critical demographic at risk.

The study further revealed that Black patients experienced the highest mortality rates, with 34.9% of drug-related accidental injury deaths occurring among this group. Furthermore, men were found to be at a higher risk, with death rates from drug-induced injuries being nearly double that of women, at 38.4% compared to 15.6%.

These findings have raised significant public health concerns, prompting researchers to call for a comprehensive approach to tackle the rising prevalence of drug use in accidental injuries. The lead author of the study pointed out the necessity of integrating addiction medicine with trauma care to effectively address the growing crisis of drug-related deaths.

As the CDC notes, nearly half of all Americans are on at least one prescription medication, and a significant portion of the population is using multiple drugs, both recreationally and medically. This trend highlights the crucial need for continued education on the safe use of medications and the potential risks associated with drug interactions.

Researchers plan to delve deeper into the underlying causes of this worrying trend and aim to develop targeted interventions. Future initiatives may involve collaboration between trauma care services and addiction specialists to better assess and meet the healthcare needs of individuals affected by drug-related injuries.

The study was co-authored by a team of experts in trauma care and public health, who collectively stress the importance of addressing this multifaceted issue to prevent further loss of life.

Source: https://themunicheye.com/increase-drug-related-accidental-deaths-us-27335

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Prevalence,USA :

Overdose deaths among adults 65 and older from fentanyl mixed with stimulants have surged 9,000%, revealing a growing threat to seniors. Experts warn that age, medications, and health conditions make this group especially at risk.

By American Society of Anesthesiologists – October 19, 2025

Overdose deaths among people 65 and older linked to fentanyl mixed with stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamines have skyrocketed by 9,000% in the past eight years, reaching levels similar to those seen in younger adults. The findings, presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2025 annual meeting, highlight an alarming and often overlooked trend affecting older Americans.

This research is one of the first to use Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data to demonstrate that older adults, a group rarely centered in overdose studies, are now deeply involved in the growing wave of fentanyl-stimulant fatalities. Those 65 and older are particularly at risk because they are more likely to have chronic health issues, take multiple medications, and process drugs more slowly as they age.

The Fourth Wave of the Opioid Epidemic

The opioid crisis has evolved through four distinct stages, each dominated by a different substance driving overdose deaths: prescription opioids in the 1990s, heroin around 2010, fentanyl beginning in 2013, and a combination of fentanyl and stimulants starting in 2015.

“A common misconception is that opioid overdoses primarily affect younger people,” said Gab Pasia, M.A., lead author of the study and a medical student at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. “Our analysis shows that older adults are also impacted by fentanyl-related deaths and that stimulant involvement has become much more common in this group. This suggests older adults are affected by the current fourth wave of the opioid crisis, following similar patterns seen in younger populations.”

Tracking the Deadly Trend in CDC Data

To examine the trend, researchers analyzed 404,964 death certificates listing fentanyl as a cause of death between 1999 and 2023, using data from the CDC Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER) system. Of these, 17,040 deaths were among people age 65 and older, while 387,924 were among those aged 25 to 64.

Between 2015 and 2023, fentanyl-related deaths rose from 264 to 4,144 among older adults (a 1,470% increase) and from 8,513 to 64,694 among younger adults (a 660% increase). The most striking finding was the rapid rise in deaths involving both fentanyl and stimulants. Among older adults, these cases grew from 8.7% (23 of 264 fentanyl deaths) in 2015 to 49.9% (2,070 of 4,144) in 2023—a 9,000% jump. For younger adults, the proportion rose from 21.3% (1,812 of 8,513) to 59.3% (38,333 of 64,694) over the same period, an increase of 2,115%.

Cocaine and Methamphetamine Drive the Surge

The researchers highlighted data from these individual years because 2015 marked the onset of the fourth wave of the opioid epidemic and was also the year fentanyl-stimulant deaths among older adults were at their lowest, and 2023 as it was the most recent year of CDC data available.

The researchers noted that the rise in fentanyl deaths involving stimulants in older adults began to sharply rise in 2020, while deaths linked to other substances stayed the same or declined. Cocaine and methamphetamines were the most common stimulants paired with fentanyl among the older adults studied, surpassing alcohol, heroin and benzodiazepines such as Xanax and Valium.

Multi-Substance Overdoses and Prevention Strategies

“National data have shown rising fentanyl-stimulant use among all adults,” said Mr. Pasia. “Because our analysis was a national, cross-sectional study, we were only able to describe patterns over time — not determine the underlying reasons why they are occurring. However, the findings underscore that fentanyl overdoses in older adults are often multi-substance deaths — not due to fentanyl alone — and the importance of sharing drug misuse prevention strategies with older patients.”

The authors noted that anesthesiologists and other pain medicine specialists should:

Recognize that polysubstance use can occur in all age groups, not only in young adults.
Be cautious when prescribing opioids to adults 65 or older by carefully assessing medication history, closely monitoring patients prescribed opioids who may have a history of stimulant use for potential side effects, and considering non-opioid options when possible.
Use harm-reduction approaches such as involving caregivers in naloxone education, simplifying medication routines, using clear labeling and safe storage instructions and making sure instructions are easy to understand for those with memory or vision challenges.
Screen older patients for a broad range of substance exposures, beyond prescribed opioids, to better anticipate complications and adjust perioperative planning.

A Call to Action for Clinicians and Caregivers

“Older adults who are prescribed opioids, or their caregivers, should ask their clinicians about overdose prevention strategies, such as having naloxone available and knowing the signs of an overdose,” said Richard Wang, M.D., an anesthesiology resident at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago and co-author of the study. “With these trends in mind, it is more important than ever to minimize opioid use in this vulnerable group and use other pain control methods when appropriate. Proper patient education and regularly reviewing medication lists could help to flatten this terrible trend.”

Source: https://scitechdaily.com/a-9000-spike-in-fentanyl-deaths-is-devastating-older-americans/

Filed under: Age-related,Cocaine,Drug use-various effects,Fentanyl,Methamphetamine/GHB/Hallucinogens/Oxycodone,Opioids,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

Opening statement by NDPA:

Why are we addressing ‘gambling’ in a drug prevention website? We address it because gambling is but one of other behaviours which some professionals address under what they term a ‘family of compulsive behaviours’ – others in this ‘family’ will include, for example, sexual behaviour which may have become compulsive rather than ‘the norm’ (whatever that means in that context!)

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

by Franny Lazarus – Ohio State News – Oct 21, 2025

Beginning in 2023, HECAOD expanded its portfolio to focus on a new campus issue: gambling.

Photo: iStock / Getty Images Plus

The ‘problem gambling’ issue can be devastating for college students

Since opening at The Ohio State University in 2015, the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery (HECAOD) has been developing college campus professionals who support alcohol and drug misuse prevention.

Beginning in 2023, HECAOD expanded its portfolio to focus on a new campus issue: gambling.

“The idea that college students are at higher risk of experiencing harms from gambling is not a new idea,” said Cindy Clouner, managing director. “Folks doing work in the community gambling space have known that for a long time. But on campuses, it’s not been on our radar.”

HECAOD established the Collegiate Problem Gambling Workgroup in 2023 to better learn what campuses are facing.

“It was necessary to understand quickly if we were going to do this work well,” said Jim Lange, the center’s executive director. “We invited all the people that we could find. It began to snowball – people were bringing other folks they knew. It’s been really helpful.”

One of the reasons that gambling can be a hard problem to track is that it’s not an obvious one.

“It’s a quieter issue,” Clouner said. “When students are experiencing harm from alcohol, they may be throwing up, being loud and obnoxious, vandalizing things. It can be easier to identify someone who may be impaired by substances. With the advent of online gambling, though, a student could be gambling on their phone, and no one would know.”

Gambling’s long-term impacts can be crippling, Lange said.

“We see that financial stress is a barrier to completing a college degree,” he said. “A gambling issue can be a risk factor for suicidal ideation and attempts. When you get to that extreme, it is literally deadly.”

HECAOD works closely with the Office of Student Life’s Student Wellness Center.

“Many campuses aren’t resourced like we are,” Clouner said. “We’re lucky at Ohio State. We have a large wellness center with multiple staff.”

Helping other schools develop resources is how HECAOD will use a $40,000 Agility Grant from the National Council on Problem Gambling, which the center received last year. HECAOD partners with the National Consortium of State Coalitions (NCSC) to reach campuses across the country.

“That group is made up of more than 30 statewide coalitions,” Clouner said. “They all operate differently and have different goals, but they bring together campus professionals who are focused on health and well-being initiatives.”

HECAOD will provide a turnkey training on collegiate gambling to NCSC members, who will then be able to deliver the training at their member institutions. Clouner said their goal is to reach 1,000 campuses.

“There may be one person doing all the wellness work at a university,” she said. “Putting something else on their plate is unrealistic. This way, we’ve established a go-to person in a region that multiple campuses can work with to develop knowledge and skills, provide resources and more.”

And these resources aren’t just for students worried about their own gambling.

“Sometimes a friend is seeking help,” Lange said. “They have a relationship with someone and they’re concerned about that person. That’s been identified as a really important component of the training of students.”

“If you’re concerned about yourself or someone else’s behavior,” Clouner said, “there are trained people who can help you get connected with resources.”

Source: https://news.osu.edu/ohio-state-center-leading-charge-against-problem-gambling/

Filed under: Addiction,Brain and Behaviour,Education,Gambling,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

Abstract

Background: The Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) and the Behavioral Approach System (BAS) are two core motivational systems linked to addictive behaviors. Understanding the biobehavioral mechanisms and correlates of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), including BIS/BAS, could lead to improved strategies for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

Methods: Using baseline data from five clinical studies, we conducted secondary analyses to explore the link between BIS/BAS and alcohol-related outcomes in people with AUD (N = 94). We hypothesized that lower BIS and higher BAS scores would be associated with more severe alcohol use, obsessive thoughts, and compulsive behaviors toward alcohol. In additional post-hoc analyses, we also explored the mediating effects of anxiety and depression in this regard.

Results: Higher BIS scores were associated with higher severity of alcohol use and more obsessive-compulsive drinking behaviors, as respectively measured by the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) and the Obsessive-Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS). Anxiety (Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) and depression (Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale) significantly mediated the positive associations between BIS scores and AUDIT/OCDS. No significant associations were found between BAS scores and alcohol-related measures.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that, in this sample of middle-aged people with AUD, a heightened BIS leads to more severe alcohol use, and this relationship is mediated by anxiety and depressive symptoms. Further prospective research in adults with AUD and varying levels of alcohol use is necessary to better understand the relationship between BIS/BAS and alcohol-related outcomes.

Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41116647/

Filed under: Addiction,Alcohol,Brain and Behaviour,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

Editorial – Oct 29, 2025

You might remember them as the National Federation of Parents for Drug Free Youth, from back in the 1980s, but today, the renamed National Family Partnership continues its work to support families and communities “in nurturing the full potential of healthy, drug free youth.”

Among the efforts supported by the organization is National Red Ribbon Week, Oct. 23-31 each year, and established to honor the memory of U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agent Enrique Camarena, who was killed, likely because of his work, in 1985.

At the time, according to the organization, “In honor of Camarena’s memory and his battle against illegal drugs, friends and neighbors began to wear red badges of satin.”

Today the observance has grown to include participation in classrooms across the country.

At Blennerhassett Middle School, in Wood County, W.Va., last week, students were joined by Gov. Patrick Morrisey, who reminded them they are not alone in their effort to help their fellow students remain drug-free and healthy.

Highlighting the West Virginia First Foundation, he maintained “that program is tackling the tough parts of the drug epidemic by focusing on supply, demand and prevention issues.”

Meanwhile, in places such as Highland County, Ohio, commissioners are encouraging all citizens, schools, businesses, organizations and agencies to join in raising awareness and standing beside our youth and working together to ensure that every child has the opportunity to grow up in a healthy, safe and strong environment,” according to an excerpt from a proclamation reported by The Highland County Press.

In Jefferson County, Ohio, WTOV reported agencies came together to mark the week and include a celebration of those in recovery.

“It really does take a group effort because it affects every aspect of someone’s life, really — every aspect,” said Michelle Miller, a judge for the Court of Common Pleas, according to WTOV. “Programs like the Phoenix Drug Court Program return that person to the community, back to their families to fulfill their responsibilities in that regard, and to fulfill their responsibilities to the community.”

Yes, the mission for which Camarena died 40 years ago has grown and is on the minds of more people than ever. But while the students participating in school efforts such as those at Blennerhassett Middle are no doubt determined to avoid becoming victims to the substance abuse plague, public officials all over the country who attached their names or their governmental bodies to the Red Ribbon Week effort must remember it is THEIR responsibility to work toward expanding and diversifying economies, provide top notch educations, work toward improving access to affordable mental health care, and generally aim for a better quality of life and HOPE for all those they were elected to serve.

Those are the prevention efforts that will do the most to ensure Camarena and so many others who have died in this fight did not lose their lives in vain.

Source: https://www.theintermountain.com/opinion/editorials/2025/10/prevention-7/

Filed under: Crime/Violence/Prison,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

Dear friends,

We wanted to make sure you had seen four key studies from the past week:

A groundbreaking study in The Lancet found that marijuana use over four years actually made it harder for patients to cope with chronic pain, and did not reduce their use of opioids.
A study in Frontiers in Psychiatry found that increasing self-exposure to non-medical marijuana was a predictor of greater odds of opioid dependence diagnosis.
A study in the International Review of Psychiatry found an increased rate of serious mental illness in states that had legalized medical marijuana.
In JAMA: “(The) associated acute and long-term psychoactive effects on brain function (of marijuana) are…known. Expanding use of cannabis among pregnant and lactating women (as likely will occur with legalization) may lead to increased risk from fetal and child exposures if the teratogenic potential of cannabis remains underappreciated.”

Additional Resources on Link Between Marijuana and Opioids

These articles follow other warnings from medical professionals: the recent editorial published in the Journal of the Society for the Study of Addiction, which cautions against drawing policy conclusions from population studies, and the editorial comment from the American Society of Addiction Medicine on February 20, 2018. And don’t forget NIDA’s rigorous study showing pot users are twice as likely to have abused opioids and have an opioid use disorder than non-marijuana users.

SAM has published a one-pager describing the overwhelming link between marijuana and opioid abuse. While not every marijuana user will go on to use heroin, nearly all heroin users previously abused marijuana. We need smart policies that discourage use, get people back on their feet, and restore people to participate in and contribute to society. States that have legalized marijuana, by contrast, see increased drugged driving, increased arrests of minority youth, and increased emergency room visits. Colorado is experiencing the highest number of drug overdoses in its history. Legalization is a failed experiment.

Please visit learnaboutsam.org to learn about a smarter approach.

Sincerely,

Kevin Sabet

President, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM)

Affiliated Fellow, Yale University

Source: Email from reply@learnaboutsam.org July 2018

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts,Heroin/Methadone,Opioids,USA :

issued by DEA Public Affairs – September 30, 2025

WASHINGTON – Forty years after the death of DEA Special Agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration continues to honor his legacy by supporting the nation’s largest drug prevention initiative—the Red Ribbon Campaign—throughout the month of October.

“The ultimate sacrifice made by Special Agent Enrique ‘Kiki’ Camarena inspires the men and women of DEA to continue our critical mission with unwavering determination. In order to win this battle, we must fight it together,” said DEA Administrator Terrance Cole. “Drug prevention is a critical and powerful tool that enhances knowledge and builds resilience. The Red Ribbon Campaign – the nation’s largest and longest drug prevention campaign – reminds us that a healthy, drug-free lifestyle can build a safer, stronger America for generations to come.”

This year’s Red Ribbon theme is “Life is a Puzzle, Solve it Drug Free,” highlighting how living a drug-free lifestyle helps build a stronger and brighter future, one piece at a time.

October is a cornerstone for DEA’s efforts around drug prevention, education, and community outreach. Through a unified focus on fentanyl enforcement, public awareness initiatives, and the National Prescription Drug Take Back Campaign, DEA works tirelessly throughout the month to promote community safety and encourage healthy, drug-free lifestyles.

DEA’s 2025 Virtual National Red Ribbon Rally is now live on www.dea.gov. The Red Ribbon Rally will be available throughout the month on demand at www.DEA.gov/redribbon and www.getsmartaboutdrugs.com.

The Virtual National Red Ribbon Rally includes remarks by DEA Administrator Terrance Cole; a musical performance by students from Center Stage Academy for the Arts in Clinton, Maryland; Color Guards from DC’s Young Marines and ChalleNGe Academy in Maryland; remarks from country music artists on the dangers of counterfeit pills; inspirational remarks from NFL Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Baltimore Raven Ray Lewis, and several scout troops from around the country discussing the Red Ribbon Patch Program. The winners of DEA’s 2025 Community Drug Prevention Awards and Visual Arts Contest will be announced, and viewers will learn many ways schools, community organizations, and families can get involved in this year’s Red Ribbon Campaign.

Every year, DEA recognizes October 23 through October 31 as Red Ribbon Week, which offers a great opportunity for parents, teachers, educators, and community organizations to raise awareness about substance misuse. In addition to our heightened outreach and awareness efforts you will see DEA #GoRedforKiki to honor Special Agent Camarena’s life and legacy.

Red Ribbon Week began in 1985 in Kiki’s hometown of Calexico, California, and quickly gained momentum across the state and then across the rest of the country. The National Family Partnership turned Red Ribbon Week into a national drug awareness campaign, an eight-day event proclaimed by the U.S. Congress and chaired by then President and Mrs. Reagan. Every year since, Red Ribbon Week has been celebrated in schools and throughout communities.

October is also recognized as National Substance Use Prevention Month by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). As part of Red Ribbon Week, DEA and SAMHSA are sponsoring the 10th Annual Red Ribbon Campus Video PSA Contest. Last year’s winners and information on how campuses can submit a PSA can be found at www.campusdrugprevention.gov/psacontest.

DEA is also a co-sponsor of the National Family Partnership’s annual Red Ribbon Week Photo Contest. More information is available at www.redribbon.org.

Readers are encouraged to follow DEA’s social media accounts on Instagram, X, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Flickr to help spread awareness. Additional resources including the Red Ribbon Pledge, posters, and PSAs can be found in the Tool Kit on www.dea.gov/redribbon.

Source: https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2025/09/30/dea-champions-2025-red-ribbon-campaign

Filed under: Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

by John Suarez (612) 367-6845/ Janisset Rivero (786) 208-6056 – Center for a Free Cuba, September 29^th, 2025, Washington, DC.

The Havana regime’s historical ties to drug trafficking and its role as an intermediary and coordinator in the hemisphere for drug trafficking into the United States have been presented in the report “Cuba: Precursor of the Cartel of the Suns. Drug Trafficking in the Hands of the State,” compiled by the Ibero-American Alliance for Global Security, the Cuba in Transition Association, and the Center for a Free Cuba.

The report has been sent to numerous organizations and entities dedicated to documenting drug trafficking and illegal activities, including the UN International Narcotics Control Board; the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime; the OAS Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission; the International Crisis Group; the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM); among other institutions.

“The Cuban regime’s connection to drug trafficking is well documented. There is an abundance of evidence gathered from court proceedings, defector testimonies, investigations, and historical records that detail the involvement of high-ranking officials and Cuban institutions—particularly the Armed Forces—in drug trafficking.” the report states:

“Drugs have served Castroism as a lethal weapon to damage American capitalist society, as corroborated by the testimony of retired Romanian general Ion Mihai Pacepa, who documented Fidel Castro and Ceaușescu’s plans during their visit to Havana in 1972 to flood the West with drugs to weaken capitalism. According to Pacepa, Castro told Ceaușescu that “drugs could do more damage to imperialism than atomic bombs.

From that date to the present, evidence of the Havana regime’s involvement in drug trafficking linked to the Colombian guerrillas, the control of Venezuela’s ports of entry and exit by Cuban military personnel to counter Plan Colombia, and the coordination of drug trafficking efforts in the region with other states such as Nicaragua with the Sandinistas under Ortega’s command and Panama during the Noriega regime, are based on direct testimony from former military personnel, former guerrillas, and drug traffickers prosecuted by the U.S. justice system, which directly implicates Cuba as a contact and support center for these illegal operations.”

“We support the international community taking direct measures to stem the flow of drugs into their respective countries and to curb the growing number of young people dying from drug overdoses. We must remember that Venezuela and Maduro bear significant responsibility for these criminal acts, but the driving force is in Havana, and the facts prove it,” said John Suárez, executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba.”

PDF version of the report downloadable here: https://www.scribd.com/document/923479521/Cuba-Precursor-of-the-Cartel-of-the-Suns

SOURCE: Submitted by drug-watch-international@googlegroups.com On Behalf Of mlp3@starpower.net – 30 September 2025 01:04

Filed under: Crime/Violence/Prison,Culture,Political Sector,Social Affairs,Strategy and Policy,USA :

International Journal of Drug Policy

Volume 145, November 2025, 105015 by Shane O’Mahony

Abstract

The brain disease model of addiction (BDMA) is a dominant, if highly contested, model of drug addiction globally. Over many decades, researchers have marshalled evidence from animal studies, neuroimaging scans, and genome wide association studies to argue that addiction is a brain disease. However, critics have argued that the model de-emphasises social and economic contexts, downplays the phenomenon of spontaneous or natural recovery, and over-interprets neuroscientific findings. Building on this critical tradition, the current paper asks a related question: Has the claim that addiction is a brain disease helped or harmed those experiencing drug-related harm epistemically? While no definitive answer to this question is offered, the current paper argues that overall, the claim that addiction is a brain disease advanced by proponents of the BDMA has harmed substance users already experiencing multiple disadvantages epistemically.

Drawing on the concept of epistemic injustice, the current paper argues that the category ‘drugs’ creates an artificial and harmful dichotomy between those who use licit medicines and experience harm and those who use illicit substances and experience harm. Furthermore, this artificial dichotomy is compounded by racist and colonial discourses central to the war on drugs, and a rigid biological reductionism that de-emphasises social, economic, and cultural harm. The paper concludes by sketching an alternative approach rooted in epistemic justice, and a discussion of the implications of this concept for research and theory.

Introduction

Academic literature has witnessed significant debate over the past thirty years concerning whether addiction is best thought of as a brain disease. While the framing of addiction as a disease has a much longer history (see Levine, 1978), the claim that addiction is specifically a brain disease and the debates around this claim began in earnest when Leshner (1997) categorically claimed that neuroscientific advances had shown that drug addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease resulting from the prolonged effects of drugs on the brain. This framing centres the illness or disorder firmly in the realm of the brain’s structure and functioning, as opposed to a lack of meaning and purpose (i.e. a spiritual disease/malady) as per proponents of AA’s spiritual disease model (see O’Mahony, 2019), a disease of the will as per Benjamin Rush (see Seddon, 2010), or a highly heterogeneous disorder from which more homogeneous, qualitatively distinct subtypes might be derived, only some of which constitute a disease, as E.M. Jellinek and colleagues have argued (see Kelly, 2018).

Despite multiple sustained critiques of the BDMA from criminologists (O’Mahony, 2019), anthropologists (Bourgois, 2009), psychologists (Alexander, 2008), and some within neuroscience (Heilig, 2021, Kalant, 2014) have reiterated that, despite valid criticism, the claim that addiction has a firm neurobiological basis remains strongly supported by the best scientific evidence. Most recently, Heather et al. (2022) have produced a volume evaluating the BDMA through contributions from supporters, opponents, and undecided scholars. While the editors entertain arguments from many different perspectives and models, they argue that addiction is undergoing a revolutionary change—from being considered a brain disease to a disorder of voluntary behaviour (Heather et al., 2022)—though this is contested by advocates of the BDMA (see Heilig, 2021).

While some have examined the emergence of the BDMA from a social constructionist perspective (Keane et al., 2014), and criticised its relative ignorance of social and cultural context (Reinarman, 2005), the current paper asks a different question: has the claim that addiction is best thought of as a brain disease helped or harmed those suffering from harmful substance use epistemically? While critical scholars have approached this question from many angles, there has been little reflection among supporters of the model, where it is often assumed that framing addiction as a brain disease will reduce stigma, increase access to treatment, and lead to better outcomes in general for those experiencing harmful drug use (see Volkow & Koob, 2010). Yet many critical scholars argue that disease understandings commit people to a lifetime of reduced autonomy (Hart, 2021), as they are perceived—by themselves and others—to lack control and free will in important ways. This, in turn, can stigmatise them as disordered and constitutionally different from others. Moreover, clinical treatment providers appear ambiguous in their support of the BDMA. While some believe it can reduce stigma, others argue it may foster hopelessness within clients (Barnett et al., 2018).

Similarly, while access to treatment has increased in many countries, this has not always been due to the adoption of the BDMA or any disease model. For example, Ireland has expanded treatment access in the 21st century (see Butler, 2007), yet never explicitly adopted disease understandings. Sweden’s approach, while complex, accommodates both social and brain-based understandings of drug-related harm (Grahn et al., 2014). Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic of Iran has recently increased access to treatment despite its lack of commitment to disease framings (see Mirzaei et al., 2022). While one might argue that these increases were compelled by growing rates of drug-related harm, the case remains: representing addiction as a brain disease has not, in and of itself, played a decisive role in facilitating treatment access in these diverse contexts. This is not to say that the BDMA cannot support access, but that many culturally diverse countries have achieved this end without adopting it. Ultimately, the choice is not between viewing addiction as a moral failing or a brain disease, there are diverse ways to frame addiction to achieve stigma reduction and treatment uptake ends.

While much debate exists within the academic literature, the BDMA currently represents a dominant way addiction is understood in the United States (Barnett et al., 2018) and that the model is influential in Europe (see SStorbjörk, 2018; O’Mahony, 2019) and Australia (Keane et al., 2014). Given this position of influence, the current paper asks whether the model helps or harms those experiencing drug-related harm epistemically. That is, does the claim that they are suffering from a brain disease help them understand themselves and their experiences of drug-related harm and/or enable them to communicate this to others—or is it harmful in these respects? Before turning to this question, let us briefly examine the relevant literature.

Section snippets

Background

The brain disease model of addiction has been championed for several decades by the US based National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA). While the model contains many complexities, at its most basic, the claim is that persistent drug use changes the brain’s structure and function to such an extent as to ‘hijack’ the brain’s motivational reward circuitry. Koob and Simon (2009) argue, for example, that a key element of drug addiction is how the brain’s reward system changes throughout the course of

Epistemic injustice

Epistemic injustice is a form of injustice ‘done to someone specifically in their capacity as a knower’ (Fricker, 2007: p.1). Put simply, an injustice that harms a person’s ability to know things and be seen by others to know things. Fricker (2007) distinguishes between two different forms of epistemic injustice: (1) Testimonial injustice (TI); and (2) Hermeneutical injustice (HI). TI occurs when a hearer’s prejudices about a person’s identity led them to treat what the person says more

The concept of drugs and hermeneutical injustice

The first issue relevant to this paper is the category of ‘drug’ itself. The question is whether this category—central to the Brain Disease Model of Addiction (BDMA)—is rooted in hermeneutic injustice. A useful starting point is the work of British drug historian Porter (1996). In a paper tracing the historical origins of the “drug problem” in Britain, Porter argues that the concept of a drug is historically contingent:

“If you had talked about the ‘drug problem’ two hundred years ago, no one

The war on drugs and hermeneutic injustice

The previous section argued that the concept of “drugs” is rooted in hermeneutic injustice (HI). This section demonstrates that, cross-culturally, the prohibition and criminalisation of certain types of substance use have been selective regarding which substances are targeted. Put simply, evidence from several jurisdictions indicates that substances used by marginalised populations are disproportionately criminalised. We begin with examples from the United States.

In a landmark study on the

Biological reductionism and epistemic injustice

The previous section demonstrated that substance use among marginalised groups is often labelled drug use, stigmatised and criminalised, while use among powerful groups often escapes these labels and is treated more benignly. This section will show how this tendency also obscures the social, cultural, historical, and economic forces underpinning harmful drug use among marginalised Indigenous populations. This occurs through the biological reductionism at the heart of the Brain Disease Model of

An alternative frame: epistemic justice

This paper argued that the influence of the BDMA (though heavily contested) leads to multiple instances of epistemic injustice (specifically hermeneutic injustices). If this is the case, it is plausible to ask how we might move away from this harmful framing of substance-related problems to a more epistemically just approach. Epistemic justice has been defined as ‘the proper inclusion and balancing of all epistemic sources’ (Geuskens, 2018: 2). Firstly, if we are to move towards a context where

Conclusion and discussion

The current paper asked the following question: Does the claim that addiction is a brain disease put forth by supporters of the BDMA help or harm those who are currently experiencing drug-related harm epistemically? The answer that has been developed is that the BDMA causes harm as it leads to various instances of epistemic injustice. The first instance of epistemic injustice relates to the concept of ‘drugs’ itself. Put simply, built into the very foundations of the concept ‘drugs’ is the

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Shane O’Mahony: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Visualization, Validation, Supervision, Software, Resources, Project administration, Methodology, Investigation, Funding acquisition, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization.

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955395925003111

Filed under: Addiction,Brain and Behaviour,Culture,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Opening Comment by DrugWatch member Maggie Petito:

It is often stated that comprehensive plans are most effective. Andean media often reports on crime profits from the transport of drugs, weapons and humans. Additional factual reporting is needed.Few understand the profiteering by the Albanian mafia, Chinese Triads and Russian mobs. South American media does claim that Colombia [and Peru] see soaring cocaine production.Transportation and distribution yields higher profits than the actual production. Nonetheless, common sense reminds that without product, there is nothing to transport.

ARTICLE:

by Steve Fisher, José de Córdoba and Santiago Pérez – Wall Street Journal – Sept. 16, 2025

From a heavily guarded mountain hideout in the heart of the Sierra Madre, 59-year-old Nemesio “Mencho” Oseguera reigns as the new drug king of Mexico, aided in his ascendance by America’s resurging love of cocaine and the Trump administration’s escalating war on fentanyl.

Oseguera spent decades building his Jalisco New Generation Cartel into a transnational criminal organization fierce enough to forge a new underworld order in Mexico, displacing the Sinaloa cartel, torn by warring factions, as the world’s biggest drug pusher.

The Sinaloans, Mexico’s top fentanyl traffickers, got caught in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, which promised to eradicate the synthetic opioid. The crackdown has left an open field for Jalisco and its lucrative cocaine trade, elevating Oseguera to No. 1.

“‘Mencho’ is the most powerful drug trafficker operating in the world,” said Derek Maltz, who served this year as interim chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “What is happening now is a pivot to much more cocaine distribution in America.”

Cocaine sold in the U.S. is cheaper and as pure as ever for retail buyers. Consumption in the western U.S. has increased 154% since 2019 and is up 19% during the same period in the eastern part of the country, according to the drug-testing company Millennium Health. In contrast, Fentanyl use in the U.S. began to drop in mid-2023 and has been declining since, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For new users, cocaine doesn’t carry the stigma of fentanyl addiction. Middle-class addicts and the tragic spectacle of homeless crack-cocaine users in the 1990s helped put a lid on America’s last cocaine epidemic.

Oseguera, who grew up poor selling avocados, is making a killing from cocaine buyers in the U.S. His cartel transports the addictive powder by the ton from Colombia to Ecuador and then north to Mexico’s Pacific coast via speedboats and so-called narco subs.

U.S. forces in the Caribbean recently blew up two speedboats, including one this week, that President Trump alleged were ferrying cocaine and fentanyl from Venezuela to the U.S. Fentanyl is largely produced in Mexico, and most cocaine ships through the Pacific. All those aboard the two vessels were killed. The president also has threatened military action against Mexican drug cartels.

A video released and edited by the Mexican military showing the apprehension of a drug-laden speedboat on Mexico’s Pacific coast this year.

The U.S. has a $15 million bounty on Oseguera, but he rarely leaves his mountain compound, according to authorities. Few photos of him circulate. The cadre of men protecting Oseguera, known as the Special Force of the High Command, carry RPG 7 heat-seeking, shoulder-fired rocket launchers capable of piercing a tank, people familiar with cartel operations said.

Visitors to the drug lord’s stronghold are hooded before they embark on the six-hour car trip through terrain sown with land mines, those people said. Locations of the pressure-activated explosives are known only by members of Oseguera’s inner circle.

Oseguera’s fortunes rose after the U.S. pressured Mexico to crack down on the Sinaloa cartel, where Oseguera got his start in the trade. The Sinaloans pioneered the manufacturing and smuggling of fentanyl, an industry breakthrough that sent cartel revenue soaring and drove up the number of fatal overdoses in the U.S. For the Sinaloans, landing in the administration’s spotlight couldn’t come at a worse time.

The capture of Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán in January 2016 and his extradition to the U.S. a year later, set in motion a precipitous decline. Guzmán’s four sons inherited their father’s empire, highly valued for its network of smuggling tunnels beneath the U.S.-Mexico border, used for moving cocaine, fentanyl and other contraband.

The sons, known collectively as the little Chapos, or “Chapitos,” shifted production resources to fentanyl, which compared with the heroin their father had brought into the U.S. by the ton is easier to smuggle and costs just a fraction to produce.

The Chapitos triggered an internecine war last year as a result of a plot against Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the 70-something co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel. Zambada was forced aboard a private plane bound for the U.S. by Joaquin Guzmán, one of El Chapo’s sons, who hoped for leniency from U.S. prosecutors.

Both men were taken into U.S. custody when they landed outside of El Paso, Texas. Zambada pleaded guilty to drug-trafficking charges last month and faces a possible life sentence. Guzmán, still in custody, pleaded not guilty to trafficking charges.

Zambada’s capture led to a violent split between men loyal to Zambada’s son, Ismael “Mayito Flaco” Zambada, and those allied with the Chapitos. An estimated 5,000 people from both camps have been killed or gone missing in the conflict, along with bystanders caught in the crossfire. Mexico has sent 10,000 federal troops in the past year to the state of Sinaloa, where the federal government has been largely helpless to end the fighting.

Hemmed in by U.S. and Mexican authorities on one front, and Zambada’s men on the other, the Chapitos swallowed their pride and sought the help of Oseguera, once a sworn enemy.

Each side had something the other wanted. Oseguera agreed to meet, looking to a future where he and his Jalisco cartel would rule as Mexico’s dominant criminal enterprise.

Landmark drug deal

In December, Oseguera sat down with a top lieutenant of Iván Archivaldo Guzmán, who leads Sinaloa’s Chapito faction. At the meeting in Mexico’s western state of Nayarit, Oseguera, who was operating from a position of strength, agreed to supply the Chapitos with weapons, cash and fighters.

In exchange, the Sinaloans opened their smuggling routes and border tunnels into the U.S., said people familiar with the meeting. The Jalisco cartel previously paid hefty fees to use the tunnels to move drugs beneath the U.S.-Mexico border, people familiar with its operations said.

The agreement also divvied up the U.S. trafficking trade, these people said: The Chapitos would keep their focus on serving American fentanyl addicts. Oseguera would concentrate on cocaine and its down-market cousin, methamphetamine. The Jalisco cartel now ferries tons of cocaine and record amounts of methamphetamine into the U.S. through Sinaloan-built tunnels, as well as fentanyl, the people familiar with cartel operations said.

The Sinaloa-Jalisco agreement was “an unprecedented event in the balance of organized crime,” Mexico’s attorney general’s office said in a July report. The Jalisco cartel compares with the Sinaloa cartel at the height of its power before El Chapo’s arrest, according to the DEA’s latest drug-threat assessment.

Oseguera caught another break from the Trump administration. The president’s campaign to deport immigrants in the U.S. illegally has taken federal agents away from drug-traffic interdiction. In Arizona, two Customs and Border Protection checkpoints along a main fentanyl-smuggling corridor from Mexico have been left unstaffed. Officers stationed there were sent to process detained migrants. A senior administration official said the U.S. border is more secure than it has ever been.

Colombia is producing records amounts of cocaine, and the volume of the drug arriving in the U.S. is driving down prices, the people familiar with cartel operations said.

Cocaine prices have fallen by nearly half to around $60 to $75 a gram compared with five years ago, said Morgan Godvin, a researcher with the community organization Drug Checking Los Angeles. “The price of pure cocaine has plummeted,” Godvin said.

Tons of cocaine manufactured in Colombia are shipped from Ecuador by small crews of fishermen on a three-week voyage to Mexico.

After refueling near the Galapagos, speed-boats and so-called narco subs continue north. The Mexican navy has deployed special forces to block shipments.

The Jalisco cartel, which controls ports on Mexico’s Pacific coast, now uses routes and tunnels into the U.S. that are controlled by the sons of imprisoned drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

The Jalisco cartel also draws steady revenue from diverse sources outside narcotics.

The cartel acts as a parallel government in the southwestern state of Jalisco and other parts of Mexico, taxing such goods as tortillas, chicken, cigarettes and beer, security experts said. It controls construction companies that build roads, schools and sewers for the municipal governments under cartel control.

A booming black market for fuel is another cash cow. Gasoline and diesel stolen from Mexican refineries and pipelines—or smuggled into Mexico from the U.S. without paying taxes—is sold at below market prices to small and large businesses. U.S. officials estimate as much as a third of the fuel sold in Mexico is illicit. The head of the Jalisco cartel’s fuel division is nicknamed “Tank” for his prowess at stealing and storing millions of gallons of fuel.

The cartel profited from the passage of migrants bound for the U.S., charging them thousands of dollars each to pass through territory it controls. And in recent years, the cartel has operated more than two dozen call centers to scam senior citizens out of hundreds of millions of dollars in a vacation-timeshare fraud, according to the Treasury Department.

Family ties

Oseguera, celebrated as “El Señor Mencho” in narco-ballads, is viewed as an altruistic patriarch by some poor Mexicans living in areas controlled by the cartel, which organizes town fiestas and hands out food, medicine and toys.

In 1994, Oseguera was convicted of dealing heroin and served nearly three years in a California prison. He was deported to Mexico, where he married the daughter of the boss of a Sinaloa-affiliated gang. By 2011, he was leading his own organization based in Jalisco state.

Jalisco gunmen stormed a Puerto Vallarta restaurant in 2016 and kidnapped two Chapitos—Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo—who were celebrating Iván’s birthday. Oseguera released them after an intervention by “El Mayo” Zambada, who later became a target of the Chapitos.

Like many of Mexico’s cartels, Jalisco is largely a family business. One of Oseguera’s brothers, Antonio, known as Tony Montana after the Al Pacino character in the movie “Scarface,” was in charge of acquiring heavy weapons, the attorney general’s report said. The brother was arrested in 2022, and in February he was among 29 drug bosses Mexico expelled to the U.S., hoping to address Trump’s demands.

Oseguera’s son, who served as a top leader in the cartel, was sentenced in Washington, D.C., this year to life in prison for drug trafficking.

Hundreds of gunmen trained by former Colombian special forces work for Oseguera, according to Mexican officials. He travels through his territory in a small convoy of armored vehicles with a team equipped to fight off aggressors until reinforcements arrive. He had a specialized medical unit built near his mountain hideout to care for his advanced kidney disease, according to people familiar with the matter.

Photos from the Mexican navy showing packaged cocaine, in a 3.5-ton seizure from a semi-submersible vessel, a so-called narco sub, caught off the Pacific coast and brought to port in Acapulco, Mexico, in June.

Two cartel accountants arrested by Mexican authorities said they were required to leave behind smartphones, Apple Watches and any device with GPS signal before traveling to meet with Oseguera, a precaution against electronic surveillance or tracking, according to the people familiar with the cartel’s operations. Oseguera has a team that manages more than 50 phones of top cartel lieutenants, people familiar with the operations said. Every week, cartel operatives gather and review phone call logs to ensure the men haven’t been speaking with enemies, security experts said. Afterward, the men get new phones.

In 2020, more than two dozen gunmen fired more than 400 rounds at the armored car ferrying Omar García Harfuch, then Mexico City’s security chief, on the capital’s Paseo de la Reforma. García Harfuch was hit three times but survived. Two of his bodyguards and a woman headed to work were killed. García Harfuch now serves as security minister for Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum. He is overseeing the law-enforcement offensive, backed by U.S. intelligence, that has crippled the Chapitos.

Oseguera’s subsequent rise to Mexico’s top drug trafficker puts him in a very dangerous spot, according to a senior Trump administration official.

Source: www.drugwatch.org
drug-watch-international@googlegroups.com

Filed under: Crime/Violence/Prison,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Economic,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,USA :

NIH – National Library of Medicine – National Center for Biotechnology Information

2025 Oct;178(10):1429-1440.

doi: 10.7326/ANNALS-24-03819. Epub 2025 Aug 26.

by Thanitsara Rittiphairoj¹, Louis Leslie², Jean-Pierre Oberste², Tsz Wing Yim², Gregory Tung³, Lisa Bero⁴, Paula Riggs⁵, Kent Hutchison⁶, Jonathan Samet⁷, Tianjing Li⁸

Abstract

Background: Rapid changes in the legalized cannabis market have led to the predominance of high-concentration delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cannabis products.

Purpose: To systematically review associations of high-concentration THC cannabis products with mental health outcomes.

Data sources: Ovid MEDLINE through May 2025; EMBASE, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, Cochrane Library, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, CINAHL, and Toxicology Literature Online through August 2024.

Study selection: Two reviewers independently selected studies with high-concentration THC defined as greater than 5 mg or greater than 10% THC per serving or labeled as “high-potency concentrate,” “shatter,” or “dab.”

Data extraction: Outcomes included anxiety, depression, psychosis or schizophrenia, and cannabis use disorder (CUD). Results were categorized by association direction and by study characteristics. Therapeutic studies were defined by use of cannabis to treat medical conditions or symptoms.

Data synthesis: Ninety-nine studies (221 097 participants) were included: randomized trials (42%), observational studies (47%), and other interventional study designs (11%); more than 95% had moderate or high risk of bias. In studies not testing for therapeutic effects, high-concentration THC products showed consistent unfavorable associations with psychosis or schizophrenia (70%) and CUD (75%). No therapeutic studies reported favorable results for psychosis or schizophrenia. For anxiety and depression, 53% and 41% of nontherapeutic studies, respectively, reported unfavorable associations, especially among healthy populations. Among therapeutic studies, nearly half found benefits for anxiety (47%) and depression (48%), although some also found unfavorable associations (24% and 30%, respectively).

Limitation: Moderate and high risk of bias of individual studies and limited evaluation of contemporary products.

Conclusion: High-concentration THC products are associated with unfavorable mental health outcomes, particularly for psychosis or schizophrenia and CUD. There was some low-quality evidence, inconsistent by population, for therapeutic benefits for anxiety and depression.

Primary funding source: Colorado General Assembly, House Bill 21-1317

Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40854216/

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Effects of Drugs (Papers),Health,Mental Health,Strategy and Policy,USA :

By Scott Wolchek –FOX 2 Detroit – September 9, 2025

DEA launches abuse prevention campaign on campuses

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) emphasized that prevention is key to ensuring the health and safety of the nation’s college students, and they are actively spreading that message. The DEA is teaming up with universities across Michigan and Ohio, reaching out to let them know that resources are available.

DETROIT (FOX 2) – As students return to classes, the DEA is on a mission to help prevent drug abuse on college campuses.

Big picture view:

The focus is on drug awareness because many people between the ages of 18 and 25 are increasingly becoming statistics due to unfortunate overdoses. The DEA is particularly concerned about counterfeit pills, such as ecstasy, which may be laced with fentanyl.

What they’re saying:

They report that 50% of the counterfeit pills they seize contain a lethal dose of fentanyl. The warning is clear: stop experimenting and stay safe.

“That behavior can lead a student to go online or social media or a weird part of town to obtain what they think is a study aid which might not contain anything but filler and caffeine or worse, fentanyl. We’re just letting our campuses know these pills are out there, and they’re readily available and dangerous,” said Brian McNeal.

“Is this an age where you see people doing, like more drugs? Uh yeah, certainly. I think more and more this era of humanity is seeing an uptick in drug usage, but I mean it’s been used throughout time and memorium,” said college student Merrick.

Merrick mentioned that he himself had not encountered any of the counterfeit pill issues that the DEA is warning about. He expressed more concern about alcohol use on campus.

The DEA representative told FOX 2 that while some people may not listen, it’s crucial to heed this advice: don’t take any pills unless you know where they came from, or they are prescribed to you.

With the fentanyl threats all around us, it’s vital to follow the advice being discussed.

Source: https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/dea-launches-drug-abuse-prevention-campaign-college-campuses-across-metro-detroit

Filed under: Culture,Drug use-various effects,Education,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,USA,Youth :

The following 8 articles were grouped by David Evans, and published by DrugWatch International, to address the subject of cannabis use and how violent offenders can be seen to be marijuana users:

To access the full documents – for each item:

Click on the ‘Source’ link below.
An image – the front page of the full document will appear.
Click on the image to open the full document.

Source: www.drugwatch.org
drug-watch-international@googlegroups.com

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Crime/Violence/Prison,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Mental Health,USA :

Source: https://learnaboutsam.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/27Sep2017-opioids-one-pager.pdf September 2017

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Cannabis/Marijuana,Heroin/Methadone,USA :

From open communication to community involvement, strategies help families tackle teenage substance abuse head-on

By David Kesiena – Oct 13, 2025

Teenage drug use remains one of the most pressing concerns for parents across America, with recent studies showing that experimentation often begins in middle school. While the challenge can feel overwhelming, experts agree that proactive parenting and strategic interventions make a significant difference in keeping teens away from harmful substances.

Establish open and judgment-free communication early

The foundation of drug prevention starts with creating an environment where teenagers feel comfortable discussing difficult topics. Parents who begin conversations about substances before experimentation occurs give their children the tools to make informed decisions when peer pressure arises.

Rather than waiting for a crisis, families should integrate these discussions into everyday life. Talking about news stories, television shows or situations involving drugs provides natural opportunities to explore consequences and share values without making teens feel interrogated or lectured.

Research consistently shows that adolescents who believe their parents would be extremely upset by drug use are less likely to experiment. However, this doesn’t mean ruling through fear. The key lies in expressing genuine concern while maintaining an open door for honest conversations, even when mistakes happen.

Creating this safe space means responding thoughtfully rather than reactively. When teens share information about their peers or express curiosity about substances, parents who listen first and lecture less build trust that pays long-term dividends.

Monitor activities while respecting growing independence

Effective supervision doesn’t mean helicopter parenting or invading privacy at every turn. Instead, it involves knowing where teenagers spend their time, who their friends are and what activities fill their schedules.

Parents should maintain relationships with other families in their teen’s social circle. This network provides valuable perspective on group dynamics and allows adults to coordinate supervision during gatherings and events. When multiple families share expectations about substance-free environments, teens receive consistent messages across their social sphere.

Setting clear boundaries about unsupervised time, particularly during high-risk periods like after school and late evenings, helps reduce opportunities for experimentation. Studies indicate that teens with structured activities and parental awareness of their whereabouts show lower rates of drug use compared to those with minimal oversight.

Technology offers both challenges and solutions in this arena. While social media can expose teens to drug culture, monitoring apps and parental controls provide tools for staying informed without constant confrontation. The balance lies in being present and aware without becoming invasive or controlling.

Build strong connections with schools and communities

Prevention extends far beyond the home. Partnering with schools, coaches, religious organizations and community programs creates a comprehensive support system that reinforces anti-drug messages.

Parents should actively engage with school counselors and administrators to understand prevention programs and warning signs staff might observe. Many schools offer parent education nights focused on substance abuse, providing current information about trends and available resources.

Encouraging participation in extracurricular activities gives teenagers positive outlets for stress and belonging. Whether through sports, arts, volunteering or clubs, structured programs fill time productively while connecting teens with positive role models and peer groups.

Community-based prevention programs often provide peer support groups where teens can discuss challenges with others facing similar pressures. These programs normalize the choice to remain substance-free and demonstrate that saying no doesn’t mean social isolation.

Recognize warning signs and seek professional help early

Even with strong prevention efforts, some teenagers experiment with drugs. Early intervention dramatically improves outcomes, making it essential for parents to recognize warning signs without dismissing concerning changes as typical adolescent behavior.

Significant shifts in friend groups, declining academic performance, changes in sleep patterns, unexplained money issues or loss of interest in previously enjoyed activities warrant attention. Physical signs like bloodshot eyes, unusual smells or coordination problems shouldn’t be ignored.

When concerns arise, parents should consult with pediatricians, school counselors or addiction specialists promptly. These professionals can assess whether experimentation has progressed to problematic use and recommend appropriate interventions.

Many families hesitate to seek help due to stigma or hoping issues will resolve independently. However, substance abuse disorders respond better to early treatment, and waiting often allows problems to deepen. Professional support provides families with strategies tailored to their specific situation while offering teenagers therapeutic tools for addressing underlying issues driving substance use.

Source: https://rollingout.com/2025/10/13/ways-parents-protect-teens-from-drugs/

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Parents,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

17 October 2025

Sleep is essential for human survival; it affects an individual’s physical and mental health. Although the amount of sleep required varies throughout a person’s lifetime, the quality of it remains essential. Quality sleep restores the body, consolidates memories, supports emotional regulation, and plays a key role in maintaining the immune system. When sleep quality is compromised—such as in cases of insomnia—it can significantly disrupt daily life, prompting many to seek alternative remedies for relief.

One substance often misrepresented as a sleep aid is marijuana; however, research consistently shows that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) interferes with the very sleep processes it claims to improve. A recent randomized controlled trial examining the effects of a single dose of THC and cannabidiol (CBD), the two primary compounds in marijuana, on individuals with clinical insomnia raised serious concerns about using marijuana as a treatment for sleep problems.

THC and REM sleep

In this study, those who took a one-time dose of 10mg of THC and 20mg of CBD experienced significantly less total sleep time and spent less time in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the phase associated with dreaming, emotional processing and memory consolidation, supporting previous research that pointed to THC disrupting deep REM sleep. THC also disrupted restorative stages, meaning that individuals may fall asleep faster but may never get the kind of sleep the body truly needs.

Those who took this THC and CBD combination also took about an hour longer to reach REM sleep compared to placebo. Studies have shown that the suppression of REM sleep can have long term consequences. While in this study a single dose did not affect next-day function, researchers cautioned that regular use may lead to tolerance and eventual withdrawal symptoms that could lead to worse quality sleep over time. Withdrawal from marijuana can also cause more sleep issues that may lead to relapse, adding challenges for people struggling with substance use or mental health.

While CBD is often marketed as the “calming” component of marijuana, in this formulation it may have intensified THC’s effects due to unknown metabolizing processes of both substances together. As marijuana and CBD products become more widely available and socially accepted—often under misleading claims—more people may turn to them as “natural” sleep remedies. However, as this study underscores, natural does not necessarily mean safe or effective. Just because something is derived from a plant does not mean it is harmless or beneficial.

Source: Drug Free America Foundation | 333 3rd Ave N Suite 200 | St. Petersburg, FL 33701 US

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Health,USA :

by Virginia Hunt

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Oct. 17, 2025

Kateena Haynes’s smile warms the room as she weaves through playing children at her feet to get to the computer room, chatting with staff as she goes. There, the walls are lined with desktop computers for kids to do their homework. A few minutes later, walking around back under the hot Appalachian sun, she notes the outstanding construction tasks for the new Boys & Girls Club gymnasium, which would officially open later that year, and beams at the progress. Haynes runs the youth development center in Harlan, Kentucky, but even if you didn’t know her official title, you’d quickly figure out that she’s the heart of this place.

And if anyone knows Harlan, it’s Haynes. She was born and raised in the southeastern Kentucky city, and she has dedicated her life to helping its children. While Haynes has had many success stories in her program, she holds on to the upheaval that the children had to endure—and the odds they had to overcome.

During the winter of 2010, 13 of the approximately 60 kids in the Boys & Girls Club of Appalachia had a parent die of a drug overdose. One was a young girl whose father had just returned from prison and asked her to inject opioids into his arm. She said no, knowing he had already had too much.

“He wound up getting out and coming back home and overdosing in the bed with his daughter in the bed with him,” Haynes said in a 2024 interview with Encyclopaedia Britannica.

That girl grew up to be a nurse, and Haynes said she has avoided using drugs. But that was not the case for many who grew up in Harlan county and the countless other areas affected by the U.S. opioid epidemic. Ultimately, understanding how things got so bad in Harlan requires a deep dive into America’s winding and complex relationship with drug addiction.

From opium to Oxy: How history set the stage for the opioid epidemic

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 800,000 Americans died of opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2023. The drug that drove the initial phase of the epidemic was OxyContin, or oxycodone hydrochloride, a narcotic painkiller that can produce a euphoria similar to that of heroin. For its part in producing and distributing OxyContin, pharmaceutical giant Purdue Pharma agreed in 2025 to pay $7.4 billion to all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and four federal territories. Harlan is expected to receive at least $10 million over 18 years to establish treatment, recovery, and prevention efforts throughout the community.

Humans have used opioids for centuries. Clay tablets from early civilizations show prescriptions for opium, the natural medicinal source of opioids derived from opium poppy plants. Some religious scholars suggest the drug is mentioned in the Bible as rosh, a poisonous plant that represents sinfulness, though there is no widespread agreement about which plant in particular rosh describes. In the 19th century opium was given to injured soldiers to numb their pain and was used in up to one-third of all lethal poisonings in England, many of which were because of lack of regulation. By then it was clear that overdoses were never far when opium was near. The drug also played a role in years of conflict, known as the Opium Wars, between China and European powers throughout the mid-1800s.

In the complex evolution from the opium plant to widespread synthetic opioids, the 19th century was a critical turning point. American dental surgeon William Thomas Green Morton first demonstrated opioids’ use for anesthetic purposes when combined with ether in 1846, not long after the popular and wildly powerful pain medications morphine and codeine were isolated from opium. These drugs were widely available and could be used without a prescription. Then in the latter half of the century, heroin was synthesized; it also didn’t require a prescription until 1914.

Before 1874 all opium-related drugs were considered natural opioids. Heroin, synthesized via chemical manipulation of natural opium, was the first in a class of semisynthetic opioids. It is much more powerful than natural opioids—and much more addictive. Though heroin would be a scourge for the second half of the 20th century, the perilous power of morphine dominated the first half.

Learn more about the difference between opioids and opiates.

In 1929 the National Research Council’s Committee on Drug Addiction was created with a very specific first target: morphine. While their researchers were at work on understanding addiction and regulating the use of morphine, meperidine, the first entirely synthetic opioid, was created, ushering in a new era of increasingly potent drugs that carry massive overdose risks. At the same time access to other addictive opioids became more common. While the early-to-mid-20th century brought the use of hydromorphone and hydrocodone for pre- and postoperative pain, the distribution of opioids entered a new era in World War II.

The U.S. gave members of its military medical kits that each included single-use morphine injections to provide pain relief to injured troops waiting for advanced medical personnel. Though they had labels that read “Warning: May be habit-forming,” those labels far understated the drug’s addictive potential. After the war some medical kits were sold or stolen by those seeking morphine doses, and others who’d become addicted turned to heroin when morphine wasn’t available.

In 1947 the Committee on Drug Addiction and Narcotics was established, revamping the effort begun in the 1920s. This renewed focus on controlling the manufacture and distribution of drugs was, in part, spurred by the creation by German researchers of methadone. Methadone had shown potential to mitigate symptoms of opioid withdrawal, a potential that had yet to be fully realized. Though research funding began to trickle in, progress stalled as no stream of financial support was established until the 1960s.

That decade was known for massive societal shifts in the United States driven by the civil rights movement, feminist advocacy, and the rise of a distinct counterculture grounded in the questioning of long-held beliefs. For some, this attitude of rebellion led them to try—and in some cases become dependent on—illicit drugs. The increased use of marijuana, LSD, and eventually cocaine, heroin, and amphetamines led to crackdowns on pharmacies that distributed these drugs as well as a greater focus on prevention and treatment.

In 1962 the White House Conference on Narcotic and Drug Abuse was convened with the goal of determining how to better collect data about drug use, how to manage the use of both narcotic and nonnarcotic drugs, and what treatments could help those facing addiction. That year federally funded mental health centers were established nationally.

The next major move, the Controlled Narcotics Act of 1970, sorted drugs into five schedules, or categories, based on addictive potential and harmfulness, as well as their medical utility. Heroin, which had a spike in use in the late 1960s and early ’70s, was classified as a Schedule I drug, meaning it had a high potential for addiction and no accepted medical use. Cocaine was labeled a Schedule II drug, meaning it had some medical utility. Despite growing attention throughout the presidencies of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, the official War on Drugs was not launched until 1971, when Pres. Richard Nixon declared “drug abuse” to be “public enemy number one.” The Drug Abuse Council was founded the same year, as the result of the Ford Foundation’s research, and helped to provide funding for research through 1978.

Initially the War on Drugs was praised as a long-awaited intervention for a serious public safety issue, but in hindsight many have called the effort a failure, both ethically and politically. Even with increased attention on the country’s drug problem, the use of crack cocaine soared throughout the 1980s. It was affordable and provided quick access to euphoria, and its ability to be smoked allowed people to receive smaller portions—all of which made it more cost-effective than powder cocaine, which has historically been seen as a symbol of wealth.

Instead of going after large dealers or manufacturers, Nixon’s War on Drugs led to mass incarceration because it targeted people selling relatively small quantities of drugs, which often meant prison time for young Black men in urban areas who were charged with low-level drug offenses. The War on Drugs also brought the use of mandatory minimum sentences, which disproportionately affected Black communities. Those found with five grams of crack cocaine received a mandatory five-year prison sentence. It took 100 times that amount of powder cocaine to earn the same sentence, meaning that a high-level powder dealer could receive a lesser punishment than a low-level crack dealer. Though statistics show that overall drug use is similar between white and Black communities, four in five crack cocaine users were Black. Nixon’s former White House counsel, John Ehrlichman, gave an interview in 1994 in which he explained the intentional targeting of these communities:

The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people.… We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.

Today many see the War on Drugs as having meted out the disproportionate impact of incarceration on historically underserved communities—a pattern that the quickly emerging opioid epidemic would only exacerbate. While the War on Drugs perpetuated stereotypes about Black communities, public response to the opioid epidemic capitalized on and furthered derogatory caricatures of rural white communities before the epidemic spread to all corners of the country.

As cocaine use grew across the United States, so did addiction. The number of cocaine users increased by approximately 1.6 million people between 1982 and 1985 alone. So when Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin (its brand name for oxycodone) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December 1995, concerns about drug addiction were prevalent—which made Purdue Pharma’s marketing of OxyContin as less addictive all the more appealing, even if it wasn’t true.

The epidemic

The major problem with OxyContin extended beyond the drug itself. In fact, studies at the time of its release showed that it wasn’t more effective than other opioid analgesics on the market. What set OxyContin apart and led to the opioid epidemic was the marketing and publicity around it.

In the five years after the FDA approved OxyContin, Purdue Pharma trained more than 5,000 medical professionals at all-expenses-paid conferences, often in resort locations, to aggressively promote the drug. While there, these clinicians were trained and recruited for a Purdue Pharma speaker’s bureau that encouraged promoting OxyContin use to colleagues in environments such as grand round presentations in hospitals. The company studied physicians’ prescribing patterns in order to better tailor their sales pitch to individual doctors—especially those with the highest rates of opioid prescriptions. Though this strategy was not unique, the amount of money spent on incentives and aggressive, misleading marketing campaigns were distinctive. The company spent $200 million in 2001 alone marketing OxyContin. Sales representatives also earned bonuses that sometimes outweighed their annually salary, incentivizing them to find physicians who would overprescribe the medication.

Before this period opioids had traditionally been reserved for severe acute pain, used in the palliative care of cancer patients, for example. But Purdue Pharma’s marketing focused on expanding the conditions for which doctors would prescribe OxyContin, leading to a tenfold increase in prescriptions for pain unrelated to cancer in just five years.

This gave rise to the targeting of rural areas such as Harlan. Mining and logging in these regions often led to workplace injuries, making them hotbeds for marketing of pain relief medications. Still, that wasn’t all that made Appalachian communities vulnerable. Since the 1990s Harlan had struggled with addiction and unemployment as the coal industry declined, with more than 25 percent of Harlan county’s population of about 25,000 falling below the poverty line as of 2025. As feelings of hopelessness spread, so did the drug epidemic.

“The conditions were just right, because there was a loss of hope because the coal mines were starting to shut down,” Haynes said. “And with Purdue Pharma, they were literally pushing their drugs, so if you had a coal miner who got injured and he was prescribed [OxyContin], then he learned quickly he could make money selling his [OxyContin].”

Tom Vicini, president and CEO of Kentucky drug prevention and recovery organization Operation UNITE, explained in a 2024 interview with Encyclopaedia Britannica how this can happen. In early drug roundups law enforcement discovered that people selling opioids in the area needed money to feed their addiction, he said. If they were able to buy and resell others’ prescriptions, both parties could potentially make a profit off the drug.

Why is OxyContin called “hillbilly heroin”?

As the opioid epidemic spread, it quickly became associated with Appalachian communities. Hillbilly is a pejorative term used to describe those living in often low-income rural communities in the Appalachian Mountains. Given that OxyContin had overtaken both heroin and cocaine in becoming the new face of the drug crisis, it was often referred to as “hillbilly heroin” by national media outlets.

Though there is evidence that marketing of OxyContin may have been less aggressive in cities, they were far from immune. Doctors in New York City and other large metropolitan areas received funding from opioid giants and in turn promoted their products as a gold standard for pain relief. And with TV and other advertisements repeating claims of a 1 percent addiction rate, OxyContin advertising appealed to both new patients and longtime chronic pain sufferers. As the country would learn, the actual rate of addiction is much, much higher, with some researchers reporting it as high as 26 percent.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, prescriptions were the most common entry to opioid addiction throughout the 1990s and 2000s—up to 75 percent of all addictions began this way. And prescriptions became more prevalent: Annual opioid prescriptions grew from between 2 and 3 million in 1990 to 11 million by 1999. Even as the addictive potential of OxyContin was publicized, other pharmaceutical companies followed suit in manufacturing generic or brand name pills, including the firms Johnson & Johnson, Endo, Teva, and Allergan. By the 21st century, Purdue Pharma alone had made $1.1 billion in OxyContin sales, more than 20 times the sales of 1996.

Working at the behest of these large corporations were individual prescribers who were incentivized to dole out increasing amounts of opioids. As word spread in Harlan about a doctor who would write prescriptions for OxyContin with no questions asked, one resident said people “lined up around the street like a commodity cheese line,” a reference to government-distributed “welfare cheese” given out to low-income citizens in the 1980s. Ali Sawaf, the doctor who wrote these prescriptions, was convicted in 2002 for overprescribing OxyContin and other drugs that fueled an addiction epidemic in Harlan. Still, many blamed those who became addicted.

With the War on Drugs rhetoric weighing heavily on people’s minds, there is intense stigma associated with drug use and dependency. Through the 1990s and 2000s, the public began to shift from viewing addiction as a moral failing to seeing it as a disease—but this change has been gradual. For some the spread of addiction to all corners of the country, including to cities’ most “elite” residents, prompted this change. Highly publicized deaths involving opioid overdoses—including that of Australian actor Heath Ledger, which was caused by an accidental overdose of a mix of oxycodone and other drugs—further influenced public perception, leading to a renewed awareness of the addictive potential of prescription drugs. Although drug overdoses have long plagued Hollywood, Ledger’s death hit the public differently in light of the rising opioid crisis, especially given OxyContin’s role in his death.

Despite shifting attitudes on the subject, a 2017 study by researchers from Johns Hopkins University found that nearly four in five people think that those struggling with addiction are themselves at fault. Stigma and feelings of shame not only incentivize individuas to hide their addiction, but it can also keep many people from getting help by generating of a network of barriers. Structural stigma, for example, includes negative views held by society that influence the creation of policies that discriminate against those struggling with addiction, such as limiting the development of local treatment centers and the availability of medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD), reducing access to quality care. Self-stigma is internalized shame that can prevent someone from seeking treatment, either because they do not feel they deserve help, are embarrassed about their addiction, or because they lack systems of support.

Vicini of Operation UNITE also spoke about how the stigma associated with addiction can intersect with other stereotypes, creating worse outcomes: “That’s what people look at. Harlan county, a lot of times it’s just a bunch of kind of uneducated coal miners, which is very unfair, and it’s very, very untrue,” said Vicini, who was born in Harlan. “Sometimes when you have that negative attitude toward you, you embrace some of that yourself.”

Long after the opioid epidemic was widely recognized in the early 2000s, rates of opioid overdoses continued an unbridled rise across the country, reaching a peak during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. In 2022 more than 81,000 Americans lost their lives to opioid overdose, likely because of interruptions in treatment and psychological hardships caused by isolation, boredom, illness, or loss of work. This was especially prominent in people 20 to 39 years old, with opioid overdoses causing more than 20 percent of overall deaths in this age group in 2022, according to a study in The Lancet. Overdoses were the largest accidental cause of death for this cohort.

The physical withdrawal symptoms associated with quitting opioids make it hard to recover from opioid use disorder. Withdrawal can range from extreme physical symptoms such as vomiting and muscle spasms to emotional symptoms such as anxiety and depression. To help people recover, there has been a growing movement to make MOUD accessible.

MOUD includes methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone—with the former two considered by the World Health Organization to be “essential medicines” to treat opioid use disorder. MOUD normalizes neural chemistry and blocks the euphoria of opioids and is often paired with behavioral therapy to provide a comprehensive treatment plan that addresses both the physical and psychological effects of addiction and withdrawal.

Peer support services are also crucial to successful recovery, especially in such communities as Harlan. Early studies show these interventions may improve rates of opioid abstinence and access to medical therapies. Support specialists who are themselves in long-term recovery from drug addiction are at the core of these services. These workers are trained and certified, and they often focus on one-on-one support to provide hope and a model for recovery while also reducing stigma. This treatment strategy differs from support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA), which may take different forms but rely on a group of people holding one another accountable through shared experiences and mutual support.

That doesn’t mean these two approaches are mutually exclusive—in fact, many people rely on multipronged approaches to treatment and community support to recover from drug addiction. In Harlan numerous peer support specialists come from their day jobs to support AA or NA group meetings, which are held every evening in a building just down the alleyway bordering a bank.

Though significant gaps still remain, the shift in understanding opioid use as a public health epidemic rather than a personal moral failing has ultimately advanced the accessibility of recovery care across the country. But meeting the urgent need for support also requires funding—and there were companies that made a lot of money as a result of mass addiction and suffering.

Lawsuits and repairing communities

Large-scale lawsuits, often initiated by state attorneys general, began in the early 2000s, when West Virginia claimed that Purdue Pharma had misled medical professionals about the addictive potential of OxyContin in their aggressive marketing of the drug. The company admitted no fault but chose to settle, paying $10 million to the state over four years, to be used for drug recovery and prevention services.

That was just the beginning. In 2007 Purdue Pharma and three of the company’s top executives were fined a total of $634 million for lying to the public about OxyContin’s risk of addiction. Later that year Kentucky sued the company, and they eventually settled, with Purdue agreeing to pay $24 million to the state. But there was a pivotal clause in that agreement: The judge granted a request to unseal the court documents, making Purdue Pharma’s strategies public and unveiling the marketing strategies that propelled the spread of addiction.

Over the next decade a series of other high-profile cases involving Purdue Pharma were settled. They were brought by state and federal governments alike, including one suit brought by Canada that took more than a decade to settle, with the company ultimately agreeing to pay $20 million to individuals and health providers. Purdue Pharma declared bankruptcy in 2019.

No single settlement was as large as the $7.4 billion agreement Purdue Pharma reached with all 50 states, Washington D.C., and four U.S. territories in June 2025, to be paid out over 15 years to support prevention, treatment, and recovery programs. This resolution to pending lawsuits came just a year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned what would have been a $6 billion settlement paid out to state and local governments. A large portion of the $7.4 billion is to come from the Sackler family, the former owners of Purdue Pharma.

Major retailers that distributed OxyContin, including Walmart and Kroger, reached similar settlements for their roles in the opioid epidemic.

Although the bell can’t be unrung, there is a breadth of research about how best to invest these abatement funds—and early evidence shows the funding may be helping to change the future of the opioid crisis. In the United States deaths from drug overdoses decreased approximately 27 percent in 2024 from the year prior, with opioid-related overdose deaths dropping by 30,365 cases. One of the states most exemplary of this change is Kentucky, where overdose deaths decreased more than 30 percent the same year.

In Harlan these abatement funds have been used to establish a position for a case manager and advocate for Casey’s Law, which allows family or friends to commit to treatment a loved one struggling with addiction. Van Ingram, executive director for the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, told Encyclopaedia Britannica that there are more mental health resources now than ever, but that there’s never enough—not just in Harlan County, but in rural America as a whole.

What is Casey’s Law?

Officially known as the Matthew Casey Wethington Act for Substance Abuse Intervention, Casey’s Law was passed by Kentucky legislators in 2004 to allow relatives or friends of someone struggling with drug addiction to petition the court for that person to be involuntarily entered into a treatment program. The decision to admit someone to treatment without their consent remains a controversial subject, and many in the recovery space believe that someone must choose to enter recovery and cannot be forced into it. Before Casey’s Law was enacted, there was no way to force an adult to get help unless they committed a crime and were required by the court to enter treatment. The law is named for 23-year-old Casey Wethington, who died of a heroin overdose in 2002. His family believed his death could have been prevented if there had been another route to court-mandated treatment.

As Haynes, CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Appalachia, and others work to provide mental health resources for their community, Ingram said he is impressed by the growth of Harlan’s recovery community.

Said Haynes: “We started a counseling program, grief counseling, before it actually became a program of Boys and Girls Clubs of America. We were doing it first because the need was there, and we couldn’t wait for them to develop a curriculum.”

Haynes and her colleagues developed a protocol for the kids if a relative died, taking them out to dinner and keeping them occupied while the family managed funeral arrangements.

Haynes also worked to make her operation “trauma-informed,” which involved training sessions and meetings with other community agencies to advocate for children who have experienced what she calls “horrific situations and circumstances.”

She tries to mentor these children and give them opportunities that level the playing field, Haynes told Encyclopaedia Britannica: “It’s hard for some people to see beyond these mountains…especially these kids, who are seeing their parents use drugs, and they’re just hopeless.”

Simultaneously, other Harlan organizations have been working on prevention. Both Vicini and Haynes go into schools to provide education about drugs and addiction, as well as opportunities such as field trips and mentoring partnerships to keep kids engaged in their own futures.

The city’s small size enabled the opioid epidemic to spread quickly, but the intimate, close-knit relationships that the community provides have also allowed it to be a safe haven for many, including some who came there for recovery and never left.

With a combination of local efforts led by the city’s drug court and various recovery programs, including some focused on job reentry, Harlan has become an example of what an engaged recovery community can look like—and advocates believe that overdose rates are declining because of it.

Overdoses are decreasing on the national level, as well. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 2023 marked the beginning of “a new wave of sustained deceleration [in overdose rates]…after 2 decades of increase.”

The new wave: Dangers of fentanyl

The epidemic entered a new—and perhaps even deadlier—phase with the introduction of fentanyl. Though it has been around since 1959 as a pain reliever, illicitly manufactured fentanyl has grown increasingly popular since it became a major part of the U. S. illegal drug market in 2013. Drugs such as methamphetamines or cocaine are increasingly laced with fentanyl. In 2022, 6 out of every 10 of the millions of fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills collected by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) contained a potentially lethal amount of the opioid, up 50 percent from the year before. Though a small segment of people who use drugs seek out fentanyl, many of those buying laced pills are unaware of its presence until it is too late.

Fentanyl is the one of the most potent pharmaceutical opioids and is 100 times more powerful than morphine. A dose of the drug equivalent to just five to seven grains of salt can be lethal, which is partially why it’s responsible for 70 percent of overdose-related deaths. And growing numbers of illegally obtained drugs are laced with fentanyl because its potency allows smaller doses of the pure drug to be sold while providing the same level of euphoria and even higher addictive potential, increasing both profits and demand. Even if it puts customers in danger, the money outweighs the risk for some sellers.

As in previous drug epidemics, the fentanyl crisis disproportionately affects lower-income communities, highlighting the continued need for intervention resources and prevention efforts. Research investigating the use of MOUD such as buprenorphine for those addicted to fentanyl is ongoing. In the meantime the popular opioid antagonist naloxone, which can reverse an overdose, is becoming more widely available. The drug is often administered through nasal spray, and boxes containing naloxone doses (sometimes called NaloxBox or by the brand name Narcan) are more commonplace across the country.

In a February 2025 U.S. Senate hearing, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois spoke about the growing risk of fentanyl:

In just a decade this synthetic opioid [fentanyl] has emerged as the deadliest drug in American history. All it takes is two milligrams—that’s a fraction of the size of a penny—to cause an overdose. It is so cheap that dealers are lacing lethal amounts into street drugs like cocaine and heroin, and their buyers are none the wiser.

Yet if communities can harness the growing concern about fentanyl for change, it may give a second chance to those struggling with substance use disorder. Since 2022 Harlan county has held an annual drug summit to bring together more than two dozen exhibitors with a focus on continuing to bring down overdose rates, even in the face of fentanyl.

Along with increased efforts to provide those struggling with addiction transitional housing, reemployment, and improved treatment accessibility, Harlan and other communities hit hard by opioids have another key tool: love.

“There’s people that came here for treatment and never left, because they were loved,” said Dan Mosley, Harlan county judge executive. “That’s truly what makes our place special.”

Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/How-the-Opioid-Crisis-Devasted-Families-Communities-and-Ultimately-a-Country

Filed under: Addiction,Drug use-various effects,Opioids,Strategy and Policy,USA :

Press Release – Washington, DC – October 09, 2025

A popular class of therapies for treating diabetes and obesity may also have the potential to treat alcohol and drug addiction, according to a new paper published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society.

The therapies, known as Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1RAs), present an encouraging approach to treating alcohol and other substance use disorders.

“Early research in both animals and humans suggests that these treatments may help reduce alcohol and other substance use,” said lead researcher Lorenzo Leggio, M.D., Ph.D., of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), both part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md. “Some small clinical trials have also shown encouraging results.”

Current Treatment Options Are Limited

Substance use disorders are diagnosed based on criteria that can be grouped into four categories: physical dependence, risky use, social problems, and impaired control.

The negative consequences of substance use disorders represent a global problem, affecting individuals, families, communities, and societal health at large. For instance, research indicates that alcohol is the most harmful drug, with consequences that extend beyond individual health to include related car accidents as well as gun and domestic violence, researchers note.

Despite the high prevalence and consequences of alcohol and other substance use disorders, less than a quarter of people received treatment in 2023.

Underutilization is due to a variety of barriers at the patient, clinician, and organizational levels, not the least of which is the stigma associated with substance use disorders, according to the study. “Current treatments for [alcohol and other substance use disorders] fall short of addressing public health needs,” the researchers wrote.

GLP-1s and Their Potential to Treat Addiction

GLP-1 therapies have gained widespread renown in recent years for their ability to address obesity and significantly reduce weight.

In addition to its inhibitory effects on gastrointestinal systems, GLP-1 has key functions in the central nervous system, the study notes. Among them, GLP-1R activation within the central nervous system curbs appetite and encourages individuals to eat when hungry and stop eating when they are full.

Some forms of obesity have been shown to present biochemical characteristics that resemble addiction, including neurocircuitry mechanisms, the study says, acknowledging that such conclusions are controversial.

“Pathways implicated in addiction also contribute to pathological overeating and obesity,” the study says.

With this pathway in mind, researchers in recent years have looked at GLP-1s as a potential therapy to address substance use disorders. Preclinical and early clinical investigations suggest that GLP-1 therapies modulate neurobiological pathways underlying addictive behaviors, thereby potentially reducing substance craving/use while simultaneously addressing comorbid conditions.

Studies that examine GLP-1 effects on substance use disorders include:

Alcohol use disorder (AUD): A randomized controlled trial with exenatide, the first GLP-1receptor agonist approved for diabetes, showed no significant effect on alcohol consumption, although a secondary analysis indicated reduced alcohol intake in the subgroup of people with AUD and comorbid obesity. A more recent randomized controlled trial showed that low-dose semaglutide — a newer GLP-1 receptor agonist approved for both diabetes and obesity —reduced laboratory alcohol self-administration, as well as drinks per drinking days and craving, in people with AUD.
Opioid use disorder: In rodent models, several GLP-1 receptor agonists have been shown to reduce self-administration of heroin, fentanyl and oxycodone. The studies also found that these medications reduce reinstatement of drug seeking, a rodent model of relapse in drug addiction.
Tobacco use disorder: Preclinical data show that GLP-1 receptor agonists reduce nicotine self-administration, reinstatement of nicotine seeking, and other nicotine-related outcomes in rodents. Initial clinical trials suggest the potential for these medications to reduce cigarettes per day and prevent weight gain that often follows smoking cessation.

Leggio and his colleagues caution that more and larger studies are needed to confirm how well these treatments work. Additional studies will help unveil the mechanisms underlying GLP-1 therapies in relation to addictive behaviors and substance use.

But that hasn’t dampened the optimism for these therapies to address the serious problems found in substance use disorders.

“This research is very important because alcohol and drug addiction are major causes of illness and death, yet there are still only a few effective treatment options,” Leggio said. “Finding new and better treatments is critically important to help people live healthier lives.”

Other study authors are Nirupam M. Srinivasan of the University of Galway in Galway, Ireland; Mehdi Farokhnia of NIDA and NIAAA; Lisa A. Farinelli of NIDA; and Anna Ferrulli of the University of Milan and Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) MultiMedica in Milan, Italy.

Research reported in this press release was supported in part by NIDA and NIAAA. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

Source: https://www.endocrine.org/news-and-advocacy/news-room/2025/glp1s-show-promise-in-treating-alcohol-and-drug-addiction

Filed under: Addiction,Alcohol,Drug use-various effects,Tobacco, smoking,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Received: 09 October 2025

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has released new clinical consensus guidance recommending universal screening for cannabis use across all reproductive stages—pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, and postpartum—with a clear message: there is no safe level of cannabis use for mothers or infants.

Despite mounting evidence of risk, cannabis use during pregnancy and lactation is increasing, fueled by legalization, social acceptance, and a lowered perception of harm. ACOG emphasizes that no medical indications exist for cannabis use during pregnancy or after birth.

To support prevention and care, ACOG’s clinical consensus on Cannabis Use in Pregnancy and Lactation provides evidence-based guidelines for screening, counseling, and reducing use.

Below are key takeaways from ACOG’s new clinical consensus.

Risks to Fetus and Newborn

· THC, the psychoactive component, crosses the placenta and reaches the fetus; THC also transfers into breast milk.

· Prenatal cannabis exposure is associated with:

· Increased risk of low birth weight, small-for-gestational-age infants, NICU admission, perinatal mortality

· Altered neonatal behaviors (arousal, regulation, excitability)

· Possible long-term neurocognitive, behavioral, and memory challenges, ADHD, and greater susceptibility to psychiatric disorders or substance use later in life

· While more research is needed, existing evidence shows clear cause for concern.

Risks During Lactation

· Data on cannabis use while breastfeeding are limited; ACOG discourages use during lactation due to THC transfer into breast milk and potential developmental impacts.

· Clinicians should encourage cessation while continuing to support breastfeeding.

Recommendations for Clinicians

1. Universal Screening & Counseling

· Screen all patients (pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, postpartum) via interview or validated tools (e.g. TAPS, CRAFFT, S2BI).

· Avoid biologic testing (urine, hair, etc.) as a routine screening tool.

· Educate that cannabis has no medical indication during pregnancy or postpartum.

2. Advise Cessation or Reduction

· Encourage patients to stop or reduce cannabis use during pregnancy and breastfeeding, offering nonjudgmental support.

3. Supportive Behavior Change Strategies

· Use motivational interviewing, address social determinants, and identify barriers to quitting.

· Provide access to home visits, CBT, and digital or text-based supports for behavior change.

4. Legal, Ethical, and Equity Considerations

· Policies on drug testing, child protective services (CPS) reporting, and criminalization vary widely.

· Black and minority birthing people are disproportionately subject to drug testing and CPS referrals, despite similar substance use rates.

· Clinicians should ensure informed consent, understand local policies, and work to reduce bias in maternal care.

Source: Drug Free America Foundation | 333 3rd Avenue N Ste 200 7278280211101 | Saint Petersburg, FL 33701 US

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Received from AALM Americans Against Legalising Marijuana – 09 October 2025

On The Ingraham Angle, Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel responded to a recent video from President Donald Trump, who appeared to endorse CBD use among seniors.

Dr. Siegel’s reaction was both clear and alarming:

“Marijuana is the most dangerous drug in America.”

He cautioned that while CBD is often marketed as a harmless wellness product, the truth is far more complicated. Many CBD items sold today are unregulated and frequently contain undisclosed levels of THC, the psychoactive compound found in marijuana. Dr. Siegel explained that modern marijuana is 20 to 30 times stronger than it was in decades past, creating unpredictable effects—especially for older adults who may already be taking multiple medications. For seniors, the combination of high-potency THC and prescription drugs can lead to confusion, anxiety, and dangerous interactions.

Siegel emphasized that Americans are being lulled into a false sense of safety by clever marketing and political endorsements that blur the line between medicine and addiction. Despite being sold as “natural” and “therapeutic,” these products remain largely untested, inconsistent, and risky, particularly for vulnerable populations.

🚨 Why It Matters

President Trump’s public support for CBD among seniors raises serious concerns about normalizing drug culture under the guise of health and wellness. When national figures promote substances without FDA oversight or long-term safety data, the result is confusion, not compassion. Seniors deserve real medical protection, not another gateway to unregulated drug exposure.

At Americans Against Legalizing Marijuana (AALM), we stand with medical professionals like Dr. Siegel in calling out this dangerous trend. We are urging policymakers to investigate how CBD and marijuana marketing is targeting older Americans and to hold those responsible accountable.

To access the full article, please click on the ‘Source’ link below.

Source: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/599a426ee45a7ccab72c77d2/t/63b361cb6350f410413b2878/1672700379514/Risks+of+Marijuana+Use+%28AALM%29.9.1.2022.pdf

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Legal Sector,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

by Amaya Rambel – Pleasanton Weekly – October 6, 2025

Adolescence is a critical stage of growth, a time when young people begin to make their own independent choices in preparation for adulthood. However, it is also a time of vulnerability, especially when it comes to exposure to drugs and other harmful substances.

Because the brain is still developing, particularly in areas that control decision-making and impulse regulation, adolescents face unique risks that can affect their health and overall well-being.

It is a well-established fact that the human brain does not fully mature until around the age of 25, leaving adolescents and young adults more vulnerable to the harmful effects of harmful substances. When exposure occurs during these critical years of development, it can cause both immediate harm and long-term consequences that may follow individuals well-into adulthood.

One of the key reasons for this vulnerability lies in the development of the brain itself. According to the Harvard Health article “Adolescence: A high-risk time for substance use disorders” by Sharon Levy and Siva Sundaram, “the adolescent brain is ‘deliberately’ set up for risk-taking.”

Areas such as the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain which plays a central role in judgment, impulse control, and decision-making, are still “under construction” during adolescence. Because of this, younger individuals are more likely to engage in risky behaviors, including experimenting with drugs, often without fully understanding the dangers. The earlier drug use begins, the greater the potential for lasting harm.

Substance use during this developmental period primes the brain for addiction and chronic health problems. Addiction occurs when the brain’s pleasure receptors are overstimulated, creating an artificial “reward system” that encourages repeated drug use.

For adolescents, this effect is magnified due to their still-developing neural pathways. With a heightened sensitivity to pleasure and a weaker ability to assess long-term consequences, teens are more likely to fall into cycles of use and dependency.

What further exacerbates this issue is the limbic system, the part of the brain that processes emotions and rewards. Unlike the prefrontal cortex, the limbic system matures earlier, meaning teens often experience intense emotional responses and a stronger drive for immediate gratification.

Drugs offer that instant burst of dopamine, which quickly reinforces use through a “use-reward-repeat” pattern.

Over time, this can disrupt the brain’s natural ability to feel pleasure, making ordinary activities less satisfying and increasing reliance on substances.

The health risks tied to early drug use extend far beyond the brain. Adolescents who use drugs, as noted in the article “Teen drug abuse: Help your teen avoid drugs” published by Mayo Clinic, face heightened risks of heart attacks, strokes, organ damage, and worsening mental health conditions.

Early experimentation can also serve as a gateway to more harmful substances, escalating the risks over time. Adding to the concern, research published in Neuropharmacology reports that patterns of substance use can pass down genetically, making future generations more susceptible to addiction as well.

Ultimately, drug use during adolescence is not just a temporary risk, but one that can set the stage for a lifetime of consequences. By understanding the unique vulnerabilities of the developing brain, it becomes clear why prevention and education are important.

Protecting adolescents from early exposure to drugs is not only about safeguarding their present, but about preserving their future health as well.

Source: https://www.pleasantonweekly.com/alameda-county/2025/10/06/how-drugs-alter-the-developing-brain-priming-adolescents-for-risk-and-dependency/

Filed under: Addiction,Age-related,Brain and Behaviour,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Prevalence,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

by Jessica Williams – October 6, 2025

Every October, Substance Use and Misuse Prevention Month provides a reminder of the lives at stake in the fight against substance use disorders (SUDs). For New Hampshire, this year brings signs of real progress.

After nearly a decade of drug-related mortality rates falling above the national average, the Granite State is now experiencing record declines in drug-related fatalities. A closer look at the data suggests that sustained investments in prevention, treatment, and recovery may be paying off.

Drug-related deaths in New Hampshire, once among the highest fatality rates in the country, have begun to fall sharply. From 2013 to 2020, Granite Staters experienced drug-related fatality rates well above the national average, peaking in 2017 when an estimated 490 people died from drug-related causes, nearly five times higher than the number killed in traffic-related accidents in the state. But by 2024, deaths had declined to 287, the smallest number recorded since 2014 and the sharpest year-over-year decline across the previous decade. Early data suggests that this trend may continue into 2025: an estimated 77 Granite Staters died from drug-related fatalities the first half of this year, a decline from the 122 people during the same period in 2024.

These declines follow a decade of increasing state and federal investments in SUD prevention, treatment, and recovery services. Since 2014, New Hampshire has invested more than $835 million in SUD services, with spending increasing by an estimated 450% from 2014 to 2024.

Medicaid, the single largest payer of SUD services, has been vital for increasing access. The passage of Medicaid expansion in 2014, now commonly known as Granite Advantage in New Hampshire, expanded health coverage for adults up to 138% of the federal poverty guidelines. Of the almost $58 million spent on Medicaid-funded SUD services in 2024, nearly 80% was financed services under Granite Advantage. Opioid abatement funds resulting from legal settlements with drug manufacturers have also added funding support. By late 2024, New Hampshire had received close to $96 million in settlement money, although around half remained unspent. As of January 2025, it is estimated by the Kaiser Family Foundation that New Hampshire will receive more than $168 million in future payments, combined with a large continuing balance allowing for more spending flexibility across the state.

Yet despite these gains, access to treatment remains uneven, and many Granite Staters are still left behind. In 2022-2023, nearly 3 out of 4 Granite Staters who needed SUD treatment did not receive it, due in part to barriers such as provider shortages, regional disparities, coverage limits, and housing instability. Social determinants of health also play a role in which services people are able to obtain and can impact engagement with treatment and sustained recovery. Nationally, people identifying as Black or Native American experience disproportionate health outcomes from substance misuse. Research also shows that communities with greater income inequality experience higher drug-related fatality rates.

In New Hampshire, over half of drug-related deaths in 2024 occurred among people age 30 to 49, although shifting demographics have impacted fatalities, with older adults age 65 and older comprising around 13 percent of drug-related deaths. Men have accounted for around two-thirds of fatalities each year across the previous decade, and rural counties, including Coös and Sullivan counties, also report higher mortality rates, likely reflecting limited service availability resulting from workforce shortages.

In addition to better health outcomes, an investment in SUD services contributes to longer-term economic and social benefits. Increased prevention, treatment, and recovery services can reduce costly emergency health care spending, decrease burdens on the criminal legal system, and help keep more people engaged in the workforce.

However, new federal and state policy changes could undermine this progress. Although Medicaid has remained the largest source of funding for SUD services, new state and federal changes could impact access to health care across New Hampshire. Both the new federal reconciliation law and the latest state budget add work requirements for Granite Advantage adults, requiring people to prove employment or engagement in an eligible community engagement activity to obtain health coverage. While people in SUD treatment are exempt from the new requirements, differing state interpretations of the law, as well as difficulties with exemption paperwork and redeterminations could mean coverage losses for people in treatment and recovery. Early national research suggests that as many as 156,000 people across the country could lose access to medication-assisted treatment, resulting in an estimated 1,000 additional opioid-related deaths each year. These Medicaid changes come at a time when access to services is already limited.

As this year’s Substance Use and Misuse Prevention Month arrives, New Hampshire’s recent experience demonstrates that sustained investments in prevention, treatment, and recovery services can save lives. This progress, however, may be fragile. Without continued investment and innovation, the advances made in reducing drug-related deaths could stall, or even reverse, putting more families and communities at risk.

Source: https://newhampshirebulletin.com/2025/10/06/record-declines-in-drug-related-deaths-follow-decade-of-investment-in-prevention-and-treatment/

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

by Flagstaff Business News, Arizona, USA – October 2, 2025

By Roy DuPrez – Roy DuPrez, M.Ed., is the CEO and founder of Back2Basics Outdoor Adventure Recovery in Flagstaff. DuPrez received his B.S. and M.Ed. from Northern Arizona University. Back2Basics helps men, ages 18 to 35, recover from addiction to drugs and alcohol.

The challenge is real, but so is the opportunity: together, we can make prevention a priority and create healthier, more resilient communities.

Substance abuse continues to be one of the most pressing challenges facing families and communities today. While issues such as alcohol and illicit drug use are well known, prescription drug abuse has become a growing concern in recent years. The easy access to medications in many households, combined with misconceptions about their safety, makes prevention more important than ever.

A holistic approach – grounded in education, family support and healthy development – can go a long way in reducing the risks of substance misuse, particularly with prescription drugs.

The Importance of Early Prevention

Prevention starts long before young people are confronted with the temptation to experiment with drugs or alcohol. Building resilience, confidence and strong family connections early in life can provide powerful protection against substance abuse.

Here are some proven prevention strategies:

Developing Skills and Talents
Encouraging children to pursue sports, arts, music or other hobbies gives them positive outlets for their energy and creativity. These activities not only foster a sense of accomplishment but also help build healthy peer groups, reducing the influence of negative social pressures.

Building Self-Esteem
Confidence is one of the strongest safeguards against risky behaviors. When children feel good about who they are, they are less likely to seek validation through dangerous choices like substance use.

Fostering Family Connections
Open, honest communication within families makes it easier to address difficult topics, including substance abuse. Parents who create a safe space for discussion – and even role-play peer pressure situations – can help their children feel prepared to handle real-world challenges.

Educational Programs
Schools and community organizations play a key role in prevention. Beyond simply warning about the dangers of drugs, the best programs focus on building self-esteem, strengthening family relationships and giving students practical tools to make healthy decisions.

Understanding Prescription Drug Abuse

Even with preventive measures in place, prescription drug abuse remains a significant concern. Many families underestimate the dangers of medications that may already be in their own homes.

Commonly Misused Medications

Painkillers: Percocet (oxycodone), Vicodin (hydrocodone)
Anti-anxiety medications: Valium (diazepam)
Stimulants: Adderall, Ritalin and other ADHD medications

Safe Practices for Families

Secure Storage – Medications should be kept in locked cabinets, out of reach from children, teens and visitors.
Proper Disposal – Use local drug take-back programs or approved disposal sites. Throwing medications in the trash or flushing them can create environmental hazards and accidental risks.
Education and Awareness – Families should understand that “prescribed” doesn’t always mean “safe.” Community workshops, brochures and forums can provide helpful tools to increase awareness.

A Path Forward

Substance abuse prevention – especially when it comes to prescription drugs – requires a community-wide effort. Addiction does not discriminate; it impacts families across every socioeconomic and cultural background.

By strengthening family connections, building self-esteem, encouraging positive outlets and practicing safe medication habits, we can give the next generation the tools they need to thrive.

The challenge is real, but so is the opportunity: together, we can make prevention a priority and create healthier, more resilient communities.

Source: https://www.flagstaffbusinessnews.com/substance-abuse-prevention-and-the-challenge-of-prescription-drug-abuse/

Filed under: Addiction,Drug use-various effects,Medicines,Prescription Drugs,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

In a world where alcoholic drinks are seemingly ever-present and sold by even the makers of Sunny D and Mountain Dew, it can seem like a daunting task to raise kids who can withstand the societal pressures and avoid the harms of substance use disorder.

But a recent speaker in the GPS Parent Series broke down the science of prevention and offered tips parents can use to help their children grow up to be competent, engaged, and sober.

Jessica Lahey, an author, educator, and substance use prevention expert, shared best practices from her research, focusing on risk factors for substance use disorder and ways parents can use a basic understanding of the adolescent brain to help young people steer clear.

“Risk and prevention is like the scales of justice,” Lahey said. “If your risk is really heavy, then your protections will have to be heavier to zero those out.”

Risk factors for substance use disorder

While there is no single “addiction gene,” Lahey — who has been in recovery from alcohol use disorder for the past 10 years — said genetics accounts for between 50 and 60% of a person’s risk for developing substance use disorder. Another major risk factor is occurrences known as ACEs, or adverse childhood experiences — things like neglect, abandonment, physical or sexual abuse, trauma, violence, separation, or divorce.

But Lahey also pointed out several lesser-known risk factors, including early childhood aggression, under-managed learning differences, academic failure, social ostracism or identifying as LGBTQ+. Certain time periods can bring about higher risk as well, such as transitional phases like summers, moves between schools, or the weeks and months when a divorce is taking place.

Prevention tips to raise sober kids

Lahey’s talks to the GPS audience, including several groups hosting watch parties, were full of proven prevention tactics that help youth not only avoid alcohol and drugs — but protect their developing brains in the process. Here are five of the top strategies she shared:

Start early: As early as preschool, parents can start talking about substance safety with things like toothpaste and adult medicines to help children learn “to be safe about what you’re eating, and what you’re not putting in your body,” Lahey said.

Understand the adolescent brain: “The adolescent brain is wired for novelty,” Lahey said. So when a risk factor occurs, such as moving or starting a new school, parents can reframe this to meet their teen’s need for encountering new things. This allows teens to feel “hits of dopamine, mastery and competence that give a boost to their brain,” Lahey said.

Know that drinking is different for adolescents: Because brain development is still taking place until the early 20s, youth brains are wired to weigh the potential positives of a situation more heavily than the risks. Research proves teens are more likely to engage in risky behavior if they believe their peers are watching, Lahey said. And they’re less likely to understand how impaired they are if they do start drinking. This can be a dangerous mix, but parents can counteract it by emphasizing the value of brain development. “Your brain is too important to mess with,” Lahey said.

Have a clear and consistent message: Delaying drug or alcohol use can allow ample time for healthy brain development, and Lahey said this results in a major decrease in lifelong risk for substance use disorder. So, the message from parents should be, “I just need you to delay,” she said. This can help create a family culture in which drinking isn’t an option until it’s legal. If teens don’t like that rule because it feels arbitrary, Lahey encourages parents to try this line about drinking: “No. Not until your brain is done developing.”

Be preventive, not permissive: Behaviors that create a permissive culture around alcohol, such as allowing children and teens to take sips of alcoholic beverages in the home, or hosting parties where young people are allowed to drink, have been proven to increase risk for substance use disorder — not encourage moderation, Lahey said. “It is not inevitable that kids are going to drink,” she said. “Permissiveness results in kids with much higher levels of substance use disorder.”

Parenting with the science of prevention

Jordan Esser, Project Coordinator of the DuPage County Prevention Leadership Team, introduced Lahey before the free online talks she gave on Sept. 25 and thanked her for sharing “the science of motivation, parenting and substance abuse prevention — because we as adults have the power to help our kids become more competent and fulfilled.”

Source: https://www.nctv17.org/news/how-to-raise-sober-kids-outweigh-risks-with-prevention-expert-says/

Filed under: Alcohol,Brain and Behaviour,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

Authors: Cyntia Duval, Brandon A. Wyse, Noga Fuchs Weizman, Iryna Kuznyetsova, Svetlana Madjunkova & Clifford L. Librach

Published by: Nature Communications

Published: 09 September 2025

Abstract

Cannabis consumption and legalization is increasing globally, raising concerns about its impact on fertility. In humans, we previously demonstrated that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and its metabolites reach the ovarian follicle. An extensive body of literature describes THC’s impact on sperm, however no such studies have determined its effects on the oocyte. Herein, we investigate the impact of THC on human female fertility through both a clinical and in vitro analysis. In a case-control study, we show that follicular fluid THC concentration is positively correlated with oocyte maturation and THC-positive patients exhibit significantly lower embryo euploid rates than their matched controls. In vitro, we observe a similar, but non-significant, increased oocyte maturation rate following THC exposure and altered expression of key genes implicated in extracellular matrix remodeling, inflammation, and chromosome segregation. Furthermore, THC induces oocyte chromosome segregation errors and increases abnormal spindle morphology. Finally, this study highlights potential risks associated with cannabis use for female fertility.

Introduction

Cannabis consumption for both medicinal and recreational use and legalization have been rising globally1. Cannabis contains several classes of chemicals with cannabinoids being the most prominent; among these, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the primary psychoactive compound and the most studied2. Notably, the concentration of THC in cannabis products has increased significantly, from an average of 3% (by weight) in the 1980s to around 15% in 2020, with some strains reaching 30% of THC2. The increase in frequency, ease of availability, and escalation in potency raises concerns about broader impacts on global human health, including reproductive health. Indeed, the main apprehension regarding THC and reproductive health stems from the importance of the endocannabinoid system in human reproduction3. Endocannabinoids, including N-arachidonoylethanolamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol, are endogenous cannabinoids that play a central role in both male and female reproduction3, whereas THC is an exogenous cannabinoid. Extensive research has documented the effects of THC on male reproduction, highlighting an impact on sperm deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methylation 4^,5^,6^,7 and sperm parameters8 including sperm concentration 9^,10^,11, morphology 12^,13^,14 and motility14. As for female health, literature reports the impact of cannabis use during pregnancy on pregnancy outcomes 15^,16^,17^,18, placental development 18^,19^,20 and offspring health 18^,20^,21^,22. However, to our knowledge, no studies have investigated the impact of cannabis on the human female gamete, the oocyte, a gap partly due to the challenge associated with obtaining these samples.

During in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment, exogenous gonadotropins are administered in a process called “controlled ovarian hyperstimulation” which recruits multiple follicles and induces follicle growth. These recruited follicles, each containing an oocyte, are then collected by a physician in a procedure called oocyte retrieval. Oocytes are collected along with their surrounding microenvironment, including follicular fluid (FF) and supportive somatic cells (granulosa cells). The oocytes are isolated, and mature oocytes are used for subsequent in vitro fertilization. Using FF, our group has previously quantified Δ9-THC and its metabolites, 11-OH-THC and 11-COOH-THC 23^,24, demonstrating that these compounds could reach the follicular niche. This is significant as it suggests that THC may directly alter the microenvironment where the oocyte matures. Furthermore, our group has shown that THC exposure altered human granulosa cell methylation in a concentration dependent manner23, and in vitro exposure modulated cannabinoid receptor dynamics in granulosa cells24. However, no human studies and only a few animal model studies have investigated the impact of cannabis directly on oocyte development with conflicting results 25^,26^,27^,28^,29.

Maturation of the oocyte is a unique and highly specialized process beginning in utero during fetal development. It is widely accepted that female neonates are born with a finite number of oocytes, which, following menarche, are recruited to mature in cohorts with each menstrual cycle30. Although oocytes are protected in the ovary by the blood-follicle-barrier, they remain highly sensitive to environmental factors31. Given their essential role in reproduction, any perturbations in their development and maturation could have profound effects on fertility and on future generations. Thus, understanding the impact of THC on oocyte health is critical for providing informed guidance and counseling to patients of the potential risks to their fertility and future offspring.

In this study, we determine the impact of physiologically relevant concentrations of THC on oocyte maturation, elucidate the transcriptomic changes induced by THC exposure and its effect on chromosome segregation, and compare our findings with a retrospective cohort study. Our investigation will aid in bridging the knowledge gap in our understanding of the sex-specific reproductive consequences of cannabis use and contribute to more effective and evidence-based patient counseling.

To read the full article, please click on the source link below

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-63011-2

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Europe,Marijuana and Medicine,Others (International News),Prevention and Intervention,Sexual Behaviour,Treatment and Addiction,UK,USA :

Publication: American Journal of Psychiatry – 10 September 2025

Authors: Lara N. Coughlin, Ph.D. , Devin C. Tomlinson, Ph.D., Lan Zhang, Ph.D., H. Myra Kim, Sc.D., Madeline C. Frost, Ph.D., M.P.H., Gabriela Khazanov, Ph.D., James R. McKay, Ph.D., Dominick De Philippis, Ph.D., and Lewei (Allison) Lin, M.D., M.S.

Abstract

Objective:

While opioid overdose has begun to decrease in recent years, stimulant overdose has continued to increase and has not been adequately addressed. Unlike opioid use disorder, there are no medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat stimulant use disorder (StUD). The most effective treatment is contingency management (CM), a behavioral intervention that provides tangible rewards to reinforce target behaviors, such as biochemically verified abstinence. Despite the effectiveness of CM on near-term substance use behaviors, the long-term impact on key outcomes such as mortality are unclear. The objective of this work was to examine whether patients with StUD who receive CM have a decreased risk of mortality.

Methods:

This was a retrospective cohort study of patients with StUD who received or did not receive CM, using linked electronic health records and death records in the largest integrated health system in the United States, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), from July 2018 through December 2020. The primary outcome was mortality in the year following the index CM visit. All-cause mortality data were obtained from the National Death Index and linked to electronic health record data. Adjusted hazard ratios were estimated using stratified Cox proportional hazards models.

Results:

A total of 1,481 patients with StUD who received CM were included alongside 1,481 matched control subjects. Over the 1-year follow-up period, those who received CM were 41% less likely to die (adjusted hazard ratio=0.59, 95% CI=0.36, 0.95) than those who did not receive CM.

Conclusions:

This study provides the first evidence that CM use in real-world health care settings is associated with reduced risk of mortality among patients with StUD.

Source: https://www.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.20250053

Filed under: Addiction,Drug use-various effects,Mental Health,Methamphetamine/GHB/Hallucinogens/Oxycodone,Psychiatric drugs,USA :

by Liz Mineo – Harvard Staff Writer -September 16, 2025

Study examining potential solution to treatment gap — especially in rural areas — gets federal funding cut

Between 1999 and 2023, approximately 806,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet of the estimated 2.4 million U.S. adults with opioid use disorder, only one in four receives medications that can reduce overdose risk.

Telehealth has shown promise as a potential tool to prevent opioid overdose deaths, but funding for a study launched last year by health economist Haiden Huskamp examining its use and impact was terminated as part of the mass cancellation of federal research grants by the Trump administration in May.

“A lot of our research, including that for this grant, is looking at why so few people are getting evidence-based treatments for substance use disorder,” said Huskamp, Henry J. Kaiser Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School. “Medications for opioid use disorder are highly efficacious. They reduce opioid use; they reduce overdose risk and other negative outcomes. These medications save lives.”

A shortage of clinicians specialized in treating opioid use disorders — particularly in rural areas — presents a major barrier to receiving care, she said.

“Our work has been trying to understand, since the pandemic in particular, who was using telemedicine for opioid use disorder,” said Huskamp, “and whether the availability of care, via telemedicine, has meant that clinicians who treat substance use disorders are now seeing more patients in areas where there aren’t enough doctors who do this work.”

217Americans, on average, died each day from an opioid overdose in 2023, according to the CDC

For the past five years Huskamp, Ph.D. ’97, has been studying telemedicine as a strategy to expand access to opioid use disorder treatment and life-saving medications such as methadone, buprenorphine, and the quick overdose-reversal drug naloxone.

“Given the opioid epidemic that we are still in the middle of, telemedicine might be an answer because it could address a number of barriers to treatment access,” said Huskamp.

Although in May the CDC reported that opioid overdose deaths dropped from 83,140 in 2023 to 54,743 in 2024, the death toll remains high. According to the CDC, in 2023, on average, 217 people died each day from an opioid overdose.

The goal of Huskamp’s terminated four-year study, launched last year with a team of 15 researchers, was to provide evidence-based information on the efficacy of telemedicine that can guide policymakers as they address the opioid epidemic. It was a renewal of a previous grant, which yielded 24 different publications whose findings have informed new rules by the Drug Enforcement Agency to expand telemedicine access for treating opioid dependence. Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the latest research sought to examine quality of care and clinical outcomes by analyzing data from Medicare, Medicaid, commercial insurance, and national pharmacy claims.

Telemedicine for opioid use disorder became more widespread across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, and researchers have been eager to probe the data to find out if it improved access to care for patients in remote areas, and how the quality of care compared to traditional in-person care.

“Anything we can do to try to improve the healthcare system to more effectively allow people to access care and to do so in a more efficient way is really important,” said Huskamp. “We need research like this to guide policymaking, so that we can improve the system as much as possible for people to get the treatment that they need.”

Source: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/09/only-1-in-4-addicted-to-opioids-takes-life-saving-meds-why/

Filed under: Culture,Drug use-various effects,Heroin/Methadone,Medicines,Opioids,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Received from DFAF – 16 September 2025

The swift legalization of marijuana across the United States is impacting the rates of use and increasing the social acceptance among veterans 65 and older. A recent study is shining a light on this group of individuals whose struggle with marijuana use had largely flown under the radar.

The study included more than 4,500 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) patients nationwide, revealing a concerning picture of marijuana use and cannabis use disorder (CUD) in this population. Over half of respondents (57%) reported having used marijuana at some point in their lives, and 1 in 10 had used it within the past 30 days—a rate nearly double the national average for adults 65 years or older in the general population. Among these recent users, more than half were frequent users (defined as using on 20 or more days in the past month), and the majority (72%) consumed marijuana by smoking.

Perhaps most concerning was the prevalence of CUD. Among those who reported recent use:

One-third (36.3%) met the criteria for CUD, including 10.9% with moderate CUD and 2.5% with severe disorder CUD.

The risks were even higher among those who consumed marijuana through smoking or vaping, those who reported anxiety symptoms, and those with functional impairments in daily activities. Veterans aged 65–75 were also more likely to meet criteria for CUD compared to those over 76, and risk increased among individuals who used other substances or faced economic hardship.

Geography mattered as well: veterans living in states with legal recreational marijuana use were more than twice as likely to report use compared to those in non-legal states. In contrast, living in a medical-only state did not significantly increase odds of use—suggesting that broader legalization may be a key driver of accessibility and behavior.

The findings highlight the need for veterans to understand the risks associated with use and to receive screening for CUD, which could help identify problematic use early and connect patients with evidence-based treatment.

Source: Drug Free America Foundation | 333 3rd Ave N Suite 200 | St. Petersburg, FL 33701 US

Filed under: Addiction,Age-related,Culture,USA :

By Sara Goldenberg – Sep. 23, 2025

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Illegal drug use continues to send young adults to the hospital.

Eighteen to 25 year olds make up 11 percent of nearly 8 million drug-related emergency room visits in the United States every year, according to a national report.

Many of those cases involve college students.

The Drug Enforcement Administration just launched a campaign to prevent drug abuse on campus.

As college students get settled into a routine for the new school year, their parents hope that routine doesn’t include illegal drugs.

Illegal drug use over the past year was highest among young adults 18 to 25 years old at 39 percent, according to a 2023 report with the most recent government data.

The report was published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a federal agency known as SAMHSA.

We spoke with Joseph Dixon, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Detroit field division, which includes Ohio.

“So those students who are, you know, transitioning from high school and going into college, being out on their own, not having as much parental oversight, we feel that it’s our duty to ensure that we’re providing them the resources and tools to ensure that they have a great college experience, but also a safe college experience,” he said.

The DEA is traveling to campuses across the state, educating students about the dangers that can be disguised in just one pill.

“Fentanyl is one of the deadliest drugs we’ve ever seen. And we know that as these young men and women begin to really grow into themselves and start to engage with these new groups that they might ask for a prescription Percocet or a Valium or a Xanax,” Dixon said.

Those prescription drugs should only be taken by the person their prescribed to.

You never know what’s in it if you’re getting those pills another way.

We asked what parents can do.

“The best tool is just to be engaged in your child’s life, now your adult’s life. Your young adult’s life. Have a conversation with them. See how things are going. You know, if they don’t sound right, ask them what’s wrong,” Dixon said.

Educators and mentors on campus can really help too.

“Have conversations, prepare your students, your future students, your future leaders, you know, your future graduates, prepare them to go out and be successful and have these conversations and just know that, you know, one pill can kill,” he said.

Nearly one quarter of college students reported using an illegal drug in the past 30 days, according to the national study we referenced above.

Source: https://www.cleveland19.com/2025/09/23/dea-launches-campaign-campuses-across-ohio-prevent-drug-abuse/

Filed under: Education,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

Received from DFAF –

23 September 2025

A new report shows fentanyl is increasingly appearing in workplace drug tests, particularly among employees who have already passed pre-employment screening. Understanding what’s going on and taking proactive steps can help protect your team, your reputation, and your bottom line.

A recent study by Quest Diagnostics provides a clear picture of the issue. Quest analyzed over eight million workforce drug tests across the U.S. In 2024, random and unannounced drug tests (tests not tied to hiring) found fentanyl more than seven times as often as pre-employment screenings.1 Even more concerning, nearly 60% of fentanyl-positive tests also involved other substances, such as marijuana and amphetamines.1 Fentanyl use on the job, especially when combined with other substances, increases the risk of accidents, impairment, and even overdose.

The impact on small businesses can be serious. Fentanyl exposure in the workplace can lead to accidents and injuries, particularly in roles involving machinery, vehicles, or other safety-sensitive tasks.2 Beyond immediate safety risks, there are potential legal and financial consequences. If an employee under the influence causes harm, your business could face liability, workers’ compensation claims, or insurance complications. Incidents also create operational disruption, affecting productivity, morale, and your overall reputation. Substance misuse can reduce performance, increase absenteeism, and contribute to higher employee turnover, which can be especially challenging for small businesses.3

Small business owners can take practical steps to reduce these risks. Reviewing and updating your drug-free workplace policy is a critical first step. Policies should clearly outline expectations, consequences, and testing procedures, while staying compliant with state laws. Random or periodic testing can help detect fentanyl use that pre-employment screenings might miss. Employee education is equally important; staff need to understand the dangers of fentanyl, especially when combined with other substances.

Providing support is also key. Offering Employee Assistance Programs, connecting employees with treatment services, and fostering a culture where staff feel safe seeking help can make a major difference. Training supervisors to recognize signs of impairment and respond appropriately is critical to preventing accidents. Additionally, preparing for emergencies with overdose reversal tools, like naloxone, and clear response protocols can save lives. Check out this Overdose Emergency Planning Tool from the National Safety Council for help! Additionally, reviewing test data and incidents periodically will help you adapt policies and safety measures as needed, ensuring your workplace remains safe and productive.

Even one case of fentanyl exposure can have devastating consequences, but small business owners can take action now. By combining clear policies, employee education, and supportive measures, you can reduce risk, protect your employees, and maintain a safe and productive workplace.

Source: Drug Free America Foundation | 333 3rd Ave N Suite 200 | St. Petersburg, FL 33701 US

Filed under: Fentanyl,USA,Workplace :

By Neuroscience – September 21, 2025

The findings were significant, Thanos explains, because not only did the HIIT animals exhibit a preference for the saline chamber, they exhibited a clear aversion to the cocaine chamber. Credit: Neuroscience News

Summary: A new study shows that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is more effective than moderate exercise at protecting adolescent lab animals from cocaine use. Animals exposed to HIIT developed a preference for non-drug environments and an aversion to cocaine, linked to increases in ΔFosB, a molecular switch involved in addiction.

These results suggest exercise intensity matters in shaping the brain’s reward system and its response to drugs. The findings may inform new strategies for using exercise as a personalized tool in substance use disorder prevention and treatment.

Key Facts

HIIT Impact: High-intensity exercise made animals avoid cocaine and prefer safe environments.
Molecular Mechanism: HIIT raised ΔFosB levels, a transcription factor tied to addiction pathways.
Personalized Tool: Exercise may act as dose-dependent medicine for addiction prevention.

Source: University at Buffalo

People with substance use disorder who participate in recovery running programs have shown improved success in maintaining their sobriety and reducing their risk for relapse.

Those observations led Panayotis Thanos, a University at Buffalo neuroscientist who studies the brain’s reward system, to try to figure out the brain mechanisms behind that phenomenon.

In a new study published today in PLOS One, Thanos, PhD, senior research scientist in the Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, and co-authors reveal that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) was more effective than moderate exercise in making adolescent lab animals avoid cocaine.

The researchers used adolescent lab animals because this is the age when most people who develop substance use disorder begin their exposure. The study focused on male rats only because previous observations have revealed some gender differences in drug-seeking behaviors between males and females. The researchers plan a future study on how HIIT affects females with regard to cocaine.

HIIT as personalized medicine

“The study shows that HIIT exercise, rather than moderate exercise, during adolescence may protect against cocaine abuse,” says Thanos, a faculty member in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the Jacobs School.

The findings provide evidence that HIIT could become a personalized medicine tool in drug abuse intervention.

“The key take-home is that not all exercise is created equal in terms of outcome,” Thanos says. “Exercise is not a binary therapeutic tool but rather we need to think about exercise as dose-dependent, the way we think of medicine as dose-dependent.”

In the study, rats exposed to HIIT exercise on a treadmill were compared to rats exposed to moderate treadmill exercise. Both groups then underwent a behavioral test called cocaine place preference, which trains the animal to discriminate between two chambers: one where they can access cocaine and one where they can access saline. Cocaine preference is when the animal spends more time in the cocaine chamber, while cocaine aversion is when the animal chooses to spend more time in the saline chamber.

The findings were significant, Thanos explains, because not only did the HIIT animals exhibit a preference for the saline chamber, they exhibited a clear aversion to the cocaine chamber.

Increase in a molecular switch for addiction

“We believe that the increase in aversion to cocaine happens in the HIIT animals,” Thanos says, “because of this exercise dose-dependent effect on the brain’s reward circuit that involves an increase we observed in ΔFosB.” ΔFosB is a transcription factor commonly referred to as a molecular switch for addiction and known to boost sensitivity to drugs of abuse.

“Our study showed that HIIT increased ΔFosB levels causing an aversion to consuming cocaine,” he adds.

The findings reveal new avenues that Thanos and his colleagues plan to explore, including how HIIT may affect brain metabolism.

“We know from recent studies in our lab with steady, moderate treadmill running that compared to sedentary animals, exercise decreased metabolism in the somatosensory cortex of the brain while activating other brain regions involved in planning and decision,” he says. “That activation may help dampen various aspects of cocaine abuse and relapse.”

The paper also discusses the need to better understand gender differences in preference for cocaine. “Future studies need to explore how HIIT affects cocaine preference in female rats,” Thanos says, adding that the literature in the field includes evidence that females seem to be more vulnerable to certain phases of addiction.

UB co-authors are Teresa Quattin, MD, UB Distinguished Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and senior associate dean for research integration in the Jacobs School; Nikki Hammond, a former graduate student; and Nabeel Rahmanand Sam Zhan,former undergraduate students in Thanos’ lab. Other co-authors are from Washington University School of Medicine and Western University of Health Sciences.

Source: https://neurosciencenews.com/hiit-exercise-addiction-neuroscience-29715/

Filed under: Animals,Brain and Behaviour,Cocaine,Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

by Boston Herald editorial staff – September 17, 2025

There’s a renewed push to legalize overdose prevention centers on Beacon Hill, with advocates touting supervised drug use as harm prevention.

That depends on how one defines harm.

At these centers, trained health care workers would supervise individuals who use pre-obtained illicit drugs — and they could intervene and prevent fatal overdoses.

Yes, addicts could avoid overdosing and live another day — another day in which they’d steal or prostitute themselves to buy drugs, another day in which opioids could further damage their mind and body, and another day to stumble through the degradation of a life ruled by drugs.

The real winners? Drug dealers and traffickers. Their clientele may have access to rehabilitative services through these centers, but that cry for help may not come for a long time. Meanwhile, they are willing customers for those “pre-obtained” drugs.

In these progressive parts, the law is to be followed except if you don’t like it. Therefore, these proposals would provide legal protections for workers, drug users accessing the facilities, government officials and other stakeholders. Because the drugs being injected are, of course, illegal.

Rep. Mindy Domb, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery, said Massachusetts last year recorded fewer than 2,000 fatal overdoses, breaking a grim years-long trend.

Yes, naloxone is an amazing thing, and distribution of Narcan has saved many lives from overdoses. But making drug addiction safer with the added net of Narcan is like putting a bandage on a deep wound.

One can’t fight the opioid crisis by prolonging addiction. Keeping up the demand for drugs fuels the supply and the crime that comes with trafficking. And the drug market only gets worse.

Nitazenes have entered the chat.

Last year, a state-funded drug checking program in Massachusetts has found opioids up to 25 times stronger than fentanyl, according to WBUR. In a bulletin, public health officials say the number of drug samples testing positive for nitazenes is small — but growing quickly.

“The more that we crack down on things like fentanyl and heroin, that’s going to lead to the rise of other things that are infiltrating the drug supply,” said Sarah Mackin, director of harm reduction at the Boston Public Health Commission.

“Nitazenes is just the newest thing to come through,” after xylazine, the animal tranquilizer found in 9% of overdose deaths in 2023.

However, an investigation of records from hospital emergency departments published by the JAMA Network found it often takes more doses of naloxone to reverse an overdose when nitazene is involved than it would take to reverse a fentanyl overdose. Further study is needed.

Keeping the drug cycle going, however “safely,” isn’t a step in the right direction, it’s just another foot forward on the addiction treadmill.

We need addiction reduction, stat. We need to fund programs such as Boston Medical Center’s Faster Paths to Treatment, its substance use disorder urgent care program. And we need more of them.

True harm reduction comes from helping addicts get clean so they can live full, productive lives.

Source: https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/09/17/editorial-rehab-is-the-best-harm-prevention-for-addicts/?

Filed under: Addiction,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,USA :

by Renata Glavak-Tkalić, Mara Šimunović, Katarina Perić Pavišić, Josip Razum, Desirèe Colombo – – 22 August 2025

ABSTRACT

Background

Substance abuse (SA) imposes a significant global health burden, demanding innovative and accessible interventions. Virtual reality (VR) offers a promising approach, providing engaging and personalized treatment experiences. However, rigorous evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on VR’s efficacy in the treatment and prevention of SA remains limited. This systematic review aimed to characterize VR interventions for substance-related disorders and evaluate their effectiveness.

Methods

To conduct this review, two researchers independently performed a comprehensive literature search across four databases using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.

Results

Twenty RCTs met the inclusion criteria, focusing on alcohol, nicotine and illicit drug use. These studies utilized diverse VR modalities, most frequently exposure therapy (n = 10) and cognitive-behavioural therapy (n = 5), followed by approach bias modification, skills training, cognitive rehabilitation, counterconditioning and psychoeducation. Interventions varied in level of immersion and interactivity. Although the evidence was mixed, 17 studies demonstrated positive effects on at least one outcome variable. Most studies focused on proximal outcomes (e.g., craving), which frequently showed improvement. Clinically meaningful outcomes (e.g., substance use reduction and abstinence) were less frequently assessed, with seven of 10 studies reporting improvement.

Conclusions

VR shows promise in addressing substance-related disorders, particularly for alcohol and nicotine. However, substantial heterogeneity in VR interventions highlights the need for further research to standardize methodologies, optimize treatment parameters and explore the underlying working mechanisms of VR interventions. Additional research is also needed to assess VR’s application to illicit drug use.

Summary

Virtual reality (VR)–based interventions, particularly those that integrate cue exposure therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy, show significant promise in reducing cravings and improving abstinence among individuals using alcohol and nicotine.

VR intervention and prevention programmes have positively impacted attitudes, intentions, cognitive function and physiological responses in substance users, indicating a broader therapeutic potential that extends beyond simply addressing addiction symptoms.

The considerable variability among VR interventions emphasizes the need for greater standardization in methodologies, treatment parameters and outcome measures.

Additional research is necessary to evaluate the applicability and efficacy of VR in the prevention and treatment of illicit drug use.

The full article can be accessed by clicking the ‘Source’ link below:

Source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cpp.70144?af=R

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

by JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press – September 25, 2025

Every year, tons of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs flow around the world

UNITED NATIONS — Every year, tons of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs flow around the world, an underground river that crisscrosses borders and continents and spills over into violence, addiction and suffering. Yet when nations’ leaders give the U.N. their annual take on big issues, drugs don’t usually get much of the spotlight.

But this was no usual year.

First, U.S. President Donald Trump touted his aggressive approach to drug enforcement, including decisions to designate some Latin American cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and to carry out deadly military strikes on speedboats that he says said were carrying drugs in the southern Caribbean.

“To every terrorist thug smuggling poisonous drugs into the United States of America: Please be warned that we will blow you out of existence,” he boasted at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday.

Hours later, his Colombian counterpart fired back that Trump should face criminal charges for allowing an attack on unarmed “young people who were simply trying to escape poverty.”

The U.S. “anti-drug policy is not aimed at the public health of a society, but rather to prop up a policy of domination,” Colombia’s Gustavo Petro bristled, accusing Washington of ignoring domestic drug dealing and production while demonizing his own country. The U.S. recently listed Colombia, for the first time in decades, as a nation falling short of its international drug control obligations.

The barbs laid bare, on global diplomacy’s biggest stage, the world’s wide and pointed differences over how to deal with drugs.

“The international system is extremely divided on drug policy,” said Vanda Felbab-Brown, who has followed the topic as a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution think tank. “This is not new, but it’s really just very intense at this UNGA.”

While the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, climate change and other crises got much of the focus in the U.N.’s marathon week of speeches and meetings, the topic of drugs turned up from Trump’s and Petro’s tough talk to side events on such themes as gender-inclusive drug policy and international cooperation to fight organized crime.

Some 316 million people worldwide used marijuana, opioids and/or other drugs in 2023, a 28% rise in a decade, according to the most recent statistics available from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. The figures don’t count alcohol or tobacco use.

The specifics vary by region, with cocaine use growing in Europe, methamphetamine on the rise in Southeast Asia, and synthetic opioids making new inroads in West and Central Africa and continuing to trouble North America, though opioid-related deaths have been falling.

The U.N. drug office says trafficking is increasingly dominated by organized crime groups with tentacles and partnerships around the world, and nations need to think just as broadly about trying to tackle the syndicates.

“Governments are increasingly seeing organized crime and drug trafficking as threats to national and regional security and stability, and some are coming around to the fact that they need to join up diplomatic, intelligence, law enforcement and central-bank efforts to push back,” agency chief of staff Jeremy Douglas said by email.

Although organized crime hasn’t featured very prominently in top-level discussions at the General Assembly to date, he said, “we’re at a point where this needs to, and hopefully will, change.”

Nations pair up in various joint counternarcotics operations and working groups and sometimes form regional coalitions, but some experts and leaders see a need to go global.

Countries need to “pool resources in a fight that must be a common cause among all nations,” Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino told the assembly. He said his nation had seized a “historic and alarming” total of 150 tons of cocaine and other drugs this year alone.

To be sure, there is already some global-scale collaboration on drug control. The U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs decides what substances are supposed to be internationally regulated under decades-old treaties, and it can make policy recommendations to the U.N.’s member countries. The International Narcotics Control Board monitors treaty compliance.

But the U.N. is big-tent politics at its biggest, so even as some components of the world body deal with drug enforcement, others emphasize public health programs — substance abuse treatment, overdose prevention and other services — over prohibition and punishments.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has advocated for decriminalizing at least some drug use while clamping down on illegal markets. Given that policing hasn’t reduced substance use or crime, “the so-called war on drugs has failed, completely and utterly,” he said last year.

Separately, a U.N. Development Programme report last week said punitive drug control had led to deaths and disease among users who shied from seeking help, racial disparities in enforcement, and other societal downsides.

At a gathering marking the report’s release, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo deplored that “the global drug control regime has become a substantial part of the problem.”

“The question is: Do governments have the wisdom and courage to act?” asked Zedillo, now a Yale professor and a commissioner of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, a Geneva-based anti-drug-war advocacy group.

The other question is whether they could ever agree on what action to take.

Even if countries agree — or say they do — with ending the drug trade and resulting ills, “the objectives might be different, and certain means, tools, resources they’re willing to devote to them, are different,” Felbab-Brown said.

Nations’ own drug laws vary widely. Some impose the death penalty for certain drug crimes. Others have legalized or decriminalized marijuana. At least one — Thailand — legalized it only to have second thoughts and tighten the rules. Countries’ openness to needle exchange programs, safe injection sites and other “harm reduction” strategies is similarly all over the map.

As leaders took their turns at the assembly rostrum this week, observers got occasional glimpses of the world’s different views of its drug problem.

Tajikistan’s president, Emomali Rahmon, called drug trafficking “a serious threat to global security.” Guyanese President Irfaan Ali endorsed international efforts to address drug trafficking, which he counted among the ”crimes that are destroying the lives of our people, especially young people.”

Syria’s new president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, noted that his administration closed factories that produced the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon, also known as fenethylline, during his now-ousted predecessor’s time. Costa Rican Foreign Minister Arnoldo André Tinoco said drug smuggling networks are exploiting routes traveled by migrants and “taking advantage of the vulnerability of those seeking international protection.”

“Isolated responses are insufficient,” as the traffickers just go elsewhere and create new hotspots of crime, Tinoco said.

Reviewing the challenges facing Peru, President Dina Boluarte listed transnational organized crime and drug trafficking alongside political polarization and climate change.

“None of these problems is merely national, but rather global,” she said. “This is why we need the United Nations to once again be a forum for dialogue and cooperation.”

Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/issue-drugs-showcased-general-assembly-year-125919663

Filed under: Crime/Violence/Prison,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Others (International News),Political Sector,Prevalence,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

by Kaitlin Durbin, cleveland.com – Sep. 27, 2025

A graph from the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Officer shows that cocaine overdoses are expected to kill more residents this year than fentanyl and other opioids, marking a major shift in drug patterns that Dr. Thomas Gilson says requires new prevention and treatment strategies.(Courtesy of the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office)

CLEVELAND, Ohio — For the first time in decades, cocaine is killing more people in Cuyahoga County than opioids, including fentanyl.

The news marks a historic shift that Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Gilson says should spark an urgent change in prevention strategies.

“This is earth-shattering,” Gilson told cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. “I don’t think that’s been true in the entire 21st century.”

His office has only certified overdose deaths for the first half of the year, representing about 169 cases, but early numbers show that cocaine was involved in 63% of them, compared with 46% involving opioids – including some overlap from drug mixtures.

Projected out for the year, Gilson’s office expects total overdose deaths will top around 415, which would be another slight drop from the year before, indicating numbers are heading in the right direction. Fentanyl overdoses, in particular, are expected to fall to a near 10-year low.

But that progress could largely be offset by an increase in cocaine deaths – again, some mixed with opioids – which is projected to kill 399 Cuyahogans by the end of the year.

“This is the problem that we’re living with now,” Gilson said of the moment. “Opiates aren’t going to go away, but if you define an epidemic as a disease that’s occurring at a higher incidence rate in the population than baseline, well, we’ve had two years of decline; so, it’s pretty hard to say, ‘I’m still living in the opioid epidemic.’”

The shift

Opioid-related deaths, especially involving fentanyl, have been falling sharply over the last three years. Last year, overdose deaths dropped below 500 for the first time in a decade. The reason still isn’t clear.

It could be that the fentanyl supply is shrinking, or that what is circulating on the street is less potent, with smaller amounts showing up in drug mixtures, Gilson said. It could also be intervention strategies and overdose reversal drugs are working to curb deaths. Gilson suspects younger generations have started shying away from the drug, after years of warnings about its lethal effects.

Regardless, he worried that the lull was only leaving the door open for something else. Something new. It turns out, it was actually something old – though thankfully less lethal: cocaine.

Gilson recalled the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s and early 1990s, which devastated many urban communities and coincided with a major crime wave. The crisis helped fuel the “tough-on-crime” era, leading to harsh sentencing laws and mass incarceration that disproportionately affected Black Americans.

Back then the drug was killing 100-150 people a year in the county – a number which pales in comparison to the 600-700 who were dying at the peak of the opioid crisis. Now, though, the numbers are ticking upward again, and faster, partly fueled by cocaine-opioid mixtures.

In August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report noting a rise in overdose deaths involving stimulants, like cocaine and methamphetamine, since 2011. Though it primarily attributed the increase to opioid mixtures, it noted that “stimulant-involved deaths without opioid co-involvement have also increased.”

The CDC urged expanded access to evidence-based treatment for stimulant use disorder, along with outreach to people “who might be missed by opioid-focused prevention efforts.”

After seeing the shift locally, Gilson is sounding his own alarm.

“Things are changing, and the demographics of who’s affected by it is changing, too,” Gilson said.

New strategies?

In the early phases of the opioid epidemic, particularly with prescription painkillers, white communities bore the brunt of overdose deaths. Even as the crisis evolved and overall numbers leveled out, Gilson’s office continued to record higher rates of fentanyl and opioid fatalities among white residents.

Overdose data through the first half of the year shows a rise in cocaine-related deaths, especially among Black men.(Courtesy of the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office)

However, the rise in cocaine overdoses is disproportionately affecting the Black community, echoing patterns seen in the 1980s and 1990s. In the first half of this year, overdose deaths among white residents declined compared to 2024, while the share among Black residents rose from 42% to 48%. Black men, in particular, were impacted.

“We’re reverting back to a pre-opioid phase,” Gilson said. “And that means we’re going to see another racial disparity develop like we did before.”

That makes directing prevention and treatment outreach specifically to Black communities both more urgent and more challenging, he said. He noted it was harder to reach Black communities with prevention messaging during the opioid epidemic.

And that challenge raises a bigger question: whether current prevention and treatment strategies would be adequate, given decades of opioid-focused efforts. Unlike fentanyl, which can be reversed with naloxone, there is no antidote for cocaine overdoses, which often result in sudden heart attacks or strokes.

(Earlier this year, Gilson also flagged the need for better prevention strategies to address rising suicide rates.)

One strategy Gilson said he knows can help save lives is reminding people not to use drugs alone. He reiterated a recent study by Case Western Reserve University that found that about 75% of overdose victims over a five-year period were using alone, increasing death rates.

But what other strategies may be needed to save lives remains an open question.

“The winds are changing,” Gilson said. “If we want to really be effective, we need to start pivoting to these stimulants as enemy number one.”

Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/issue-drugs-showcased-general-assembly-year-125919663

Filed under: Cocaine,Fentanyl,Prevalence,USA :

by Jan Hoffman – Published Aug. 25, 2025

Jan Hoffman is a health reporter for The New York Times covering drug addiction and health law.

San Francisco, Philadelphia and others are retreating from “harm reduction” strategies that have helped reduce deaths but which critics, including Trump, say have contributed to pervasive public drug use.

Safe drug-consumption materials distributed in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, including naloxone, pipes and plastic straws.Credit…Mike Kai Chen for The New York Times

As fentanyl propelled overdose deaths to ever more alarming numbers several years ago, public health officials throughout the United States stepped up a blunt, pragmatic response. Desperate to save lives, they tried making drug use safer.

To prevent life-threatening infections, more states authorized needle exchanges, where drug users could get sterile syringes as well as alcohol wipes, rubber ties and cookers. Dipsticks that test drugs for fentanyl were distributed to college campuses and music festivals. Millions of overdose reversal nasal sprays went to homeless encampments, schools, libraries and businesses. And in 2021, for the first time, the federal government dedicated funds to many of the tactics, collectively known as harm reduction.

The strategy helped. By mid-2023, overdose deaths began dropping. Last year, there were an estimated 80,391 drug overdose deaths in the United States, down from 110,037 in 2023, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Now, across the country, states and communities are turning away from harm reduction strategies.

Last month, President Trump, vowing to end “crime and disorder on America’s streets,” issued a far-flung executive order that included a blast at harm reduction programs which, he said, “only facilitate illegal drug use and its attendant harm.”

But his words, implicitly linking harm reduction to unsafe streets, echoed a sentiment that had already been building in many places, including some of the country’s most liberal cities.

San Francisco’s new mayor, Daniel Lurie, a Democrat who campaigned on a pledge to tackle addiction and street chaos, announced this spring that the city would step away from harm reduction as its drug policy and instead embrace “recovery first,” aspiring to get more people into treatment and long-term recovery. He banned city-funded distribution of safe-use smoking supplies such as pipes and foil in public places like parks. A year earlier, San Francisco voters had signaled their restiveness with pervasive drug use by approving a measure stipulating that some recipients of public assistance who repeatedly refused drug treatment could lose cash benefits.

Philadelphia stopped funding syringe services programs, which the C.D.C. has called “proven and effective” in protecting the public and first-responders as well as drug users. The city put restrictions on mobile medical teams that distribute overdose reversal kits and provide wound care for people who inject drugs, and stepped up police sweeps in Kensington, a neighborhood long known for its open-air drug markets and a focal point of the city’s harm reduction efforts.

Santa Ana, Calif., shut down its syringe exchanges; Pueblo, Colo., tried to do the same but a judge blocked enforcement of the ordinance.

Mayor Daniel Lurie of San Francisco, center, often walks through the Tenderloin district, where people experiencing addiction, mental illness and homelessness gather.Credit…Mike Kai Chen for The New York Times

Republican-dominated states have also been retreating from the approaches. In 2021, West Virginia legislators said that needle exchange programs had to limit distribution to one sterile syringe for each used one turned in and could only serve clients with state IDs. Last year, Nebraska lawmakers voted against permitting local governments to establish exchanges.

“Harm reduction” is a decades-old concept, grounded in the reality that many people cannot or will not stop using drugs. Since the 1980s, when AIDS activists began distributing sterile syringes to drug users to slow the spread of diseases, the expression has moved to the mainstream of addiction medicine and public health.

Over time, it has become shorthand for a wide range of approaches. Some are broadly popular and will certainly continue. In April, the White House’s office of drug control policy released priorities reaffirming support for drug test strips and naloxone, the overdose reversal medication that has become an essential item in first-aid kits in homes, restaurants and school nurse offices.

But critics contend that making drug use safer, with distribution of supplies and pamphlets directing how to use them, normalizes drug use and undercuts people’s motivation to quit and seek abstinence.

“The more you’re sort of funding and feeding the addiction, you’re going to get more addiction,” Art Kleinschmidt, now the head of the federal agency that oversees grants for substance abuse, said on a podcast last year. Such programs, he said, “definitely are breeding dependency.”

Others argue for nuance.

“Harm reduction is neither the singular solution to the overdose crisis nor a primary cause of public drug use and disorder,” said Dr. Aaron Fox, president of the New York Society of Addiction Medicine. “It’s one component of a spectrum of services necessary to prevent overdose deaths and improve the health of people who use drugs. But if communities want long-term solutions to homelessness, they need to work on expanding access to housing.”

Harm reduction supporters reject the notion that protecting people from the worst consequences of drugs encourages use.

“I don’t think the availability of sterile supplies really makes a difference about whether someone is going to start or continue using drugs,” said Chelsea L. Shover, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who oversees Drug Checking Los Angeles, which tests the contents of drugs for individuals and public health agencies. “But I do think it will make a difference in terms of whether that person is going to be alive in a week or a month or a year, during which time they might get into recovery, whatever that may mean for them.”

Some addiction experts fear that a retreat from harm reduction will reverse the falloff in deaths from injection-related diseases.

“Hepatitis C and H.I.V. numbers will go up, and more people are going to die,” said Dr. Kelly Ramsey, a harm reduction consultant who practices addiction medicine at a South Bronx clinic.

While overdose deaths have fallen, it is unclear whether drug use itself has also slowed. In neighborhoods across the country, from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Ore., many residents complain that the harm to them from drug use, including crime and syringe street litter, has not been reduced.

Mr. Trump particularly called out a type of harm reduction known as “safe consumption sites” — sometimes labeled “overdose prevention centers.” They are supervised locations where people can inject drugs without fatally overdosing, found in Europe, Canada and Mexico. Often drug users can test their supplies right away and staff members can quickly administer overdose reversal medication if needed.

There are only three in the United States, and they make for easy political targets. In addition to many Republicans, prominent Democratic governors, including Gavin Newsom of California, Kathy Hochul of New York and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, oppose them. The Pennsylvania senate voted to ban them. One, in Rhode Island, is protected by state and local law. But the other two, in New York City, which provide treatment referrals and support services, operate in a legal gray zone and could face federal scrutiny.

Opponents of harm reduction offer few specifics about how to get more people to stop using drugs and into treatment. Mr. Trump’s order directs the health secretary and the attorney general to explore laws to civilly commit addicted people who cannot care for themselves into residential treatment “or other appropriate facilities.” But it is silent about how such programs would be paid for.

The administration has already made major cuts to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the federal agency that awards grants for prevention, treatment and recovery. It has slashed the agency’s staff and the grants it gives for a wide variety of prevention, intervention and treatment services.

Cuts to Medicaid included in the sweeping domestic policy bill enacted this summer are also likely to affect many people’s access to treatment and states’ ability to cover it. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, who is in recovery from a substance use disorder, has focused on nutrition, chronic disease and vaccines during his first six months in office and has said little about plans to address the drug crisis.

The battle over whether harm reduction should remain a primary goal or be secondary to getting users into treatment and restoring order to public streets has been joined most intensively in San Francisco.

There, ample social services and ferociously expensive housing had contributed to a large population living on the streets, many struggling with mental illness and addiction. Then, by 2020, fentanyl and Covid had slammed into the city.

At public meetings this spring, angry residents brandished signs, some reading “Harm Reduction Saves Lives” and others “Drug Enablism Kills.”

Although the city has adhered to regulations for state-funded Housing First programs, which offer permanent housing for homeless people without requiring them to be drug-free, Mr. Lurie recently presided over the opening of the city’s first transitional sober living residence, with 54 units for adults committed to abstinence.

The drive to adjust the city’s drug policy to recovery first has been led by Matt Dorsey, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, who is in recovery from a substance use disorder.

In an interview, Mr. Dorsey said he supports aspects of harm reduction, including the distribution of safe supplies. But he sees the strategy as more of a floor than a ceiling. “We need to make clear that the objective of our drug policy is a healthy, self-directed life free of illicit drug use,” he said.

The difficult challenge, he said, was how to attend to the rights of pedestrians who daily confront drug use, while also trying to “help people addicted to life-threatening drugs.”

To pay for additional treatment and services, he said, city officials are working on ballot measures to redirect tax revenue.

“Part of what gives me confidence that we will ultimately find the funding,” Mr. Dorsey added, “is that the alternative is unthinkable.”

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/health/harm-reduction-san-francisco-trump.html

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Harm Reduction,Prevalence,Social Affairs,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

The US is “behind the curve” on fighting a deadly new synthetic narcotic that’s dramatically more lethal than fentanyl and resistant to Narcan, a top DEA agent warns.

Just as authorities in the US and China increase efforts to tackle the scourge of fentanyl, the drug manufacturers, who are motivated by “greed,” shifted to start producing nitazenes — an even deadlier poison, said Drug Enforcement Administration Houston Division Special Agent in Charge Jonathan C. Pullen.

The Trump administration has hit Mexico and China with sanctions and tariffs to force the foreign governments to act against illicit drug producers responsible for the poisonings of thousands of Americans each year.

Nitazenes and other synthetic drugs are often disguised to look like prescription pills.Getty Images

But the Chinese pharma companies and cartels have already moved to introduce a new and stronger drug that many authorities are just now learning about, Pullen said.

“And if we get into a place where then we are able to issue controls or China issues more controls on the precursor chemicals that go to these, they’ll just change the analog and it’ll go to another precursor chemical. China’s already done that,” he added.

Nitazenes are produced in China, often with the help of Mexican cartels that finish the product and move it north across the border, according to Pullen.

The potent narcotic can be up to 43 times stronger than fentanyl depending on the formula, according to the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission.

Nitazenes are not included in routine drug tests or toxicology screenings, making them all the more challenging to detect.

While the feds are “making headway” to tackle the new threat, there’s still more work to be done, said Pullen.

“So it’s very very difficult to stay ahead of it, so we’ve got to continue to step up our enforcement along the border,” he said.

“I think that the number of overdose deaths being reduced in the United States is a testament to that. The enforcement is not the only reason its reduced. Naloxone [aka Narcan] is a huge piece too, but we’re definitely making some headway and we’re gonna keep pushing on that.”

There were 80,000 overdose deaths in the US in 2024 — a 27% drop from the 110,000 deaths estimated in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While the wider use of Narcan has contributed to the drop in overdose deaths, nitazenes is often resistant to the drug antidote — adding a terrifying new pitfall, Pullen warned.

“It’s incredibly deadly and normal treatment methods like naloxone … don’t work as well on nitazenes because it’s so much stronger,” said Pullen.

“It’s really hard to overcome if you’ve taken one.”

In the Houston-area, there were 15 deaths related to nitazenes and 11 seizures of the drug between November and February, according to the DEA.

Two of the victims were best friends Lucci Reyes-McCallister, 22, and Hunter Clement, 21, who ingested pills marketed as Xanax and Percocet that actually contained N-pyrrolidino protonitazene, a form of nitazenes that is 25 times stronger than fentanyl.

And their mothers are warning America’s youth in the hopes of saving lives.

“They could think something is clean or rather safe when it’s actually pressed for something that’s 20 to 40 times stronger, more deadly than fentanyl,” Lucci’s mother Grey recently told The Post.

“It just really lit a fire under me. There was no way Lucci was going to die in vain,” she added.

The drug was developed 60 years ago as a possible alternative to morphine, but was outlawed for medical use over its high overdose risk.

Authorities in Europe have already seen several overdoses from the synthetic narcotic. It was first detected in the US in 2019.

Last January, a Florida man confessed to distributing protonitazene that he received in mailed shipments from China, according to the IRS.

Customs officers at Kennedy are also seeing the drug coming through the airport “at least a few times a week in quantities ranging from just a few grams to upwards of a pound or more,” Andrew Renna, assistant port director for cargo operations at the airport, said in May.

Source: https://nypost.com/2025/08/28/us-news/america-not-ready-to-combat-nitazene-synthetic-opioids-dea-agent/

Filed under: Addiction,Drug use-various effects,Opioids,Synthetics,USA :

Marijuana is one of the most widely used drugs globally. Rising legalization has fueled greater social acceptance and lowered perceptions of risk even as research continues to highlight its harms. A recent study published in Pediatric Research reviewed years of evidence from both animal models and human studies, examining how marijuana impacts pregnant women and their babies.

How marijuana affects the body during pregnancy

One of the critical human body systems is the Endocannabinoid System (ECS), which helps regulate memory, appetite, emotions, and even fetal development. During pregnancy, the ECS is especially active, influencing hormonal signaling, fetus brain development, and placental development.

When marijuana is used, cannabinoids such as THC enter and interfere with the ECS, disrupting its natural processes. Because THC is lipophilic, meaning it binds strongly to fat, THC crosses into fatty tissues and can be stored there for weeks. This is especially concerning during pregnancy because the membrane of the placenta, which is the critical organ that supplies the developing baby with nutrients and oxygen, is mostly made of fatty molecules enabling THC to enter with ease. About one-third of the THC in the mother’s body reaches the fetus and once there, it can accumulate in the developing brain and other fatty tissues. Animal studies show that even after marijuana use stops, the developing fetus continues to be exposed to THC, potentially altering how organs and systems grow.

Long term effects extend beyond infancy

Research finds that marijuana use during pregnancy is associated with:

Fetal growth problems: Babies exposed to marijuana in the womb are more likely to be born small for their gestational age, be admitted to the NICU, and face a 75% increased risk of low birth weight. Even short-term exposure during early pregnancy can impact fetal growth.
Developmental delays: Long-term studies show that marijuana-exposed children may struggle with memory, attention, problem-solving, and emotional regulation.
Higher risk of metabolic and heart problems: Prenatal marijuana exposure may change how the body processes insulin and stores fat which could increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease later in life.
Increased vulnerability to addiction: Prenatal marijuana exposure changes the brain pathways involved in reward and impulse control which may increase the risk of substance use and mental health challenges during adolescence and adulthood.

In some studies, girls’ exposure to marijuana in the womb showed more behavioral problems including aggression and attention issues, as early as 18 months of age.

With the marijuana industry falsely promoting products as “natural” and safe remedies for various health conditions, it is critical that women of childbearing age understand that marijuana use is not risk-free. Research consistently shows that marijuana can affect fetal development, leading to long-lasting consequences for a child’s physical and mental health.

For science-based resources on marijuana use during pregnancy, as well as tools for parents and fathers, click here to visit our dedicated webpage on this topic. If you are in Florida, our grant program allows us to provide and distribute these resources to you free of charge. Complete this request form to access materials ranging from Go-to-Guides to Fast Facts for Fathers.

Prevention starts with education, and staying informed can help protect future generations.

Source: Drug Free America Foundation | 333 3rd Ave N Suite 200 | St. Petersburg, FL 33701 US

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Education,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

Opening Statement by NDPA:

Over the years there have been many snide remarks about the ‘Just Say No’ campaign, suggesting that it is limited to putting kids in a row and getting them to recite the slogan. The truth is very different – NDPA has copies of the manuals that set out the campaign; these run to several hundred pages of detailed definition of actions to be followed, a match for many other programmes which have escaped such slurs.

Although I’ve been deeply concerned about this problem since my days in Sacramento, over the past nearly 8 years, I’ve focused mainly on education, on prevention, and on the need to change attitudes.

NANCY REAGAN
Remarks at the White House Conference for a Drug Free America Washington, D.C. 02/29/1988

The White House

People finally are facing up to drug abuse. They’re banding together, and they’re making real progress. And I just want to say a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to all those people out there who are working so hard to get drug abuse under control.

NANCY REAGAN
Radio Address to the Nation on Federal Drug Policy 10/02/1982

As First Lady, Nancy Reagan focused on fighting drug and alcohol abuse among youth. She expanded the drug awareness campaign to the international level when she invited First Ladies from around the world to the First Lady Conference on Drug Abuse April 24-25, 1985.

“Just Say No”

Thank you for being part of the first international ‘Just Say No’ walk. Look around at how many young people are walking with you today. And just think, there are groups as big as yours, or even bigger, doing the same thing all over the world! Can you imagine just how many children are saying ‘Just Say No’ today? Children everywhere are learning about drug abuse at an early age. And that’s a good thing.

NANCY REAGAN
Remarks at the Just Say No International Walk 05/22/1986

First Lady Nancy Reagan urged the nation’s youth to “just say no.” She appeared on television talk shows, attended rallies and sporting events, taped public service announcements, and wrote guest articles.

Signings

This legislation allows us to do even more. Nevertheless, today marks a major victory in our crusade against drugs – a victory for safer neighborhoods, a victory for the protection of the American family.

President Ronald Reagan
Remarks on Signing the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 10/27/1986

The United Nations

In your deliberations, I urge you not to be diplomatic for the sake of diplomacy, but to speak the truth about the effects of drugs on our peoples and our governments. I urge you to be tough and firm in the recommendations you make.

Nancy Reagan
Remarks to the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly 10/25/1988

On October 21, 1985, during the United Nation’s 40th anniversary, Nancy Reagan hosted a second international drug conference.

On October 25, 1988, she addressed the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly where she spoke about the illegal use of drugs and its impact on families.

Nancy Reagan and the Fight Against Drug Abuse: United Nations: Textual Records

The picture below shows the various trips Nancy Regan made in promoting her campaign.

Source: https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/exhibits/virtual-exhibits/nancy-reagan-and-fight-against-drug-abuse

Filed under: Addiction,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Political Sector,Prevalence,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

by: Kelley King – Miami Valley News – Posted: Sep 8, 2025 / 05:53 PM EDT

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — The Drug Enforcement Administration is launching a major campaign to combat drug abuse on college campuses.

Officials say it’s an effort to talk directly with students and raise awareness about the dangers of drugs.

“One pill can kill” is the message the Drug Enforcement Administration is pushing in a state that’s a victim of its own geography with the I-70/I-75 interchange.

“Ohio is kind of uniquely positioned. It’s great for commerce, but just like it’s great for commerce is great for drug traffickers as well,” says Brian McNeal.

Brian McNeal is the DEA’s Public Information Officer for the Detroit Division, covering Michigan, Ohio, and Northern Kentucky.

His visit to college campuses comes after a major bust in September where a large amount of drugs — including fentanyl — were seized after being brought into the region from China.

“It’s a demonstration that what happens in other parts of the world can have an impact here in Ohio,” states McNeal.

McNeal says a lot of times, you don’t know what’s in a synthetic opioid. Sometimes it’s filler — like aspirin or caffeine. But other times it’s methamphetamine or even a lethal dose of fentanyl.

McNeal says a big trend they’re seeing now are counterfeit pills, and they’re easier than ever to get.

“Gone are the days where you have to meet somebody in a weird part of town. You can just sit on your phone and order these pills,” states McNeal.

He says half of the counterfeit pills they’re seizing contain two milligrams of fentanyl, which is a deadly dose.

That’s why they’re bringing the campaign to campus to promote drug prevention and provide free resources, and in turn, decrease drug related deaths.

“A lot of times, college students whether they’re on campus or off campus, there’s this misnomer that maybe if I pop a Percocet or an Adderall, it’ll help me study,” says McNeal. “The only pill that you should take is one prescribed by your doctor, obtained at a legitimate pharmacy, that has your name on it.”

The DEA says young adults ages 18 to 25 make up 11 percent of drug-related emergency room visits.

Source: https://www.wdtn.com/news/local-news/dea-launches-campaign-on-campuses-warning-of-drug-dangers/

Filed under: Addiction,Drug use-various effects,Education,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

by DAVID EVANS – 19 August 2025

There are established five schedules of controlled substances, to be known as schedules I, II, III, IV, and V.

(1) Schedule I–(A) The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.(B) The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.(C) There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.

(2) Schedule II–(A) The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.(B) The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States or a currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions.(C) Abuse of the drug or other substances may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence.
(3) Schedule III–(A) The drug or other substance has a potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in schedules I and II.(B) The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.(C) Abuse of the drug or other substance may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.

(4) Schedule IV–(A) The drug or other substance has a low potential for abuse relative to the drugs or other substances in schedule III.(B) The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.(C) Abuse of the drug or other substance may lead to limited physical dependence or psychological dependence relative to the drugs or other substances in schedule III.
(5) Schedule V–(A) The drug or other substance has a low potential for abuse relative to the drugs or other substances in schedule IV.(B) The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.(C) Abuse of the drug or other substance may lead to limited physical dependence or psychological dependence relative to the drugs or other substances in schedule IV.

Moving marijuana to Schedule III would not legalize the drug, however, the change would greatly serve to benefit state legalized commercial marijuana companies who would no longer be subject to IRS Section 280E and thus could deduct business expenses and drastically increase their profit margins. This means more advertising and normalization. Not only would this mean that marijuana corporations would be able to deduct expenses for advertisements appealing to youth and the sale of kid-friendly marijuana gummies, but it would also dramatically increase the industry’s commercialization ability.

—
Source: www.drugwatch.org (drug-watch-international@googlegroups.com)

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Legal Sector,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Thu, 08/21/2025

NEW YORK — U.S. Customs and Border Protection Deputy Commissioner John Modlin delivered remarks at a National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day event today in Times Square.

The annual event, hosted by the nonprofit Facing Fentanyl, brings together impacted families and federal, state, and local law enforcement to draw national attention to the synthetic opioid epidemic.

“On behalf of the more than 65,000 fathers and mothers, and sons and daughters, who are also agents, officers and professional staff of CBP, we mourn with those who have lost a loved one to fentanyl poisoning,” said Deputy Commissioner Modlin. “Every hour of every day of the year, CBP is enforcing the law, across the land, in the air, and on the sea. Fentanyl is not just a public health threat – it’s a weapon. Any group that tries to poison Americans will face U.S. law enforcement and national security authorities.”

CBP supports the nation’s fight against fentanyl by prioritizing counter-fentanyl efforts across all operational environments. This includes stopping the ingredients, equipment, and the drug itself from entering or moving through the U.S. CBP has significantly increased its efforts to find and seize fentanyl at border crossings and checkpoints, using a variety of methods, such as officers’ instincts, drug-sniffing dogs, advanced scanning technology, artificial intelligence, and intelligence gathering to target and stop smugglers.

CBP’s approach to combatting fentanyl has grown to also include taking down the criminal groups that ship fentanyl, its ingredients, and pill-making equipment into the U.S. By working closely with law enforcement agencies both within the U.S. and in other countries, CBP helps investigate the larger criminal organizations, not just the individuals caught smuggling drugs at the border.

Fentanyl is a very dangerous drug that CBP first encountered in its final form around 2013-2014. Even a very small amount can be deadly. It’s cheap and easy to make, and there’s a high demand for it. Just one kilogram (about 2.2 pounds) of fentanyl already mixed into pills makes just over 9,000 pills. In contrast, one kilogram of fentanyl powder can make roughly 80,000 pills.

National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day serves as a vital platform to highlight the devastating impact of synthetic opioids and the ongoing efforts to combat this epidemic. CBP’s participation underscores its unwavering commitment to protecting American communities and saving lives.

For more information on National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day, visit DEA Fentanyl Awareness.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is America’s frontline: the nation’s largest law enforcement organization and the world’s first unified border management agency. The 65,000+ men and women of CBP protect America on the ground, in the air, and on the seas. We enforce safe, lawful travel and trade and ensure our country’s economic prosperity. We enhance the nation’s security through innovation, intelligence, collaboration, and trust.

Source: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-observes-national-fentanyl-prevention-and-awareness-day

Filed under: Culture,Drug use-various effects,Fentanyl,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

by Jessica Forbes, Digital Content Executive, Digital Safety Hub – 21 August 2025

From cyberbullying to misinformation, social media can present real challenges for teenagers, but it also provides ways to learn, connect, and grow. Here is a concise, practical guide:

Inside, you’ll find takeaways designed to help carers, educators, and parents guide teens toward safe and balanced online experiences.

This could be a valuable resource for drugprevent.org.uk in promoting digital well-being …

Social media often gets a bad reputation when it comes to how much time children and teens spend glued to their phones – but there are lots of ways that social media can be a tool for good in the hands of a teen.

The Ups and Downs of Teens and Social Media

Social media issues for teenagers can be rife, and most parents are aware of the dangers. Cyber-bulling is a real problem, and studies show that too much time spent on social media can lead to feelings of low self-esteem and depression amongst teens who compare themselves to unrealistic ideals they see online.

While these are serious concerns, as a foster carer, you can make social media a positive experience for your foster teen by helping them to be aware of the risks and empowering them to take advantage of the benefits. You can also help your teen to limit the negative consequences by encouraging them to enjoy social media in moderation. Teens need time to enjoy life offline – exercise and face-to-face socialisation are both important for their growing brains and bodies.

In fact, a 2019 study found a strong link between the negative effects of social media and a lack of exercise brought about by too much time spent online. That means balancing time on devices with plenty of physical activity can help mitigate some of social media’s more harmful effects.

How to Encourage Healthy Social Media Habits for Teens?

Empower your teen to use social media safely

Talk about what is safe to share online and what isn’t, and make sure your foster teen knows what to watch out for to avoid online predators, scammers, and cyberbullies. Teach them to recognise false information and to think critically about what they read and see online.

Help them understand the risks to their mental health and self-image and decide together how to deal with these feelings if they come up. Make sure they know how to change their privacy settings on different platforms.

Looking for more guidance on internet safety? The UK Safer Internet Centre has a host of resources for teens from 11-19.

Encourage self-expression

Not only can social media be a great way for teens to explore new things like art, culture, and history, it’s also a versatile tool for self-expression. Many creative teens use social media to showcase their own art and performances, while others use it as a platform for building a unique personal brand through what they share and how they engage with online communities.

Using social media in this way can teach a teen digital skills and build an online presence that will put them in a good position for future education and job prospects. You can help your teen build their digital skills through online and in-person courses, such as photo/video editing and content creation. Check out BT’s Skills for Tomorrow portal for a host of free family resources.

Keep connected

For foster children, social media can be a useful way to keep in touch with old friends and family members and build important connections for the future. It also helps many teens strengthen friendships and build communities around shared experiences and interests – particularly when it’s not possible to see one another in person (like when schools are closed, or across long distances).

Being a teen can be lonely if you feel like you don’t fit in, but you can always find someone who’s interested in the same things you are online – whether that’s someone who loves the same band you do or someone from a similar cultural background.

Inspire your foster teen to do good

With the world more connected through social media, teens today have access to a lot more information on global issues – and many more ways to have an impact. Consider 17-year-old Greta Thunberg; in two years, she’s been able to reach a global audience with her message of fighting climate change and now has an Instagram following of over 10 million.

Help your teen find an issue that they care about and encourage them to get involved and have a positive impact, such as promoting community initiatives and organisations.

Be involved

Model healthy social media use by not looking at your phone during meals or family activities, and limit screen time close to bedtime.

Follow your foster teen on social media and make time to chat with them – in person and in a non-judgemental way – about what they and their friends are posting and seeing online. Share interesting and educational feeds with them and keep communication open so your teen knows they can talk to you if they see or experience anything upsetting online.

Teenagers can be truly inspiring with the passion and energy they bring, but many teens suffer without a safe space to grow up. If you have the room to give a young person a stable and supportive home, get in touch today. You can also read our article about fostering teenagers here.

Source: https://www.compassfostering.com/advice/teenagers-and-social-media

Filed under: Culture,Social Media,USA,Youth :

by Kevin Sabet August 22, 2025

In 2018, 27-year-old Bryn Spejcher, an inexperienced marijuana smoker in California, killed her boyfriend Chad O’Melia by stabbing him 108 times, a crime the local district attorney described as “horrific” and “one of the worst our medical examiner has ever seen.” A jury found Spejcher guilty of involuntary manslaughter, but she received only probation at sentencing because of a compelling presentation of her defense of cannabis-induced psychosis. Prior to the violent incident, Spejcher had taken two hits of legal marijuana from a bong, and claimed that she began “seeing things that weren’t there” and lost touch with reality. She also stabbed herself repeatedly in the neck, and stabbed her own dog. Law enforcement agents called to the scene had to break her arm with a metal baton to get her to let go of the knife; multiple Taserings had no effect.

Cases like Spejcher’s illustrate the stakes involved in the federal reclassification of marijuana. If President Trump follows through with such a move, the drug would remain illegal on the federal level, but would receive an imprimatur of being safer and face fewer restrictions, with significant commercial and social implications.

Yet voices across public discourse persist in asking: why should anyone care if President Trump does just that?

Celebrities like Mike Tyson and Joe Rogan and hedge-fund bosses like Andrew Lahde tell us that marijuana is no big deal. Numerous states have already legalized it for medical and recreational usage, and they claim to be regulating it well. If we are to believe the advocates, marijuana is a miracle cure for PTSD, anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder — not to mention an unbeatable salve for the pain suffered by cancer patients.

So what sense does it make for this drug to sit in the same federal category as PCP and heroin? Isn’t marijuana’s placement in Schedule I, the most serious category, merely a relic of discredited thinking from the bad old days of the War on Drugs? It isn’t. To understand why it isn’t, and why a Trump move to reclassify weed would risk unmitigated harm to American health and safety, it’s first important to clear up some common misunderstandings around how and why drugs end up classified as they do.

Under the Controlled Substances Act of 1971, a five-part schedule was established for classification of potentially dangerous drugs. This schedule is emphatically not an index either of a drug’s “hardness” or a kind of unofficial charging and sentencing guide for prosecutors and judges. Placement is earned specifically through consideration of a drug’s accepted medical use and its abuse risk. Drugs with no accepted medical use and a high risk of abuse get placed in Schedule I.

That’s the commonality between marijuana and heroin; under federal law, the relevant agencies necessarily view them that way.

Neither has an accepted medical use, though both drugs have approved medicines derived from them that remain in lower schedules (the medicine dronabinol, for example, is synthesized THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and is in Schedule III). Both have high risks of abuse. The argument that one is a “hard” drug and the other is not — which is debatable, especially given today’s ultra-high-potency weed — simply doesn’t come into play.

Nor does the criminal-justice question. Keeping marijuana in Schedule I isn’t, as critics have it, a carceral strategy; conversely, moving it into Schedule III isn’t a de-carceral one. Under a move to Schedule III, the drug would remain federally illegal, still subject to the enforcement power of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Justice. No low-level offender would see his sentence commuted. This is sort of beside the point anyway, since most low-level marijuana users never receive a sentence for anything.

But how can it be, another objection runs, that the drug has no medical use? Most US states currently allow doctors to recommend it.

That, again, is technically correct. But the decisions those states made to allow doctors (and in some cases, “designated caregivers”) to recommend marijuana to treat pain and other issues were political decisions, not medical or scientific ones. Voters stated a preference; that has no effect on how federal agencies are required by current law to view the question. The facts of just how those recommendations get handed out drive home that political aspect. In 2022, Pennsylvania saw some 132,000 medical-marijuana certifications, a third of the state’s total for that year, issued by only 17 doctors.

Those decisions, taken in the aggregate, don’t constitute an accepted medical use. Or at least, they didn’t until October 2022. That was the month the Biden administration directed its Department of Health and Human Services to look into a possible reclassification of the drug.

“This schedule is emphatically not an index either of a drug’s ‘hardness’ or a kind of unofficial charging and sentencing guide.”

Again, history is important here. Before the Biden process, the federal government had used an eight-factor test to determine how to schedule various drugs. Those factors focus on what the current and historical patterns of its abuse look like, as well as what that means for individual users, what risk it presents to public health, how likely it is to cause dependence (either physical or psychological), the state of the science around the drug and its pharmacology, and whether it’s a chemical precursor or “analogue” of another controlled substance.

By these metrics, marijuana is precisely where it belongs in Schedule I. The best science shows that it isn’t an effective medical treatment. One of the most frequent conditions it’s used to treat is chronic pain. But the 2017 study cited to prove its efficacy there has seen dozens of subsequent meta-analyses and reviews fail to support its conclusions; a 2022 study of a decade’s worth of surgical records from a Cleveland hospital even found that using marijuana actually increases pain after surgery.

The data also demonstrate that marijuana poses a significant risk of dependency: addiction rates are around 30% of all users and rising. Addiction in this case means exactly what it does for other substances: inability to quit, a need for ever more of the drug to achieve the same effect, and even withdrawal symptoms. Given the recent avalanche of data cataloguing marijuana’s harms specifically to cardiac and mental health — like a June British Medical Journal review connecting it to a two-fold risk of cardiovascular death or the massive Danish study from 2023 suggesting that as much as 30% of schizophrenia cases among men between 21 and 30 were linked to cannabis-use disorder — its wider public-health risks are glaringly clear.

The Biden administration supplanted the eight factors with a new system seemingly designed to push the drug into a less restrictive schedule. The Biden recommendation — likely a political compromise between the status quo and full legalization, timed just before Joe Biden’s re-election bid — also incorporated the shaky argument that because so many states have made political decisions to allow medical marijuana, that constitutes an accepted medical use.

An incisive article in JAMA Neurology, by the Harvard addiction scientist Bertha Madras, took a hard look at the process and found disturbing evidence of politicization. This included the fact that a high-ranking Biden DOJ official, Acting Assistant Attorney General Peter Hyun, argued that “cannabis has not been proven in scientific studies to be a safe and effective treatment for any disease or condition” — six months before the rescheduling directive appeared. Yet the science Hyun cites certainly had not changed in the interim.

The federal government has long held the position Hyun laid out. Under the Obama administration, Jay Inslee and Gina Raimondo — then the governors of Washington and Rhode Island, respectively — petitioned the federal government to reclassify marijuana. The administration’s response made clear that federal drug schedules reflect what the science says, not “danger” or “severity.” Obama’s then-DEA chief, Chuck Rosenberg, announcing the denial of the petition, used language Hyun would later echo: “This decision isn’t based on danger. This decision is based on whether marijuana, as determined by the FDA, is a safe and effective medicine . . . and it’s not.”

Suggested reading

I have seen the damage cannabis does

By Peter Hurst

But let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that Trump reverses years of federal precedent to follow the logic of the rescheduling argument. What happens then?

The truth: no one knows.

It’s clear that the marijuana industry believes that rescheduling will be an enormous benefit to its shareholders. In one sense, that’s likely correct. Businesses selling substances in Schedule I face severe commercial restrictions under the tax code. A provision of the tax code prevents any such business from taking normal deductions at tax time on expenses like advertising. Lifting those restrictions seems sure to provide an enormous boost to revenues and reach for businesses selling marijuana products.

The impact on society is a different matter. The available evidence suggests that this will be a significant negative for society, especially given the research around how the young start using the drug: data published in June by researchers from the University of Southern California and Rutgers University show that exposure to marijuana social-media content plays a huge role in teens initiating use.

But there are other externalities in play.

If marijuana moves into Schedule III, it will be the only substance there without Food and Drug Administration approval. Will that play out in a similar way to the case of opium-poppy straw (i.e., the entirety of the plant, as it exists prior to the processes that turn it into heroin or opium)? Poppy straw is listed in Schedule II, but it also lacks an FDA approval — and it’s regularly seized by drug and border authorities, with a massive shipment grabbed up just in May. Though weed entrepreneurs clearly expect smooth sailing after a reclassification, they may well be in for a rough ride.

Then there’s the fact that substances listed in Schedule III face additional regulatory and enforcement power: Not only from the DEA and DOJ, but also from the FDA. There are strict rules around what sellers of Schedule III substances can and can’t say in advertisements. They’re forbidden from advertising off-label uses — and since marijuana lacks an FDA approval, all therapeutic uses are off-label. It’s easy to imagine another operator in the Schedule III space filing a lawsuit demanding precisely that kind of enforcement.

In other words, rescheduling opens the door to regulatory chaos, even as it seems certain to add commercial firepower to an industry whose products, on the evidence, are extraordinarily harmful. How this combination will produce the benefits promised by proponents of rescheduling also remains unclear.

The federal government shouldn’t signal to the American people that a drug that lacks medical or scientific imprimatur somehow possesses such approval. Others disagree — and vocally. They have a lot of money riding on it. But we should be crystal clear about what their preferred policy would actually mean for American society — nothing good.

Kevin Sabet, a former three-time White House senior drug-policy adviser, is president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana.

Source: https://unherd.com/2025/08/the-illusion-of-safe-marijuana/?edition=us?

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Cannabis/Marijuana,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Thomas Kennedy GreenfieldSenior Scientist, Alcohol Research Group, Public Health Institute
Libo LiPublic Health Institute, Alcohol Research Grouphttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7147-9838
Katherine J. Karriker-JaffeResearch Triangle Institutehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2019-0222
Cat MunroePublic Health Institute, Alcohol Research Grouphttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6950-7200
Deidre PattersonPublic Health Institute, Alcohol Research Grouphttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6775-9682
Erica RosenCalifornia State University, Long Beachhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1343-7554
Yachen ZhuPublic Health Institute, Alcohol Research Grouphttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8192-6168
William C. Kerr Centre Director, Scientific Director, Public Health Institute, Alcohol Research Grouphttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6612-9200

August 22, 2025

This study from PHI’s Alcohol Research Group and RTI International evaluated the associations between a seven-item summative burden scale and different types of harms attributed to someone else’s use of alcohol, cannabis or other drugs.

There is a growing body of research on the second-hand harms from alcohol and drug use that points to the negative health impacts of substance use extend beyond the individual engaged in the behavior. The literature on alcohol-related harms has explored the connections between secondhand alcohol and drug harms (ADH) and their impact on quality of life, well-being and mental health issues among those affected, often including family members, but there hasn’t been any specific research done on the family burden related to alcohol and other drug harms until now.

This study from PHI’s Alcohol Research Group and independent scientific research institute RTI International evaluates the familial burden of the secondhand ADHs, investigating associations between a seven-item summative burden scale and different types of harms attributed to someone else’s use of alcohol, cannabis or other drugs. The findings reveal the need for family support interventions and policy remedies to mitigate these burdens.

You can view the study here:

Background: Family burden has not been studied in relation to alcohol and other drug harms from others. We adapted a family burden scale from studies of caring for those with mental health conditions for use in the US Alcohol and Drug Harm to Others Survey (ADHTOS). We investigated associations between a seven-item summative burden scale and different types of harms attributed to someone else’s use of alcohol, cannabis, or another drug: (a) being assaulted/physically harmed; (b) having family/partner problems; (c) feeling threatened or afraid; and (d) being emotionally hurt/neglected due to others’ substance use.

Methods: A survey of adults aged 18 years and over conducted between October 2023 and July 2024 (n = 8,311), involved address-based sampling (n = 3,931 including 193 mail-backs) and web panels (n = 4,380), oversampling Black (n = 951), Latinx (n = 790) and sexual or gender minority (SGM) respondents (n = 309). Data from seven items on types of burdens experienced from other people’s alcohol or drug use were provided by those harmed by someone else’s alcohol or drug use and were used to create a burden scale. Analyses used negative binomial regression on burden sum adjusting for covariates, such as age, gender, race and ethnicity, marital status and years of education.

Results: The single factor burden scale showed good internal consistency (α = .91). Components assessing being emotionally drained/exhausted and family friction/arguments were endorsed by 38–39% of participants; finding stigma of the other’s substance use upsetting was affirmed by 33%. Fewer endorsed feeling trapped in caregiving roles (22%), problems outside the family (26%), neglect of other family members’ needs (16%), and having to change plans (14%). In adjusted regression models, seven of eight harm exposures were significantly associated with burden scores.

Discussion: People reported substantial burden from others’ use of alcohol, cannabis, and other drugs. Family support interventions and policy remedies to mitigate these burdens are needed.

About RTI International

RTI International is an independent scientific research institute dedicated to improving the human condition. Our vision is to address the world’s most critical problems with technical and science-based solutions in pursuit of a better future. Clients rely on us to answer questions that demand an objective and multidisciplinary approach—one that integrates expertise across social, statistical, data, and laboratory sciences, engineering, and other technical disciplines to solve the world’s most challenging problems.

Originally published by International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research

Source: https://www.phi.org/thought-leadership/study-evaluating-family-burden-among-us-adults-experiencing-secondhand-harms-from-alcohol-cannabis-or-other-drug-use/

Filed under: Alcohol,Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Harm Reduction,Marijuana and Medicine,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

by: Clare Gehlich ABC8 News – Aug 10, 2025

Drug prevention education expands in Charles City County

CHARLES CITY COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — The Charles City County Elementary School will soon re-introduce a program focused on drug prevention and awareness for the 2025-26 academic year.

According to a release from the sheriff’s office, the program, DARE — Drug Abuse Resistance Education program — will come to the elementary school for the upcoming school year.

SRO Corporal Tramayne Mayo, who developed a curriculum to teach the program, reportedly attended a two-week training course as required by DARE to instruct.

“We are excited to get this program back into our school system,” said Jayson Crawley, Sheriff of Charles City County. “We feel that early education of the dangers of drugs should be taught to our youths and can have a significant positive impact on the decisions they make when faced with drugs. This is just part of our continued efforts to deter illegal drug activity in our county.”

Opioid settlement money awarded to all jurisdictions in the Commonwealth from a reported lawsuit filed against prescription drug companies will help fund the program, per the sheriff’s office.

8News previously reported that, in June, Virginia joined all other states and some U.S. territories in agreeing to sign a $7.4 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family who own the company for their part in perpetuating the opioid crisis.

As a result, the state will receive as much as $103.8 million from this settlement over the next 15 years — funding which will go toward local prevention, treatment and recovery efforts, as previously reported by 8News.

Source: https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/charles-city-county/dare-program-charles-city-elementary-2025-2026/

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Education,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

Fake pills remain a threat, with 5 out of 10 pills tested containing potentially lethal doses of fentanyl.

OMAHA, Nebraska – As students across the state prepare to return to school, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Omaha Division is encouraging families to have open conversations about the potentially lethal consequences of drug experimentation and the threat posed by drug dealers on social media.

In Nebraska, DEA has seized more than 145,000 fentanyl pills in the first seven months of 2025. This number is more than triple the amount seized by DEA in Nebraska in all of 2024 and represents close to 85,000 deadly doses of fentanyl removed from communities.

Social media plays a significant role in the life of students and cartels are taking advantage of this audience. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to emphasize the dangers associated with buying pills online. In Nebraska, DEA has seized fentanyl pills made to resemble common prescription medications such as Xanax ®, Adderall ® and Oxycodone ®. Never trust your eyes to determine if a pill is legitimate or counterfeit. The only safe medications are prescribed by a trusted medical professional and dispensed by a licensed pharmacist.

“We know that a lot of families sit down at the start of a new school year to go over things like dealing with bullies, taking precautions when walking home and staying organized with classes,” DEA Omaha Division Acting Special Agent in Charge Rafael Mattei said. “We want families to engage on the tough topics including the use of social media for buying and selling drugs. One pill can kill. Let’s raise awareness in our communities and prevent families from suffering a tragic loss of life.”

For families unsure how to begin a conversation on the dangers of drug use, the DEA has resources and fact sheets available online: https://www.dea.gov/onepill/partner-toolbox. Conversation starters, information on drugs including street names and side effects, and helpful tips on ways to stay engaged in these important conversations year-round, are available based on age and grade.

Source: https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2025/08/11/drug-enforcement-administration-encourages-open-conversations-dangers

Filed under: Culture,Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

*Rampant drug use in and around the Hub by 149th street and 3rd avenue in the south Bronx. photo:Stephen Yang*

Can New York clean up its public drug-use problem?

Mayor Eric Adams aims to try: On Thursday, he called on the state Legislature to allow clinicians and judges to compel people into treatment when their drug use is hurting them and the city.

“We must help those struggling finally get treatment, whether they recognize the need for it or not,” Adams said at an event hosted by the Manhattan Institute (where I work).

“Addiction doesn’t just harm individual users; it tears apart lives, families and entire communities, and we must change the system to keep all New Yorkers safer.”

Adams’ proposed state law, the Compassionate Interventions Act, may face an uphill battle in Albany, as “harm reduction” advocates assail it as coercive and dangerous.

But involuntary treatment should be a tool in New York’s arsenal for dealing with the public drug use that has plagued it for years.

Last year it reported nearly 4,000 homeless residents with a history of chronic substance use — probably an undercount, as such people are less likely to be identified by the city’s annual late-night census.

Regardless, it’s not hard to find people shooting up on New York’s streets — just visit the Hub in The Bronx or Washington Square Park in Manhattan.

Such behavior makes whole swaths of the city unlivable.

Public drug use hurts both users — there were more than 2,100 overdose deaths in the five boroughs last year — and the places where they use.

It deters commerce, and creates environments conducive to more serious crime.

Too often the city has responded to these situations with benign neglect, exemplified by its two “supervised consumption sites,” which give people a place to use with Narcan-wielding staff standing by.

These sites continue to operate, in spite of the fact that they don’t work and violate federal law.

Leaving people free to abuse drugs, it turns out, doesn’t save lives.

Involuntary treatment, by contrast, tries to correct the behavior that drives drug users to hurt both themselves and others.

That’s why 37 other states already permit it — and why New York under Adams’ plan would join them.

Critics will insist that involuntary drug treatment doesn’t work, and that people have to want to change.

But the balance of the evidence suggests that involuntary treatment performs as well as voluntary treatment.

That’s backed up both by older research on California’s involuntary-treatment scheme, and by strong indications that drug courts, which route drug offenders into treatment instead of prison, can reduce recidivism.

Opponents will also say that it’s immoral to compel people to get treatment they don’t want, and that it violates their “bodily autonomy.”

But there’s no right to shoot up in public spaces, or to ruin your body with fentanyl. And New Yorkers should have the right to expect their public spaces to be free from disorder, including public drug use.

The biggest challenge for Adams, though, may be the state’s limited treatment capacity.

New York state as a whole has only 134 long-term residential treatment facilities.

As of 2023, the most recent available data, they were serving 2,935 clients — fewer than the city’s tallied homeless drug-addict population.

Implementing the Compassionate Interventions Act will almost certainly require more funding for treatment beds, much as Adams’ previous efforts to institutionalize the seriously mentally ill did. That will have to be part of any ask in Albany.

But the mayor’s proposal will also allow diversion to outpatient treatment programs, including a new $27 million investment in contingency management therapy — an evidence-based intervention that has been shown to help treat drug addiction.

What happens if Albany says no to Adams’ proposal? Or if Adams is out of the mayoralty come the next legislative session?

The NYPD can still work to clear encampments. And the city can still try to divert drug users into its drug-courts system, which, while useful, faces administrative problems and lacks transparency.

But actually getting drug users the help they need, rather than just cycling them through the city’s jails, will be hard — much as the administration struggled to handle the seriously mentally ill before it had the power to compel them into treatment.

SOURCE: https://nypost.com/2025/08/14/opinion/involuntary-treatment-can-solve-the-public-drug-scourge/

Filed under: Addiction,Brain and Behaviour,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Harm Reduction,HIV/Injecting-Drug-Users,Legal Sector,Needle Exchange,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

From CDC Media Relations – August 5, 2025

The back-to-school season is a great time to engage with youth about mental health and substance use to promote their well-being throughout the academic year. To support these conversations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has launched Free Mind, a new national campaign that provides youth ages 12-17 and their parents and caregivers with resources and information about substance use, mental health, and the connection between the two.

The drug overdose crisis is constantly evolving and remains an important public health issue. In 2024, more than 80,000 Americans died from a drug overdose. From 2020 to 2024, 75% of overdose deaths among youth ages 10–19 involved illegally made fentanyl. In addition, the number of teens reporting poor mental health has increased in the past decade. In 2023, 40% of high school students stopped regular activities because of persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness and one in five students seriously considered attempting suicide.

“Teens may use alcohol and other substances to help them cope with stress, anxiety, and depression,” said Dr. Allison Arwady, Director of the CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. “Talking openly about mental health and substance use, and knowing when to get professional help, is critical to helping teens stay healthy. That’s why this campaign supports youth, parents, and caregivers in having those conversations early, before an issue arises.”

CDC spoke directly with youth about their knowledge and perceptions regarding substance use to develop messages, branding, and tactical strategies for Free Mind. The campaign seeks to resonate with this age group by addressing the connections between substance use and mental health, risk factors that contribute to drug use, and strategies to keep them safe. CDC also has created resources for parents and caregivers about the latest substance use and mental health challenges youth may face.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2025/2025-cdc-launches-new-campaign-to-address-youth-substance-use-and-mental-health.html

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Mental Health,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

From Emory University – Aug 6 2025

While overdose deaths in the U.S. sharply declined in 2024, they remain high. Almost 90,000 Americans died from drug overdoses between October 2023 and September 2024. Overdose death rates are particularly high in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people.

The earlier someone starts substance use, the more likely they are to have substance use problems later in life. So, it is important to work with young people to prevent substance use early in life. Researchers at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health recently partnered with Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health to design and implement programs to help prevent youth substance use in their community.

They created two programs. Connect Kits for Family Action delivers activity kits to families of teens in 10th to 12th grade to help strengthen family relationships. Connect Brief Intervention uses technology to deliver individualized coaching to high school students.

Testing the programs

A randomized trial of the interventions, with results published in the American Journal of Public Health, found that they worked to reduce alcohol and other substance use in high school students in rural Oklahoma.

In the trial, Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health implemented the programs at 10 high schools. Ten other schools did not receive programming to serve as a comparison. The 10 high schools that did not receive the programs during the trial received them after the study ended. Most students at participating schools were either white or AI/AN.

The trial lasted for three years, and students completed surveys every six months to report on their alcohol and substance use.

What they found

Students at the schools that received the intervention had lower alcohol and other substance use than students at the comparison schools.

Every six months, these students reported:

18% less alcohol use
26% less binge drinking
11% less cannabis use
40% less prescription opioid misuse

Why this matters

Adolescent substance use poses serious risks to health, academic achievement, and long-term well-being. Therefore, protecting teens from substance use is key to helping them thrive. Our prevention programs have demonstrated measurable success in reducing alcohol and drug use among high school students. We’re proud of the results and excited to share these adaptable, effective solutions with other communities.”

Kelli Komro, PhD, professor of behavioral, social, and health education sciences at Rollins and project co-lead

Juli Skinner, director of behavioral health for Cherokee Nation stresses the importance of this work.

“We believe our children are our most valuable resource,” she says. “This project allowed us to work within our own reservation to find ways that affect change in our youth. Our partnership with Emory University and area high schools was vital in making this happen. We learned so much from the challenges we encountered during this trial, making it more effective and sustainable. The improved outcomes from this trial will last into the future generations of our Cherokee families and communities.”

Source: Emory University

Filed under: Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

by Shalini Ramachandran and Betsy McKay – Wall Street Journal – July 31, 2025

Hundreds of thousands of veterans with PTSD have been prescribed simultaneous doses of powerful psychiatric drugs. The practice, known as “polypharmacy,” can tranquilize patients to the point of numbness, cause weight gain and increase suicidal thoughts when it involves pharmaceuticals that target the central nervous system, according to scientific studies and veterans’ accounts.

The VA’s own guidelines say no data support drug combinations to treat PTSD. The Food and Drug Administration warns that combining certain medications such as opioids and benzodiazepines can cause serious side effects, including death.

Nonetheless, prescribing cocktails of such drugs is one of the VA’s most common treatments for veterans with PTSD, and the number of veterans on multiple psychiatric drugs is a growing concern at the agency, according to interviews with more than 50 veterans, VA health practitioners, researchers and former officials, and a review of VA medical records and studies.

Polypharmacy has multiple definitions when it comes to central nervous system drugs. The VA defines it as taking five or more medications at the same time, while some medical researchers say it’s two or more and the American Geriatrics Society defines it as three or more.

There is an emerging medical consensus among VA doctors and researchers that taking multiple central nervous system drugs can wreak havoc on patients. Interactions between such drugs aren’t well understood, and their effects in combination can be unpredictable and extreme.

SOME CASE HISTORIES …

Mark Miller

U.S. Navy, Security Forces (1992-2007)

In 2007, Mark Miller was diagnosed with PTSD. The military put him on fluoxetine, otherwise known as Prozac. He became suicidal. Miller eventually weaned himself off medications and used “neuroplasticity” therapy which forms new connections in the brain. This April, returning suicidal thoughts prompted Miller to visit a VA hospital in San Antonio. A nurse practitioner prescribed a powerful antipsychotic in a five-minute appointment. Six days later, Miller returned, stepped off a shuttle bus and fatally shot himself in the head. “He did it clearly to speak for all the veterans who have no voice,” his father said.

Aripiprazole
Bupropion
Cyclobenzaprine
Fluoxetine
Lithium
Quetiapine
Tramadol

‘They did not even listen to anything I said — just prescribed stuff. Unreal’— Text from Mark Miller to his father days before his suicide

The VA maintains that the best treatment for PTSD is talk therapy. But therapists are scarce and wait times are long, so overwhelmed doctors default to pills. Because there is no single drug designed specifically to treat PTSD, veterans often end up on drug cocktails as multiple specialists try to ease a variety of symptoms and prevent harm or suicide, according to VA clinical staff, studies and veterans.

“When it comes to the challenge of polypharmacy in these populations, it’s constantly chasing your tail,” said Dr. Ryan Vega, a chief healthcare innovation official at the VA until 2023, who still treats veterans. “It is where medicine is more art than science. We have medications that treat those symptoms but are we addressing the root cause?”

Nearly 60% of VA patients with PTSD were taking two or more central nervous system drugs at the same time in 2019, the latest year for which data are publicly available, according to a VA study. That works out to more than 520,000 patients, up 62% from a decade earlier, driven by a near doubling of the number of VA patients with PTSD due to more combat tours and better screening.

One silver lining highlighted by the study was that the percentage of PTSD veterans on five or more CNS medications declined to 7% from 12%, largely due to internal efforts to deprescribe opioids and benzodiazepines. (Central nervous system drugs affect the brain and spinal cord; psychiatric medications are a subset of CNS drugs). The VA declined requests from The Wall Street Journal to provide more recent polypharmacy numbers for veterans in its care.

The VA has long been aware of the risks of overprescribing, and has internal research since at least 2016 showing the potential harms, including increased risk of suicide. The internal polypharmacy data “was pretty concerning,” said Dr. Shereef Elnahal, who headed the VA health system until early this year. He recalled a veteran advocate who told him about three veterans on more than five psychiatric drugs each who died by suicide, one after the other. They had been “walking around like zombies” before they took their own lives, the advocate told him.

The VA’s use of psychiatric drugs has come under scrutiny from members of Congress and advocacy groups as the veteran suicide rate is roughly double that of U.S. adults who didn’t serve. Studies by VA researchers link the simultaneous use of multiple psychiatric drugs to suicide risk among veterans, including a 2016 paper that found Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans taking five or more central nervous system drugs faced higher risks of overdose and suicidal behaviors.

Lucas Hamrick

U.S. Army, Special Forces (1996-2019)

Lucas Hamrick was diagnosed with PTSD in the Army. There, and then at the VA, he was prescribed multiple central nervous system drugs. Some put him in a daze, others made him feel like he might want to kill himself. After losing 12 friends on similar drug combinations to suicide, Hamrick quit all the medications by 2023 and turned to meditation, mindfulness and breathing exercises. “It’s about structuring life around how not to let things spill over,” he said.

Chlordiazepoxide
Diazepam
Gabapentin
Hydrocodone-acetaminophen
Lorazepam
Naltrexone
Paroxetine
Phenobarbital
Prazosin
Propranolol
Rizatriptan
Sertraline
Trazodone

‘The quality of mental health care made me feel like I was there to check a box and complete the process instead of working toward any type of changes in perspective or disposition.’

Yet the agency has been slow to mandate changes. It has failed to implement nationwide electronic systems to alert doctors when they prescribe multiple psychiatric drugs, despite evidence from its own studies that these alerts improve care. The VA doesn’t uniformly require written informed consent for all psychiatric drugs with suicide risk, something that veterans groups and some members of Congress are urging. Some veterans who have resisted taking cocktails of drugs say they were warned by VA and military doctors that refusing them could jeopardize their eligibility for disability benefits, which can reach $4,500 a month.

“I’ve been mortified by practically every veteran I’ve seen having been prescribed multiple psychiatric medications, often without a timely referral to therapy or without any referral at all,” said Janie Gendron, a therapist who worked for the Defense Department and has seen hundreds of active-duty service members and veterans in the past 25 years.

A VA spokesman said the agency is looking into the issues raised by the Journal, and that the Trump administration is seeking to address serious problems it has identified in veterans’ healthcare that weren’t solved by the Biden administration.

VA Secretary Doug Collins said at a congressional hearing in May that the agency is pursuing the potential use of alternative therapies, such as psychedelics, to offer more options and reduce the risk of suicide among veterans.

The rise of the combat cocktail for PTSD has its roots in the overreliance on a single class of drugs: benzodiazepines. By the 1970s, the military and VA relied heavily on Valium and, later, Xanax as a primary treatment for traumatized service members and veterans returning from deployment. But in the 1990s, Defense Department researchers observed that high doses often yielded poor clinical outcomes, and, along with the VA, ultimately advised against their long-term use on veterans in 2004.

Still, against the guideline, the VA has doled out benzodiazepines to more than 1.7 million patients with PTSD diagnoses since 2005, its own data show. It took nearly a decade for the use of those drugs to start to decline.

At the same time, prescriptions to veterans with PTSD rose for other powerful psychiatric drugs.

VA doctors and patients say that existing tools to limit the number of psychiatric drugs a patient takes, and guidance to avoid the use of benzodiazepines and certain antipsychotics for veterans with PTSD, are frequently ignored.

A friend’s suicide

After his best friend’s suicide in 2013, Iraq war veteran Doug Gresenz was diagnosed with PTSD and borderline personality disorder and eventually put on six psychotropic drugs. After one medication’s dosage was increased, he attempted suicide and was hospitalized. When he protested the volume of medications there, he said VA doctors questioned his commitment to recovery and told him he needed the pills to lead a normal life. “I was guilt-tripped,” he said.

Doug Gresenz

U.S. Marine Corps, Assaultman (2006-2010)

Baclofen
Bupropion
Citalopram
Clonazepam
Clonidine
Cyclobenzaprine
Divalproex
Doxepin
Erenumab-aooe
Eszopiclone
Gabapentin
Hydroxyzine
Melatonin
Methocarbamol
Mirtazapine
Olanzapine
Oxycodone
Prazosin
Propranolol
Sumatriptan
Quetiapine
Tizanidine
Tramadol
Trazodone
Venlafaxine
Zolpidem

‘I remember thinking: I’m literally poisoning myself.’

In 2016 alone, VA doctors prescribed him more than a dozen drugs, including antidepressants, antipsychotics, muscle relaxants and medications for nightmares, anxiety, pain and sleep, medical records show. Over little more than a decade, he received more than two dozen central nervous system medications. He recalled complaining to VA doctors that he was “so doped up” he would have accidents before getting to the bathroom.

“I remember thinking: I’m literally poisoning myself,” he said. In 2018, he quit benzodiazepines cold turkey and began to taper off the other drugs.

Within a couple of weeks, he collapsed, unable to use his legs. He developed a stutter and extreme light sensitivity. Violent spasms led to another fall, which caused complications that resulted in a severe foot injury and, eventually, an amputation last year.

The VA recommends any one of three antidepressants for PTSD—sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil) and venlafaxine (Effexor). But doctors are free to prescribe other additional drugs off-label—and many do.

“It’s super normal to see someone on five or six medications,” said Mary Neal Vieten, a retired Navy psychologist who has worked with thousands of members of the military and veterans. “That’s like an everyday thing.” Trauma has been medicalized, she said. “They’re acting as if the problem is in the person,” she said. Instead, it’s a normal response to an overwhelming experience, she said.

‘Stop-and-go’ pills

The culture of combat cocktails begins for some who are diagnosed with PTSD while still on active duty. In the military, too, drugs have long been given priority over psychotherapy, according to many veterans, former VA officials and therapists.

One Navy chaplain said his repeated calls to the Navy for more mental health resources went unanswered despite his documentation of more than 70 critical events, including suicide attempts, at a high-stress installation with nuclear submarines. When the chaplain himself grew suicidal, Navy doctors suggested that refusing the three-medication cocktail they prescribed could lead to discharge without benefits, instead of medical retirement with care.

Some veterans enter VA care dependent on psychiatric drugs that they were prescribed to improve combat readiness. They include Air Force veterans given “stop-and-go” pills—stimulants followed by sleeping pills.

Michael Valentino, who was chief pharmacist at the VA until 2021, said he grew alarmed by the rising numbers of service members entering VA care on stimulants without a diagnosis justifying it. “Then the VA has the burden of trying to undo it.”

Heather King

U.S. Air Force, Aircraft Maintenance Craftsman (2001-2010)

Heather King struggled with sleep after the Air Force prescribed Ambien following long flights. After her discharge, she was diagnosed with PTSD, and the VA added eight central nervous system drugs by 2020. King begged for help weaning off. Her VA doctor’s response: “Heather, under no circumstances are you ever going to be a person who is going to operate without meds.” She’s lately been sleeping soundly without pills for the first time, thanks to cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia—something the VA only told her about recently.

Amitriptyline
Buspirone
Cyclobenzaprine
Doxazosin
Doxepin
Duloxetine
Fluoxetine
Gabapentin
Hydroxyzine
Lamotrigine
Lorazepam
Mirtazapine
Prazosin
Propranolol
Ramelteon
Trazodone
Zaleplon
Zolpidem

‘It was like a death sentence. All these medications, they just made me numb. I wanted to feel my feelings, I wanted to actually heal.’

A Pentagon official said several medications at once are sometimes necessary for patients with multiple medical problems or who are treatment-resistant, adding that “records are reviewed to determine if the treating provider has provided clinical justification for the use of polypharmacy.” Service members and their families are offered “a robust and comprehensive array” of mental health programs, the official said.

Chemical messengers

Psychiatric drugs work by affecting levels of chemical messengers in the brain called neurotransmitters, which send signals between nerve cells and other cells in the body. For instance, many antidepressants increase levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter associated with mood. Benzodiazepines enhance the activity of a neurotransmitter called GABA, while some antipsychotics block dopamine receptors. Layering on several of these central nervous system agents at once can magnify their effects.

Combining an antipsychotic drug that activates dopamine receptors with one that blocks dopamine can exacerbate psychosis, said Dr. Sanket Raut, a research fellow specializing in polypharmacy at Gallipoli Medical Research in Brisbane, Australia. By the same token, benzodiazepines and opioids taken together can increase the risk of overdose. “Polypharmacy is a big problem,” said Raut. “There are many side effects: cognitive impairment, dizziness and the risk of falls.”

Erika Downey

U.S. Army, Military Police (2007-2013)

Amphetamine-Dextroamphetamine

Clonazepam
Erenumab-aooe
Fluoxetine
Lorazepam
Trazodone

‘They give out these giant paper bags filled with medicine after your first psychiatrist appointment.’

“They give out these giant paper bags filled with medicine after your first psychiatrist appointment,” said Erika Downey, a 35-year-old retired Army sergeant with PTSD. Women are more likely to be prescribed multiple drugs concurrently against guidelines, VA researchers have found.

Downey’s bouts of suicidal ideation while taking antidepressants, benzodiazepines and stimulants were so bad she once called a friend to come take away her gun. After that, she decided talk therapy would be the best medicine. She weaned herself off the drugs on her own over two years. She had to wait three years for a VA psychotherapy appointment. “At the VA, you are more quick to get into a psychiatrist”—someone who can prescribe meds—“than a psychologist,” she said. Gray for WSJ

Only 15% of veterans diagnosed with depression, PTSD or anxiety are offered psychotherapy in lieu of medication, according to a 2019 report by the Government Accountability Office. “They’re really leveraging the prescribing to keep up with patient demand,” said Derek Blumke of the Grunt Style Foundation, a nonprofit veterans’ care group. Many VA providers’ impulse is to “get them in and get them out,” said Chris Figura, a patient advocate at a VA in St. Louis.

Navy veteran Dick Johnson, in the VA system for three decades and diagnosed with PTSD and bipolar disorder, was prescribed more than 25 different central nervous system drugs, including antipsychotics, antidepressants and epilepsy medications, sometimes on six concurrently, his medical records show. He blames them for the collapse of his two marriages. “They pretty much destroyed my life,” Johnson said. When he worsened on one antipsychotic and experienced intense withdrawal tapering off, VA doctors tried to patch him up with a cocktail of other medicines including benzodiazepines. In 2006, he started a prolonged dose of Seroquel, a powerful antipsychotic, to get off benzodiazepines, because doctors said it was supposed to be easier to stop. His weight soared and he developed diabetes. Quitting Seroquel “nearly killed” him, as he suffered intense vomiting, diarrhea and a near-inability to digest. He’s still tapering off Paxil and Tegretol today, using a jewelry scale and sandpaper.

Drugged for Decades

Dick Johnson, who joined the Navy in 1989, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. After he was medically discharged in 1994, the VA put him on a heavy regimen of psychiatric drugs that made matters worse.

Medications prescribed, by class and date
Mood Stabilizers Anti- Psychotics Anti- Anxiety Anti-Depressant Medicated with lithium, which makes him severely ill 1995
Lithium Divorce with first wife 2000
Second marriage ’05 PTSD diagnosis
Divorce with second wife Seroquel ’10
Retires with disability from power plant ’15
Side effects of medications lead to ICU visit. Seeks help outside VA to taper off meds ’20
After cutting backmeds, joinssupport groupsand shares hisexperience
Note: Does not include all medications, including those prescribed for short durations.

Dr. Saraswathy Battar, a VA geriatrician, launched a passion project in 2016 to decrease the use of potentially inappropriate medications. After noticing veterans suffering from debilitating symptoms that she attributed to overprescription, she developed an electronic tool that has helped providers discontinue more than three million prescriptions. About half of VA providers are using the optional tool, she said, but they’re mostly caring for older veterans or those in palliative care, while it’s been hard to get mental health providers to adopt the tool. Some said they were unaware of its existence. “Suicide and homicide get attention,” but “there’s no penalty for not prioritizing polypharmacy reduction,” she said.

A path forward

After years on psychiatric drug regimens prescribed by military and VA doctors, a growing number of veterans are taking healing into their own hands, often exploring unconventional treatments. Many veterans said they are frustrated and angry that the country spends heavily training them to be lethal, but there’s little support for their fragile mental health as they reintegrate back into society.

Scott Griffin, the former special operations soldier who contemplated suicide last year, reached out to a group called Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions, or VETS, after the episode. Their suggestion: ibogaine, a powerful psychedelic derived from an African plant and illegal in the U.S., but only after tapering off his current medications. When Griffin asked his VA prescriber for help tapering, “he point-blank refused,” Griffin said.

He embarked on a gruelling self-taper. “I was white knuckling. I broke my teeth from clenching,” he recalled, battling intense vertigo and suicidality.

After 12 hours of altered consciousness on ibogaine in Mexico, Griffin took 5-MeO-DMT, a psychoactive compound most famously found in Colorado River toads’ poison, which he says was a profound spiritual experience. Since returning home in March, he has discarded his pills, prays daily and spends time with family, reconnecting after years of being “consumed by panic and anxiety.”

A Stanford study of 30 special operations forces veterans published last year found that ibogaine sharply reduced PTSD and related symptoms. A bipartisan bill in the House aims to fund VA research into psychedelics, which doctors caution remain largely unproven in clinical trials.

Says Griffin, “How does bark from a tree and venom off the back of a toad beat all this crap, all these pharmaceuticals they push down your throat?”

Source: Maggie Petito – www.drugwatch.org

Filed under: Culture,Drug use-various effects,Health,Mental Health,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

by Rebecca H. Johnson, Ashley Speckhart, Franklin Chien, Archie Bleyer – Academia Oncology – June 06, 2025

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study was to test the a priori hypothesis that the increasing incidence of testis and breast cancer in adolescent and young adult (AYA) Americans correlates with their increasing cannabis use.

Methods: The overall study design involved comparing breast and testis cancer incidence trends in jurisdictions that had or had not legalized cannabis use. Cancer incidence was assessed for the U.S. using the U.S. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data, and for Canada, using Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation data.

Results: In the U.S., both breast carcinoma in 20- to 34-year-old females and testis cancer in 15- to 39-year-old males had annual incidence rate increases that were highly correlated (Pearson’s r = 0.95) with the increase in the number of cannabis-legalizing jurisdictions during the period 2000–2019. Both were significantly greater during the period 2000–2019 in the SEER registries of cannabis-legalizing than non-legalizing states (Joinpoint-derived average annual percent change, AAPC1.3, p << 0.001 vs. 0.7, p << 0.001, respectively, for breast cancer, and AAPC1.2, p << 0.001 vs. no increase during the period 2000–2011 for testis cancer). During the period 2000–2019, registries in cannabis-legalizing versus non-legalizing states had a 26% versus 17% increase in breast carcinoma and 24% versus 14% increase in testis cancer. In the same age groups, Canada had a greater increase in both breast and testis cancer incidence than the U.S., and in both countries, breast and cancer trends were both correlated with the country’s cannabis use disorder prevalence by age.

Conclusions: North America shows evidence that cannabis is a potential etiologic factor contributing to the rising incidence of breast carcinoma and testis cancer in young adults. Canada’s greater increases than in the U.S. are consistent with its earlier and broader cannabis legalization. Given the increasing use and potency of cannabis facilitated by jurisdiction legalization and expanded availability, cannabis’ potential as a cause of breast and testis cancer merits national consideration.

Source: https://www.academia.edu/2998-7741/2/2/10.20935/AcadOnco7758

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Health,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

Opening statement by Herschel Baker

Sent: 31 July 2025 23:41 – 1 August 2025

It does appear that America is taking important action regarding Fentanyl but it’s also very important for America to make nitazene.

https://www.utmb.edu/mdnews/podcast/episode/even-worse-than-fentanyl

<https://www.utmb.edu/mdnews/podcast/episode/even-worse-than-fentanyl> a Schedule I drug.

<https://www.cadca.org/advocacy/president-trump-signs-halt-fentanyl-act-into-law/>

This important legislation attached permanently designates all fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs.

<https://www.cadca.org/advocacy/president-trump-signs-halt-fentanyl-act-into-law/>

<https://www.cadca.org/advocacy/terrance-cole-sworn-in-as-new-administrator-of-the-drug-enforcement-administration/>

It does appear that Terrance Cole is the right choice Sworn in as New Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration

<https://www.cadca.org/advocacy/terrance-cole-sworn-in-as-new-administrator-of-the-drug-enforcement-administration/>

Terrance Cole Sworn in as New Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration | CADCA

<https://www.cadca.org/advocacy/terrance-cole-sworn-in-as-new-administrator-of-the-drug-enforcement-administration/>

This Fentanyl Act is a good example that The Australian Federal Government needs to review and implement as a new Act to help keep The Australian community safe:

Alcohol And Drug Foundation https://adf.org.au/drug-facts/fentanyl/

https://adf.org.au/insights/fentanyl-and-nitazenes/

What are nitazenes?

https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/what-are-nitazenes

AFP warn over alarming potent synthetic opioids in 2024

https://www.afp.gov.au/news-centre/media-release/afp-warn-over-alarming-pote

nt-synthetic-opioids-2024

Weak response from TGA

https://www.tga.gov.au/products/medicines/prescription-medicines/prescriptio

n-opioids-hub/prescription-opioids-what-changes-are-being-made-and-why

Weak response from NIDA

https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/fentanyl#addictive

Lethal synthetic opioids found in Australian wastewater

https://news.uq.edu.au/2025-03-19-lethal-synthetic-opioids-found-australian-wastewater

Warning of potentially deadly synthetic opioid

https://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/public+content/sa+health+internet/about+us/news+and+media/all+media+releases/warning+of+potentially+deadly+synthetic+opioid

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

PUBLIC LAW 119–26—JULY 16, 2025
HALT ALL LETHAL TRAFFICKING OF FENTANYL ACT

To access the full document:

Click on the ‘Source’ link below.
An image – the front page of the full document will appear.
Click on the image to open the full document.

Source: HALT ALL LETHAL TRAFFICKING OF Fentanyl Act

Filed under: Fentanyl,Political Sector,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

by Lindsey Culli – Department of Health Policy and Management – July 30, 2025

A new study from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health sheds light on how people who inject drugs (PWID) are responding to the growing instability and danger in the U.S. illicit drug supply. Despite facing structural vulnerabilities, participants in the study demonstrated a keen awareness of changes in drug quality and content, and many are taking proactive steps to reduce their risk of overdose, injury, and other harms.

Published July 24, 2025, in the journal Health Promotion International, the qualitative study explores the experiences of 23 PWID in Baltimore City, where a growing number of opioid-related deaths and the emergence of new, harmful adulterants like xylazine have made drug use increasingly perilous. Participants reported encountering potent and unpredictable drug combinations and described cognitive, behavioral, and social strategies they use to navigate this new reality. Notably, the paper’s publication comes just two weeks after a mass overdose in Baltimore’s Penn North neighborhood sent dozens of people to the hospital in the span of a few hours and tests revealed unfamiliar ingredients.

“We found that people who inject drugs are not indifferent to the risks they face,” said lead author Abigail Winiker, PhD, MSPH, an assistant scientist in Health Policy and Management and program director for the Bloomberg Overdose Prevention Initiative. “They are making conscious decisions every day to protect their health, whether that’s testing a small dose, avoiding injecting alone, switching to less risky methods of use, or sharing safety information with peers. These are intentional harm reduction strategies grounded in knowledge and a desire to stay safe.”

The U.S. continues to grapple with a historic overdose crisis, with over 107,000 deaths reported in 2022 alone. Fentanyl and its analogs now dominate the opioid supply, but new substances, often unknown to users, are increasingly present. Participants in the study described a “wildcard” market where real heroin has been replaced by unpredictable blends, sometimes laced with benzodiazepines, dissociative agents, or tranquilizers like xylazine, which are not meant for human consumption.

The uncertainty has led to intense fear and physical harm among PWID, with many recounting a range of adverse reactions from illicit substance use, including blackouts, seizures, severe wounds, and overdose. Despite the increasing risk associated with these drug market changes, most participants reported having no access to a reliable source of information about the composition of the drug supply, making it challenging to adapt in the face of new additives. Most knowledge about specific risks or harmful batches was passed on through word of mouth, which could perpetuate rumors and the spread of misinformation.

Individual and Collective Adaptations

The study highlights the wide array of harm reduction strategies participants use to mitigate risk. Cognitively, many indicated thinking about their drug use in terms of personal health and family responsibilities, with some expressing a motivation to seek treatment or abstain from use entirely in the face of an increasingly risky drug supply.

Behaviorally, PWID described strategies such as taking smaller test doses, sniffing instead of injecting, and having someone present who could administer naloxone if needed. Socially, trust played a critical role; participants emphasized returning to known sellers who warned them about potent batches and relying on peer networks to spread information about adverse events or dangerous batches in circulation.

“These strategies reflect a deep sense of agency and adaptability,” said Winiker. “Our findings debunk the dangerous myth that individuals who use drugs are reckless or disconnected from their health. This false narrative perpetuates stigma and limits our ability as a society to recognize the incredible resilience and strength of people who use drugs.”

Policy and Programmatic Implications

The authors argue that these findings should inform more responsive public health policies and harm reduction programming. While fentanyl test strips can be an effective intervention, many participants noted that fentanyl’s presence is now expected, but what they fear are the unknown additives they cannot identify or test for, such as those that were found in the case of the mass overdose two weeks ago. Universal drug checking services, real-time supply surveillance, and mobile harm reduction outreach are critical next steps, the study concludes.

The research also points to the urgent need to remove structural barriers to harm reduction. In many states, drug checking equipment is still considered illegal paraphernalia. Criminalization and stigma continue to limit access to lifesaving services, especially among those who are unhoused or medically underserved.

“People who inject drugs are doing their part to reduce harm,” said Winiker. “It’s time to reform our systems so they stop making it harder for them to do so, by legalizing drug checking, ensuring individuals with lived experience have leadership roles in overdose prevention and response efforts, investing in safer supply programs, and ensuring that stigma and punitive laws don’t block access to care.”

The study was conducted as part of the SCOPE Study, a project led by Susan Sherman, PhD, MPH, to design an integrated drug checking and HIV prevention intervention. It was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and reflects growing interest in how PWID are adapting to the post-fentanyl era.

Source: https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/in-the-face-of-a-volatile-drug-supply-people-take-harm-reduction-into-their-own-hands

Filed under: Addiction,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Harm Reduction,Mental Health,Strategy and Policy,USA :

by Rachel Girarda, PATHS Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA

Background: American Indian communities consistently identify adolescent substance use as a major concern. However, limited empirical work has examined how culturally specific protective factors – such as family disapproval and cultural affiliation – interact to influence substance use behavior. Given the importance of kinship networks and cultural continuity, understanding these dynamics is critical for informing culturally grounded prevention strategies.

Objectives: This study examines the moderating role of cultural affiliation in the association between family disapproval of substance use and actual use among American Indian adolescents, a population often excluded from national health datasets.

Methods: Secondary analysis was conducted using self-report data from the Our Youth, Our Future study, a nationally representative sample of American Indian adolescents attending schools on or near reservations (N = 8,950; 51% female; Mage = 14.64 years, SD = 1.77).

Results: Multilevel analyses revealed that family disapproval was negatively associated with lifetime alcohol (b = −0.15, p < .001) and cannabis use (b = −0.34, p < .001), controlling for age. Among adolescents who endorsed use, cultural affiliation moderated the relationship between family disapproval and past-year alcohol and cannabis use. Specifically, family disapproval was significantly associated with lower alcohol use at high (b = −0.01, p = .002) but not low (b = −0.07, p = .48) levels of cultural affiliation. For cannabis use, the association was stronger at high (b = −0.51, p < .001) versus low (b = −0.32, p = .005) levels.

Conclusions: Cultural affiliation strengthens the protective effects of family disapproval on substance use among American Indian youth. Findings support culturally responsive, family-based prevention efforts that promote cultural identity and intergenerational communication.

Source: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00952990.2025.2535557?src=

Filed under: Culture,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

by Emily Caldwell – Ohio State News – Jul 08, 2025

Almost 1 in 10 workers in their 30s uses alcohol, marijuana or hard drugs like cocaine while on the job in the United States, a new study has found.

The risk for substance use among young employees was highest in the food preparation/service industry and in safety-sensitive occupations including construction – a sector linked in previous research with a high risk for drug overdose deaths.

Based on their prior studies of workplace strategies related to employee substance use, the researchers say these new findings suggest comprehensive substance use policies and supportive interventions could improve safety and help reduce workers’ misuse of alcohol and drugs.

“Especially for those working in blue-collar or heavy manual jobs, they often have limited access to support to address substance use,” said lead author Sehun Oh, associate professor of social work at The Ohio State University. “It’s easy to blame someone for using substances, but we want to pay attention to understanding their working conditions and barriers at the workplace.”

Oh completed the study with Daejun “Aaron” Park, assistant professor of social work at Ohio University, and Sarah Al-Hashemi, a recent Ohio State College of Public Health graduate.

The research was published recently in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine.

Previous research has suggested that substance use is common among people who work long hours or evening shifts and earn low wages, or who experience life stressors such as low annual household income and limited education. But few studies have been able to report on substance use during work hours, and the occupations at highest risk for on-the-job alcohol and drug use, because the data is hard to come by.

“There are many studies looking at specific occupations and their risks, and the prevalence of substance use outside work,” Oh said. “There is very limited evidence on workplace substance use, which is more concerning in terms of occupational safety, not just for the workers but also colleagues or others exposed to the workplaces. This is the only data we know of to inform this issue.”

The study sample included 5,465 young employees who participated in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, a nationally representative sample of men and women who were aged 12-17 in 1997 and were interviewed regularly until 2022. The NLSY surveys were conducted by Ohio State’s Center for Human Resource Research. Data for this study came from the 2015-16 survey, the most recent wave to collect information on substance use behaviors.

Results were based on participants’ reports of substance use immediately before or during a work shift in the past month. Among respondents, 8.9% of workers reported any substance use in the workplace, including 5.6% drinking alcohol, 3.1% using marijuana and 0.8% taking cocaine or other hard drugs, a category that also included opioids.

Statistical modeling showed a higher risk for all types of on-the-job substance use among food-industry workers, higher alcohol use among white-collar workers (linked in prior research to drinking while cultivating business relationships or celebrating accomplishments), and elevated alcohol and marijuana use in safety-sensitive occupations.

“We’re really concerned to see the findings for safety-sensitive occupations – not just in construction, but also installation, maintenance, repair, transportation and material movement,” Oh said. “In many federal-level transportation occupations, there are policies prohibiting operating under the influence. So we’re surprised to see that still 6% of material moving workers are working under the influence, and 2% of them are using marijuana – this was striking, because other than drug testing policies, it’s hard to implement interventions for workers moving from place to place.”

Both Oh and Park said these new findings shed light on the impact that comprehensive employer substance use policies and supportive programs for workers could have.

Variations in workplace substance-use policies may be one explanation for industry differences in risk for employee alcohol and drug use on the job, Park said. In a 2023 study he led, 20% of survey participants reported their workplaces had no substance use policy. The research showed that comprehensive workplace substance use policies – which included recovery-friendly initiatives – were linked to a significant decrease in employee drug and alcohol use across many employment sectors.

“The work categories least likely to have substance use policies tend to be those managed individually by owners or workers,” he said. “Also the arts, food service, entertainment, recreation – those kinds of workplaces don’t tend to have polices in place.”

And Oh found in a 2023 study that only half of workers in a national sample had access to support services for substance use problems, such as counseling, at their places of employment. Availability of workplace support services led to lower rates of marijuana and other illicit drug use among workers.

“What I found was policy alone can’t be effective in reducing substance use problems – policies need to be accompanied by support services,” he said. “That’s one thing we propose in this paper – that combining alcohol and other drug policies with supportive services produces the greatest benefits, rather than relying on either alone.”

The analysis also showed substance use in the workplace had strong associations with off-work substance misuse: Users of marijuana on the job were more likely to report daily cannabis use and were more than twice as likely to be heavy drinkers compared to those not using marijuana at work, and employees on cocaine or other hard drugs while working were more likely to drink heavily, use marijuana more frequently, and report frequent illicit drug use.

“Our research shows that those under adverse working conditions with many barriers to economic and well-being resources tend to use substances as a coping mechanism, whether that relates to an emotional toll or physical demands of not just working conditions, but their life circumstances,” Oh said. “There is a need for more structural support to address these huge implications for the health of workers and others, and to reduce the stigma associated with substance use.”

Source: https://news.osu.edu/9-of-young-us-employees-use-alcohol-drugs-at-work-study-finds/

Filed under: Alcohol,Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Workplace,Youth :

“There’s no ID required. It’s odorless. It’s everything kids look for. They can afford it, they can get it, and it doesn’t show in mom and dad’s drug test.”

Dana O’Rourke lost her 19-year-old daughter to “dusting,” a trend popularized on social media.¹ Dusting is one of the many slang terms used to describe the use of inhalants. As O’Rourke says, inhalants are easy to get and generally undetectable, making it appealing to young people. Below, learn more about dusting and huffing, the signs of inhalant misuse, and how to keep your child safe.

Key Takeaways:

Inhalant misuse: Huffing and dusting involve inhaling substances like aerosol sprays or household chemicals, posing serious health risks.
Warning Signs: Look for unusual chemical odors, headaches, dizziness, slurred speech, and behavioral changes.
Prevention: Educate loved ones, keep chemicals out of reach, monitor activities, and seek professional help if needed.

What Are Inhalants?

Inhalants are everyday household products that some people misuse to get high. This dangerous practice has many slang names including “huffing,” “dusting,” “sniffing,” “whippets,” and “huff.” (see other terms at the end of this article) These products were never meant to be breathed in on purpose and using them this way can cause serious harm or even death.²

Common household items that get misused include:³

Computer keyboard cleaners (canned air)
Spray paint
Nail polish remover
Certain types of glue
Markers and correction fluid
Hair spray and deodorant
Cooking spray
Cleaning fluids
Gasoline
Whipped cream dispensers (the propellant)
Air conditioner fluid (Freon)

Why This Is Happening More Often

Inhalant misuse has become more visible, especially among younger teens. There are several reasons why this is concerning:

Easy to Find: Unlike other substances, these products are legal and found in almost every home, school, and store. Kids don’t need to buy anything special or find a dealer.

Social Media Influence: Some social media challenges and videos show people using inhalants, making it seem normal or fun. These videos don’t show the real dangers or the people who get seriously hurt.

False Safety: Because these products are sold in stores, some people think they must be safe to use in any way. This is far from the truth. (There are stores dedicated to the sale of alcohol, for example, and alcohol comes with many health risks.)

Quick Effect: Inhalants work very fast – within seconds of breathing them in, a person feels intoxicated with effects similar to being drunk on alcohol. This quick effect can make them appealing to curious teens, but it’s also what makes them so dangerous.

The Real Dangers

Using inhalants is extremely risky, even the first time. Here’s what can happen:

Immediate Effects: Within seconds, users may experience slurred speech, inability to coordinate movements, dizziness, confusion, delirium, nausea, and vomiting. They may also have lightheadedness, hallucinations, and delusions.
Sudden Death: This can happen to anyone, even healthy people using inhalants for the first time. It’s called “sudden sniffing death syndrome.”
Brain Damage: Inhalants can permanently damage parts of the brain that control thinking, moving, seeing, and hearing. Effects can range from mild problems to severe dementia.
Heart Problems: These chemicals can cause irregular heartbeat and heart failure.
Suffocation: People can pass out and stop breathing.
Dangerous Behavior: Because the high only lasts a few minutes, people often keep using inhalants over several hours to maintain the feeling. This greatly increases the risk of losing consciousness and death.
Long-term Problems: Regular use can cause weight loss, muscle weakness, disorientation, trouble paying attention and other problems related to thinking, lack of coordination, irritability, and depression. After heavy use, people may feel drowsy for hours and have lasting headaches. Their use can also lead to addiction.

Warning Signs Parents Should Watch For

Parents and other caregivers should look out for these signs of inhalant misuse:

Physical Signs:

Chemical smell on breath or clothes
Paint stains on face, hands, or clothing
Red or runny nose and eyes
Spots or sores around the mouth
Drunk-like behavior without alcohol smell
Loss of appetite

Behavioral Changes:

Sudden mood swings
Becoming secretive or isolated
Declining grades
Loss of interest in hobbies or friends
Finding hidden cans, bottles, or rags

Items Around the House:

Empty spray cans or bottles
Missing household products
Rags or clothing that smell like chemicals
Hidden bags or balloons

What Parents Can Do

Talk Early and Often: Have honest conversations about drugs and inhalants before problems start. Explain that legal doesn’t mean safe. Other important messages are:

- No temporary feeling is worth risking your life or permanent brain damage.
- Real friends won’t pressure you to try dangerous things. It’s okay to say no.
- Remember that social media doesn’t show the whole story. Videos don’t show the people who got seriously hurt or died.
Secure Products: Keep inhalants locked up or in hard-to-reach places, especially if you suspect a problem.
Stay Involved: Know your child’s friends, activities, and where they spend time.
Monitor Online Activity: Be aware of what your kids see on social media and talk about dangerous trends.
Get Help: If you suspect inhalant misuse, contact your doctor, school counselor, or an addiction professional immediately.

If you discover that your child is under the influence of inhalants:

Don’t leave them alone if they seem confused or sick
Call 911 if they pass out or have trouble breathing
Encourage them to talk about why they are using inhalants
Connect with Partnership to End Addiction for guidance and resources

Additional Terms and Information

The following provides more information on inhalants from “The Clinical Assessment and Treatment of Inhalant Abuse”:⁴

Bagging: inhaling fumes from a soaked cloth sprayed with euphoria-inducing substances and deposited inside a paper or plastic bag.
Ballooning: inhaling a gas (usually nitrous oxide) from a balloon.
Chroming: spraying paint from an aerosol can into a plastic bag and then breathing the vapors from the bag.
Dusting: spraying an aerosol directly into the nose or mouth.
Gladding: inhaling air-freshener aerosols sprayed near the face.
Glue sniffer’s rash/huffer’s rash: refers to a skin condition that occurs around the mouth and midface. Glue or other chemicals dry out the skin and dissolve its natural oils, leading to inflammation, redness, and sometimes infections.
Huffing: inhaling a substance from a cloth or rags that have been soaked and are held close to the face.
Poppers/snappers: amyl nitrite packaged in small bottles that are opened to release the vapors; sold under trade names Super Rush, Locker Room, Bolt, Jungle Juice, Quick Silver, and Extreme Formula.⁵
Popper’s maculopathy: is damage to vision in the central part of the retina caused by using alkyl nitrites, which are chemicals often found in certain inhalants.
Sniffing/snorting: inhaling a substance from an open container directly through the mouth or nose.
Snotballs: inhaling smoke from the burning of rubber cement, where the adhesive is rolled into balls then burned to release the fumes.
Whippets: vials of nitrous oxide gas, most commonly from whipped cream aerosol canisters. The nitrous oxide can be extracted following whipped cream discharge, after which the released gas can be inhaled at close range or transferred to a balloon and then inhaled.

The Bottom Line

Inhalant use might seem harmless because these products are common household items, but it’s one of the most dangerous forms of substance use. The risk of serious injury or death is real from the very first use. By understanding the dangers, staying informed, and learning how to spot the signs of inhalant misuse, parents can better protect their families.

Remember: There is no safe way to use inhalants. The only safe choice is not to use them at all. If you’re concerned about your loved one, don’t hesitate to reach out to us for support.

Source: https://drugfree.org/article/huffing-dusting-signs-of-inhalant-misuse-parents-should-know/

Filed under: Culture,Drug use-various effects,Drugs and Accidents,Environment,Parents,Prevention and Intervention,Solvent abuse,USA :

by Jac Charlier, Executive Director, Center for Health and Justice, TASC, and Jason Kew, Centre for Justice Innovation, UK

July 23, 2025.

Lessons from a Decade of Police, Drug Treatment, and Community Partnerships

Ten years ago, an article appeared in the September 2015 issue of IACP’s Police Chief magazine that would introduce a new word into the U.S. police and justice lexicon: deflection. Eventually, the word also would make its way into the public health world of drug treatment and recovery, as well as move into global usage. In the article, “Want to Reduce Drugs in Your Community? You Might Want to Deflect Instead of Arrest,” author Jac Charlier described a model of crime reduction and crime prevention in which police would “deflect” people who use drugs to substance use treatment rather than arresting and charging them, thereby addressing the root of the problem—that person’s drug use—and, in turn, reducing drug-related offenses in the community. Further, in the case of opioids, police also were seeking to prevent overdoses.

“This scenario is ripe for innovation,” wrote Charlier, adding that deflection lays the groundwork for “comprehensive solutions that work in a variety of jurisdictions.”¹

A decade later, the benefits suggested in the 2015 article have borne out, and the practice of deflection indeed has exploded into the emergence of a global field and movement. Reflecting on the impact of deflection over the past decade, many additional lessons and benefits have become evident as well.

What’s In a Name?

At first appearance, the need for a word to describe what was a small and disparate set of police departments working with local drug treatment agencies to address overdoses might have seemed unnecessary. With only a handful of departments across the United States known to be doing what would become called deflection, and with departments each developing their own processes ad hoc, the need for a new word was anything but obvious. Now, 10 years on, the word itself, while still new to some, has stuck. That is in part because of the simplicity and logic of the term: while diversion moves people away from the justice system after they have already entered it, deflection happens earlier, before they even enter it, moving them into community-based services instead. In other words, diversion is post-filing, and deflection is always pre-filing, whether or not an arrest occurs.

At the time the deflection term was coined, it was becoming clear that (1) something new and different was happening between police and drug treatment that had not been seen formally before; (2) when looked at closely, even in those early days, it appeared that what other parts of the justice system (prosecutors, jails, courts, prisons, probation, and parole) had been doing for many years (working closely with drug treatment) had now arrived for police; and (3) this was more than a move upstream to the police now doing diversion; rather, this was something very different because it relied not on the justice system solving the problem, but first and foremost on community, treatment, and recovery as co-problem-solving partners with the police.

“When one thinks about when and where they can have the greatest impact with the fewest resources, including costs, it is always best and better to act first at prevention and then early intervention”

Another aspect of deflection that easily could be overlooked yet deserves to be acknowledged for the tremendous innovation that it represents is this: deflection emerged not from the treatment or recovery movement, but from—almost exclusively at first—police, sheriffs, and other law enforcement agencies. The birth of deflection was in large part, but not exclusively, a response to the overdose crisis, and the maxim that “we can’t arrest our way out of this” is due to the courage, willingness, and creativity of police, sheriffs, law enforcement, and prosecutors to seek alternative solutions.

While one-off versions of deflection have existed here and there since the 1990s, deflection now is practiced across departments, in multicounty approaches, and even at the level of state police. Deflection exists in training, practice, policy, legislation, research, and funding and continues to expand into new areas. It is here to stay and (together with its older sibling diversion, which also works at the intersection of public safety and public health) forms an entirely new way of understanding a practice-based, community-first-approach to reducing drug use and drug use–related crime, while promoting recovery and well-being.

Another way to think about the emergence of deflection is that whereas before, prevention and diversion of drug-related offenses happened through models such as treatment courts, there now exist new opportunities to reduce drug use and drug-related behaviors earlier than previously practicable by thinking of prevention–deflection–diversion, each offering opportunities to act.

Today, 9 U.S. federal agencies; 41 states; and innumerable counties, cities, foundations, researchers, universities, police training units, and—most importantly—police practitioners, recognize deflection. From those original few sites (and with federal, state, and local funding streams for deflection) it is now estimated that more than1,600 deflection initiatives exist, not including any of the sites outside the United States.

Deflection on an International Scale

Deflection has evolved in concert with parallel international advances in related drug- and crime-reduction policies grounded in public safety and public health working together. For instance, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in the past several years, has hosted Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) side events focused specifically on deflection. Outside of the United States, deflection initiatives have emerged in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, Italy, Tanzania, and other countries as communities seek efficient and cost-effective means to reduce substance use and its consequences.² Just as has occurred in the United States, these initiatives are growing organically and according to local needs and resources. As one example, deflection practice in the UK incorporates a vast menu of options, from children’s referrals from schools, to veterans, mental health co-response, and women-only pathways. Each program is coordinated through the local authority’s community safety partnership, and each local authority is very different from another.

10 Lessons Learned from 10 Years of Deflection

With these roots, 10 major lessons have emerged as deflection has become formalized and has grown across the United States and globally:

Police–treatment partnerships are effective. The first and most important lesson is that police and drug treatment can work together, side by side, with a shared mission and vision, to make a positive difference for the community. This idea, prior to deflection, was not routinely seen nor practiced. Policing and drug treatment historically have had misgivings about working together, starting with not considering how it might benefit them both to work together. Thanks to deflection, this has now changed. Through locally driven efforts unique to each community, where police departments have flexibility and control over processes, along with treatment partners who offer clinical and outreach expertise, deflection offers mutually rewarding solutions whereby both the justice system and public health system benefit from shared goals through a collaborative working relationship. In practical terms, police officers on the street now have a new “partner” working alongside them to figure out how to handle situations for which police were neither trained nor equipped, and the treatment and recovery communities now have earlier-than-before access to people with problem drug use who were not yet, in all but overdose cases, at the point of crisis. Of course, for the deflection participant, they benefit from a supportive “warm handoff” to treatment and services as a way to stop continued drug use.
Police–recovery partnerships are growing. The second lesson, which stems from the first, is that police and people in recovery from addiction could work well together. If the first lesson was a hill to overcome, then this lesson was the mountain. Indeed, the credit of deflection actually working on the ground, day in and day out, goes to the line officers and people in recovery who have learned to work together by understanding and respecting why the other does what they do. Deflection creates a situation where they need each other. This is because while the police previously may have had the contact with the person using drugs, deflection offered a way to build trust that mattered. Through what is known in the field as “relentless engagement,” the partnerships seek to ensure the person knows that both the officer and treatment/services/recovery supports are there to assist them.
The community is on board. The third lesson is that communities can accept deflection, especially and importantly when key community partners are consulted and included from the outset. Binary notions such as “tough on drugs” versus “let people use drugs” are politicized statements that do not reflect the reality on the ground of what the public wants—a response that leads to a solution that actually works for their family members, neighbors, businesses, and the community alike, and then allows their local police to focus more on serious and violent crimes, including, not coincidently, drug trafficking. Limited resources require efficient use of those resources.
Deflection is effective. The fourth lesson underscores all the others: deflection works. From early evaluations to research to now second and even third site evaluations, it is clear that this entirely new field and movement, which sits between drug prevention and justice diversion (post-filing and entry into the justice system), was indeed called for and needed. As anticipated when it came into being a decade ago, deflection evaluations have shown it can reduce drug use and reduce drug use–related behaviors and crime, while also promoting recovery, well-being, and community safety.³
Deflection’s community focus is rooted in the history of policing. Deflection fits naturally within the history and role of policing. Sir Robert Peel, who established the first organized police force in London, England, in 1829, and August Vollmer, who became known as the “father of modern policing” in the United States a century later, each contended that a foundational principle of policing is to prevent crime before it occurs and that this happens in partnership with the community. They both proposed that, by addressing underlying reasons for criminal behavior, policing practices can mitigate the harm caused by crime and reduce its occurrence. Indeed, Vollmer practically described deflection exactly when he suggested at a 1919 IACP meeting that police collaborate with social service agencies as a crime prevention strategy.⁴
Police want to help people recover from drug use. The sixth lesson is that the police want to learn more about drug use, misuse, and addiction; about drug treatment and how it works; and most importantly, how they can be part of helping people to recover from addiction. Every day, police see people who use drugs. They see them getting worse, not better, and they see the harmful impact of drug use on families and the community at large. Through deflection, police get to see people reduce and then stop and recover from drug use. This is critical to a profession that otherwise often sees only bad and negative things. Police can see in deflection the role they play in reducing the scourge of addiction and how helpful they and their profession can be. They are not asked to provide treatment nor do the case management, but they kick off the entire process. It is said within the field that while police may be only the first step of many to recovery from drugs, without law enforcement, deflection would never get started. (Deflection is now practiced by EMS and fire departments, as well as by others, including second responders, but police deflection still makes up the majority of sites.)
Local, community-based designs, decisions, and control are vital. Deflection is a framework, not a program. This is often heard in the field with the idea being that while some critical elements that make deflection work, and work better, are known, it is and always will exist only within the context of the local community in which it operates. Deflection is a multisystems approach to addressing a complex, often chronic problem: addiction. That means the local community has a say in how it is designed and looks; police have a say in how it operates; and treatment and recovery providers have a say into how it will focus their limited resources. The complexity of deflection, understood within the design of a specific community, is what gives meaning to the statement, “If you’ve seen one deflection initiative, you’ve truly seen only one deflection initiative.”
Deflection is good public policy. The combined voice of police, drug treatment, and community together makes for good, community-grounded public policy, and as a result, is much more powerful when speaking to drug policy, funding, and practice than any of them would be alone. This lesson comes from the work of each of the deflection sites themselves, which figures out how to make it work on the ground and from that, find their shared voice to do more and do better to share deflection insights with neighboring communities.
Barriers to treatment persist. The ninth lesson is that deflection has required greater adjustments for treatment than it has for the police. For police, any initial hesitancy about deflection usually relates to the practical side of how this will work. For treatment, recovery, and health partners, working alongside the police is often a new endeavor altogether. Interestingly, treatment partners will state they know this can be done but do not know how. Deflection creates a bridge between public safety and public health and the resulting connection provides guidance; instruction; training; and most important, one-on-one relationships between officers, people who treat those who use drugs, and people in recovery.
The efficiency of deflection: Why wait for an arrest? The tenth lesson comes directly from the motto of the deflection field: “Why wait for an arrest?” Deflection offers an opportunity to get people to treatment before they reach the point of entering the justice system, and often before addiction has set in at full force. Deflection creates pathways, six to be exact, to connect people to treatment, housing, recovery, and services.⁵)

This matters because when one thinks about when and where they can have the greatest impact with the fewest resources, including costs, it is always best and better to act first at prevention and then early intervention. This is, of course, where deflection operates. In cases of overdose, its focus is preventing the next potential overdose. Deflection is an early, upstream strategy. This means that deflection is efficient in addressing issues before they become crises or happen again.

First national deflection and pre-arrest diversion summit, held at IACP in Alexandria, VA, 2017.
Photo courtesy TASC’s Center for Health and Justice.

As the decade since the introduction of the term deflection closes out and stakeholders reflect on these 10 lessons learned, the future of this field and movement is nothing but positive. It is growing nationally and globally; it is now common; it has funding and legislative support; researchers and policymakers are doing more of it; the demands to show more and better outcomes by the public are underway; and there is much more to come. Most important, the idea attached to the word deflection—this foundational change in how police and drug treatment work together, in and with the community—is no longer unusual, something not understood. Rather, the communities practicing it show that deflection can be done, and the field indeed is doing it!

Finally, as deflection celebrates its 10th anniversary with a celebration at the Police, Treatment, and Community Collaborative (PTACC) 2025 International Deflection and Pre-Arrest Diversion Summit in New Orleans, Louisiana, from December 2–4, deflection sites will share their own lessons learned. Police professionals are invited to join PTACC in New Orleans. After that, it’s time to get ready for the next 10 years. Many possibilities exist of where this work will go, but this field and movement, once unheard of, will be more, do more, and achieve more. Indeed, police, treatment, and communities alike are counting on deflection to do just that! d

Source: https://www.policechiefmagazine.org/deflection-turns-10/

Filed under: Crime/Violence/Prison,Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,UK,USA :

Report to Congressional Committees – July 2025 / GAO-25-107845 – United States GAO – (Government Accountability Office)

Highlights

A report to congressional committees.

For more information, contact: Triana McNeil – United States Government Accountability Office

What GAO Found

The 12 experts in a forum which GAO convened said that to develop effective media campaigns and evaluate media campaigns, whether on drug misuse prevention or other topics, campaigns need to consider the following:

Graphical user interface, text, application AI-generated content may be incorrect.

· Identify and understand intended audience. Once a campaign has identified who it wants to reach, it needs to understand the intended audience—including by identifying the underlying causes of the behavior the campaign wants to change. For example, experts noted that campaigns may decide to target the underlying reasons why people misuse drugs rather than developing campaigns to target specific drugs.

· Create content, select messengers, and decide on delivery methods. Campaigns need to create content to deliver their messages, which need to be credible and relevant for the intended audience. Campaigns also need to select messengers to deliver their messages, such as community leaders. Additionally, campaigns need to decide how to deliver their messages. For example, campaigns may use print and social media, among other options.

· Test messages. Campaigns need to test their messages with the intended audience to ensure that the messages are relevant and resonate with the intended audience. This testing can include using focus groups, interviews, or surveys, among other methods.

· Define the intended outcome. Campaigns need to have a clear understanding of what they are trying to achieve. Then, evaluators can decide what data are needed to determine whether a campaign is meeting its goals.

· Select qualified evaluators. Campaigns need independent evaluators who can speak to campaign managers about a campaign’s effectiveness using evidence from evaluations. Evaluators need expertise in research methods, evaluation, and other disciplines and need to understand the campaign substance.

· Decide when and how to measure effectiveness. Campaigns need to decide if they will evaluate the campaign while it is ongoing or after the campaign has concluded. They also need to decide what they want to measure and what data collection methods they will use.

To access the full document:

Click on the ‘Source’ link below.
An image – the front page of the full document will appear.
Click on the image to open the full document.

Source: https://files.gao.gov/reports/GAO-25-107845/index.html?

Filed under: Drug Specifics,Drug use-various effects,Internet,Prevention and Intervention,Social Affairs,Strategy and Policy,USA :

Posted July 21, 2025 by Mark S Gold, M.D.

Key points

Youth overdose deaths are high as illicit drugs are often contaminated with fentanyl and other synthetics.
The “One Pill Can Kill” initiative warns—especially youth and parents—of counterfeit pills with fentanyl.
Recent Baltimore mass casualties remind us the overdose landscape is changing, but fentanyl is a constant.

On July 10, 2025, first responders in Baltimore discovered numerous individuals simultaneously overdosing in the same neighborhood. Twenty-five people ages 25-55 were hospitalized, five in critical condition. There were no deaths. All victims had bought and used a neighborhood street sample of opioids, and testing revealed the drug mixture included fentanyl, N‑methylclonazepam (a benzodiazepine not approved in the United States), acetaminophen, mannitol, quinine, and caffeine. The benzodiazepine caused prolonged unconsciousness, even after naloxone was given.

Baltimore has one of the highest overdose rates of any city in the United States. One reason for this is that illicit drug manufacturers constantly add new substances, prolonging the drug’s effects, making users feel different or more powerful. Adding xylazine or medetomidine created the zombie drug crisis in Philadelphia. But combining opioids with benzodiazepines is dangerous because both drugs cause sedation, making it harder to breathe. In 2021, nearly 14 percent of fatal opioid overdoses in the United States involved benzodiazepines, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Most recently, fentanyl has been used with methamphetamine, the synthetic speedball, or cocaine, but more recently, Canadians have reported that their fentanyl has become contaminated with benzodiazepines. This synthetic benzodiazepine-laced opioid concoction is often called “benzodope.” It poses amplified risks for people who use fentanyl.

While national overdose fatalities declined in 2024, fentanyl alone or in combination remains a leading cause of preventable death in young people. Over the past decade, drug overdoses among young people have surged, killing 230,000+ people under 35 years old. Opioids, particularly fentanyl and other synthetics, are driving the high overdose death rate among adolescents and adults.

Julie Gaither, Ph.D., from the Yale School of Medicine, analyzed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data on children and teens under 20. She found that 13,861 youths died from opioids from 1999-2021—about 37.5 percent of those deaths involved fentanyl. Teens ages 15-19 years made up 90 percent of the fentanyl deaths. In about 17 percent of cases, the child or teen also had ingested benzodiazepines. Yale’s analysis showed there were 175 pediatric opioid deaths in 1999, and 5 percent involved fentanyl. In 2021, there were 1,657 pediatric opioid deaths, and 94 percent (1,557) involved fentanyl.

This frightening trend was confirmed in a recent 2025 study in Pediatrics, which reported on synthetic opioid–involved youth overdose deaths in the United States over 2018–2022. This study proved fentanyl alone is the primary and fastest-rising cause of overdose deaths in adolescents. Worse, overdose rates among young adults ages 20–24 were even higher: a 168 percent increase in deaths involving synthetic opioids alone (primarily fentanyl).

There have been some changes in the victims. In 2018, white non-Hispanic youth had the highest synthetic opioid–only death rates. But by 2022, synthetic opioid–only death rates surged among Black, American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN), and Hispanic youth, surpassing opioid deaths of white youth.

Overview by Age Group: Some Good News

Accidents/unintentional injuries remain the leading cause of death among adolescents and youth, with continued high risks from vehicles and firearms. The good news is that alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine use remained at historic lows in 2024. Also, in the first significant drug decline since the pandemic, overdose deaths plummeted from about 110,000 in 2023 to 80,000 in 2024.

In the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study of adolescents (8th, 10th, 12th graders), prescription narcotics misuse among 12th graders was less than 1 percent (0.6 percent), a record low. Factors driving this decline were the extended effects of COVID-19 (reduced peer pressure/socializing), rising health risk awareness, increased health consciousness, and shifts toward online engagement.

Sean Esteban McCabe, Ph.D., at the University of Michigan, and colleagues analyzed data from the annual MTF study from 2009 to 2022. This data revealed that the nonmedical use of prescription opioids, benzodiazepines, and stimulants significantly declined over that time frame.

McCabe and colleagues provided solid explanations for the decline in medical and nonmedical use of prescription opioids. For example, over the past decade, treatment guidelines and other sources have discouraged prescribing of opioids for chronic pain and sometimes even acute pain. Also, they have recommended limited quantities of drugs if opioids are prescribed.

One question is whether the much more circumscribed prescribing of opioids is solely responsible for current declines in use, or if the key factor is changing attitudes toward using opioids among adolescents. Additional research is needed.

The One Pill Can Kill Initiative

The “One Pill Can Kill” (OPCK) initiative was launched by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in September 2022 as part of a public safety prevention initiative to alert Americans to a surge in counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl. DEA lab analyses had revealed an alarming trend: In 2021, around 4 of every 10 fake pills contained potentially lethal fentanyl doses; by 2022, that number rose to 6 of 10. In 2024 alone, U.S. law enforcement intercepted 60+ million fentanyl-laced pills.

The OPCK campaign includes social media tools, educational materials, partnerships (e.g., NFL Alumni Health), and urging people to trust only prescribed pills dispensed by licensed pharmacists.

The initiative is credited with raising public awareness and increasing demand for interventions like fentanyl test strips and naloxone.

CADCA (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America) supports a network of 5,000+ community-based coalitions spanning all states, territories, and 30+ countries that actively embrace the DEA’s One Pill Can Kill messaging through educational materials, public health toolkits, and visible co-branding at national events. CADCA reinforces messages and embeds core warnings from the DEA initiative within its broader community prevention strategies. Nationally, award-winning coalitions have reported measurable reductions in youth substance misuse and environmental changes supporting prevention strategies.

These combined interventions may be contributing to reductions in opioid overdose deaths. A notable illustrative case comes from Laredo, Texas, where fentanyl-related deaths dropped by half, from 67 in 2023 down to 34 in 2024.

Summary

New data reveal fentanyl is the principal driver in adolescent overdose deaths. Adolescent substance use has declined to levels not seen in decades. However, overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids only (predominantly fentanyl) rose significantly in youths. Methamphetamine is also a growing concern, and 70+ percent of drug poisonings involving methamphetamine in both 2023 and 2024 included one or more opioids. These findings highlight the urgent need for age-specific and culturally informed prevention strategies like the One Pill Can Kill Initiative.

Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/addiction-outlook/202507/increased-youth-overdose-deaths-from-fentanyl

About the Author

Mark S. Gold, M.D., is a pioneering researcher, professor, and chairman of psychiatry at Yale, the University of Florida, and Washington University in St Louis. His theories have changed the field, stimulated additional research, and led to new understanding and treatments for opioid use disorders, cocaine use disorders, overeating, smoking, and depression.

Filed under: Fentanyl,USA,Youth :

by Charles Fain Lehman – Wall Street Journal – July 2, 2025

President Trump should halt Biden’s attempt to make pot a ‘Schedule III’ substance.

Whether to loosen the government’s ultra-tight controls on marijuana is among the matters President Trump inherited from Joe Biden.

Under law, marijuana is a Schedule I substance, meaning it has no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Mr. Biden initiated a process to move pot to Schedule III, thereby labelling it a medicine with only moderate abuse potential. Mr. Trump must decide whether to move ahead with the change.

He shouldn’t. Rescheduling would bolster a socially disastrous legal weed industry that has spread crime and disorder in the streets. Containing that chaos instead of spreading it would be in line with the president’s mandate.

Rescheduling wouldn’t mean legalization. Marijuana would still be a federally controlled substance, subject to the same restrictions as drugs like ketamine and anabolic steroids. Rescheduling also wouldn’t mean increasing the medical availability of marijuana. Medical cannabis is legal in 40 states, and the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment, which became law in 2014, prohibits spending money to enforce federal laws against these operations. Marijuana is already more available to “medical” users than other Schedule III substances.

The primary effect of rescheduling, as the Congressional Research Service has shown, would be a tax break to fuel the growth of state-legal marijuana businesses. That’s because a provision of the tax code, Section 280E, which provides that businesses can’t deduct the costs of trafficking in Schedule I or II controlled substances. But that’s not the case for Schedule III.

That affects state-legal marijuana businesses. Because of 280E, these firms can pay effective tax rates as high as 70%. Shifting pot to schedule III would alleviate the tax burden, and give the firms more room to operate. That would be good if these were normal companies, and if their business wasn’t socially and individually harmful. But the state-legal marijuana business has been a catastrophe.

Legalization has increased rates of marijuana addiction—typically called “marijuana use disorder”—including rates of heavy use among teens. State-legal businesses have a profit-motivated reason to nurture addiction. Due to legalization, today’s pot is far more potent than it was decades ago. Research links marijuana use, especially in young adulthood, to IQ loss, schizophrenia, heart attacks, strokes and lung disease.

As important, legalization is already socially toxic. Research by the Kansas City Federal Reserve found it has increased homelessness, addiction and arrests by double-digit percentages. Other research, on Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, finds that dispensary proximity causally reduces property values. There’s also the odor, which nearly half of New York City residents reported smelling “often” in a recent poll.

Legalization hasn’t even killed the black market. By expanding the consumer base while regulating the supply, it has made the illicit alternative more appealing than ever. Cannabis forecaster Whitney Economics has projected that in 2026 the black market will still account for 60% of sales.

Much of that money flows to Chinese criminal groups, which “have come to dominate the cultivation and distribution of marijuana throughout the United States,” according to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s recent National Drug Threat Assessment. Maybe that is why a majority of Americans now say that pot is bad for its users and society, according to Gallup.

The rescheduling decision rests with the Justice and Health and Human Services departments, which both take marching orders from the president. Mr. Trump should end Mr. Biden’s dangerous social experiment.

Source: https://www.wsj.com/opinion/legal-marijuanas-disastrous-legacy-policy-law-7c727c22

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Political Sector,Prevalence,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

Opening comment by John Coleman – DWI.

This article raises some good points. While it’s reasonable to compare today’s commercial cannabis industry with the Big Tobacco industry of the 20^th century – indeed there are many similarities – we should also consider comparing it to the prescription opioid “epidemic” (as the White House called it) of the 2000s. We will not be alone in drawing the comparisons – I’m sure the cannabis industry and their lawyers understand the history and chronology as well as we do but, of course, they are looking at it from a different perspective.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Putatively, the “first” pill mill was discovered in June 2001 at a “pain clinic” in Myrtle Beach, SC. The official name of the clinic was the Comprehensive Care and Pain Management Center and it was run by a group of physicians led by the owner, David Michael Woodward, MD. In 1994, Woodward opened a sleep center but quickly found that there was more money to be made prescribing opioids and switched his operation to a pain clinic. When his medical license was suspended in 1996 for improper relationships with female patients, he turned to hiring physicians facing difficult personal and financial problems to write his opioid prescriptions for him.

Myrtle Beach is a small seaside summer resort with a permanent population of 35,000 but, as would later be shown in court, it led the region and entire state in Purdue’s sales of OxyContin – mostly the result of Woodward and his band of troubled docs. In June 2001, DEA raided the clinic, arrested Woodward and eight other physicians and charged them with “conspiracy to distribute controlled substances [and] unlawfully distributing and dispensing … oxycodone, a Schedule II controlled substance,[etc.]”(USA v. Woodward)

One of the docs subsequently took his life, another ran off to New Zealand, was captured, and returned to face the music. Most cooperated and testified against Woodward who was sentenced to 15 years in prison (later reduced to 13 years). The others received lesser sentences of two years or more.

Woodward was not the first or only entrepreneur looking to cash in on the burgeoning prescription opioid craze. There were people thinking of doing the same thing in Florida, a state that had few, if any, restrictions on pain clinics. It wasn’t long before Florida became the epicenter of the pain clinic aka pill mill industry. Its pill dispensing docs often had dozens and dozens of people lined up before the mill opened each morning. Some, as shown on TV news, drove to the Florida clinics from as far away as Ohio and further west.

“Patients” would often exit the mills carrying gallon-sized clear Ziploc bags of hundreds of loose pills, mostly OxyContin tablets or a generic form of a 30mg oxycodone tablet made and sold by Mallinckrodt. This was a blue tablet with the company’s traditional “M” logo and quickly became known on the street as “M&Ms.”

For several years, Florida and its lax pharmacy and medical laws led the nation in pill mill activity. At the same time, it was becoming a national scourge, with parents and policymakers from surrounding states demanding action. Even the Florida media mocked the state as depicted in this cartoon (my favorite) from the South Florida Sentinel:

The Florida pill mill era came to an abrupt halt in July 2011 when the state legislature enacted an emergency health act that immediately closed down about half of the state’s estimated 1,000 pill mills and severely affected the status of the other half. The emergency legislation prohibited physician-dispensing of controlled substances, meaning the pill mills no longer could prescribe and dispense pills from the same location at the same time.

Florida’s anti-pill mill act increased penalties for dispensing drugs on an invalid prescription and turned misdemeanor pharmacy offenses into felonies. Pharmacists were required to call the local sheriff to report all fraudulent prescriptions. Clinics were required to have a medical director, a medical physician, in residence or in ownership.

Importantly, Florida’s emergency legislation requires distributors of controlled substances to inform the state health department when distributions over a set amount of drugs are delivered to customers.

The results were dramatic:

While the pill mill era was centered in Florida, corrupt medical professionals in other states operated similar “pain clinics” but with a much lower exposure. Over time, many of these were identified via complaints or PDMPs that revealed improper prescribing practices.

Now, how does this brief history of the U.S. pill mill industry compare with what we now see in the commercial cannabis industry? Several similarities come to mind and I’ll mention them briefly to save time:

The pharmaceutical industry, led by Purdue Pharma, spent huge sums of money generating the notion that pain in America was not treated or undertreated;
Medical schools in the 1990s were still teaching in the 1940s mode that narcotics should be used only in terminal cancer patients;
Modern opioids, like Purdue’s new extended-release OxyContin, were promoted as less addictive;
Pain patients, according to JAMA (“Porter & Jick”), rarely became addicted to their opiates;

The industry successfully “sold” these ideas to the public and to Congress, subtly suggesting that obsolete government regulations might be why chronic pain was undertreated in the U.S. Feeling the heat, if not the pain, the government caved and became the pharmaceutical industry’s new best friend. On Halloween (October 31), 2000, industry lobbyists were successful in getting President Bill Clinton to sign into law a bill creating the Decade of Pain Control and Research.

(Ironically, by the end of the “pain” decade some ten years later, FDA records would show that of 219 drugs and biologics designated and approved during the decade as “new molecular entities,” only nine were indicated for treating acute pain, including three for treating migraine. Only one, Tapentadol®, was indicated for the treatment of moderate to severe acute pain. NONE was indicated for treating chronic pain. Later, after the decade was over, an extended-release form of Tapentadol would receive an additional indication for treating chronic pain.)

The same month, October 2000, perhaps to curry favor with the President, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) published a 57-page booklet titled, “Pain as the 5^th Vital Sign Toolkit.” Authorship was given in the booklet to James Campbell, MD, president of the American Pain Society. Next on industry’s list of who’s nice was the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), a professional organization of medical experts who certify hospitals and clinics in the U.S. Its “best practices” are viewed as important for attracting federal grants and other forms of federal aid for treating the elderly, disabled, and poor under Medicaid or Medicare. Performance reviews of hospital facilities are conducted regularly by JCAHO members and certification is considered a requisite for continued operation.

In 2001, JCAHO issued new standards for pain care in response to what it called “the national outcry about the widespread problem of undertreatment.” Henceforth, upon admission to the hospital, each patient was to receive as assessment of their “fifth vital sign – pain” along with the normal assessment of their other four vital signs.

With the government squarely in the pocket (literally) of the industry, the private sector was covered. Not to be undone by the competition, the prestigious Institute of Medicine (IOM, since renamed National Academy of Medicine) was commissioned by HHS to study pain in America. Its publication, “Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research,” was published in 2011 and reported, among other things, that 100 million Americans suffered from chronic pain.

Later, several watchdog groups would show that many of the experts associated with these and other famous public and private pain organizations were secretly on the payroll of the pharmaceutical industry.

By 2011, when the IOM published its report, the industry was moving rapidly and cashing in on the media’s trashing of anyone who dared to be “anti-pain.” It was a movement, an ideology, a belief system, that threatened to excommunicate anyone who differed in any way with the orthodoxy of pain treatment.

Agencies like the DEA that regulated the manufacture, distribution, prescribing, and dispensing of controlled substances was the enemy and the physicians the agency cited were often called “martyrs” by their peers and the public. To counter this, DEA published a booklet for several years (since discontinued) that was titled, simply enough, “Cases Against Doctors.” This booklet was available on the DEA website and catalogued charges and errant behaviors of hundreds of registrant-doctors each year charged and convicted of state or federal law violations involving the prescribing and/or dispensing of controlled substances. (I have an archived copy of this publication if anyone wants to email me for a copy.)

What brought this to an end (or at least to a manageable state) were several factors that can be reduced to these (there may be more but these are what come to mind):

The emergency legislation in 2011 in Florida closing up half the state’s 1,000 pill mills overnight and the strict regulation of the remaining 500 clinics to prohibit physician-dispensing of controlled substances;
The rising death toll attributed to prescription opioid overdoses (ironically, this was miscalculated by the CDC that until 2016 mistakenly counted all fentanyl-related death cases as involving prescribed or administered pharmaceutical fentanyl, not the street version);
The prosecution and conviction of Purdue Pharma and its top three executives (President, Chief Medical Officer, and General Counsel) for federal criminal law violations by the United States Attorney for the Western District of VA in 2007;
Item #3 set the stage for the 2017 Multi-District Litigation (MDL) case involving approximately 3,000 plaintiffs, including state attorneys general, private and public health plans, unions, towns, cities, municipalities, individuals, Indian tribes, etc., brought against Purdue and other companies involved in making, distributing, and dispensing prescription opioids. This case was assigned to the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland) and is currently in negotiations for an omnibus settlement along the lines of what came out of the Big Tobacco settlement of the 1990s. A number of companies have settled individual “pilot” cases thus far and the total settlement is estimated to eventually reach the $26 billion mark;
Purdue and Mallinckrodt entered and exited bankruptcy as a result of settlements and judgments related to the MDL;
The companies have largely abandoned the freewheeling and unlawful sales of opioids that they promoted in the heyday of the previous decade;
Personnel changes at the top of many defendant companies have resulted in folks at the top being more responsible today than ever for what the company is doing at the retail level;
While prescription opioid overdose deaths are down substantially compared with what they once were, unfortunately the craving for a substitute drug in the form of heroin or fentanyl-laced heroin has increased leading to only a modest decrease in overdose opiate-involved deaths.

Conclusion:

From the above brief (and this is brief for a story that took almost two decades to happen) analysis, the comparisons with today’s commercial cannabis industry are stark and unmistakable. We have been led (or more correctly, misled) by the previous HHS leadership that our control of cannabis for medical purposes was outdated, too narrow, and did not comport with modern ways of evaluating the safety and efficacy of medicinal drugs.

This, by the way, from the same crowd that told us pain was our “Fifth Vital Sign.” States that have approved commercial cannabis “dispensaries” have done so in the finest tradition of helping entrepreneurs in the early 2000s establish pill mills to care for undertreated pain.

And the DEA? Congress has enjoined appropriations for the agency that might be directed against medical marijuana. The FDA? Forget it. The agency’s “Warning Letters” to online cannabinoid dealers are used by the dealers and published online in some cases, to boast about the high THC/CBD content of their products, according to cited FDA lab tests.

As in the cases of Big Tobacco and Big Opiates, at some point, the commercial cannabis industry will reach a point where going after its resources will take it down or reduce it considerably. The analogy I’ve used before compares this with the fermentation of yeast, a process that any home maker of wine or beer understands well. The single cell yeast consumes the sugars of the starting material and in the process excretes alcohol. This continues until the amount of alcohol in the mix reaches a certain level at which time it kills off the yeast producing it. At some point in the future, hopefully soon, the commercial cannabis industry will reach a point whereby its success kills it off – just as in the Big Tobacco and Big Opiates cases.

Source: drug-watch-international – P.O. Box 45218, Omaha, NE 68145-0218, USA

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Economic,Medicines,USA :

Email From: Drug Free America Foundation – 11 July 2025

Some hopeful news has come to light in the latest Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Annual Report: overdose deaths dropped more than 20% nationwide in 2024, which is the largest yearly decrease in four decades of tracking. Although this decrease in overdose deaths is good news, it does not mean the crisis is over. Changes in drug mixtures, independent regional shifts in overdose patterns, and the alarming rise in new chemical contaminants—many of which users don’t even know they’re taking—makes this ever-evolving issue complex and increasingly more dangerous than ever before.

The DEA found that 1 in 8 samples of methamphetamine now contains fentanyl, and 1 in 4 samples of cocaine samples are similarly contaminated. And while deaths from fentanyl may be decreasing, fentanyl is increasingly being mixed into other drugs, often with deadly result.

In a regional assessment of fentanyl-related deaths, stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine were found to be contaminated with fentanyl and linked to 1 out of every 2 drug-related deaths in the west and 1 out of every 3 drug-related deaths in the east. Contaminated drug mixtures are especially dangerous given that naloxone, one of the key measures in reducing opioid overdose deaths, is ineffective against non-opioid drugs such as stimulants.

Among the surprising findings was that between 2018 and 2022, fentanyl-only overdose among 15-24 year olds increased approximately 168%. This age group, which is one that generally does not seek fentanyl, are suspected to be unknowingly consuming drugs laced with it. The low production cost of fentanyl continues to fuel the shift between already dangerous plant-based drugs to lab-made substances. The emergence of additives that cause prolonged sedation such as xylazine and medetomidine increase the dangers associated with the consumption of these drugs as some these mixtures may also render naloxone ineffective.

Despite the drop in overall overdose deaths the U.S. still has the highest drug overdose rate in the world, with 324 deaths per million people. Most states are showing promising progress with decreases in drug-related deaths. However, Nevada is an exception, experiencing an increase largely driven by methamphetamines, which have now surpassed fentanyl as the leading cause of drug-related deaths in the state.

Although overall trends seem to show a positive promising future, the drug supply is evolving faster than available tools can manage. And overdose risks are no longer about misuse, but also about unknowing exposure to potent synthetic chemicals hidden in recognizable drugs.

Source: Drug Free America Foundation | 333 3rd Ave N Suite 200 | St. Petersburg, FL 33701 US

Filed under: Cocaine,Drug use-various effects,Fentanyl,Methamphetamine/GHB/Hallucinogens/Oxycodone,Prevalence,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Photo: Jimmy Dean // Unsplash

Parents are the No. 1 influence in their child’s life and in their decisions regarding alcohol, making early conversations and clear expectations essential for keeping kids safe

SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah — Parents and caregivers play a crucial role in helping kids stay safe from alcohol and other drug use. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends talking to kids about underage drinking as early as age 9. Kids are making up their minds about alcohol between the ages of 9 and 13. If your child is older, it’s never too late to start the discussion. Often, though, we don’t know where to begin. Here are some ideas and resources.

Know the harms

Research from the National Library of Medicine indicates that alcohol can harm the developing brain, impairing memory, learning, and judgment.

Have fun together

When you spend quality time with your child, you build strong bonds – this creates trust between you and your child so that they come to you and you can talk with them about the difficult things in life, like underage drinking and drug use.

Set clear expectations

Parents Empowered reports that “Most children naturally become more independent as they mature. Yet parental involvement drops by half between the 6th and 12th grades when kids need their parents’ help most to stay alcohol-free. Parents are the No. 1 influence in their child’s life and in their decisions regarding alcohol, too.”

“We urge parents to be clear with their children that underage drinking and drug use are never acceptable, especially not in their own home,” says Betty Morin, Substance Abuse Prevention Program Specialist at Summit County Health Department. “Children should also know what to do if they find themselves in a risky situation.”

Keeping your kids in a safe, alcohol-free environment is essential because we know that the folks we hang out with influence our choices. Brainstorm ways for your child to have fun with their friends without using substances, encourage them to avoid situations where there might be drugs or alcohol, and never allow underage use in your own home.

Teach refusal skills

You can practice “refusal skills” with your child by role-playing different situations and helping them say “no” in various ways. They can change the subject, suggest an alternative activity, create an excuse, or even walk away.

Be a safe place for your child. Let them know that they could text or call you if they’re in a situation where drugs or alcohol are present and that you will pick them up. It’s even a great idea to have a safe word with your child that they can call, say the word, and they know you’re on your way.

Be involved in your child’s life

In addition to setting expectations, parents can foster safety by getting to know their child’s friends and their families, attending school events, staying engaged with their child’s online activities, and consistently enforcing agreed-upon rules.

Source: https://townlift.com/2025/07/underage-drinking-prevention-5-essential-strategies-every-parent-needs/

Filed under: Alcohol,Education,Health,USA,Youth :

by Hailey M. Warner and Kelly Corr

ESSAY — Volume 22 — July 17, 2025

Although cigarette use among high school students and adults has declined since its peak in 1997, in North Dakota, nearly 1 in 3 high school students instead use e-cigarettes, and approximately 1 in 5 adults continue to smoke (1). The prevalence of tobacco and nicotine dependence poses substantial public health challenges, especially in rural communities (2).

More than 480,000 people, equivalent to the average capacity of 8 professional football stadiums, die from cigarette smoking annually in the US (3). In North Dakota, 1,000 adult deaths annually are attributed to cigarette use (1). Of cancer-related deaths in North Dakota, approximately 1 in 4 are associated with smoking (1). Cigarette use results in a high economic burden: in 2018, it cost the US more than $600 billion, including $240 billion in health care spending and nearly $185 billion in lost productivity due to smoking-related illnesses and health conditions (4). In 2021, health care expenditures attributed to tobacco use in North Dakota totaled $326 million, approximately equivalent to spending $421 for each person living in the state that year (1). Annual smoking-related lost productivity equates to nearly $185 billion in the US and $233 million in North Dakota (1,4). It is clear why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites cigarette smoking as the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the US (3).

Smoking is a behavior that can harm nearly every organ in the human body, increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke, lung disease, diabetes, and cancer, and resulting in a substantial impact on population health (3). This essay explores and promotes providing tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment in the community pharmacy setting to increase patient care opportunities and improve health outcomes, particularly in rural areas.

The Profession of Pharmacy

Pharmacists are highly accessible and trusted health care professionals (5). Community pharmacies are a key component of the health care system, especially in rural, medically underserved areas, and they present an opportunity to help people quit using tobacco and nicotine products (5). Our ethnographic graduate research focuses on piloting an education-based intervention to assist independent community pharmacies in North Dakota in addressing tobacco and nicotine use among their clients. Our preliminary research results support the concept that in smaller communities, people often have close relationships with each other, including their local pharmacist. In one of our research pilot sites, a pharmacy in a rural town, a staff pharmacist said, “We care about our patients, and we want the best for their health.” To expand their scope of practice and fill gaps in access to health care services, independent community pharmacies are increasingly offering clinical services and improving patient outcomes (6).

Tobacco and Nicotine Dependence Treatment

Smoking cessation, the process of quitting the use of cigarettes, is more formally called tobacco dependence treatment (7). To encompass cigarette use as well as use of other tobacco or nicotine products, we use the term “tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment.” The main components of this treatment are behavioral therapies and medications. Among the behavioral therapy options are cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, mindfulness practices, and support from technology-based options such as telephone quitlines, text message communications, or online media platforms (7). Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products are offered in various formulations, including patches, gum, lozenges, and nasal spray. All NRT products are deemed equally effective and are estimated to increase treatment success by 50% to 70% (7). Multiple NRT products can be used concurrently and are thought to provide better relief of withdrawal symptoms and cravings (7). The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved bupropion and varenicline as oral tobacco cessation medications. Bupropion and NRT have been shown to be equally effective, and some studies suggest varenicline is more effective than bupropion alone or the use of a single form of NRT (7). Bupropion and varenicline can be used in combination with NRT, which allows prescribers to tailor a person’s tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment plan to their individual needs (7).

Implementing Tobacco and Nicotine Dependence Treatment in Community Pharmacies

The implementation of tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment in community pharmacies can bolster the clinical capabilities and public health impact of community pharmacies. As of March 2025, eighteen states had implemented legislation allowing pharmacists prescriptive authority to provide patients with tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment medications (8). Of these, 9 states allow pharmacists to prescribe all medications approved by the FDA for smoking cessation, and the other 9 allow NRT only (8). In 2021, pharmacists in North Dakota were granted the authority to independently prescribe all FDA-approved medications, including varenicline, bupropion, and NRT (9). In the following year, the state’s Medicaid program expanded their coverage to include tobacco and nicotine dependence counseling provided by pharmacists (10). This expanded coverage broadened the impact of pharmacists on the adult Medicaid population in North Dakota, whose prevalence of smoking is more than double the prevalence among all adults in the state (39.1% vs 17.4%) (10).

Other insurers permit pharmacists to become recognized as medical providers, which allows them to submit reimbursement claims for tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment consultations as well as for the medications and NRT products they prescribe (5). These additional incentives may increase the number of encounters between pharmacists and people who smoke and lead to a reduction in cigarette use. During an unstructured interview conducted as part of our ethnographic graduate research, a pharmacist offering tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment services said, “These people have control over it [their tobacco and nicotine use]. If we can get them to stop, they can have such a better life. I honestly . . . I feel very strongly about this.”

Some independently owned community pharmacies in North Dakota have become pioneers in offering tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment to their patients. They use Ask-Advise-Refer/Connect, a method that combines the approaches of Ask-Advise-Refer and Ask-Advise-Connect (11). Both approaches share the steps of engaging patients by asking about tobacco use and advising them to quit. The difference lies in what actions are taken in the last step. In Ask-Advise-Refer, the patient is given a referral to a resource for quitting, whereas in Ask-Advise-Connect, the patient is directly connected to a resource for quitting (11). A pharmacist using Ask-Advise-Refer/Connect can choose to make a referral or connect with the patient to provide treatment at the pharmacy, whichever the patient prefers (11). Referrals can be made to state quitlines or local public health units, which assist in providing behavioral counseling and free NRT products. Because pharmacists in North Dakota have the authority to prescribe tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment medications, patients who are ready to quit can be immediately connected to pharmacists and receive treatment at the pharmacy. Regardless of whether a patient is provided with a referral or a connection, the pharmacist should follow up with patients on their progress toward cessation during future pharmacy visits. The second author (K.C.) developed a flowchart describing how a patient progresses through a tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment support process.

Figure.
Basic pharmacy workflow for tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment in North Dakota. NDQuits is the state tobacco quitline. Over-the-counter (OTC) products refer to nicotine replacement products that can be acquired without a prescription. [A text version of this figure is available.]

Call to Action

Pharmacists are called to be public health professionals and capitalize on opportunities to provide tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment for their patients, especially in rural areas. This expansion of services necessitates strengthening knowledge of tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment medications, learning how to provide behavioral counseling, and completing the requirements to be recognized as a provider of tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment services by health insurers.

The training of pharmacy students should be studied to ensure they can take the initiative to offer new services, apply population health strategies, and as a result, better serve their patients’ health care needs. Practicing pharmacists may need to refresh their knowledge and skills to provide tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment. Continuing education is a professional requirement, and pharmacists should actively seek opportunities to learn about topics such as motivational interviewing, tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment counseling, and current trends in tobacco use. In states where tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment provided by pharmacists is not yet authorized, pharmacists are encouraged to work with their board of pharmacy and local pharmacy organizations to advocate for expanding patients’ access to clinical services in community pharmacy settings.

Billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives are lost to cigarette smoking every year in the US. Promoting pharmacy services and ensuring future pharmacists’ readiness for success should be a top priority for the profession. The next step toward preventing the disease, disability, and death attributable to tobacco use lies with pharmacists implementing tobacco and nicotine dependence treatment in community pharmacies across the country.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2025/25_0088.htm

Filed under: Addiction,Brain and Behaviour,Nicotine,Tobacco, smoking,USA :

by Journal of Substance Use & Addiction Treatment, 2025,

Authors: Josh Aleksanyan, Zobaida Maria, Diego Renteria, Adetayo Fawole, Ashly E. Jordan, Vanessa Drury, … Charles J. Neighbors

Abstract:

Introduction: Transition-age (TA) adults, aged 18-25, have the highest prevalence of substance use disorder (SUD) among all age groups yet they are less likely to seek treatment and more likely to discontinue it than older adults, making them a high-priority treatment population. While structural barriers and varying expectations of recovery may affect treatment initiation, insights from providers working with TA adults can reveal what further impels and impedes treatment engagement.

Methods: We conducted two focus groups with 14 front-line treatment providers, representing urban and rural outpatient, residential, and inpatient SUD care settings across New York State. Providers were selected through stratified sampling using restricted-access treatment registry data. A semi-structured interview guide facilitated discussions, and transcripts were analyzed to identify key themes.

Results: Providers report that TA adults prefer briefer, innovative treatment approaches over traditional modalities like A.A./12-step recovery, driven by a desire to rebuild their lives through education and career. Post-pandemic social disruptions were cited as exacerbating engagement challenges and increasing the need for integrating mental health support. Providers highlighted the potential of technology to enhance treatment engagement, though expressed concerns regarding social isolation and the fraying of childhood safety nets and support systems (e.g., housing) undermining successful treatment outcomes and transitions to adulthood more broadly.

Conclusions: Providers report and perceive various challenges-unmet mental health needs, social alienation, and housing insecurity-that impede TA adults from successful SUD treatment. Understanding providers’ perceptions of the needs of young adults can inform patient and clinical decision-making, lead to the development of innovative treatment approaches tailored to TA adults and contribute to improved health outcomes over the life course.

To read the full text of this article, please visit the link below:

Source: https://drugfree.org/drug-and-alcohol-news/research-news-roundup-july-17-2025/

Filed under: Addiction,Brain and Behaviour,Mental Health,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

by Vivek Ramaswamy <news@editor.thepostmillennial.com> 01 July 2025 14:34

THE KIDS WILL BE OK

You will never guess what’s happening with young people. ‌ Believe it or not, the younger generation is finally rejecting woke and radical leftism. You saw this during Trump’s election – a major shift in the 18-29 year old voters.‌ ‌ And the media hates it! ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Here’s a major reason why this is happening … an organization called Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) is identifying, recruiting, and training college students to Make Liberty Win. YAL is the most active and effective pro-liberty youth organization advancing liberty on campus. …..

YAL is doing this, first and foremost, by reaching students where they’re at. By focusing on the issues important to twenty-year-olds – affordable groceries and gas, healthcare, and guns, YAL is able to show young people that socialism is not the answer to all of their life’s problems.

Here are a few of the articles, supporting this initiative, published in other publications:

“America’s Youngest Voters Turn Right” – Axios;
“The Not-So-Woke Generation Z” – The Atlantic;
“Are Zoomers Shifting Right?” – Newsweek; and
“Analysis: Young and Non-White Voters Have Shifted Right Since 2020” – Washington Post.

Below is a step-by-step layout showing how Young Americans for Liberty is advancing the ideas of freedom with college students.

STEP 1: Expand the number of YAL chapters across the country to over 500 nationwide. America’s college campuses are covered with YAL chapters actively recruiting and educating hundreds of thousands of students.

STEP 2: Recruit 10,000 NEW YAL members and collect more than 150,000 student sign-ups. YAL is building a massive network and a strong foundation to reach the next generation for years to come.

STEP 3: Train an ELITE group of top 1,7000 student leaders on how to WIN ON PRINCIPLE. YAL’s top student leaders receive exclusive training on the strategies and tactics to win and advance the ideas of liberty.

STEP 4: Mobilize YAL-trained activists who have knocked on more than 6,000,000 doors to promote liberty causes and candidates. It’s called OPERATION WIN AT THE DOOR, and through it, YAL-trained students have knocked doors to help nearly 400 pro-liberty legislators win crucial races and push for important pro-liberty legislation.

STEP 5: Fight tyrannical campus policies and college administrators through YAL’s Student Rights Campaign. YAL chapters and members have made major policy changes on free speech, self-defense, and defunding woke campus programs, which now impact more than 3,100,000 students every year.

Young Americans for Liberty, 3267 Bee Cave Rd, Ste 107-65, Austin, TX 78746, United States

Source: Post Millennial, 2515 Waukegan Road #1ABC, Deerfield, IL 60015

Filed under: Strategy and Policy,USA,Youth :

Dear Surgeon General Adams,

I am an Australian Professor of Addiction Medicine and researcher at the University of Western Australia and Edith Cowan University both in Perth, Western Australia.

I have been becoming increasingly concerned at the implications of cannabis legalization across USA for patterns of congenital anomalies both in USA and across the world.

The incidence of many congenital anomalies are rising in many places. This rise is even more marked if therapeutic early termination for anomaly (ETOPFA) are taken into account.

In 2007 the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a position statement which noted that cannabis was a known teratogen for cardiovascular anomalies based on three studies. They cited ASD, VSD and Ebstein’s anomaly in particular as major concerns. This is also important as cardiovascular anomalies form the largest single group of congenital anomalies. As you would be well aware foetal anomalies is the single major cause of death in the first year of life. The aetiological pathway is further strengthened by the fact that the endocardial cushions have high density expression of CB1R’s cannabinoid type 1 receptors from very early in embryonic life. This fits with the significant association of cannabis with defects of structures derived from the endocardial cushions and the associated conoventricular ridges including the cardiac valves and the interatrial and interventricular septa.

Prof. Peter Fried in Ottawa has headed up a comprehensive, careful and detailed longitudinal study of brain damage in children exposed to cannabis in utero. They have been publishing positive findings from this study for forty years showing documented deficits of executive and higher brain function, the need to recruit more brain to perform tested tasks documented on fMRI, in primary school, middle school, high school and even into young adulthood. It has now been convincingly demonstrated that endocannabinoids send the “off” signal halting synaptic neurotransmission at both stimulatory and inhibitory synapses and hence shutting down the brain’s normal oscillatory processes. Brain oscillations are known to form a key an pivotal function early in brain development guiding the migration and axonal projection of developing neuronal progenitor cells, and also guiding synapse formation.

As you would be aware many neural progenitor cells fail to integrate into the neural network and die due to lack of circuit stimulated connectivity. This applies to both stimulatory and inhibitory synapses. Hence synaptic firing is therefore critical for synapse formation and integration and survival of the new nerve cells. Since cannabis and its constituent cannabinoids shut down this firing and resultant neural oscillations they necessarily impede brain development both in the cortex and in key subcortical major centres including the thalamus and hypothalamus. Hence the demonstration by the Fried group that cannabis users have smaller cortical thickness and hippocampal volumes – the hippocampus first encodes memory – fits well with the known developmental biological mechanisms.

Given that cannabis in Colorado now is commonly at or above 30%, and was historically only 1-2% when most of its epidemiological studies were done; and given also that cannabis oils at up to 99% THC content are also increasingly widely available the conclusion becomes inescapable that the vast majority of children significantly exposed to these concentrations of cannabis in utero will be adversely and permanently affected. Importantly no population measure of this very important damage I easily accessible.

10 studies have linked cannabis exposure to incidence or severity of gastroschisis. This case is strengthened by the high density of CB1R’s on the omphalovitelline artery, and the many studies now which implicate vasoactive drugs in the pathogenesis of this condition. Indeed although the activity of cannabinoids on arterial structure is not widely understood is has been documented in minute detail by no lesser a resource that Nature Reviews of Cardiology. And obviously cannabis arteriopathy underlies the elevated rate of both myocardial infarction and stroke seen in adults with cannabis exposure about which Dr Nora Volkow, Director of NIDA has commented in New England Journal of Medicine.

A spectacular study from Hawaii in 2007 demonstrated that cannabis use was associated with Down’s syndrome incidence at a rate 526% elevated above background.

This is significant for several reasons. Firstly a substantial body of evidence shows that cannabis has been known to test positive in the micronucleus assay since the 1960’s. This is a major test for genotoxicity. The implications of this devastating genetic damage were worked out for the whole world to see by David Pellman’s lab in New York and links cannabis exposure directly with abnormalities of cellular division including the three major clinical trisomies – trisomies 21, 18 and 13 – and Turner’s syndrome, XO.

Furthermore this implies that since cannabis is linked with cardiovascular, neuropsychiatric and chromosomal defects, these being the three major groups of congenital disorders.

If one goes to Colorado as a rather obvious test case indeed one finds a rise there of 70% in both total major congenital anomalies, and also cardiovascular anomalies, especially atrial septal defect and ventricular septal defects, which are the most common, exactly as predicted by the embryology.

Indeed, the particular thoroughness of the way in which all kinds of social and health data is collected and made available in the USA, together with the very considerable spread in attitudes to drug legalization in different states, make USA the perfect teratological laboratory to study the mutagenic and genotoxic effects of cannabinoid exposure. My colleagues in addiction medicine and I at my university, aided by some of the top statisticians in this country have now commenced the enormous task of analyzing the US cannabis exposure data by state from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, together with cannabis concentration data quoted by Dr Nora Volkow the Director of NIDA in New England Journal of Medicine, together with projections of the applicable therapeutic termination rates taken from the Western Australian Register of Developmental Anomalies are analyzing this data at this time.

Whilst our findings have not been finalized the following remarks can already be made:

In socially conservative states cannabis use is falling or flat whilst it is rising in more liberal states;
When one takes into account the dramatically increased cannabis concentration – to only 15% in 2015 in this series – the population exposure to cannabinoids has risen in all states regardless of social ethos;
The rate of almost all congenital anomalies in the USA has risen when reasonable estimates for ETOPFA rates are employed;
Cannabis exposure is significant for all 62 anomalies combined considered as a group;
Not only are congenital anomalies uniformly rising against time, they are also rising against this metric of community cannabis exposure – defined as the product of the national mean cannabis concentration and the state based cannabis use rates;
If one considers the groups of:

1. Cannabis related disorders (as defined by the Hawaiian investigators);
2. Chromosomal defects;
3. Cardiovascular defects;
4. Derivatives of the endocardial cushions

The population exposure to cannabinoids remains highly significant including consideration of state and year

Considering all 62 defects collected by the US National Birth Defects Prevention Network :
1. In 43 cases (69.3%) the community cannabinoid exposure remains significant on linear regression testing before correction for multiple testing;
2. When one adjusts for multiple testing 38 defects (61.3%) remain significant – mostly as described by the Hawaiian researchers;
3. For example the national rate of the effect of cannabis exposure on Ebsteins anomaly is P<0.0001 for the effect of cannabis exposure alone and P<0.0001 for the interaction between cannabis exposure and time (multiple testing corrected results). The beta estimate for this effect is 18%, and the P value is much less than P < 10 ^-16 .

Please note that none of these metrics quantitate what I regard as the most serious area of all – the neurobehavioural toxicology so carefully documented and chronicled with every imaginable psychological and imaging test at every developmental stage into young adult by the methodical Ottawa investigators referenced above.

I am aware of course of the signal service performed in this area by your predecessor Dr Murthy in relation to his report on “Facing Addiction in America.”

Naturally I am very concerned indeed that the USA, having avoided the horrors of thalidomide directly due to the due diligence of your FDA staff at the time, is sailing directly into an even worse teratological morass related to the legalization of cannabis in your country, which apparently even your President appears to be powerless to avert. It is of the greatest concern to me that the carefully orchestrated US cannabis legalization campaign seems to be operating is such a manner as to at once bypass and simultaneously intimidate the FDA quality control and checks and safety balances processes.

The medical conclusion appears inescapable to me that cannabis use should be avoided by males and females in the reproductive age group especially if involved in pregnancy or even considering pregnancy – because of the long half lives involved and its sluggish release from the body’s fat stores. It is well known that these same young adults is the group most keen to use cannabis products! Indeed it is well documented that cannabis both increases sexual libido and reduces inhibitions; albeit after time and habituation it reduces both sexual desire and performance. This sets up an inescapable and unavoidable reproductive and genotoxic paradox – which also greatly escalates the present discussion beyond the arena of personal civil liberties to the future of our coming generations.

Naturally I am particularly keen to discuss these issues with yourself at your earliest available opportunity.

The teratological aspects of this epidemic seem to have been completely and systematically overlooked in the current discussions.

Please help me assist your wonderful, beautiful, noble and courageous nation at this critical juncture in your history.

And I am sure it will be self-evident to you that anything that happens in USA has enormous ramifications around the world, as you are obviously that world’s leading democratic nation.

Hence USA is not only legislating for America – but for all citizens of the planet – present and future. Because of the epigenetic implications – not discussed above but very well substantiated nonetheless – for the next four generations – this is the next 100 years.

In such a circumstance – truth can be your only meaningful defence. And it must be your final bastion – and the last great hope of civilization.

I am very keen to set up a time which would be suitable to yourself to discuss these issues on the phone.

Oddly it seems to me that few professionals understand these issues thoroughly.

And even more strangely – it seems to me strange that USA, having alone amongst the family of nations done so extremely well with thalidomide, at the present time gives every appearance of acting before she has thought carefully, methodically and deeply about the ramifications of her present actions in this field.

With very best wishes,

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Stuart Reece,

Australia.

Email sent in copy to Drug Watch International June 2018 drug-watch-international@googlegroups.com

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Genes,Global Drug Legalisation Efforts,Health,Legal Sector,Political Sector,USA :

Source: Drug Free America Foundation | 333 3rd Ave N Suite 200 | St. Petersburg, FL 33701 US

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Every year the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes releases the World Drug Report (WDR) on World Drug Day, which is observed annually on June 26^th. The WDR provides updates on international drug markets, policy changes across the world, and summarizes gathered data on ongoing issues caused by drugs on all fronts.

This year’s report calls for communities around the world to break the cycle and #StopOrganizedCrime, stressing the intricacy and ever-expanding reach of organized crime networks on a global scale currently exacerbated by increased global instability.

Among this year’s highlights, the World Drug Report finds a 28% increase in people who use drugs over the past 10 years, with marijuana the top used substance with 244 million users, followed by opioids, amphetamines, cocaine, and ecstasy.

The report also highlights a 13% increase in people suffering from drug use disorders over the past 10 years and the disproportionate imbalance among men and women with substance use disorders (SUD) who receive treatment. While 1 in 7 men with a substance use disorder receive treatment, only 1 in 18 women with SUD receive treatment.

But the most sobering reality is that youth continue to show a steady rise in drug use over the past decade. Vulnerable populations are bearing the brunt of illegal exploits and are falling prey to the cycle of poverty and crime created by underfunded systems and increased criminal activity.

Stimulant-related criminal activity is growing at an alarming rate. Between 2013-2023, global cocaine production rose 34%, global cocaine seizures rose 68%, and the number of people who use cocaine jumped from 17 million to 25 million. The steady expansion of cocaine use and rise in production continues to break records year after year. Additionally, the synthetic drug market led by methamphetamines and captagon continues to grow with drug and human trafficking feeding criminal networks that are constantly adapting to new intelligence and technological advances. The influence of this global drug crisis is reflected not only on the financial costs to communities, but on health systems, the environment, public safety, and above all, the loss of life.

Now more than ever, prevention plays a vital role in breaking the harmful cycles created by substance use. While local organizations witness the impact of drugs firsthand in their communities, and governments work to address supply and demand on a global scale, civil society is uniquely positioned to listen, respond, and offer immediate support to local leaders and at-risk populations.

By collaborating with organizations and building a network of support, we can empower individuals with evidence-based resources that strengthen protective factors, promote education, and foster long-term resilience.

Drug Free America Foundation leads the Global Task Force, uniting international non-governmental organizations with this shared mission. If you are interested in joining, please reach out to clincoln@dfaf.org .

If you would like to read the full World Drug Report click here

Source: Drug Free America Foundation | 333 3rd Ave N Suite 200 | Saint Petersburg, FL 33701 US

Filed under: All countries,Strategy and Policy,USA :

Key points

Substance use prevention is not just focused on the absence of a disease or illness but on promoting wellness.
Funding cuts from DOJ for substance use and treatment services may have long-term consequences.
These cuts represent the latest cycle of punitive sentiments towards substances use.

On April 22, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the termination of 365 awards that “no longer effectuate Department priorities.” Among these cuts were $88 million in Office of Justice Programs (OJP) funded programs administering substance use and mental health services. During Preisdent Trump’s first term, we witnessed a shift away from behavioral health models toward scare tactics and increased law enforcement activities — strategies known to be ineffective at preventing substance use. This term appears to be following that same trajectory.

America has a long history of reactively and emotionally addressing substance use in ways inconsistent with research and best practices. Large swings in political views and funding are not new and have detrimental effects on prevention efforts and communities. This latest rollback represents a reversion back to failed, punitive models, which threatens to unravel decades of progress in promoting community health and wellness.

Substance Use Prevention

Today’s substance use prevention activities are not the mass media scare campaigns seen during the 1960s to the 1990s or as simple as “Just Say No.” Substance use prevention takes a public health approach to promoting wellness and preventing substance use problems.

Unlike early iterations of “prevention,” the ultimate goal of prevention activities today is to promote wellness. Promoting wellness is not the same as advocating for the absence of a disease or illness but the presence of purpose in life, involvement in satisfying work and play, having joyful relationships, a healthy body and living environment, as well as general happiness. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), drawing on Swarbrick’s wellness approach, describes wellness as having eight different dimensions – emotional, spiritual, intellectual, physical, environmental, financial, occupational, and social.

Effective prevention programs work across these dimensions to reduce factors that put people at risk of developing behavioral health disorders (i.e., risk factors) as well as promote or strengthen factors that protect people from these disorders (i.e., protective factors).

The Cycle of Prevention Activities

The way we have responded to substance use has always been reactionary and punitive. Responses to substance use in the U.S. has stretched back over a century and followed a repeating cycle of panic, punishment, and progress. A new drug “hits the streets,” a news article highlights the death of a young, innocent victim, or a new political ringleader will enter the scene spouting “tough on crime” rhetoric that causes a moral panic among the masses and calls for increased punishment. Those sentiments take hold for several years and lead to prison overcrowding and an increase in arrest rates. Eventually, scientific advancements push responses to substance use back into the behavioral health realm. Then, a political campaign or story regresses the U.S. back to failed models of addressing substance use with punishment and the cycle repeats.

The 1950s/1960s are generally seen as the beginning of the modern era of prevention — an era dominated by fear-based approaches. School talks aimed at “scaring kids straight” and media campaigns and movies painted exaggerated horror stories about drug use. But scare-based tactics never work, particularly when youth can see that the lessons don’t reflect their lived experience. By the 1970s, the “War on Drugs” had been launched, and President Nixon had called drugs America’s “public enemy number one” and ushered in a wave of punishment over support. One of the most popular mantras of prevention originated in the 1980s with Nancy Reagan’s famous phrase: ‘Just Say No.’ It was catchy, simple, and widespread, but ultimately ineffective.

In the 1990s, science began to shape prevention and we saw large drops in youth substance use rates ever since. Researchers began to examine risk and protective factors associated with substance use. These studies led to a more structured approach to prevention. New, evidence-based school curricula focused on building life skills, resilience, and relationships were implemented. Community coalitions like the Communities That Care model gained traction. This progress continued in the early 2000s, when prevention finally got a seat at the table in public health. Prevention efforts became evidence-based and multi-layered. Programs began to see substance use as due to a complex interaction between systems and started addressing the risk at the family-, peer-, school-, and individual-level, such as the Seattle Social Development Project.

But this progress is often undermined by political agendas.

The punitive spirit of the War on Drugs remains deeply embedded in U.S. policy. The first Trump administration marked a clear pivot away from behavioral health and back toward criminal justice responses. Law enforcement became the answer while programs focused on research and wellness were deprioritized. Youth substance use trends began to stabilize despite the steady decline they had been on since the 1980s, marking an early sign that prevention was losing its momentum. The Biden-Harris administration brought in a new wave of the War on Drugs by naming a specific adulterated substance, fentanyl combined with xylazine, as an “emerging threat to the United States,” a term traditionally held for matters of homeland security.

Why This Matters Now

This new Trump administration brings new challenges and likely worse consequences as we witness an unprecedented time of widespread cuts to federal funding. Many communities rely heavily on these programs to help their fellow residents promote wellness in their area. Without these programs, improvements in trends in substance use will likely plateau, then potentially worsen. The challenge is that the consequences of cutting prevention are long-term, not immediate. As a result, many will turn to this time period in the next year to point out that there was no visible crisis or dramatic increase in substance use but that is based on a deep misunderstanding in evaluation research. The kids that would have relied on these programs will reach adulthood in the next few years which will be when we see the effects of not having these programs. People who relied on federally funded programs for treatment and support will experience worsening symptoms and rates of fatal overdoses will rise. Our schools will likely witness lower rates of attendance and a higher number of students dropping out or failing. Issues of overcrowding in jails and prisons will continue to worsen as increases in law enforcement activity will lead to greater arrests.

The defunding of mental health and substance use programming is a mistake. When prevention works, it’s invisible — no one sees the overdoses that didn’t happen, hears the fights that were avoided, or reads headlines about the crisis that never occurred. The invisibility of its effects does not mean it is not important.

Mobilizing the Community

We are at risk of repeating history by cutting prevention and returning to failed punitive models. Communities must lead where the federal government is failing. The momentum for prevention has always lain in the power of the community. The earliest substance use prevention movements started with everyday people who cared. Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) and other grassroots organizations started taking an active role in prevention in the 1980s, and ever since we have seen more communities taking the reins when it comes to promoting wellness in their area. Prevention is not an activity reserved solely for those in power; it is the duty and responsibility of every individual. Prevention is more than a policy or program; it is a promise to keep showing up for each other. If you are not sure where to start, start by telling your story and making space for others to lead. Prevention is strongest when it is shared.

Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-nature-of-substance-use/202505/defunding-prevention-a-setback-for-science-and-public

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Political Sector,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Los Angeles — Inside a bright new building in the heart of Skid Row, homeless people hung out in a canopy-covered courtyard — some waiting to take a shower, do laundry, or get medication for addiction treatment. Others relaxed on shaded grass and charged their phones as an intake line for housing grew more crowded.

The new Skid Row Care Campus offers homeless people health care and a place to rest, charge their phones, grab some

food, or even get connected with housing.Angela Hart / KFF Health News

The Skid Row Care Campus officially opened this spring with ample offerings for people living on the streets of this historically downtrodden neighborhood. Pop-up fruit stands and tent encampments lined the sidewalks, as well as dealers peddling meth and fentanyl in open-air drug markets. Some people, sick or strung out, were passed out on sidewalks as pedestrians strolled by on a recent afternoon.

For those working toward sobriety, clinicians are on site to offer mental health and addiction treatment. Skid Row’s first methadone clinic is set to open here this year. For those not ready to quit drugs or alcohol, the campus provides clean syringes to more safely shoot up, glass pipes for smoking drugs, naloxone to prevent overdoses, and drug test strips to detect fentanyl contamination, among other supplies.

As many Americans have grown increasingly intolerant of street homelessness, cities and states have returned to tough-on-crime approaches that penalize people for living outside and for substance use disorders. But the Skid Row facility shows Los Angeles County leaders’ embrace of the principle of harm reduction, a range of more lenient strategies that can include helping people more safely use drugs, as they contend with a homeless population estimated around 75,000 — among the largest of any county in the nation. Evidence shows the approach can help individuals enter treatment, gain sobriety, and end their homelessness, while addiction experts and county health officials note it has the added benefit of improving public health.

“We get a really bad rap for this, but this is the safest way to use drugs,” said Darren Willett, director of the Center for Harm Reduction on the new Skid Row Care Campus. “It’s an overdose prevention strategy, and it prevents the spread of infectious disease.”

Despite a decline in overdose deaths, drug and alcohol use continues to be the leading cause of death among homeless people in the county. Living on the streets or in sordid encampments, homeless people saddle the health care system with high costs from uncompensated care, emergency room trips, inpatient hospitalizations, and, for many of them, their deaths. Harm reduction, its advocates say, allows homeless people the opportunity to obtain jobs, taxpayer-subsidized housing, health care, and other social services without being forced to give up drugs. Yet it’s hotly debated.

Politicians around the country, including Gov. Gavin Newsom in California, are reluctant to adopt harm reduction techniques, such as needle exchanges or supervised places to use drugs, in part because they can be seen by the public as condoning illicit behavior. Although Democrats are more supportive than Republicans, a national poll this year found lukewarm support across the political spectrum for such interventions.

Los Angeles is defying President Trump’s agenda as he advocates for forced mental health and addiction treatment for homeless people — and locking up those who refuse. The city has also been the scene of large protests against Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown, which the president has fought by deploying National Guard troops and Marines.

Mr. Trump’s most detailed remarks on homelessness and substance use disorder came during his campaign, when he attacked people who use drugs as criminals and said that homeless people “have no right to turn every park and sidewalk into a place for them to squat and do drugs.” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reinforced Mr. Trump’s focus on treatment.

“Secretary Kennedy stands with President Trump in prioritizing recovery-focused solutions to address addiction and homelessness,” said agency spokesperson Vianca Rodriguez Feliciano. “HHS remains focused on helping individuals recover, communities heal, and help make our cities clean, safe, and healthy once again.”

A comprehensive report led by Margot Kushel, a professor of medicine at the University of California-San Francisco, this year found that nearly half of California’s homeless population had a complex behavioral health need, defined as regular drug use, heavy drinking, hallucinations, or a recent psychiatric hospitalization.

The chaos of living outside, she said — marked by violence, sexual assault, sleeplessness, and lack of housing and health care — can make it nearly impossible to get sober.

Skid Row Care Campus

The new care campus is funded by about $26 million a year in local, state, and federal homelessness and health care money, and initial construction was completed by a Skid Row landlord, Matt Lee, who made site improvements on his own, according to Anna Gorman, chief operating officer for community programs at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. Operators say the campus should be able to withstand potential federal spending cuts because it is funded through a variety of sources.

Glass front doors lead to an atrium inside the yellow-and-orange complex. It was designed with input from homeless people, who advised the county not just on the layout but also on the services offered on-site. There are 22 recovery beds and 48 additional beds for mostly older homeless people, arts and wellness programs, a food pantry, and pet care. Even bunnies and snakes are allowed.

John Wright, 65, who goes by the nickname Slim, mingled with homeless visitors one afternoon in May, asking them what they needed to be safe and comfortable.

“Everyone thinks we’re criminals, like we’re out robbing everyone, but we aren’t,” said Wright, who is employed as a harm reduction specialist on the campus and is trying, at his own pace, to stop using fentanyl. “I’m homeless and I’m a drug addict, but I’m on methadone now so I’m working on it,” he said.

Nearby on Skid Row, Anthony Willis rested in his wheelchair while taking a toke from a crack pipe. He’d just learned about the new care campus, he said, explaining that he was homeless for roughly 20 years before getting into a taxpayer-subsidized apartment on Skid Row. He spends most of his days and nights on the streets, using drugs and alcohol.

The drugs, he said, help him stay awake so he can provide companionship and sometimes physical protection for homeless friends who don’t have housing. “It’s tough sometimes living down here; it’s pretty much why I keep relapsing,” said Willis, who at age 62 has asthma and arthritic knees. “But it’s also my community.”

Willis said the care campus could be a place to help him kick drugs, but he wasn’t sure he was ready.

Research shows harm reduction helps prevent death and can build long-term recovery for people who use substances, said Brian Hurley, an addiction psychiatrist and the medical director for the Bureau of Substance Abuse Prevention and Control at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The techniques allow health care providers and social service workers to meet people when they’re ready to stop using drugs or enter treatment.

“Recovery is a learning activity, and the reality is relapse is part of recovery,” he said. “People go back and forth and sometimes get triggered or haven’t figured out how to cope with a stressor.”

Swaying public opinion

Under harm reduction principles, officials acknowledge that people will use drugs. Funded by taxpayers, the government provides services to use safely, rather than forcing people to quit or requiring abstinence in exchange for government-subsidized housing and treatment programs.

Los Angeles County is spending hundreds of millions to combat homelessness, while also launching a multiyear “By LA for LA” campaign to build public support, fight stigma, and encourage people to use services and seek treatment. Officials have hired a nonprofit, Vital Strategies, to conduct the campaign including social media advertising and billboards to promote the expansion of both treatment and harm reduction services for people who use drugs.

The organization led a national harm reduction campaign and is working on overdose prevention and public health campaigns in seven states using roughly $70 million donated by Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York.

“We don’t believe people should die just because they use drugs, so we’re going to provide support any way that we can,” said Shoshanna Scholar, director of harm reduction at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. “Eventually, some people may come in for treatment but what we really want is to prevent overdose and save lives.”

Los Angeles also finds itself at odds with California’s Democratic governor. Newsom has spearheaded stricter laws targeting homelessness and addiction and has backed treatment requirements for people with mental illness or who use drugs. Last year, California voters approved Proposition 36, which allows felony charges for some drug crimes, requires courts to warn people they could be charged with murder for selling or providing illegal drugs that kill someone, and makes it easier to order treatment for people who use drugs.

Even San Francisco approved a measure last year that requires welfare recipients to participate in treatment to continue receiving cash aid. Mayor Daniel Lurie recently ordered city officials to stop handing out free drug supplies, including pipes and foil, and instead to require participation in drug treatment to receive services. Lurie signed a recovery-first ordinance, which prioritizes “long-term remission” from substance use, and the city is also expanding policing while funding new sober-living sites and treatment centers for people recovering from addiction.

“Harm encouragement”

State Sen. Roger Niello, a Republican who represents conservative suburbs outside Sacramento, says the state needs to improve the lives of homeless people through stricter drug policies. He argues that providing drug supplies or offering housing without a mandate to enter treatment enables homeless people to remain on the streets.

Proposition 36, he said, needs to be implemented forcefully, and homeless people should be required to enter treatment in exchange for housing.

“I think of it as tough love,” Niello said. “What Los Angeles is doing, I would call it harm encouragement. They’re encouraging harm by continuing to feed a habit that is, quite frankly, killing people.”

Keith Humphreys, who worked in the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations and pioneered harm reduction practices across the nation, said that communities should find a balance between leniency and law enforcement.

“Parents need to be able to walk their kids to the park without being traumatized. You should be able to own a business without being robbed,” he said. “Harm reduction and treatment both have a place, and we also need prevention and a focus on public safety.”

Just outside the Skid Row Care Campus, Cindy Ashley organized her belongings in a cart after recently leaving a local hospital ER for a deep skin infection on her hand and arm caused by shooting heroin. She also regularly smokes crack, she said.

She was frantically searching for a home so she could heal from two surgeries for the infection. She learned about the new care campus and rushed over to get her name on the waiting list for housing.

“I’m not going to make it out here,” she said, in tears.

Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/los-angeles-harm-reduction-drugs-homelessness/

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.

Filed under: Addiction,Brain and Behaviour,Crime/Violence/Prison,Drug use-various effects,Harm Reduction,Needle Exchange,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,USA :

by Robyn Oster – Associate Director, Health Law and Policy – July 2025

Reminder: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), an expert panel, evaluates preventive services and recommends which should be provided at no cost.

Why it’s important: Services currently required to be covered at no cost include certain mental health screenings, drug/alcohol screenings, PrEP for HIV, etc.
A group of conservative Christian employers in Texas led a lawsuit challenging the requirement. They argued that having the independent panel determine national health coverage violated the appointments clause of the Constitution and that covering PrEP violated religious freedom (though the Supreme Court only weighed in on the appointments clause argument).

The details:

The employers argued that USPSTF members were not appointed as either of two types of executive branch officers that the Constitution allows to make certain national policy decisions. They argued that the task force recommendations requiring them to cover certain preventive services in their employer-sponsored health plans were unconstitutional because task force members are not confirmed by the Senate.
The government defended the task force, arguing that it is constitutional because HHS officials appoint USPSTF members, and the HHS secretary can remove members at will and veto recommendations.
The Supreme Court agreed with the government and affirmed that the HHS secretary has these powers over USPSTF and its recommendations.

The bigger context:

The decision is a win for health advocates, who wanted to maintain the no-cost coverage requirement for preventive services. Providing preventive services at no cost is key to increasing access to and receipt of important screenings and other preventive services. Decreasing access to such services would lead to worse health outcomes.
But: The ruling could challenge USPSTF’s independence and credibility. It cements a strong role for the HHS secretary in overseeing the USPSTF, including removing members and modifying its rulings. This paves the way for HHS Secretary Kennedy to reject recommendations he disagrees with, allowing insurers to charge for those services or avoid covering them in some cases. It also opens the door for Kennedy to remove all the task force members and appoint new people, and a new task force could reject previous recommendations.

Source: https://drugfree.org/drug-and-alcohol-news/supreme-court-upholds-aca-preventive-care/

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Health,Legal Sector,Mental Health,Prevention and Intervention,Strategy and Policy,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

In Christian Daily – Forum 2025 – News & Stories – July 9, 2025

According to a report in ChristianDaily.com, a June 2025 study published in a peer-reviewed journal of the British Medical Association, found that daily cannabis users are 34% more likely to develop heart failure than non-users.

The study by researchers from France drew on data from over 150,000 U.S. adults tracked over several years, and also linked marijuana use with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. The objective was to evaluate the possible association between major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and the use of cannabis or cannabinoids.

Dr. Matthew Springer, a heart disease biologist at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), told the New York Times that marijuana inhalation delivers “thousands of chemicals deep into the lungs,” potentially increasing cardiovascular risk. His lab recently found that both edible and inhaled forms of marijuana were associated with comparable levels of blood vessel dysfunction.

An accompanying editorial by researchers from California USA said about the study:

Legalisation of medical and recreational cannabis commerce is spreading around the world, associated with increased use1 and falling perception of the risk. Frequent cannabis use has increased in several countries, and many users believe that it is a safe and natural way to relieve pain or stress. In contrast, a growing body of evidence links cannabis use to significant harms throughout life, including cardiovascular health of adults. The robust meta-analysis of cannabis use and cardiovascular disease by Storck et al4 in this issue of Heart raises serious questions about the assumption that cannabis imposes little cardiovascular risk.

This study is backed up by a March 2025 publication by the American College of Cardiology which revealed that cannabis users under the age of 50 are six times more likely to suffer a heart attack and three times more likely to die from cardiovascular causes compared to non-users.

According to a review article in JACC: Journal of the American College of Cardiology – “Marijuana is becoming increasingly potent, and smoking marijuana carries many of the same cardiovascular health hazards as smoking tobacco.”

As reported by Christian Daily International, in 2019, the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) — a U.S.-based nonprofit representing thousands of Christian healthcare professionals — issued a position statement cautioning against recreational and medicinal marijuana use. “[T]here is a need for limiting access to marijuana,” the CMDA said. It warned of addiction, cognitive impairment, psychosis, and long-term health effects, especially among youth. “The adolescent brain is still developing and more vulnerable to the adverse effects of marijuana,” the statement emphasised.

Source: https://www.christiandaily.com/news/new-study-links-marijuana-to-heart-failure-echoing-christian-medical-professionals-long-standing-warnings-against-recrea

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Health,Marijuana and Medicine,Mental Health,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Two large-scale surveys of California high school students found that teens who saw cannabis and e-cigarette content were more likely to start using those substances or to have used them in the past month

Teens who see social media posts showing cannabis or e-cigarettes, including from friends and influencers, are more likely to later start using those substances or to report using them in the past month, according to surveys done by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Viewing such posts was linked to cannabis use, as well as dual use of cannabis and e-cigarettes (vapes). Dual use refers to youth who have used both cannabis and e-cigarettes at some point. The results were just published in JAMA Network Open.

The findings come amid a decline in youth e-cigarette use, reported in 2024 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, teen vaping, cannabis use and the dual use of e-cigarettes and cannabis remain a problem.

“While the rate of e-cigarette use is declining, our study shows that exposure to e-cigarette content on social media still contributes to the risk of using e-cigarettes with other substances, like cannabis,” said Julia Vassey, PhD, a health behavior researcher in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, also helps clarify how certain types of social media posts relate to teen substance use. Researchers surveyed more than 7,600 teens across two studies: a longitudinal study to understand whether viewing cannabis or e-cigarette posts on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube relates to a teen’s later choice to start using either substance or both, and a second survey looking at whether an association exists between the source of the content— friends, influencers, celebrities or brands—and substance use.

“Answering these questions can help federal regulators and social media platforms create guidelines geared toward preventing youth substance use,” Vassey said.

Links across substances

Data for the study came from California high school students, with an average age of 17, who completed questionnaires on classroom computers between 2021 and 2023. Researchers conducted two surveys, one focused on teens who used cannabis, e-cigarettes or both for the first time, the other focused on use during the past month.

In the first survey, which included 4,232 students, 22.9% reported frequently seeing e-cigarette posts on TikTok, Instagram or YouTube, meaning they saw at least one post per week. A smaller portion—12%—frequently saw cannabis posts.

One year later, researchers followed up with the students. Teens who had frequently seen cannabis posts—but had never tried cannabis or e-cigarettes—were more likely to have started using e-cigarettes, cannabis or both. Teens who had frequently seen e-cigarette posts on TikTok were more likely to have started using cannabis or started dual use of both cannabis and e-cigarettes. No such pattern was found for Instagram or YouTube. The data collected allowed researchers to look at platform-specific results for e-cigarettes posts, but not for cannabis posts.

“This is consistent with previous research showing that, of the three platforms, TikTok is probably the strongest risk factor for substance use,” Vassey said. That may be because TikTok’s algorithm pushes popular content broadly, including posts that feature e-cigarettes, even to users who don’t follow the accounts.

In the second survey, researchers asked 3,380 students whether they saw cannabis or e-cigarette posts from brands, friends, celebrities, or influencers with 10,000 to 100,000 followers. Teens who saw e-cigarette or cannabis posts from influencers were more likely than their peers to have used cannabis in the past month. Those who saw e-cigarette posts from friends were more likely to have been dual users of cannabis and e-cigarettes in the past month. Those who saw cannabis posts from friends were more likely to have used cannabis in the past month or to have been dual users of cannabis and e-cigarettes.

The link between e-cigarette posts and cannabis use is what researchers call a “cross-substance association” and may be explained by the similar appearance of nicotine and cannabis vaping devices, Vassey said.

The risks of influencer content

Influencer posts deserve special attention because they often slip through loopholes in federal rules and platform guidelines. For example, the FDA can only regulate content when brand partnerships are disclosed, but influencers—consciously or not—may skip disclosures in some posts.

Studies show that these seemingly unsponsored posts are seen as more authentic, Vassey said, making them particularly influential.

Most social media platforms already ban paid promotion of cannabis and tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. Some researchers say those bans should be extended to cover additional influencer content. Others want platforms to partner with regulators to find a comprehensive solution.

“So far, it’s a grey area, and nobody has provided a clear answer on how we should act and when,” Vassey said.

In future studies, Vassey plans to further explore cannabis influencer marketing, including whether changes to social media guidelines impact what teens see and how they respond.

About this research

In addition to Vassey, the study’s other authors are Junhan Cho, Trisha Iyer and Jennifer B. Unger from the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California; Erin A. Vogel from the TSET Health Promotion Research Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City; and Julia Chen-Sankey from the Institute for Nicotine and Tobacco Studies and the School of Public Health, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health [R01CA260459]and the National Institute on Drug Abuse [K01DA055073].

Source: https://keck.usc.edu/news/e-cigarette-and-cannabis-social-media-posts-pose-risks-for-teens-study-finds/

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Marijuana and Medicine,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Vaping,Youth :

from KFF Health News – Jul 8 2025

Inside a bright new building in the heart of Skid Row, homeless people hung out in a canopy-covered courtyard — some waiting to take a shower, do laundry, or get medication for addiction treatment. Others relaxed on shaded grass and charged their phones as an intake line for housing grew more crowded.

Los Angeles is defying President Donald Trump’s agenda as he advocates for forced mental health and addiction treatment for homeless people — and locking up those who refuse. The city has also been the scene of large protests against Trump’s immigration crackdown, which the president has fought by deploying National Guard troops and Marines.

Trump’s most detailed remarks on homelessness and substance use disorder came during his campaign, when he attacked people who use drugs as criminals and said that homeless people “have no right to turn every park and sidewalk into a place for them to squat and do drugs.” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reinforced Trump’s focus on treatment.

The chaos of living outside, she said — marked by violence, sexual assault, sleeplessness, and lack of housing and health care — can make it nearly impossible to get sober.

Skid row care campus

John Wright, 65, who goes by the nickname Slim, mingled with homeless visitors one afternoon in May, asking them what they needed to be safe and comfortable.

Willis said the care campus could be a place to help him kick drugs, but he wasn’t sure he was ready.

Swaying public opinion

‘Harm encouragement’

Proposition 36, he said, needs to be implemented forcefully, and homeless people should be required to enter treatment in exchange for housing.

She was frantically searching for a home so she could heal from two surgeries for the infection. She learned about the new care campus and rushed over to get her name on the waiting list for housing.

“I’m not going to make it out here,” she said, in tears.

Source: https://www.news-medical.net/news/20250708/In-a-nation-growing-hostile-toward-drugs-and-homelessness-Los-Angeles-tries-leniency.aspx

This article was reprinted from khn.org, a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF – the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.

Filed under: Crime/Violence/Prison,Drug use-various effects,Harm Reduction,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Drug and Alcohol Dependence – Volume 273, 1 August 2025, 112714

by Gustave Maffre Maviel, Camilla Somma, Camille Davisse-Paturet, Guillaume Airagnes, Maria Melchior.

Highlights

•
Studies reveal a significant association between cannabis use and suicidality, independent of depression.
•
Existing research is inconsistent regarding whether the association differs between individuals with and without depression.
•
More research is needed to identify the pathways linking cannabis use to suicidality.

Abstract

Background

Depression has been cited as a possible confounder, moderator, and mediator of the relationship between cannabis use and suicidal behaviours. We aimed to assess the role of depression in the relationship between cannabis use and suicidal behaviours by systematically reviewing existing literature in the general population.

Methods

We systematically searched PubMed, Science Direct and Psych Articles from database inception to May 20th 2024, for quantitative observational studies investigating the role of depression in the association between cannabis use and suicidal behaviours. We conducted a meta-analysis to examine the confounding role of depression and search for qualitative arguments in favour of moderating and/or mediating roles of depression.

Results

We screened 1081 articles, selected 43 for full-text screening and finally included 25. Among adolescents, cannabis use was associated with suicidal ideation (OR = 1.46 [1.17, 1.83]) and suicide attempts (OR = 2.17 [1.56, 3.03]) in studies adjusting for depression. Among adults, cannabis use was associated with suicidal ideation (OR = 1.78 [1.28, 2.46]) in studies adjusting for depression. 12 out of 25 studies found no association between cannabis use and suicidality after adjustment for depression. Six studies investigated a potential moderating role of depression, with four reporting significant but conflicting results. No article investigated the mediating role of depression.

Discussion

There is a clear relationship between cannabis use and suicidal behaviours, which is partly confounded by depression. Studies investigating a moderating role of depression did not agree about the direction of moderation. Further research using methodologies that consider the chronology of events is needed.

Keywords

Cannabis

Cannabis use

Cannabis use disorder

Suicidal behaviours

Suicide

Depression

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037687162500167X?

Elsevier Science has two locations: one in New York, United States, and the other in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Europe,Health,Mental Health,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

Opinion by Kevin Sabet – SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) – July 10, 2025,

President Donald Trump is facing a pivotal decision: whether to ease national restrictions on marijuana, a policy shift he hinted at during his 2024 campaign. But a major federal bust this week in Massachusetts — where the FBI arrested seven Chinese nationals connected with a multimillion-dollar pot-growing conspiracy — shows why loosening the rules would be a soft-power disaster.

First, some context.

The federal government, under the Controlled Substances Act, uses a five-part schedule to classify various drugs and other potentially addictive items. Drugs with no accepted medical use and high potential for abuse get listed on Schedule I.

That’s where marijuana is now placed — right where it belongs.

FDA-approved marijuana-based medications are rightly classified on lower schedules.

Raw weed, however, has no accepted medical use (whatever may be claimed in states that have legalized it), and addiction rates are around 30% and rising, with younger people hit hard.

That didn’t concern President Joe Biden’s Health and Human Services Department, which recommended moving cannabis to Schedule III, the list of drugs with an accepted medical use and a lower risk of abuse.

Now celebrities, star athletes and some MAGA influencers are pushing Trump to follow the Biden-era recommendation.

But this president — who correctly grasps the multifaceted strategic threat China poses to the United States — should reject their urgings.

Look at this week’s Justice Department charges.

Federal law enforcement on Tuesday rolled up a network of marijuana grow houses in Massachusetts and Maine, allegedly run by Chinese nationals and staffed with illegal immigrants pressed into what amounts to indentured servitude.

The operations generated millions of dollars in profits, which the growers sank into assets like jewelry, cars and real estate that expanded their criminal enterprise.

Chinese criminals played a major role in the US fentanyl crisis by manufacturing the drug’s precursor chemicals and selling them to Mexican cartels. Trump slammed China with a 20% tariff over that very fact.

Marijuana is looking like another big-time business unit for Beijing.

But it gets worse: China’s communist government appears to have significant links with these criminal weed enterprises.

Two Chinese nationals charged with running an illegal grow operation in Maine in 2023 had deep links to the Sijiu Association, a Brooklyn-based non-profit reportedly connected to China’s New York consulate and to the United Front Work Department — the branch of the CCP’s Central Committee that handles influence operations abroad.

Another report in 2024 tracked the connections of Zhu Di, one of China’s top US diplomats, to an Oklahoma cultural association that Sooner State authorities investigated for its links to the illicit weed business.

It’s beyond clear that Beijing smells the skunky funk of a tactical play against the United States rising from the red-hot marijuana trade.

That’s what makes rescheduling weed such a risk.

Moving marijuana to Schedule III would supercharge the pot market, letting canna-businesses take regular deductions — including on advertising — at tax time, and easing their access to banking and credit.

In other words, it would be a major step towards commercially normalizing Big Weed, and a massive boost for Chinese organized criminals with apparent CCP connections.

Worse — as New York has seen first-hand — far from eliminating the drug dealers, a juiced-up legal weed market leads to a bigger illegal market.

Post-legalization in the Empire State, New York City alone contains an estimated 3,600 illegal pot stores, dwarfing the mere dozens of legal ones. California and Michigan have seen a similar trend.

That’s yet another way rescheduling would hand an unforced victory to China, which is already elbow-deep in illegal weed operations stateside.

The worst part is that there’s no domestic benefit to this trade-off.

If weed goes on Schedule III, it will do nothing except help addiction profiteers get rich — and damage public health irreparably, even as a flood of new data confirms that marijuana is as bad as it gets for users’ mental and physical well-being.

Heart disease, schizophrenia, dementia, even tooth rot: Weed truly is the drug that does it all.

Yes, the American public seems to be waking up. Every state considering recreational marijuana at the ballot box in 2024 rejected it.

But Trump should remember that Beijing will exploit any and every policy misstep we make to the utmost.

That’s as true of spy balloons as it is of public-health policies with nothing but negative domestic implications.

Rescheduling marijuana would put Americans last, at home and abroad — and usher in the very opposite of the Golden Age the president has so memorably promised.

Kevin Sabet is president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana and a former White House drug policy adviser.

Source: https://nypost.com/2025/07/10/opinion/easing-weed-rules-will-harm-golden-age-and-boost-china/

Filed under: Addiction,Cannabis/Marijuana,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Methamphetamine/GHB/Hallucinogens/Oxycodone,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Opening Remark by NDPA:

This news item came from the website for a Kissimmee (Orlando, Fla) residents website for the Lindfields division.

The item is of general interest because although it is ostensibly limited to Florida, it introduces a tougher education course for new drivers, specifically including education on drinks/drugs and driving.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<FLA>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

STATEMENT IN LINDFIELDS DIVISION RESIDENTS’ WEBSITE – JULY 2025

Florida is phasing out the old 4-hour course and introducing a new, more in-depth requirement for teen drivers under age 18. This affects anyone applying for a learner’s permit or first-time driver’s license. ????

Key Dates and What’s Required July 1 to July 31, 2025 (Transition Period) If you’re under 18 and applying for your learner’s permit or license: You may take either of the following: TLSAE/DATA: Traffic Law and Substance Abuse Education Also known as Drugs, Alcohol, Traffic Awareness A 4-hour course currently required for all new drivers in Florida DETS: Driver Education and Traffic Safety A new 6-hour course required for teen drivers beginning in 2025 August 1, 2025 and After Only DETS (Driver Education and Traffic Safety) will be accepted for drivers under 18 The TLSAE/DATA course will no longer be valid for minors applying for a learner’s permit Adults (18+) may still use TLSAE/DATA to meet the education requirement ????

What is DETS and Why the Change? The new 6-hour DETS course is designed to:

Strengthen defensive driving habits I
mprove hazard recognition
Cover DUI prevention and traffic laws in more detail
Reduce teen crash risks by offering a broader education experience

Summary:

Date Range Under-18 Requirements July 1–31, 2025 TLSAE/DATA or DETS accepted August 1, 2025 onward
Only DETS accepted Age 18+ Can continue using TLSAE/DATA.

Source: LINDFIELDS DIVISION RESIDENTS’ WEBSITE – JULY 2025

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Drug use-various effects,Drugs and Accidents,Harm Reduction,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

by Nada Hassanein, Stateline reporter – ‘News from the States ‘- New Jersey – Jul 03, 2025

Carlos Santiago, an ambassador and driver for the Greater Hartford Harm Reduction Coalition (now known as the Connecticut Harm Reduction

Alliance), works at a mobile overdose prevention event in 2022 in New Haven, Conn. (Photo courtesy of Connecticut Harm Reduction Alliance,

formerly known as Greater Hartford Harm Reduction Coalition)

A study published Wednesday in the medical journal JAMA Network Open found that emergency room clinicians were much less likely to refer Black opioid overdose patients for outpatient treatment compared with white patients.

The researchers looked at the medical records of 1,683 opioid overdose patients from emergency rooms in nine states: California, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Pennsylvania.

About 5.7% of Black patients received referrals for outpatient treatment, compared with 9.6% of white patients, according to the researchers, who received a federal grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to conduct the analysis.

While the nation saw a decrease in opioid overdose deaths in white people between 2021 and 2022, overdose death rates increased for American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian, Black and Hispanic people. Patients visiting ERs for opioid overdoses are more likely to die from an overdose after the visit, the authors wrote, underscoring the importance of gaining “an improved understanding of disparities in [emergency department] treatment and referral.”

In total, roughly 18% of the patients received a referral for outpatient treatment, 43% received a naloxone kit or prescription, and 8.4% received a prescription for buprenorphine, the first-line medication for treating opioid use disorder.

The researchers used records from 10 hospital sites participating in a national consortium collecting data on overdoses from fentanyl and its related drugs. The patient records were from September 2020 to November 2023.

Another study in JAMA Network Open, released last week, found similar disparities: Black and Hispanic patients were significantly less likely than white patients to receive buprenorphine. Black patients had a 17% chance, and Hispanic patients a 16% chance, to be prescribed the therapy, compared with a 20% chance for white patients.

The authors of that study, from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, looked at data from 176,000 records of opioid-related events between 2017 and 2022 across all 50 states.

Source: https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/new-studies-find-wide-racial-disparities-opioid-overdose-treatment-referrals

Filed under: Addiction,Drug use-various effects,Harm Reduction,Opioids,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

by Joshua Rivera, Alameda County Junior Journalist Program – July 4, 2025

However, that artificial dopamine forces the brain to adapt to opioids and, as a result, produces less natural feelings of dopamine. Thus, it creates a reliance and dependence on these opioids, demonstrating how these short-term pain reliefs lead to life-threatening problems.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) highlights how opioid use affects our crucial brain circuits, which leads to an alteration of our decision-making, self-control, stress levels, and behavior. Opioids have everlasting effects because the drug not only alters behavior but also damages brain and mental perspective. Thus, people continue relying on addictive opioids for dopamine and cognitive security, making the drug both the problem and the perceived solution.

In response to this epidemic, the Alameda County Health Department is fighting the opioid crisis by building solutions that address and allow communities to thrive without opioids.

In March 2025, the county partnered with the Three Valleys Community Foundation and 12 community-based organizations by granting $2.7 million, allowing for new and creative solutions to save lives. By understanding the importance of community during this crisis, the county is encouraging programs that focus on reducing harm, expanding treatment access and rehabilitation programs. Their coexistence of science and community innovation allows a healing space for opioid addiction, addressing the heart of the opioid crisis to overcome this crisis.

This article was written as part of a program to educate youth and others about Alameda County’s opioid crisis, prevention and treatment options. The program is funded by the Alameda County (California) Behavioral Health Department and the grant is administered by Three Valleys Community Foundation.

Filed under: Addiction,Opioids,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

by Andrew Yockey, Assistant Professor of Public Health, University of Mississippi July 3, 2025

Speedballing kills nearly 35,000 people in the U.S. every year

Once associated with high-profile figures like John Belushi, River Phoenix and Chris Farley , this dangerous polysubstance use has become a leading cause of overdose deaths across the United States since the early- to mid-2010s.

I am an assistant professor of public health who has written extensively on methamphetamine and opioid use and the dangerous combination of the two in the United States.

As these dangerous combinations of drugs increasingly flood the market, I see an urgent need and opportunity for a new approach to prevention and treatment.

Why speedballing?

Dating back to the 1970s, the term speedballing originally referred to the combination of heroin and cocaine. Combining stimulants and opioids – the former’s “rush” with the latter’s calming effect – creates a dangerous physiological conflict.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, stimulant-involved overdose fatalities increased markedly from more than 12,000 annually in 2015 to greater than 57,000 in 2022, a 375% increase. Notably, approximately 70% of stimulant-related overdose deaths in 2022 also involved fentanyl or other synthetic opioids, reflecting the rising prevalence of polysubstance involvement in overdose mortality.

Users sought to experience the euphoric “rush” from the stimulant and the calming effects of the opioid. However, with the proliferation of fentanyl – which is far more potent than heroin – this combination has become increasingly lethal. Fentanyl is often mixed with cocaine or methamphetamine, sometimes without the user’s knowledge, leading to unintentional overdoses.

The rise in speedballing is part of a broader trend of polysubstance use in the U.S. Since 2010, overdoses involving both stimulants and fentanyl have increased 50-fold, now accounting for approximately 35,000 deaths annually.

This has been called the fourth wave of the opioid epidemic. The toxic and contaminated drug supply has exacerbated this crisis.

A dangerous combination of physiological effects

Stimulants like cocaine increase heart rate and blood pressure, while opioids suppress respiratory function. This combination can lead to respiratory failure, cardiovascular collapse and death. People who use both substances are more than twice as likely to experience a fatal overdose compared with those using opioids alone.

The conflicting effects of stimulants and opioids can also exacerbate mental health issues. Users may experience heightened anxiety, depression and paranoia. The combination can also impair cognitive functions, leading to confusion and poor decision-making.

Speedballing can also lead to severe cardiovascular problems, including hypertension, heart attack and stroke. The strain on the heart and blood vessels from the stimulant, combined with the depressant effects of the opioid, increases the risk of these life-threatening conditions.

Addressing the crisis

Increasing awareness about the dangers of speedballing is crucial. I believe that educational campaigns can inform the public about the risks of combining stimulants and opioids and the potential for unintentional fentanyl exposure.

There is a great need for better access to treatment for people with stimulant use disorder – a condition defined as the continued use of amphetamine-type substances, cocaine or other stimulants leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, from mild to severe. Treatments for this and other substance use disorders are underfunded and less accessible than those for opioid use disorder. Addressing this gap can help reduce the prevalence of speedballing.

Implementing harm reduction strategies by public health officials, community organizations and health care providers, such as providing fentanyl test strips and naloxone – a medication that reverses opioid overdoses – can save lives.

These measures allow individuals to test their drugs for the presence of fentanyl and have immediate access to overdose-reversing medication. Implementing these strategies widely is crucial to reducing overdose deaths and improving community health outcomes.

Source: https://theconversation.com/speedballing-the-deadly-mix-of-stimulants-and-opioids-requires-a-new-approach-to-prevention-and-treatment-257425

Disclosure statement

Andrew Yockey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Filed under: Cocaine,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Heroin/Methadone,Opioids,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

From the Editor, thepostmillennial.com – 01 July 2025 14:34

(original text draft by Vivek Ramaswamy)

Something BIG is happening on college campuses across the United States.

Believe it or not, the younger generation is finally rejecting woke and radical leftism. You saw this during Trump’s election – a major shift in the 18-29 year old voters.

And the media hates it!

“America’s Youngest Voters Turn Right” – Axios;
“The Not-So-Woke Generation Z” – The Atlantic;
“Are Zoomers Shifting Right?” – Newsweek; and
“Analysis: Young and Non-White Voters Have Shifted Right Since 2020” – Washington Post.

Here’s a major reason why this is happening.

An organization called Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) is identifying, recruiting, and training college students to Make Liberty Win. YAL is the most active and effective pro-liberty youth organization advancing liberty on campus.

Below I lay out step-by-step how Young Americans for Liberty is advancing the ideas of freedom with college students.

STEP 1: Expand the number of YAL chapters across the country to over 500 nationwide. America’s college campuses are covered with YAL chapters actively recruiting and educating hundreds of thousands of students.

STEP 2: Recruit 10,000 NEW YAL members and collect more than 150,000 student sign-ups. YAL is building a massive network and a strong foundation to reach the next generation for years to come.

STEP 3: Train an ELITE group of top 1,7000 student leaders on how to WIN ON PRINCIPLE. YAL’s top student leaders receive exclusive training on the strategies and tactics to win and advance the ideas of liberty.

STEP 4: Mobilize YAL-trained activists who have knocked on more than 6,000,000 doors to promote liberty causes and candidates. It’s called OPERATION WIN AT THE DOOR, and through it, YAL-trained students have knocked doors to help nearly 400 pro-liberty legislators win crucial races and push for important pro-liberty legislation.

STEP 5: Fight tyrannical campus policies and college administrators through YAL’s Student Rights Campaign. YAL chapters and members have made major policy changes on free speech, self-defence, and defunding woke campus programs, which now impact more than 3,100,000 students every year.

Young Americans for Liberty, 3267 Bee Cave Rd, Ste 107-65, Austin, TX 78746, United States

Source: editor.thepostmillennial.com

Filed under: Social Affairs,Strategy and Policy,USA,Youth :

Joseph M Kress exposes the dark reality of America’s drug crisis

by Fox59 News – EIN Presswire Jun 23, 2025

TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, June 23, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ — In his compelling and illuminating new book, “Single Handed,” retired lieutenant and police detective Joseph M. Kress reveals the stark realities of America’s ongoing drug crisis and the concerning shortcomings of the nation’s drug prevention programs. Inspired by true events, the story uncovers a journey shaped by tragedy and the hardened years in law enforcement.

The book begins with a very personal and tragic event: Joe Kress’s brother Greg was murdered while on his honeymoon following a robbery in New Orleans. This shocking act of violence sparks Joe’s determination to join the police force. What follows is a vivid, rapid-fire narrative of Joe’s years as an officer, exploring a diverse array of cases that unveil the most sinister aspects of society, from child disappearances to horrific sexual assaults. Despite suffering a gunshot wound to his leg and having to retire early due to injury, Joe is shown to be a man who is motivated by duty throughout it all.

However, “Single Handed” does not conclude with Joe’s time in uniform. In fact, the narrative takes a turn into thrilling and audacious realms. After leaving official service, Joe sets off on a unique journey of his own creation: pursuing drug dealers nationwide. Utilizing his SWAT training and special operations background, he embarks on a mission to tackle the soaring drug-related crime rates affecting American neighborhoods. This unfolds a vigilante crusade, crafted from genuine frustration and moulded by years of direct involvement in law enforcement and profound personal grief.

Amazon reviewer Sanjin highlights the book as crucial and relevant, praising the author’s direct and engaging storytelling that sheds light on an ongoing crisis affecting communities today. In a similar vein, reader Clarence Joseph shares this sentiment, highlighting that the story’s expertly crafted pace not only amplifies its suspense but also provides a captivating and delightful reading journey.

Source: https://fox59.com/business/press-releases/ein-presswire/824883015/joseph-m-kress-exposes-the-dark-reality-of-americas-drug-crisis-through-his-latest-candid-memoir/

Filed under: Canada,Crime/Violence/Prison,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

If you’re a small business owner, you probably wear a lot of hats: manager, mentor, HR rep, sometimes even IT support. You already know that building a successful company today means adapting to change, especially when it comes to supporting your team. How we approach substance use and mental health on the job is where workplaces need to be evolving quickly!

You might think serious conversations about substance use, behavioral health, and mental wellness are reserved for big corporations with large HR departments and employee wellness budgets. But in today’s world, even the smallest teams need modern, compassionate policies.

Why? Because the way we work—and what employees expect—has changed. Employees today want to know that their employer cares about their whole well-being, not just their productivity. That includes creating space to talk about tough topics like stress, burnout, and yes, substance use.

Modern leadership means recognizing that substance use is something that impacts real people—people you may work with every day. It doesn’t always look like someone missing work or failing a drug test. It can be more subtle: someone relying on alcohol to decompress every night, using prescription stimulants to keep up with unrealistic demands, or struggling quietly with a dependence on marijuana.

Ignoring these issues won’t make them go away. But addressing them with care and structure? That’s leadership.

Here’s how small business owners can modernize their workplace by making room for this kind of support:

1. Update Your Workplace Culture, Not Just Your Tech

You wouldn’t run your business on a five-year-old software system. So why stick with outdated workplace norms around health and performance?

A modern workplace recognizes that stress, mental health, and substance use challenges are part of the human experience—and responds with resources, not judgment. Whether that’s offering access to support programs or simply encouraging open dialogue, small steps make a big difference.

2. Create a Clear, Supportive Policy

Yes, even small businesses should have a written policy about substance use. Not to scare people—but to protect them. A good policy:

· Explains your company’s stance (supportive, not punitive)

· Details how employees can seek help confidentially

· Trains supervisors to spot concerns and respond appropriately

· Builds in support and resources—like referrals, time off for treatment, or check-ins

It shows employees that they don’t have to hide what they’re going through.

3. Lead With Curiosity, Not Control

You don’t need to be a counselor. But you can ask thoughtful questions, listen without judgment, and point people in the right direction. A curious, compassionate conversation can open the door to real change—especially when someone is already feeling vulnerable.

Modern support means meeting people where they are. Whether someone is cutting back, abstaining, or just starting to question their habits, having your workplace be part of the solution helps them take the next step.

4. Set the Tone From the Top

As a business owner, your attitude sets the culture. Talking openly about stress, supporting mental health days, and encouraging balance gives your employees permission to take care of themselves. And when people feel safe, they perform better. It’s that simple.

Addressing substance use isn’t about policing your team. It’s about building a workplace where people can show up as they are, get the support they need, and grow. That’s what today’s employees are looking for—and it’s how small businesses build loyalty, retention, and a reputation for doing things the right way.

Source: McConnell, K. (2024, April 1). The Challenge of Change: How employers can modernize workplace substance use support. How Employers Can Modernize Workplace Substance Use Support | Spring Health. https://www.springhealth.com/blog/how-employers-can-modernize-workplace-substance-use-support

Source: Drug Free America Foundation | 333 3rd Avenue N Suite 200 | St. Petersburg, FL 33701 US

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<DFAF>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

NATIONAL DRUG-FREE WORKPLACE ALLIANCE

For more information and drug-free workplace resources, visit NDWA at www.ndwa.org.

Filed under: Culture,Drug use-various effects,Health,Mental Health,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Workplace :

by Sarjna Rai – New Delhi – Jun 26 2025

Observed on June 26, the day raises global awareness about drug abuse and illicit trafficking. The 2025 theme, “Break the Cycle. #StopOrganisedCrime,” calls for long-term action and reform

World Drug Day 2025 theme, “Break the Cycle. #StopOrganizedCrime,” urges global action against drug abuse and illicit trafficking.(Photo: Adobestock)

Every year on 26 June, the world observes the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking—also known as “World Drug Day”—to raise awareness of the global drug crisis and promote multilateral action toward prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation.

History & Theme

On December 7, 1987, the General Assembly of the United Nations set aside the 26th day of June of each year as International Day Against Illicit Trafficking of Drugs and other Substances of Abuse to be observed worldwide.

The theme for 2025, Break the Cycle. #StopOrganisedCrime, emphasises the significance of focused long-term action to disrupt the link between drug trafficking and organised crime, both of which fuel violence, corruption, and instability across regions.

“Prevention and preparedness are how we break the cycle of organised crime.”@GhadaFathiWaly calls for the critical need to #InvestInPrevention, to protect people from drug use and empower communities to live in safety and dignity.#WorldDrugDay pic.twitter.com/GoZviVutAV

— UN Office on Drugs & Crime (@UNODC) June 26, 2025

Source: https://www.business-standard.com/health/international-day-against-drug-abuse-2025-theme-history-significance-125062600553_1.html

Filed under: Australia,Canada,Europe,New Zealand,Others (International News),Strategy and Policy,UK,USA :

Key Takeaways

NACo submitted recommendations to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to ensure the 2026 National Drug Control Strategy reflects the needs and realities of county governments.

Counties are essential intergovernmental partners in addressing illicit substance use through prevention, treatment, recovery and public safety efforts at the local level.

On June 20, NACo submitted formal comments to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to help shape the development of its 2026 National Drug Control Strategy. This strategy serves as the nation’s blueprint for reducing illicit drug use, and the ONDCP plays a central role in coordinating federal drug policy across government agencies. As counties remain on the frontlines of the opioid and broader substance use epidemic, ONDCP invited NACo to share the county government perspectives on federal priorities and polices that support prevention, treatment, recovery and public safety across the country.

Counties invest $107 billion annually in justice and public safety and $163 billion in community health systems, funding and administering services that are directly involved in responding to the substance use crisis. NACo’s comments emphasized the vital role counties play and the importance of federal partnership in delivering life-saving services and building long-term recovery systems.

Key recommendation for the 2026 National Drug Control Strategy

Invest in the peer workforce: NACo urged federal investment in peer support through training, certification programs and reimbursement pathways for peer-delivered services. Peer specialists play a critical role in county crisis response teams, treatment navigation and long-term recovery efforts.
Expand community-based recovery ecosystems: NACo urged expanded federal investment in community-based services such as crisis care, prevention programs, housing, employment supports and peer-run services. These investments are essential to building accessible, regional systems of care that meet rising behavioral health needs.
Promote awareness and reduce stigma: NACo urged support for locally led communication strategies that increase awareness, engage underserved populations and reduce stigma around substance use. County officials often serve as trusted messengers and are well-positioned to promote prevention and recovery through tailored outreach.
Remove barriers to services, housing and employment: NACo urged the federal government to remove structural barriers that limit access to care—such as the Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Policy and the Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) Exclusion—and to integrate housing and employment supports into recovery frameworks for those with SUDS or who are in recovery. These changes are necessary to foster long-term reintegration and community participation.
Continuation of existing federal programs: NACo urged continued investment in critical programs like the Drug-Free Communities (DFC) program and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program. These initiatives are foundational to local prevention and enforcement efforts, and proposed cuts in the President’s FY 2026 budget could undermine their effectiveness and coordination under ONDCP.

Impact on counties

Counties are not only implementers of public health and safety strategies, but they are also key innovators and partners in national efforts to address substance use. As stewards of opioid settlement dollars and administrators of behavioral health and justice systems, counties are investing in sustainable, evidence-based solutions. But these efforts depend on strong federal support, including robust funding for ONDCP-aligned programs and active engagement in local implementation challenges.

NACo will continue to advocate for county priorities and collaborate with ONDCP to ensure the 2026 strategy and other federal drug policies and priorities reflect the realities and needs of communities across the country.

Source: https://www.naco.org/news/naco-submits-recommendations-2026-national-drug-control-strategy

Filed under: Political Sector,Social Affairs,Strategy and Policy,USA :

President Nixon signing the Comprehensive Drug Abuse, Prevention and Control Act of 1970.

Contrary to the popular narrative, President Nixon’s comprehensive approach to drug policy provided an effective solution to a growing problem.

In the 1970s, the United States faced a growing heroin epidemic. By 1970, there were an estimated 600,000 heroin addicts and 7,200 overdose deaths—a crisis that demanded a national response.

President Richard Nixon took decisive action to address this crisis. While he did declare drug abuse “public enemy number one,” the phrase “war on drugs” was largely a media invention. The public perception that Nixon launched a punitive campaign against drugs has overshadowed the more nuanced reality of his policy and its measurable success.

Judge Robert Bonner, former DEA administrator and U.S. District Court judge, addressed this misconception during remarks at the Nixon Library on August 22, 2023. In his research into President Nixon’s drug policy, Bonner found that Nixon used the term “war on drugs” only once—in a little-known speech to Customs personnel in Texas. As Bonner put it, “The ‘war on drugs’ is a horrid metaphor. We’ve never treated it as a war, never funded it like one, and there’s no ultimate victory.”

Journalist Charles Fain Lehman, a Robert Novak Journalism Fellow, echoed this sentiment: “Despite what critics claim, there is no fifty-year straight line from Nixon to Reagan’s drug war.”

Instead of approaching the acute drug crisis like a war, President Nixon developed a strategic, two-pronged approach aimed at reducing heroin addiction in America. His strategy targeted both demand and supply. On the demand side, he expanded treatment and prevention programs. On the supply side, he cracked down on drug trafficking through law enforcement and international diplomacy. As Lehman puts it, “his policy agenda was responsive to a real and substantial drug epidemic, one which merited a proportional government response.”

One of President Nixon’s earliest legislative achievements was the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, the first comprehensive federal drug law. Contrary to later tough-on-crime narratives, this law actually eliminated mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses—sentences that would only return with the Drug Abuse Act of 1986 under a different administration.

To enforce drug laws more effectively, President Nixon created the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the first federal agency with a singular mission to combat drug trafficking. Under his leadership, the DEA partnered with international allies to curb the global heroin trade. In just two years, Nixon’s team helped disrupt heroin routes through France and negotiated efforts to ban opium production in Turkey. According to Bonner, these efforts helped reduce the number of heroin addicts in the U.S. from approximately 600,000 to fewer than 100,000—a number that remained low for over a decade.

Further busting the myth of a drug war, compassion was core to President Nixon’s drug policy. “Heroin addiction is a problem that demands compassion, not simply condemnation,” he said. To put that compassion into action, he created the Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention and appointed Dr. Jerome Jaffe—a pioneer in addiction treatment—to lead it. One of the key objectives President Nixon assigned to Jaffe was addressing the treatment of servicemen returning from Vietnam with heroin addiction—an issue that, according to a 1971 congressional report, affected an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 veterans. Under President Nixon’s leadership, federally funded heroin treatment and education programs expanded dramatically. As Lehman noted, “Nixon spent more on drug treatment than enforcement year after year, and pioneered the use of methadone maintenance treatment.”

Richard Nixon’s approach—combining treatment, enforcement, and diplomacy—laid the groundwork for a more balanced and effective drug policy. As Bonner concluded, “In short, Nixon understood the problem. He also did something about it. It was a whole government effort—and it worked.”

View Judge Robert Bonner’s full remarks:

Sources

Bonner, Robert. Judge. 23 August 2023. Keynote Remarks by Judge Robert Bonner, YouTube, August 23, 2023.

Lehman, Charles Fain. “What Was the War on Drugs? Part I.” The Causal Fallacy, May 6, 2025.

Lehman, Charles Fain. “What Was the War on Drugs? Part II.”The Causal Fallacy, May 7, 2025.

Filed under: Culture,Drug use-various effects,Education,Heroin/Methadone,Prevalence,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

In a recent commentary in The New England Journal of Medicine, my colleagues John Kelly, Howard Koh, and I likened the addicted brain to a house on fire—a crisis requiring urgent efforts to contain the damage and preserve life.¹ The drug crisis in America has demanded a sustained focus to extinguish those fires by expanding treatment access and overdose prevention and reversal strategies—and encouragingly, data show that overdose fatalities have been declining since 2023. However, a house that has had its addiction fire extinguished still smolders and can readily burst into flames again. After an initial remission of substance use disorder (SUD) symptoms, it can take as much as 8 years and 4-5 engagements in treatment or mutual support groups to achieve sustained remission, and risk for meeting SUD criteria can remain elevated for several more years after that.²

As addiction clinicians and researchers, we have an obligation not only to improve our abilities at fighting the fires of active addiction, but also to enhance our ability to facilitate the processes of rebuilding in the aftermath, to reduce their future recurrence. Increasing the number of people achieving long-term recovery from SUDs is a national policy priority and a major goal of the research supported by NIDA—from basic neuroscience to understand how the brain rewires and recovers after addiction to an intensified focus on the supports and services that can help individuals thrive as they build healthier lives.³

Fortunately, the very same adaptability and neuroplasticity of the brain that makes it susceptible to developing addiction in the first place also enables it to heal, especially when internal and external conditions are supportive of recovery. The neurobiology underlying remission from SUDs has long been a focus of NIDA-funded research. Over two decades ago, as a NIDA grantee, I and my colleagues at Brookhaven National Laboratory and SUNY-Stony Brook used PET neuroimaging to show the recovery of lost dopamine transporters in the striatum of people with methamphetamine use disorder after prolonged abstinence.⁴ More recent longitudinal neuroimaging studies of people in SUD treatment show structural recovery in frontal cortical regions, insula, hippocampus, and cerebellum, and functional and neurochemical recovery in prefrontal cortical and subcortical regions.⁵

As the individual learns new behaviors, goals, and rewards, the learning process reshapes synaptic connectivity across a range of circuits, ultimately outcompeting drug-related memories and automatic behavioral patterns, which weaken over time.⁶ Among ongoing NIDA-funded projects is a study homing in on the circuits associated with medication adherence in patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) and those that predict return to opioid use during medication treatment. Another project is using biweekly neuroimaging of patients taking medications to treat OUD to characterize neural trajectories of remission.

NIDA has also made a major investment in research on services and supports that can make it easier for people in recovery to continue to choose non-drug rewards and thereby facilitate this neural rewiring. Such services may prove to be at least as important as treatment or overdose reversal in maintaining the recent gains made in reducing overdose deaths. A 2022 dynamic modeling study funded by the FDA projected that people returning to opioid use after a period of remission will account for an increasing proportion of OUD cases over the coming decade, compared to people newly developing OUD.⁷ Consequently, the authors found that, of 11 strategies to reduce OUD and fatal overdoses, services that help people stay in remission from OUD were likely to be among the most impactful.

Over the past few years, NIDA has funded several grants with the aim of building the infrastructure necessary to advance the science of recovery support. They included grants in 2020 and 2022 that supported the development of networks of recovery researchers working to establish key measures for the field, as well as clinical trial planning grants that establish the foundation necessary to conduct future large-scale clinical trials to understand the effectiveness of various recovery support services. NIDA is also supporting research on how to deliver services to groups like adolescents and young adults and people involved in the criminal-justice system, and to identify factors that are most predictive of recovery outcomes like recovery identity and meaningfulness.

One defining feature of recovery support services is the central role of peers who have lived or living experience of SUD. It can involve individual support by recovery coaches, living or working in settings with others in recovery such as recovery housing or recovery community centers, or mutual-aid groups like traditional 12-step programs and newer models like SMART Recovery. Among the many questions being addressed by NIDA grantees, therefore, are ways to support peers and their professional advancement to foster a more sustainable recovery workforce. NIDA is also working with startups to develop apps and other digital tools that can be used to facilitate connecting to peers, including mobile apps and digital peer-support platforms accessible in treatment settings for patients who are socioeconomically disadvantaged.

In whatever way recovery services are implemented, access and engagement over a longer duration of time than typical stints of addiction treatment can be crucial to help a person maintain remission and provide support when times get tough. Yet there is limited data on the optimal duration of recovery supports services, how the intensity or focus of services should change over the course of recovery, and, in the case of people taking medications for OUD, if and when medications can be safely discontinued. NIDA-funded recovery research is exploring the crucial question of optimal duration of medication treatment for people with OUD and developing discontinuation strategies for people who want to stop medication.

As we described in our New England Journal of Medicine commentary, the positive shift from punishing people experiencing addiction towards treating them in the clinic seen over the past four decades is now shifting into a new phase where the clinic is integrated with the community. The integration of support in the community is giving nonclinicians, including peers, friends, and family, an increasingly important role in the care of people with SUDs, facilitating the continuity of care beyond treatment. NIDA recently solicited applications for research projects on the role played by loved ones and other support persons in SUD recovery, with the goal of incorporating them into individuals’ recovery process as well as developing interventions to give support to those who are supporting a loved one in recovery.

As more addiction fires are extinguished through public health measures at the national, state, and community levels, we must direct more scientific attention to the end goal of long-term health and wellness for all people whose lives have been affected by addiction.

Source: https://nida.nih.gov/about-nida/noras-blog/2025/06/advancing-recovery-research

Filed under: Addiction,Brain and Behaviour,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

While many of the conversations surrounding marijuana revolve around younger generations and their patterns of use, a growing body of research is starting to include older adults in the conversation. Two recent studies show an increase in the use of marijuana among older adults and a link to various health conditions.

The first study, out of the University of California, included data from 15,689 adults aged 65 and older. This study found a sharp increase in the prevalence of marijuana use over the past-month among this population – rising from 4.8% to 7.0%. This study identified a link between this rise and various factors, including residing in a state with legal medical marijuana, being a woman, and several health issues such as heart conditions, diabetes, hypertension, in addition to other sociodemographic and clinical outcomes.

The second study out of Ontario, Canada, where marijuana has been legal for recreational use since 2018, used health data from over 6 million individuals and focused on adults aged 45 and older over a 14-year period to assess whether marijuana use that led to an emergency department (ED) visit or hospitalization could be associated with future dementia diagnoses.

The study showed that between the years of 2008 to 2021, marijuana-related emergency care increased dramatically in adults aged 65 and older, with a 26.7-fold increase. Even among adults aged 45 to 64, the rate increased fivefold. This surge reflects both the growing normalization of marijuana and the growing number of older adults experimenting with or becoming dependent on its use. But as use has increased, so too has concern about its potential consequences for brain health.

This study found that those who required emergency care for marijuana-related reasons were significantly more likely to develop dementia. Within 5 years, 5% of marijuana-related acute care patients were diagnosed with dementia compared to 3.6% among individuals with other types of hospital visits, and just 1.3% in the general population.

Even after adjusting for factors like age, gender, chronic health conditions and mental health history, the elevated risk remained: Compared to peers hospitalized for any reason, marijuana users had a 23% higher risk of dementia. Compared to the general population, their risk was 72% higher. By 10 years, nearly one in five (18.6%) of those with marijuana-related hospital visits had developed dementia.

Although the specific biological mechanisms are still unknown, many studies have shown an association between heavy marijuana use and memory and cognitive decline, and this study adds to the concern that long-term use, heavy use or cannabis use disorder (CUD) may also accelerate long-term neurodegeneration. With chronic marijuana exposure possibly altering the brain structure, reducing cognitive reserve and interfering with key processes involved in memory and learning, this growing use is leaving older adults more vulnerable due to age-related changes in the brain and the possibility of unknown interactions with other health conditions or medications.

As marijuana use grows in this age group, targeted prevention and education strategies are urgently needed.

Source: Drug Free America Foundation | 333 3rd Ave N Suite 200 | St. Petersburg, FL 33701 US

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Cannabis/Marijuana,Culture,Mental Health,USA :

OPENING REMARKS BY NDPA:

This book, and its review, engage with differing viewpoint s about addiction and addicts. Flanagan prefers to avoid the word ‘disease’ – characterising the condition as a behavioural ‘disorder’ – much in the way that Stanton Peele, in his classic 1975 text ‘Love and Addiction’ – (Peele and Brodsky – Pubd, Taplinger, New York) similarly views the condition. But in the professional field of today additional concepts have been introduced, what some might call ‘influencers’ – longest established is the notion of ‘harm reduction’ – this (in our opinion) has a valid purpose in limiting harm that users can experience, but it has also been ‘abused’ by campaigners who argue that ‘laws are harmful, so legalisation reduces harm’. More recently the notion of ‘stigma’ has become more prominent in the drug policy arena … and again, whilst there is a valid role for addressing gratuitous stigmatisation of users, the liberalising campaigners can be seen to abuse the notion, arguing that ‘all stigma is bad, therefore all stigma should be removed.’ In fact, society has long rationally deployed stigma where it can be seen as criticising an individuals drug abuse when this damages and jeopardises a healthful society, or threatens the health of people around the user … this is echoed in Flanagan’s text where, for example he says addicts are ‘… are by no means blameless just because they supposedly have a disease’. This dialogue will of course run and run, and NDPA will endeavour to maintain a balanced and rational journey through this jungle!

A new book looks at addiction through the lens of choice and responsibility.

Book Review by Daniel Akst – Reason Magazine – 6.15.2025

Addiction is a problem that defenders of liberty need to face, for if citizens cannot control their appetites, the state may be inclined to take over the job for them. Freedom depends on self-command supported by a fragile web of norms and relationships that lets us keep our own lives in order and get along with one another. Addiction is the acute case of the appetites run amok, as they often do when unfettered by such constraints as wealth, religion, and community.

Owen Flanagan’s new book, What Is It Like To Be an Addict?, should be welcomed by anyone concerned with these issues. Despite its modest size, this is a work of large ambition and broad range informed not just by the author’s long career as a prominent philosopher but by his many years as a desperately addicted abuser of alcohol and sedatives.

“This is a deeply personal book,” he writes. “I was addicted to booze and benzos for twenty years on and off from the late 1970s until the early 2000s. The last years were especially ugly, requiring several hospitalizations, and involving constant self-loathing and suicidal despair.”

Unsurprisingly given his experience, Flanagan stresses that we should pay close attention to what the addicted have to tell us. And among the most important things addicts say is that they are by no means blameless just because they supposedly have a disease. On the contrary, many feel shame (for being an addict) and guilt (for behaviors that are slowly destroying them and harming their loved ones).

To Flanagan, these feelings are right and good. That stance may inspire horror from some people, who will see it as victim-blaming. But it’s consistent with Flanagan’s view that addicts can’t be reduced to flesh-and-blood automatons jerked about by their cravings. As he notes, even people who claim to believe this will then earnestly implore an addict to get help—a plea that could only be directed at someone presumed to have the ability to make choices. “Every treatment that works to unseat addiction,” he writes, “assumes that addicts are responsible and must participate in undoing their own addiction.”

Flanagan doesn’t even think addiction is a disease, exactly—more of a multifactorial disorder of enormous social, physical, psychological, and pharmacological complexity. Indeed, one of his book’s main points is that addiction cannot be seen as any one simple thing. But he doggedly insists that addicts retain some agency during their plight.

“Practices of compassion, forgiveness, and excusing are distinct from whether or not we hold the addict responsible,” he writes. “We hold addicts responsible in many respects and rightly so. Thus, the determination that addiction is a disease or mental disorder is much less consequential as far as holding addicts responsible goes than many suggest.”

Flanagan takes care to distinguish between unwilling addicts, willing addicts, and resigned addicts, helping us through these categories to think about what we mean by addiction and how best to mitigate it. Particularly notable are the minority who are willing addicts—he mentions as an example Keith Richards, who has said he was a longtime heroin user. At least some of these individuals are in control of the consequences of their habit and satisfied with their lives. Is their addiction any more meaningful than a coffee habit?

Unwilling addicts want to quit, and many will eventually succeed. And resigned addicts are those who wanted to quit, couldn’t, and just gave up, surrendering to hopelessness. They are in a sense beyond unwilling; by not trying to quit, they effectively acquiesce. Here, the author says, a kind of accommodation may help. One nonprofit in Europe helps resigned addicts to lead orderly lives through more disciplined consumption—in one methadone-like program, six pints of beer spread throughout the day—as well as suitable paid employment.

As for himself, the author credits Alcoholics Anonymous with saving his life by enabling his sobriety, but he also thinks it has a certain cultishness; like any good rationalist, he insists on “the distinction between the belief in a Higher Power having an effect and the Higher Power having an effect.”

Flanagan is also a capable researcher and reporter. Who knew that many addicts call the rest of us “earth people”? Or, more significantly, that there is so much overlap between addiction and other psychiatric disorders? “Twenty-five percent of individuals with severe mental illness, defined as a disorder that severely compromises normal functioning—schizophrenia with delusions or immobilizing depression—have a substance use disorder,” the author says. “In the other direction, 15 percent of individuals with a substance use disorder also have a severe mental illness.”

This book’s focus is substance abuse rather than, say, Facebook addiction, if such a thing exists. Flanagan is properly skeptical of the movement to medicalize all of life’s setbacks and sadnesses. He notes that men in most cultures are more likely than women to abuse alcohol and drugs, but that women are gaining. “There is no country where female alcoholism…rates are near 10 percent. But there are many countries in which the male alcoholism rate is above 10 percent and a few that top 13 percent: Russia (16.29 percent), Hungary (15.29 percent), Lithuania (13.35 percent), and South Korea (13.10 percent).”

He reminds us that while the war on drugs appears to be a costly failure, we can’t say for sure that many addictions wouldn’t be worse in its absence. And he notes some of the problems that have accompanied legalization initiatives. In Portugal, after a decade of good results, “substance use is on the rise, and fewer and fewer people in need are getting treatment. Recent data indicate that both overall drug use and drug overdose rates are up.” In Oregon, decriminalization Measure 110 “is being unwound” after evictions and fentanyl supplies surged. But he cautions: “The data do not mean, as some are quick to insist, that decriminalization, harm reduction, and treatment are not for the best.”

What Is It Like To Be an Addict? has its shortcomings, which largely stem from the author’s academic tribe. The book is not particularly well-organized or well-written; again and again, Flanagan tells us what he’s going to tell us, and then tells us the thing a couple more times to be on the safe side. And the book can be heavy on jargon. At one point, despite his professed sobriety, he writes: “When I report on the experiences of fellow addicts based on their autophenomenological reports, I am doing heterophenomenology.”

Particularly nettlesome is the author’s claim that, although addicts are responsible for their addiction, the rest of us are responsible too because of the woeful conditions we’ve allowed to persist. He wheels out the usual suspects including “social displacement,” poverty, inequality, racism, depression, “lack of good life options,” and other all-purpose woes that “are not caused by addicts.”

Blinkered by his ready-made list of villains, the author takes little account of other potential factors. Affluence in particular seems at least as likely a culprit as poverty. Today’s poor are often richer than middle-class Americans were in the middle of the last century, and today’s American middle class is extraordinarily affluent by historical and global standards. That means more of us can afford substance abuse of all kinds, not to mention addictions to shopping and other costly behaviors.

How about changes to family life or to levels of church attendance? Isn’t it possible that the religious and familial dimensions of A.A. are essential to its remarkable success? It’s noteworthy that the author’s own salvation came not from any arm of government but from a private, apolitical institution operating on a shoestring and making no attempt to end inequality or racism. Drunks come to A.A. and somehow get sober anyway.

But in truth, the author’s gestures toward collective responsibility feel more obligatory than emphatic. What he really wants is a humane, evidence-based approach to the problem of addiction consistent with individual agency, and that’s an approach fully in accord with a faith in human liberty. At the same time, we might as well recognize that voters will quickly lose their enthusiasm for legalizing drugs if they blame it for public chaos. Freedom always and everywhere relies on self-regulation.

These are tough times for individual agency. Many philosophers and psychologists scoff at the notion of free will, which others seem to regard as the sole province of the “privileged.” A therapeutic culture and the nanny state give us all incentives to see ourselves as victims, helpless in the face of implacable forces of oppression. It is refreshing to read a book that refuses to dehumanize addicts by depriving them of responsibility or delegitimizing the shame they feel for their actions.

Source: https://reason.com/2025/06/15/how-freedom-lovers-can-reckon-with-addicts-and-addiction/

Filed under: Addiction,Brain and Behaviour,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Health,Mental Health,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

DAVE EVANS, LISKOWITZ V. describes a significant victory re Vapes. The court upheld the Complaint for:

COUNT I:
DEFECTIVE DESIGN – NEW JERSEY PRODUCTS LIABILITY ACT – N.J.S.A. 2A:58C-1 ET SEQ.

COUNT II:
PRODUCT LIABILITY – FAILURE TO WARN (NEW JERSEY PRODUCTS LIABILITY ACT – N.J.S.A. 2A:58C-1 ET SEQ.

III and VI were dismissed without prejudice

The order – -which runs to 30 pages – can be accessed hereby:

To access the full document: Click on the ‘Source’ link below, at the foot of this web page.

* * * * * *

In a first of its kind lawsuit in New Jersey, a victim of Big Cannabis is seeking to hold it accountable for the terrifying mental health disorder Plaintiff suffered after using intoxicating hemp cannabis products.

The plaintiff is an athletic professional. While training, Plaintiff began consuming intoxicating cannabis hemp products.

After a few months of use, Plaintiff became psychotic and suicidal, suffering from extreme delusions and paranoia, and was hospitalized. After the hospitalization, the Plaintiff was discharged to Plaintiff’s parents, and they flew back to their home state for further treatment.

While traveling, the Plaintiff believed that they were being followed by the FBI and would be subject to arrest. To protect the parents from arrest, Plaintiff sought the opportunity to flee. While traveling home from the airport, the plaintiff jumped out of the back seat car window and ran across six lanes of traffic and, to the horror of the parents watching from the car, and jumped off a 135-foot bridge, landing head-first into a river.

Miraculously, Plaintiff survived, but Plaintiff’s injuries included a torn ACL, right shoulder dislocation, and extensive road rash. Plaintiff subsequently received substance abuse and psychological treatment and stopped using hemp products. Plaintiff and family are still recovering from this harrowing ordeal.

As established by decades of medical research and as recognized by the National Institute of Health (NIH), the National Academy of Sciences, and the Center for Disease Control (CDC), cannabis use is indelibly linked to the development of psychosis and other mental health disorders such as schizophrenia, suicidal ideation, and depression.

Despite the robust evidence, Big Cannabis refuses to warn consumers of the devastating potential side effects. Worse, Big Cannabis actively and maliciously markets these products as safe, even medicinal.

We are in the midst of a gathering mental health epidemic caused by increasing use of cannabis, especially high-potency cannabis after years of Big Cannabis’s sophisticated and coordinated legalization efforts. There are tens, if not hundreds, of thousands who have been injured in a similar way to the Plaintiff. Many, however, have failed to draw the connection between their cannabis use and their mental health disorders because the public relations arm of Big Cannabis has so effectively hidden and confused the association in an effort to realize extravagant profits.

This suit, drawing upon various consumer protection laws, seeks to hold the cannabis industry accountable for its lies and its failure to adequately warn an unsuspecting public of its products’ considerable and often devastating dangers.

The suit also seeks to raise awareness about the association between cannabis and mental health disorders so that those affected current or former users who have suffered at the hands of Big Cannabis can take action.

The case has survived a Motion to Dismiss

The Plaintiff is being represented in this matter by attorney David Evans whose office is in Flemington NJ . If you, or someone you know, has been affected by cannabis, Mr. Evans will be happy to discuss your potential claims.

Mr. Evans can be reached at 908-963-0254. (www.addictionslaw.com)

To access the full document:

Click on the ‘Source’ link below.
An image – the front page of the full document will appear.
Click on the image to open the full document.

Source: ORDER.MO.DISS.6.18.2025 – Dave Evans

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Crime/Violence/Prison,Drug use-various effects,Hemp,Legal Sector,Marijuana and Medicine,USA :

by Madeline Gray – OCDE Newsroom – June 16, 2025

Forming healthy habits and building strong character is a top priority for students at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in Santa Ana — and they have found a creative way to share that message with their peers.

Set to the tune of Raffi’s “Down By the Bay,” the Santa Ana Unified School District students wrote and performed their own rendition, “Here at King School,” to showcase what they have learned about drug prevention and healthy decision-making. Written by the students themselves, the lyrics highlight setting goals, making positive choices, resisting peer pressure and saying no to drugs. Watch their music video above.

Their message was inspired by a similar public service announcement titled “Stop and Think” created by Hope View Elementary students in the Ocean View School District. Hope View’s prevention song was shared with King Elementary students as part of King’s own curriculum, and it sparked an idea. After watching it in teacher Pam Morita-Hicks’ class, the fifth-graders were inspired to create a musical project of their own.

The fifth-graders recently completed a 10-week curriculum called Too Good for Drugs presented by OCDE’s Youth Substance Use Prevention program. Starting in January and wrapping up in March, the lessons helped students develop healthier coping strategies and life skills through activities and discussions. The curriculum also educated the class on the dangers of alcohol, nicotine, marijuana and medication misuse, and how these substances can have long-term effects.

“Our goal is to build students’ health literacy by strengthening their knowledge and providing opportunities to practice real-life skills,” said Lisa Nguyen, project assistant at OCDE. “We want young people to feel more confident in setting reachable goals, making smart choices, managing feelings and saying no when it counts.”

After completing the curriculum, students were given the opportunity to plan a youth prevention project to share this message with their peers. Led by Nguyen and the OCDE team, Mrs. Morita-Hicks’ class participated in planning meetings where the students wrote their own lyrics, brainstormed visuals and rehearsed their performance. Their ideas came to life in a music video captured and produced by OCDE’s Media Services team.

Through sharing their performance, students from the class said they hoped to inspire other students to make healthy choices and spread awareness among their peers about the importance of staying drug-free.

OCDE’s Youth Substance Use Prevention Services brings free drug and alcohol education to schools and youth organizations in Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Irvine, Tustin, Orange, Stanton and Westminster.

Thanks to funding from the Orange County Health Care Agency, the program offers classroom presentations, peer-led projects, parent workshops and staff training at no cost. Additional support is also available through a network of regional providers, making it easy for schools and communities to get involved.

Source: https://newsroom.ocde.us/watch-santa-ana-fifth-graders-promote-drug-free-message-in-music-video/

Filed under: Culture,Drug use-various effects,Education,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

by Pavani Rangachari, Alvin Tran – Department of Population Health and Leadership, University of New Haven, 300 Boston Post Road, West Haven, CT, USA, – 14 February 2025

Abstract: The opioid crisis in the United States remains a major public health emergency, claiming over 100,000 lives annually, with potent synthetic opioids like fentanyl driving the surge in overdose deaths. In response, the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of over-the-counter (OTC) Narcan represents a pivotal step toward expanding access to naloxone, a life-saving medication that reverses opioid overdoses. However, maximizing the public health impact of this measure requires more than increasing availability—it demands a comprehensive, systemic approach that fosters community engagement, advances harm reduction, and transforms healthcare delivery. This paper applies the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) Culture of Health (COH) model to provide a structured framework for optimizing Narcan’s impact. Through its four interconnected pillars, (1) making health a shared value, (2) fostering cross-sector collaboration, (3) ensuring equitable access, and (4) transforming healthcare systems, the COH model offers critical insights into building sustainable, community-wide overdose prevention strategies. Central to this effort is stigma reduction, as negative perceptions of opioid use disorder continue to undermine both public willingness to seek naloxone and healthcare providers’ readiness to offer it. Within the COH framework, the paper examines evidence-based interventions that normalize naloxone use, innovative cross-sector partnerships that foster acceptance, and policy initiatives that expand access while addressing systemic inequities. By synthesizing real-world success stories, including community-based naloxone distribution programs, law enforcement-assisted interventions, and hospital-based harm reduction initiatives, this paper outlines a strategic blueprint for translating the FDA’s Narcan ruling into lasting public health outcomes. It concludes with actionable recommendations for healthcare systems, policymakers, and public health agencies to institutionalize harm reduction practices and dismantle barriers to care. Only by embedding a Culture of Health into the fabric of healthcare, public health, and community systems can we achieve lasting progress against the opioid crisis and foster healthier, more equitable communities.

Keywords: opioid crisis, naloxone access, harm reduction, Narcan, culture of health model, substance use disorder, overdose prevention, health equity

Introduction

The opioid crisis continues to devastate the United States, with over 100,000 annual deaths linked to drug overdoses—75% involving opioids.¹ Potent synthetic opioids like fentanyl exacerbate the crisis, often requiring multiple doses of naloxone to reverse an overdose. Naloxone, sold under the brand name Narcan, is a life-saving medication that quickly reverses opioid overdoses by blocking opioid receptors.² With the surge in opioid-related deaths, harm reduction strategies like Narcan have become crucial tools in the fight against opioid addiction.^2,3 Timely administration of Narcan can mean the difference between life and death, making widespread distribution and education on its use essential in combating the opioid crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the opioid crisis, increasing substance use and overdose deaths due to isolation, economic instability, and disrupted healthcare services. Overdose death rates spiked nearly 30% between 2020 and 2021, underscoring the urgent need for accessible interventions.⁴ In March 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Narcan for over-the-counter (OTC) use, making it the first naloxone product available without a prescription. This landmark decision aimed to enhance harm reduction by expanding naloxone access to individuals at risk of overdose, their families, and communities.⁵

However, the OTC rollout has faced challenges. While major retailers now stock Narcan, the high price (around $45 per two-dose kit) remains a barrier.⁶ Rural and low-income pharmacies struggle with consistent availability, exacerbating disparities.⁷ Stigma surrounding opioid use and Narcan also persists, deterring some pharmacists from recommending or stocking it.^8–10 Beyond access, awareness and confidence in using Narcan remain limited. Many potential users lack proper training, emphasizing the need for public education campaigns.^11–13 Calls for naloxone training, similar to Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) certification, highlight the importance of ensuring more people can effectively administer this life-saving intervention.¹⁴

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) Culture of Health (COH) model provides a valuable framework for addressing these challenges.¹⁵ Developed through interdisciplinary consultation, evidence reviews, and stakeholder engagement, the COH model was designed to promote cross-sector collaboration, address social determinants of health, and foster equitable opportunities for well-being in all communities. It is particularly relevant to the opioid crisis, where stigma, fragmented systems, and entrenched inequities impede progress. Since its introduction in 2015, the COH model has been widely applied in public health, community development, and health equity efforts, demonstrating its utility as both a conceptual and practical guide for systemic change.^16,17

While models such as the Social Ecological Model (SEM) and Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) approaches emphasize the importance of multilevel interventions and sustainable behavior change, they often remain abstract and narrowly focused on programmatic strategies.^18,19 In contrast, the COH model operationalizes these principles into a tangible, systems-level blueprint for driving long-term societal transformation. Applying the COH model to overdose prevention offers a comprehensive approach for shifting societal values, strengthening healthcare and community systems, and promoting resilience.

The four pillars of the COH model, (1) making health a shared value, (2) fostering cross-sector collaboration, (3) ensuring equitable healthcare access, and (4) transforming healthcare systems, are deeply interconnected rather than mutually exclusive. Some thematic overlap across the pillars is therefore expected and reflects real-world dynamics where key stakeholders, including pharmacies, healthcare providers, law enforcement, and community organizations, intersect across multiple strategies to address opioid overdose prevention. Drawing upon this framework, this paper examines how the COH model can guide the translation of the FDA’s Narcan ruling into meaningful public health impact. It explores challenges, opportunities, and evidence-based interventions aligned with each pillar, offering strategic insights for overcoming stigma, expanding naloxone distribution, promoting cross-sector partnerships, and embedding harm reduction within healthcare and community systems.

Purpose and Significance

Building on this framework, this paper applies the COH model to examine how the four pillars—making health a shared value, fostering cross-sector collaboration, ensuring equitable access, and transforming healthcare systems—can guide the translation of the FDA’s over-the-counter approval of Narcan into sustained public health impact.

By examining each pillar, this paper identifies key challenges, opportunities, and evidence-based strategies for creating a culture of health that prioritizes opioid overdose prevention and recovery. It highlights how stigma, access disparities, and systemic barriers can be overcome through targeted interventions, collaboration across sectors, and an integrated approach to harm reduction and treatment.

The significance of this work lies in its potential to guide stakeholders in translating the FDA ruling into actionable and sustainable solutions. The COH model provides a unique lens through which to address the structural inequities and social determinants of health that underlie the opioid crisis. By offering a comprehensive roadmap for building healthier, more equitable communities, this paper contributes to the broader public health effort to reduce overdose deaths and support individuals on their path to recovery. Given the interconnectedness of the COH pillars, some thematic overlap is expected, particularly regarding key strategies such as stigma reduction, cross-sector collaboration, and harm reduction integration, which span multiple domains of action.

Pillar 1: Making the Prevention of Opioid Overdose Deaths a Shared Value

The first pillar of the COH model, making health a shared value, emphasizes the need for a collective mindset in addressing public health crises.²⁰ Preventing opioid overdose deaths requires not only access to Narcan but also a cultural shift where opioid overdose is seen as a community issue rather than an individual failing. Overcoming stigma surrounding opioid use disorder (OUD) is central to fostering shared responsibility.²¹

Addressing Stigma in Communities and Pharmacies

Stigma remains a major barrier to naloxone access. Many individuals hesitate to seek naloxone due to fear of being judged, while some pharmacists are reluctant to dispense it, believing it enables risky opioid use.²² Studies show that low-income and rural pharmacies are less likely to stock naloxone, limiting access in the very communities that need it most.²³

However, promising initiatives demonstrate that stigma reduction can improve naloxone uptake. For example, in San Francisco, robust harm reduction messaging and naloxone distribution programs have helped normalize overdose prevention.²⁴ These initiatives illustrate how treating overdose as a medical emergency rather than a moral failure can encourage individuals to seek naloxone without fear.²⁵

The Role of Harm Reduction

Harm reduction is a crucial framework in changing societal views about opioid use. It emphasizes the importance of helping individuals where they are without judgment or discrimination.²⁶ Harm reduction approaches, like the distribution of Narcan, aim to reduce the immediate harm caused by opioid use while acknowledging that recovery is a long-term process.²⁵ Naloxone is increasingly recognized as a first-aid tool that can save lives in the same way as Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) or an EpiPen does, shifting public perception of overdose response from an individual issue to a community responsibility.⁹

For example, in Massachusetts, a statewide overdose education and naloxone distribution program trained community members and law enforcement in Narcan administration.²⁷ Thousands of overdoses have been reversed through these efforts, proving that equipping communities with the right tools can save lives.²⁸

Shifting the Law Enforcement Perspective

Law enforcement officers are often the first responders to overdose emergencies, and their role in administering Narcan is pivotal. However, some police departments have been slow to adopt naloxone due to concerns about enabling drug use.¹²

Yet, success stories like those in Seattle, Washington, have demonstrated how law enforcement can become part of the solution.²⁹ By adopting harm reduction principles, the Seattle Police Department began equipping officers with naloxone, saving over 100 lives in just one year.²⁹ Changing police training to prioritize harm reduction over punitive measures can help officers view overdose prevention as part of their public duty rather than an enforcement challenge.³⁰

The Role of Public Education

Public education campaigns are crucial in making naloxone use a shared responsibility. Initiatives in Rhode Island and Ohio have successfully increased community engagement by distributing naloxone kits alongside instructional materials.^31,32 These efforts emphasize that anyone—a family member, friend, or bystander—can intervene in an overdose and save a life.

In summary, the first pillar of the COH model calls for a cultural shift in how opioid overdose prevention is perceived. Reducing stigma, fostering harm reduction, engaging law enforcement, and expanding public education are essential strategies in making naloxone access a shared value. Success stories from community pharmacy programs, law enforcement adoption, and public health initiatives underscore the importance of collaboration in changing societal attitudes. By making overdose prevention a collective responsibility, communities can create a culture of health that prioritizes saving lives.

Pillar 2: Fostering Cross-Sector Collaborations to Improve the Well-Being of People Affected by Opioid Overdose

The second pillar of the COH model emphasizes the importance of fostering cross-sector collaborations to address complex public health challenges.¹⁵ In the case of opioid overdose prevention, cross-sector collaboration is essential to ensure that individuals affected by OUD receive not only immediate overdose reversal via Narcan but also access to long-term treatment and recovery options. The FDA’s approval of OTC Narcan has opened new avenues for collaboration, particularly between traditional healthcare settings and community-based organizations that can distribute and educate the public about naloxone.⁵ However, challenges remain, in effectively coordinating these efforts across different sectors to maximize impact.³³

Pharmacies and Public Health Agencies: A Crucial Partnership

Pharmacies play a pivotal role in the distribution of Narcan, as they are often the most accessible healthcare providers in many communities.³⁴ However, their effectiveness depends on partnerships with public health agencies to address stigma, insurance coverage gaps, and disparities in access. Some community pharmacies work with local health departments to ensure naloxone availability, particularly in high-risk areas.³⁵ For example, in Ohio, collaboration between pharmacies and the state health department has expanded naloxone distribution and pharmacist education.^35,36

However, many rural and low-income urban pharmacies struggle to stock naloxone due to financial constraints. The state of Massachusetts has addressed this by funding pharmacy naloxone programs and mandating availability. Expanding such initiatives to other states could further reduce access barriers.³⁷

Engaging Law Enforcement in Overdose Prevention

Law enforcement officers are often first responders to overdoses, making their involvement crucial.³³ However, law enforcement participation in overdose prevention has been uneven due to concerns about enabling drug use and a lack of clarity on the role of harm reduction in public safety. Nevertheless, successful cross-sector collaborations between law enforcement and public health advocates have demonstrated the potential for law enforcement officers to play a vital role in overdose prevention.^33,38

One example of effective collaboration is the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program, implemented in multiple cities, allowing officers to divert individuals with substance use disorders to treatment rather than jail.³⁸ In Seattle, Washington, this approach has led to fewer drug-related arrests and greater engagement in recovery services.³⁸

Similarly, Ohio police officers carrying naloxone have reversed thousands of overdoses with support from local health agencies providing training and supplies. Expanding naloxone training for law enforcement officers and integrating harm reduction into policing can further strengthen overdose response efforts.³⁹

Hospitals and Community-Based Organizations: Bridging the Treatment Gap

Hospitals are another key player in overdose prevention, as they are often the first point of contact for individuals following a non-fatal overdose.⁴⁰ However, ensuring that individuals receive follow-up care and access to long-term treatment remains a significant challenge. Cross-sector collaboration between hospitals and community-based organizations can help bridge this gap.⁴¹

For example, the “Warm Handoff” model, implemented in states like Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, involves connecting individuals who have experienced an overdose with peer recovery specialists before they are discharged from the hospital.⁴² In Rhode Island, this model has resulted in a significant increase in treatment engagement among individuals who have experienced a non-fatal overdose.⁴³

Additionally, some hospitals now include naloxone kits and harm reduction education in discharge protocols. Expanding partnerships between hospitals and harm reduction organizations in the community can improve long-term outcomes for individuals at high risk of overdose.⁴⁴

Schools and Educational Institutions: Expanding Naloxone Training

Schools have an important role to play in overdose prevention, particularly in areas where opioid use is prevalent among youth.⁴⁵ Cross-sector collaborations between schools, public health agencies, and harm reduction organizations can help ensure that naloxone training is integrated into educational curricula and that students are equipped with the knowledge to respond to an overdose.⁴⁶ In New Jersey, the Department of Education partnered with local health agencies to provide naloxone training to students and staff, increasing awareness and preparedness.⁴⁷ Expanding similar programs nationwide could further strengthen community overdose response.⁴⁸

In summary, fostering cross-sector collaboration is essential for expanding Narcan use and improving overdose prevention. Pharmacies, public health agencies, law enforcement, hospitals, and schools each play a critical role. Programs like LEAD, Warm Handoff, and school-based naloxone training demonstrate the effectiveness of collaboration in saving lives and promoting harm reduction. However, challenges remain, particularly in addressing disparities in naloxone access and shifting attitudes toward harm reduction. Continued investment in cross-sector partnerships is necessary to ensure that naloxone reaches those who need it most.

Pillar 3: Creating Healthier Communities by Investing in Efforts to Ensure Equitable Access to Narcan

The third pillar of the COH model emphasizes creating healthier communities by advancing policies and practices that promote well-being for all.¹⁵ Equitable access to life-saving interventions like Narcan is central to addressing the opioid crisis in the United States. While Narcan has proven to reduce opioid overdose deaths, barriers to access persist, especially among vulnerable populations.^6,8 Addressing these barriers is essential for building healthier, more resilient communities.

Insurance Coverage and Affordability Barriers

Despite the FDA’s approval of over-the-counter Narcan, cost remains a significant barrier, particularly for those without insurance.⁴⁹ Medicaid and Medicare generally cover naloxone, but private insurance coverage is inconsistent, and out-of-pocket costs can exceed $120 for a single box, making it unaffordable for low-income individuals and families in areas most impacted by the opioid epidemic.⁵⁰

Many pharmacies in low-income communities do not carry Narcan due to limited demand, driven partly by high costs and lack of insurance coverage.¹⁰ Some states, like New York, have programs such as the Naloxone Co-payment Assistance Program (N-CAP), which covers up to $40 of co-payments for naloxone prescriptions.⁵¹ However, uninsured individuals still face significant challenges. Expanding public funding and mandating insurance coverage for naloxone could reduce these disparities.⁵²

Geographic Disparities in Naloxone Access

Naloxone availability also varies significantly by region, with rural and low-income urban areas facing the greatest challenges.⁵³ Pharmacies in these regions are less likely to stock naloxone due to lower demand and limited resources, leaving high-risk communities without access to this life-saving medication.²³

To address these disparities, some states have implemented standing orders allowing pharmacies to dispense naloxone without a prescription.⁵⁴ In Massachusetts, a statewide standing order has substantially increased naloxone distribution, particularly in rural areas.⁵⁵ Harm reduction organizations have also stepped in to fill gaps in access.²⁵ For instance, in West Virginia, harm reduction programs have distributed thousands of naloxone kits to rural communities, reducing overdose deaths.⁵⁶

The Role of Independent and Chain Pharmacies

A stark contrast exists between independent and chain pharmacies in naloxone availability. Independent pharmacies, especially in rural areas, are less likely to stock naloxone due to financial constraints and concerns about serving individuals who use drugs.⁵⁷ In contrast, chain pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens are more likely to stock naloxone and have policies in place to ensure availability.⁵⁸

CVS, for example, launched a public education campaign to increase awareness of Narcan’s availability and its role in saving lives.⁵⁹ However, independent pharmacies in underserved areas still require targeted support, including financial incentives and education programs, to address these disparities and ensure naloxone reaches communities in need.⁶⁰

Overcoming Stigma and Promoting a Culture of Health

Stigma remains one of the most significant barriers to naloxone access. Many individuals who use opioids hesitate to seek naloxone out of fear of judgment or being labeled as drug users. This stigma extends to healthcare providers, pharmacists, and law enforcement officials, some of whom are reluctant to stock or distribute naloxone due to misconceptions that it enables risky opioid use.²¹

Shifting public perceptions is critical to overcoming these barriers. Public health campaigns, like California’s “Know Overdose” initiative, educate communities about naloxone’s role as a harm reduction tool that saves lives.⁶¹ These campaigns emphasize that opioid overdoses are medical emergencies requiring immediate intervention, similar to heart attacks or strokes. By changing attitudes, such initiatives help normalize naloxone use and encourage greater distribution in communities affected by the opioid crisis.⁶²

Success Stories: Expanding Naloxone Access Through Public Policy

Several states and cities have successfully expanded naloxone access through innovative public policy initiatives. In Rhode Island, the Department of Health allows community organizations to distribute naloxone directly to individuals without requiring them to visit a pharmacy.⁴³ This approach has been particularly effective in reaching homeless individuals and those living in poverty.

Similarly, Illinois runs a statewide program providing free naloxone kits to people at risk of overdose and their loved ones. These kits are distributed through a network of healthcare providers, harm reduction groups, and community organizations, ensuring naloxone reaches those who need it most.⁶³

In Philadelphia, the city’s health department partnered with local businesses to distribute naloxone at convenience stores, libraries, and recreation centers, improving access in neighborhoods with high overdose rates. Such efforts demonstrate the potential for innovative strategies to reduce opioid-related deaths by ensuring naloxone is readily available in underserved communities.⁶⁴ Similarly, in Minnesota, public health officials have launched Narcan vending machines in Minneapolis, ensuring 24/7 access to the medication in high-risk areas, further demonstrating how innovative distribution strategies can improve equitable naloxone access.⁶⁵

In summary, creating healthier communities through equitable access to Narcan requires addressing cost, insurance coverage, and geographic disparities while reducing stigma. Public policy initiatives, partnerships between pharmacies and public health agencies, and public education campaigns are all essential components. Success stories from states like Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Illinois highlight the impact of these efforts, but continued investment is needed to expand access to all at-risk populations. By prioritizing equitable access to naloxone, communities can take significant steps toward reducing overdose deaths and improving public health outcomes.

Pillar 4: Transforming Health and Healthcare Systems for Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder

The fourth pillar of the COH model emphasizes integrating healthcare and public health services to ensure equitable access to quality, affordable care. This is particularly critical for addressing OUD, which requires transforming healthcare systems to deliver comprehensive, evidence-based treatment that includes harm reduction, medication-assisted treatment (MAT), and long-term recovery support.⁶⁶ The FDA’s approval of over-the-counter Narcan is a step in this direction, but systemic changes are needed to address the broader opioid crisis.⁶⁶

Integrating Harm Reduction Into Healthcare Systems

Harm reduction, including naloxone distribution, is central to OUD care. However, healthcare systems must go beyond providing naloxone to integrate harm reduction into routine care. Hospitals play a crucial role through initiatives like “warm handoffs”, where overdose patients in emergency departments (EDs) are connected with addiction specialists or recovery services before discharge.⁶⁷ This approach ensures follow-up care, including MAT and access to harm reduction tools such as fentanyl test strips.^53,68

In Rhode Island, hospitals have integrated naloxone distribution into discharge protocols for OUD patients, reducing repeat overdoses and increasing engagement in recovery services. Such efforts demonstrate how transforming hospital protocols can embed harm reduction as a standard part of care.^67,69

Expanding Access to Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT)

MAT, which combines medications like methadone or buprenorphine with behavioral therapies, is one of the most effective treatments for OUD. However, access to MAT is uneven, particularly in rural and underserved areas.⁵³ Telemedicine has emerged as a valuable solution, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when regulatory changes allowed for remote MAT delivery.⁷⁰ Permanently adopting telehealth flexibilities can further expand MAT access for those in areas with limited healthcare infrastructure.

Community-based pharmacies have also begun dispensing buprenorphine, providing additional access points for individuals who lack specialized addiction treatment centers. This model increases accessibility and helps normalize OUD treatment within the broader healthcare system, reducing stigma.⁷¹

Training Healthcare Providers to Address OUD

A significant barrier to improving OUD treatment is the lack of provider training. Many doctors, nurses, and pharmacists receive little education on substance use disorders, leading to missed intervention opportunities.⁷² States like Massachusetts have started addressing this gap by requiring prescribers to complete training on opioid safety, naloxone use, and MAT referrals.⁷³ Expanding such requirements to include all healthcare providers, including behavioral and allied health professionals, would strengthen the workforce’s capacity to address OUD.⁷⁴

Healthcare systems can also leverage online training modules and virtual workshops to keep providers updated on evidence-based practices.⁷⁵ By investing in training, healthcare systems can create a more informed and effective workforce capable of meeting the needs of individuals with OUD.

Using Data to Drive Systemic Change

Leveraging data is essential for transforming healthcare systems to address OUD. Electronic health records (EHRs) and claims data can identify high-risk patients and enable targeted interventions. For example, pharmacies can track opioid prescriptions and provide naloxone or MAT to patients identified as at-risk.⁷⁶

Public health agencies can collaborate with healthcare systems to implement data-driven strategies. In Pennsylvania, the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) has been used to track prescriptions, reduce overprescribing, and identify individuals at risk of overdose.⁷⁶ By integrating PDMP data with public health initiatives, Pennsylvania has reduced opioid-related deaths and improved access to treatment.^76,77

By combining harm reduction, MAT expansion, provider training, and data-driven strategies, healthcare systems can play a pivotal role in addressing the opioid crisis and supporting individuals with OUD.⁷⁸

Discussion

The application of the four pillars of the COH model provides significant insights into the multifaceted strategies needed to address the opioid crisis through the wider use of Narcan. Each pillar emphasizes different dimensions of collaboration, equity, and system transformation, all of which are essential for reducing opioid overdose deaths and supporting individuals with OUD. Notably, success stories across different states demonstrate how the four pillars can operate synergistically to improve overdose outcomes. In Massachusetts and Rhode Island, comprehensive strategies integrating public health, healthcare, and community partners have expanded naloxone access, reduced stigma, and improved care transitions. In San Francisco, robust harm reduction messaging and community-based naloxone distribution initiatives have shifted cultural perceptions. Similarly, Ohio and Seattle, Washington, have demonstrated the importance of law enforcement engagement and cross-sector partnerships in supporting overdose prevention and recovery efforts. These examples illustrate that while each pillar offers distinct insights, their real-world application often occurs in combination, reinforcing the need for integrated, place-based approaches to building a Culture of Health. At the same time, each pillar addresses a unique dimension of systemic change: making health a shared value fosters societal norms that reduce stigma; cross-sector collaboration mobilizes diverse resources and leadership; equitable access ensures that life-saving interventions reach marginalized populations; and transforming healthcare systems embeds harm reduction and recovery support into clinical practice. Recognizing the distinct role of each pillar is critical to designing comprehensive and sustainable public health strategies to address the opioid crisis.

Summary of Insights and Takeaways from the Four Pillars

Pillar 1 emphasizes making opioid overdose prevention a shared value by overcoming stigma and fostering community-wide responsibility. Stigma in pharmacies and law enforcement discourages individuals from seeking naloxone.^17,20 Successful harm reduction efforts in San Francisco and Massachusetts demonstrate that community support and education can normalize naloxone as a life-saving intervention, akin to other emergency medical tools.^9,24,27

Pillar 2 underscores the importance of cross-sector collaborations in promoting Narcan’s use. Partnerships among pharmacies, law enforcement, hospitals, and community organizations have proven effective in programs like the LEAD program and hospital-based naloxone distribution. These collaborations increase access to timely overdose interventions and long-term treatment.³⁸

Pillar 3 highlights the need to address economic and geographic barriers to Narcan access in rural and low-income communities. Initiatives in Rhode Island, New York, and Massachusetts have improved access by reducing costs and promoting community collaborations. Addressing disparities and ensuring pharmacies stock naloxone are essential to saving lives.^43,51,54,55

Pillar 4 focuses on transforming healthcare systems to integrate harm reduction and MAT. Telemedicine has expanded MAT access in underserved areas, while hospital “warm handoff” programs connect overdose survivors to treatment. Systemic changes are vital for delivering comprehensive, patient-centered care for individuals with OUD.^53,66–70

Implications for Practice

The insights gained from applying the COH model to opioid overdose prevention highlight several critical implications for practice across different sectors. For pharmacies, both chain and independent, there is a need to ensure that naloxone is readily available and affordable. Pharmacies should collaborate with public health departments³⁷ to promote naloxone access, provide patient counseling, and participate in community education campaigns to reduce stigma.

For healthcare providers, including hospitals, clinics, and primary care practices, integrating harm reduction strategies like naloxone distribution and MAT into routine care is essential. Hospitals should implement protocols for overdose patients that include naloxone distribution and referrals to recovery services upon discharge.^66,68,70

For law enforcement, adopting harm reduction principles and collaborating with healthcare providers and community organizations, as seen in LEAD programs, can help officers view overdose prevention as part of their public safety duties.³⁸

Families and communities also play a key role in overdose prevention by learning how to use naloxone and supporting loved ones struggling with OUD. Public education campaigns should target families and at-risk communities to increase awareness and reduce stigma.^31,32

Implications for Policy

Policymakers should prioritize expanding insurance coverage for naloxone, including making it available at no cost for uninsured individuals. States should consider mandating the stocking of naloxone in all pharmacies, particularly in high-risk areas, and provide financial support to independent pharmacies to ensure affordability.^14,33,37,57 Additionally, telemedicine should be made a permanent option for MAT to improve access in underserved regions.⁷⁰

Implications for Future Research

Further research is needed to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of cross-sector collaborations in reducing opioid overdose deaths. Additionally, studies should explore the impact of public education campaigns on reducing stigma and increasing naloxone usage. Understanding the barriers to naloxone access in rural and low-income areas will also be critical to developing more targeted interventions.⁵³

In summary, addressing the opioid crisis requires coordinated efforts across all sectors of society. By applying the COH model’s four pillars—shared values, cross-sector collaboration, equitable access, and healthcare system transformation—communities can create a sustainable framework for reducing overdose deaths and supporting long-term recovery for individuals with Opioid Use Disorder.^15,17,20

Conclusion

The US opioid epidemic remains one of the most urgent public health challenges of our time, demanding a shift from conventional healthcare interventions to broader system-level and cultural change. The FDA’s approval of over-the-counter Narcan represents a pivotal milestone, but its potential will be realized only through strategic efforts to make naloxone truly accessible, affordable, and normalized within communities. Applying the RWJF Culture of Health (COH) model, this paper presents a comprehensive roadmap for advancing harm reduction strategies, promoting equitable access, and integrating systemic reforms to combat opioid overdose deaths.

Evidence reviewed in this paper demonstrates that stigma remains a profound barrier to naloxone access and utilization, deterring both individuals and healthcare providers. Community-based naloxone distribution programs and public education campaigns, such as those implemented in San Francisco, Rhode Island, and Philadelphia, offer powerful models for increasing public uptake and saving lives. Nevertheless, challenges persist: Narcan’s price point, geographic disparities in availability, and limited public awareness continue to undermine the promise of OTC access. While national policy efforts have prioritized naloxone expansion, the full potential of these initiatives will depend on addressing these systemic barriers through multi-sector collaboration and sustained public health investment.

Ultimately, addressing the opioid crisis demands both urgent action and long-term cultural change. The COH model provides a guiding framework for engaging stakeholders across healthcare, public health, law enforcement, and community organizations to create a system where overdose prevention is a shared value and recovery pathways are accessible to all. Though uncertainties remain about how quickly OTC Narcan adoption will scale, the collective lessons from harm reduction and cross-sector collaboration are clear: building healthier, more resilient communities requires persistence, innovation, and a commitment to health equity.

Looking ahead, sustained and coordinated action across sectors will be critical to achieving the systemic and cultural changes needed to end the opioid epidemic. By fostering a culture of health that embraces harm reduction, advances equitable access, and transforms healthcare systems, we can help turn the tide on the opioid epidemic. The journey toward a healthier and more compassionate society will require sustained collaboration, innovation, and a commitment to addressing the social and structural determinants that perpetuate opioid-related harm. With deliberate and coordinated action, we can build a future where life-saving interventions like Narcan are universally accessible, and every individual has a fair opportunity for recovery and wellness.

Ethics Statement: Not Applicable: Ethics/IRB approval does not apply to this Perspective paper as this work did not involve human subjects.

Disclosure: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Source: https://www.dovepress.com/transforming-opioid-overdose-prevention-in-the-united-states-leveragin-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-RMHP

Filed under: Addiction,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Opioids,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

by Ken Winters and Naomi Schaefer Riley, opinion contributors, THE HILL news – 06/14/25 8:00 AM ET

“Since the failed war on drugs began more than 50 years ago, the prohibition of marijuana has ruined lives, families and communities, particularly communities of color,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) recently said while announcing a bipartisan bill to legalize cannabis that the federal level. Jeffries added that the bill “will lay the groundwork to finally right these wrongs in a way that advances public safety.”

But the growing body of evidence on cannabis’s effects on kids suggests this is not true at all.

Cannabis legalization efforts across the U.S. have greatly accelerated over the last 15 years. Despite some recent success at anti-legalization efforts (e.g., Florida and North Dakota voters rejected in 2024 an adult use bill), the widespread public support for cannabis reform has translated to nearly half of U.S. states permitting adult use of cannabis, and 46 states with some form of a medical cannabis program.

Though all legal-marijuana states have set the minimum age at 21, underage use has become a significant health concern. National data indicate that in 2024, 16.2 percent of 12th graders reported cannabis use in the past 30 days, and about 5.1 percent indicated daily use. To compound matters, product potency levels of the main intoxicant in the cannabis plant, THC (or Delta-9), have skyrocketed, from approximately 5 percent in the 1970s to upwards of 95 percent in THC concentrate products today. Even street-weed is routinely five to six times more potent than it was back in the day.

The pro-cannabis landscape has likely moved teen perceptions of cannabis use. A prior encouraging trend of the 1970s and 1980s, when more and more teens each year perceived use of cannabis to be harmful, is now in reverse. Only 35.9 percent of 12th graders view regular cannabis use as harmful, compared to 50.4 percent in 1980.

This is happening even as research is showing that cannabis is more deleterious to young people than we previously believed.

The negative effects of cannabis use on a teenager can be seen across a range of behaviors. Changes may be subtle at first and masked as typical teenage turmoil. But ominous signs can soon emerge, including changes in friends, loss of interest in school and hobbies, and use on a daily basis. The usual pushback against parental rules and expectations becomes anger and defiance. For many, underlying issues of depression and anxiety get worse.

And there is a vast body of scientific research indicating that teen-onset use of THC use significantly increases the risk of addiction and can be a trigger for developing psychosis, including schizophrenia.

The pro-cannabis trend is not occurring in a vacuum. Those entrusted with protecting the health and well-being of youth — parents, community leaders, policy makers — have dropped the ball on the issue. Policymakers tout exaggerated claims that THC is a source of wellness and safer than alcohol or nicotine. In some states, cannabis-based edibles are sold in convenience stores. Many parents have a rear-view-mirror perception of cannabis, as they assume the products these days are the water-downed versions from the 1960’s and ’70s.

Aggravating matters are the influences of some business interests. The playbook from Big Tobacco is now being used by Big Cannabis: political donations, legislative lobbying, media support, and claims that solutions to social problems will follow legalization.

The debate on the public health impact of legalizing cannabis will continue. We hope the discourse and policies will follow the science and give priority to the health and well-being of youth. An international panel of elite researchers on cannabis recently concluded that there is no level of cannabis use that is safe, and if use occurs, it’s vital to refrain until after puberty. The National Academy of Sciences and the National Institute on Drug Abuse also agree with these guidelines. One state — Minnesota — is requiring school-based drug prevention programs to include specific information on cannabis harms, a hopeful trend for other states to follow.

When recreational cannabis is made available to adults, perhaps we assume that legal restrictions to those age 21 and older is a sufficient guardrail. But history tells us that youth will indulge in adult-only activities. The pro-cannabis environment in the U.S. poses a public health challenge to young people. There isn’t a single challenge of being a teenager that cannabis will help solve. Sadly, this is a message that is not getting enough attention.

Naomi Schaefer Riley is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where she focuses on child welfare and foster care issues. Ken Winters is a senior scientist at the Minnesota branch of the Oregon Research Institute and is the co-founder of Smart Approaches to Marijuana Minnesota. This essay is adapted from a chapter in the forthcoming edited volume, “Mind the Children: How to Think About the Youth Mental Health Collapse.”

Source: https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/5347506-the-case-for-restricting-cannabis-age/

Filed under: Addiction,Cannabis/Marijuana,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Mental Health,Parents,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

From National Public Radio – by Brian Mann – June 10, 2025

Justin Carlyle, age 23, photographed on the street in Kensington, a neighborhood of Philadelphia, has lived with addiction to fentanyl and other drugs for a decade. After a decade when overdoses devastated young Americans, drug deaths among people in the U.S. under age 35 are plummeting. The shift is saving thousands of young lives every year.

PHILADELPHIA — When Justin Carlyle, 23, began experimenting with drugs a decade ago, he found himself part of a generation of young Americans caught in the devastating wave of harm caused by fentanyl addiction and overdose.

“I use fentanyl, cocaine, crack cocaine, yeah, all of it,” Carlyle said, speaking to NPR on the streets of Kensington, a working class neighborhood in Philadelphia where dealers sell drugs openly. “I was real young. I was 13 or 14 when I tried cocaine, crack cocaine, for the first time.”

As an elevated train rumbled overhead, Carlyle described turning to fentanyl, xylazine and other increasingly toxic street drugs. “I’ve had three overdoses, and two of the times I was definitely Narcaned,” he said, referring to a medication, also known as naloxone, that reverses potentially fatal opioid overdoses.

Carlyle’s teens and early 20s have been wracked by severe drug use, but the fact that he’s still alive means he’s part of a hopeful new national trend.

“What we’re seeing is a massive reduction in [fatal] overdose risk, among Gen Z in particular,” said Nabarun Dasgupta, an addiction researcher at the University of North Carolina. “Ages 20 to 29 lowered the risk by 47%, cut it right in half.”

This stunning drop in drug deaths among people in the U.S.is being tracked indata compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal agencies.

The latest available records found fentanyl and other drugs killed more than 31,000 people (see chart) under the age of 35 in 2021. By last year, that number had plummeted to roughly 16,690 fatal overdoses, according to provisional CDC data.

The life-saving shift is welcome news for parents like Jon Epstein, who lost his son Cal to fentanyl in 2020. “What has happened with the 20- to 29-year-olds? They beat fentanyl,” said Epstein, who works with a national drug awareness group focused on young people called Song for Charlie.

Cal Epstein (right) died from a fentanyl overdose in 2020 when he was 18. His father, Jon Epstein, and mother, Jennifer Epstein, joined a movement of activist parents in a group called Song for Charlie that works to raise awareness about the risks of fentanyl and other street drugs. Also shown is Cal’s brother, Miles Epstein.

For America’s young, a decade of unprecedented carnage

To understand the significance of this promising trend, it’s important to recall the terror and devastation wrought by fentanyl among families and communities in the U.S.

Beginning around 2014, U.S. officials say Mexican drug cartels began smuggling large quantities of fentanyl into American communities, often disguising the street drug as counterfeit prescription pills resembling OxyContin or Percocet.

Over the past decade, drug overdoses among young people surged, killing more than 230,000 people under the age of 35. For many families and whole communities, the losses felt catastrophic.

“We went to check on [Cal] and he was unresponsive,” Jon Epstein recalled. “We made it to the hospital, but he didn’t make it home. It was a bolt out of the blue.”

Portraits on “The Faces of Fentanyl” wall, displays photos of Americans who died from a fentanyl overdose, at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) headquarters in Arlington, Va.

Cal Epstein was 18, a college student. According to the family, it’s not clear why he decided to take an opioid pill. He tried to purchase a prescription-grade pill from a dealer on social media. In fact, it was a counterfeit pill containing a deadly dose of fentanyl.

While grieving, Jon Epstein started learning about fentanyl, digging through public health data. He found other kids in his town of Beaverton, Ore., were dying. “They had lost four students [to fatal overdoses in the local school district] in the preceding year,” he recalled.

Jon and his wife, Jennifer Epstein, connected with a growing network of shattered parents around the country who were waking up to a terrifying fact: Fentanyl, often sold on social media platforms, was making it into their homes and killing their kids.

Like many grieving families, they turned their sorrow into activism. Through the group Song for Charlie, they worked to educate young people and parents about the unique dangers of fentanyl.

“The game has completely changed, especially for kids who are going through an experimental phase,” Jon Epstein warned in a video distributed nationally. “An experimental phase is now deadly.” This message — summed up by the phrase One pill can kill — began spreading in schools and on social media nationwide but for years the wave of death seemed unsolvable.

In a study published last month in the journal Pediatrics, researcher Noa Krawczyk at the NYU Grossman School of Public Health found deaths attributed entirely to fentanyl “nearly quadrupled” among people people age 15 to 24 from 2018 through 2022.

“In your generation, people used drugs. In my generation people used drugs, we just didn’t use to die as much from them,” Krawcyzk said.

Especially among teenagers in the U.S., fentanyl deaths seemed stuck at catastrophic levels, between 1,500 and 2,000 fatal overdoses a year. Then last year, federal data revealed a stunning decline, with 40% fewer teens experiencing fatal overdoses. “We’re super heartened to finally see teens dropping,” Epstein said.

While the improvement is dramatic, Dasgupta at the University of North Carolina, found the recovery among teens appears uneven.

Some teens and twenty-somethings are seeing far fewer deaths, but he identified one cluster born between 2005 and 2011 who actually saw a slight uptick in deaths over the past two years. The increase is relatively small — about 300 additional fatalities nationwide over two years — but Dasgupta said it’s an area of concern that needs more study to determine why.

The question now is what changed that is suddenly saving so many young lives? Drug policy experts are scrambling to understand the shift.

Many U.S. kids appear more cautious about drug use

Theories include the wider distribution of Narcan, or naloxone; a trend of weaker, less deadly fentanyl being sold by dealers; more readily available addiction healthcare; and also the loss of so many vulnerable young people who have already died.

National

Deadliest phase of fentanyl crisis eases, as all states see recovery

Many researchers believe another key factor may be less risky drug and alcohol use among teens and twenty-somethings, a pattern that emerged during the years of the COVID epidemic. One study by a team at the University of Michigan found the number of teens abstaining from substance grew to its highest level in 2024.

“This trend in the reduction of substance use among teenagers is unprecedented,” Nora D. Volkow, who has served as director of the U.S. government’s National Institute on Drug Abuse since 2003, said in a statement last December.

Keith Humphreys, an addiction researcher at Stanford University, credits this apparent behavioral shift with helping save lives. “There’s fewer people initiating with these substances. That should work in our favor,” he told NPR.

According to Dasgupta at the University of North Carolina, years of devastation caused by fentanyl and other opioids might mean more people in their teens and twenties are choosing to experiment with less risky drugs.

“Alcohol and opioids are on the outs with Gen Z, and instead we see [a shift to] cannabis and psychedelics, and those are inherently safer drugs,” he said.

Overall, this positive trend among younger Americans is outpacing the wider opioid recovery in the U.S., which saw 27% fewer fatal overdoses across all age groups in 2024.

The Story Behind The Story

Reporter’s notebook: 8 theories why fentanyl deaths are plummeting

Will drug deaths keep dropping for young Americans?

While this news is promising — roughly 15,000 fewer drug deaths among young people in the U.S. in 2024, according to preliminary data, compared with the deadliest year 2021 — researchers say sustaining progress may be difficult.

That’s because many of the young people still most at risk, like Justin Carlyle in Philadelphia, aren’t just experimenting with drugs. They’re struggling with full blown addiction.

“What I’m used to is getting high, you know?” he said.

Despite the danger of a fatal overdose, Carlyle told NPR he has tried to quit fentanyl repeatedly, even using the medication suboxone to to try to curb his opioid cravings, so far without success.

“I wish I had the answer to that. I know all of us fighting addiction right now wish we had the answer,” he said.

But many experts, activists and front-line healthcare workers say there’s more hope on the streets, too. The spread of Narcanis helping. Researchers studying street drugs say the fentanyl being sold by dealers in the U.S. is less potent, less deadly, than it once was.

Politics

Trump team revokes $11 billion in funding for addiction, mental health care

That matters because studies show people who survive addiction long enough do typically recover.

There are also growing efforts around the U.S. aimed at reaching young people experiencing severe addiction, programs that ramped up over the past four years with federal funding from the Biden administration.

On a recent afternoon, two city drug response workers in Philadelphia, Kevin Howard and Dominick Maurizio, offered counseling to a young man huddled in a bus shelter.

“Anything we can help you with? Want to go in-patient?” Howard said. “Want to go to a shelter?”

Dominick Maurizio (left) and Keven Howard work for the city of Philadelphia’s Mobile Outreach and Recovery Services program, doing street outreach to people, including many young people, living with severe addiction. Both survived cocaine and heroin use when they were in their 20s and say they believe programs like this one are helping people recover.

Howard and Maurizio are themselves in recovery after surviving what they describe as their own battles with heroin and crack cocaine addiction when they were young men in their 20s.

Both said they believe this kind of outreach is helping. “If we help one person, we’re winning in some capacity,” Maurizio said.

“I see it as me saving lives,” Howard said. “Any time I give someone Narcan or just check on them to see if they’re alive, I believe we’re winning.”

But experts point to one other uncertainty in this first hopeful moment since the fentanyl crisis began.

The Trump administration wants to cut billions of dollars in funding for science and health agencies responding to the fentanyl crisis. The federal government has already moved to freeze or end grants that support front-line drug treatment and harm reduction programs.

In a statement, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the goal is to “streamline resources and eliminate redundancies, ensuring that essential mental health and substance use disorder services are delivered more effectively.”

But doctors, researchers and harm reduction activists told NPR if addiction services are scaled back or shut down, the promising recovery among teens and young adults could unravel.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2025/06/10/nx-s1-5414476/fentanyl-gen-z-drug-overdose-deaths

Filed under: Addiction,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Fentanyl,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

by Sarah Nelson, The Minnesota Star Tribune

Brian Warden, the Harm Reduction Director at Anything Helps, talks with a client in Minneapolis on Wednesday. Anything Helps is an organization that does a lot of work with harm reduction and street outreach for people struggling with substance abuse. They provide people with a number of services, including showers, laundry, safe sharps removal, medical supplies for injuries and food.© Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune/TNS

A subtle shift was happening among clients at the north Minneapolis community drop-in center.

For years, people seeking substance abuse services at Anything Helps reported using just one drug of choice. Recently, staff noticed more and more users had expanded their appetite, preferring a combination of drugs at once versus “picking a lane.” The polysubstance abuse among their regulars soon evolved almost exclusively to one pairing of drugs in the majority of their clients: fentanyl and methamphetamine.

To Warden, the change in the clientele’s drug use pattern could stem from a number of reasons, including a correlation with a rise in homelessness in Minneapolis. But undoubtedly, he said, the phenomenon can be explained in part by the recent surge of methamphetamine in Minnesota.

As the deadly fentanyl crisis demanded the state’s attention post-pandemic, another was building with methamphetamine. The stimulant, long supreme in the underbelly of Minnesota’s drug scene, is flooding the state — with a more dangerous dosage than meth of the past.

“The numbers are just a ridiculous amount of meth … it just hasn’t gotten enough publicity,” said Rafael Mattei, acting special agent in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s division over Minnesota.

U.S. opioid overdose deaths plummeted 41% in 2024, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and fatal overdoses of all kinds fell 27%. In Minnesota, preliminary data from the Minnesota Department of Health showed an 8% drop in overall overdose deaths from 2022 to 2023.

But meth “has never gone away,” Mattei said.

No longer homemade in makeshift labs, meth is being churned out of Mexican super labs by cartels that cashed in on the lack of supply and cheaper production costs. And its price has plummeted, becoming a more lucrative option for dealers.

Ken Sass, state-wide drug and gang coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, recalled a pound of meth costing $3,000 to $5,000 around 15 years ago, during his tenure as a federal drug agent. Now, he estimates, the price has fallen below $1,000.

Last year, federal officials announced they had busted “one of the largest and most prolific drug organizations” in Minnesota’s history following the arrest of a Twin Cities man accused of helping push a historic amount of meth and other substances from Mexico.

Federal prosecutors allege Clinton Ward made ties with two of Mexico’s most notorious drug cartels and funneled the substance across the border via shipping containers, private vehicles and semitrailers before breaking the drug down into smaller quantities, then delivering it to Minnesota. The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Ward under the rare “kingpin” statute, along with 14 others in the conspiracy case that led to the seizure of 1,600 pounds of methamphetamine, 4 kilograms of cocaine, 2 kilograms of fentanyl and 30,000 counterfeit fentanyl pills.

Federal officials described the bust as a success for having disrupted a major pipeline of illegal drugs in Minnesota.

Yet methamphetamine is continuing to pour into Minnesota with no sign of slowing down, data from the DEA indicates.

Last year, the amount of methamphetamine seized by federal agents in Minnesota increased 142%, totaling 2,080 pounds, compared with the roughly 860 pounds of meth seized in 2023. The numbers do not include drugs seized by state, local or tribal law enforcement.

Federal drug agents are on track to outpace the amount of meth seized last year. They’ve seen a 25% increase in the amount of meth seized from January to April 2025, compared with the same time last year.

More readily available meth, Sass said, “leads to more addiction and probably a broadening market as well.” And although meth may not be as lethal as fentanyl, the drug today poses its own dangers.

The meth from Mexican super labs holds higher potency, resulting in a more dangerous and addictive concoction than the meth sold in the 1990s and early 2000s. After federal legislation in 2005 cracked down on the commercial sale of products containing precursor chemicals to make meth, such as pseudoephedrine in the decongestant Sudafed, cartels pursued the chemicals overseas and became bulk buyers. The product is then cut with other hazardous materials to bring maximum profit.

Users deep in the throes of meth addiction can stay awake for days, leading to paranoia and hallucinations. A hallmark sign of meth addiction is wounds on a user’s skin caused by incessant scratching. People who experience withdrawals may resort to theft, robbery or other crimes to obtain money for another hit. The elevated potency can only worsen symptoms, which carry ripple effects into communities.

“Their health, their mental health, their relationships, medical conditions that arise from addiction and all the personal problems that would come from [addiction] … they relay that to the relationships with their family,” Sass said.

In some cases, law enforcement and treatment providers are seeing fentanyl added to methamphetamine.

Though the risk of dying from a meth overdose is much lower than that of fentanyl, which has a deadly dose that can fit on the tip of a pencil, the drug takes its toll “little by little.”

“There is no accident here,” Warden said, saying of the adulteration of fentanyl with meth, “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Mattei likened the difference between the meth on the streets today compared with meth of the past as that of whiskey versus beer.

“They were making beer first,” Mattei said. “Now the meth that’s out there is kind of like higher-proof alcohol. So you need less to feel.”

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/meth-makes-comeback-in-minnesota-in-more-dangerous-and-record-ways/ar-AA1GgJ6j

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Methamphetamine/GHB/Hallucinogens/Oxycodone,Prevalence,USA :

by Barbara A. Preston | www.themontynews.org – June 6, 2025

Montgomery Police and Health Department officials are partnering to raise awareness about the dangers of vaping and substance abuse. They sponsored a program at Montgomery High School on Friday, June 6, aimed at educating teens about the risks.

Experts say vaping weed, and nicotine, are very popular with teens across the country — however, users are often uninformed about the risks and harm associated with the trend.

According to the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Tobacco companies and e-cigarette companies are targeting youth. The problem goes beyond nicotine. The delivery device, commonly referred to Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) is a major part of the problem. Also called electronic cigarettes, e-cigarettes, vaping devices, or vape pens, ENDS are battery-powered devices used to smoke or “vape” a flavored or unflavored solution which usually contains nicotine or marijuana, or both. The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) recognizes the increased use of ENDS, especially among youth and young adults.

Montgomery Township Police Chief Silvio Bet said the Vaping Program at the high school is one of many important initiatives the police and health department plan to roll out.

“Our continued initiatives symbolize our commitment to fostering a culture of awareness that benefits all community members,” Chief Bet said. The programs also build a stronger relationship between the police department, the health department, and the community, he said.

ThinkFast Interactive, an educational consultant company based in Kent County, Michigan, led the assembly portion of the program. They gave a lively, loud, and fun interactive presentation to the MHS freshman and sophomores in the school auditorium.

The ThinkFast MCs and DJs raised student awareness on everything from the harmful chemicals found in e-cigarettes to the potency of today’s marijuana.

Chemicals Found in Vapes

According to ThinkFast and Prevention Resources Inc data, the following chemicals are commonly found in vape devices:

– Diacetyl (The chemical associated with the disease “popcorn lung.”)

– Heavy Metals ( Lead and nickel can build-up in the body to fatal levels.)

– Formaldehyde (A toxic chemical component used in the embalming process.)

Potency of Today’s THC (Marijuana)

Teens are overdosing from vaping THC in our community, according to Prevention Resources. They have ended up in local hospitals for emergency care because of the very high concentration of THC in today’s weed.

Some studies show the percentage of THC in cannabis has more than quadrupled since 1995. Samples seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration in 1995 contained 3.96% of THC. By 2022, the percent of TCH increased to 16.14%, according to The National Institute on Drug Abuse.

– Addictive Drugs such as nicotine and THC (marijuana), are known to cause brain changes, which are most harmful to adolescents. Research shows that about one in six teens who repeatedly use cannabis can become addicted, as compared to one in nine adults

Marcantuono summed up the program, telling The Montgomery News, “Our goal is to educate, raise awareness, and change the trajectory to prevent ENDS device initiation and ultimately, to end tobacco and marijuana use.”

Source: https://www.themontynews.org/single-post/teens-learn-about-the-many-risks-of-vaping-nicotine-and-thc-more-potent-addictive-and-dangerous-t

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Education,Mental Health,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Vaping,Youth :

The trends are clear: Americans are in the midst of a marijuana high. Over the past 30 years, daily or near-daily marijuana use soared 15-fold, surpassing daily alcohol use for the first time in 2022. That same year, marijuana use reached historic levels among Americans aged 19-50 — with 11% of 19- to 30-year-olds saying they used the drug every day.

A key reason for the surge is that more states are legalizing both medical and recreational marijuana use. Another driver, which is closely tied to legalization, is the changing public perceptions around marijuana: Many people just don’t see much harm in the habit, or at least view a daily marijuana joint as safer than smoking cigarettes.

And they’re not necessarily wrong: Although it’s obvious marijuana use can have consequences — including intoxication, dependence, and respiratory symptoms such as chronic bronchitis — there is little, or not enough, evidence to definitively conclude that it’s a cancer risk.

But that also doesn’t mean marijuana is completely in the clear.

“Insufficient evidence doesn’t mean the risk isn’t there,” said Nigar Nargis, PhD, senior scientific director of tobacco control research, American Cancer Society (ACS).

‘The Crux of the Problem’

Marijuana smoke does contain many of the same carcinogens found in tobacco smoke, so it seems logical that a cannabis habit could contribute to some cancers. Yet studies have largely failed to bear that logic out.

In 2017, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) published a comprehensive research review on cannabis smoking and cancer risk. It found modest evidence of an association with just one cancer: a subtype of testicular cancer. In the cases of lung and head and neck cancers, studies indicated no significant association between habitual cannabis use and risk for these cancers. When it came to other cannabis-cancer relationships, the evidence was mostly deemed insufficient or simply absent.

However, the overarching conclusion from the NASEM review was that studies to date have been hampered by limitations, such as small sample sizes and survey-based measurements of cannabis use that lack details on frequency and duration of use. In addition, many marijuana users may also smoke cigarettes, making it difficult to untangle the effects of marijuana itself.

“That’s the crux of the problem,” Nargis said. “We have a huge knowledge gap where existing evidence doesn’t allow us to draw conclusions.”

That long-standing gap is becoming more concerning, she said, because legalization may now be sending a “signal” to the public that cannabis is safe.

This concern prompted Nargis and her colleagues to explore whether studies conducted since the 2017 NASEM report have lifted the marijuana-cancer risk haze at all. Their conclusion, published in February in The Lancet Public Health: not really.

“Unfortunately, the evidence base hasn’t improved much,” Nargis said. However, she added, some studies have hinted at links between cannabis use and certain cancers beyond testicular. Although these studies have their own limitations, Nargis stressed, they do point to directions for future research.

Head and Neck Cancers

While the NASEM report cited reassuring data on head and neck cancers, a study published last year in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery reached a different conclusion. The researchers tried to overcome some limitations of prior research — including small sample sizes and relatively light and self-reported marijuana use — by analyzing records from patients diagnosed with cannabis use disorder at 64 US healthcare organizations.

The study involved over 116,000 patients with cannabis use disorder, matched against a control group without that diagnosis. Head and neck cancers were rare in both groups, but the overall incidence over 20 years was about three times higher among patients with cannabis use disorder (0.28% vs 0.09%).

After propensity score matching — based on factors such as age and tobacco and alcohol use — patients with cannabis use disorder had a 2.5-8.5 times higher risk for head and neck cancers, especially laryngeal cancer: any type (risk ratio [RR], 3.49), laryngeal cancer (RR, 8.39), oropharyngeal cancer (RR, 4.90), salivary gland cancer (RR, 2.70), nasopharyngeal cancer (RR, 2.60), and oral cancer (RR, 2.51).

But although the study was large, “it’s not particularly strong evidence,” said Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, MPH, PhD, an epidemiologist and senior research fellow at the University of Wollongong, Australia.

Meyerowitz-Katz pointed to some key limitations, including the focus on people with cannabis use disorder, who are not representative of users in general. The study also lacked information on factors that aren’t captured in patient records, such as occupation — which, Meyerowitz-Katz noted, is known to be associated with both head and neck cancer risk and cannabis use.

Beyond that, the risk increases were generally small, even with extensive use of the drug.

“If we assume the study results are causal,” Meyerowitz-Katz said, “they suggest that people who use cannabis enough to get a diagnosis of cannabis use disorder get head and neck cancer at a rate of around 3 per 1000 people, compared to 1 per 1000 people who don’t use cannabis.”

Cannabis and Childhood Cancers

As marijuana use has shot up among Americans generally, so too has prenatal use. One study found, for instance, that the rates almost doubled from about 3.4%-7% of pregnant women in the US between 2002 and 2017. Many women say they use it to manage morning sickness.

Given the growing prenatal use, however, there is a need to better understand the potential risks of fetal exposure to the drug, said Kyle M. Walsh, PhD, associate professor in neurosurgery and pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina.

The fortunate rarity of childhood cancers makes it challenging to study whether maternal substance use is a pediatric cancer risk factor. It’s also hard to define a control group, Walsh said, because parents of children with cancer often have difficulty recollecting their exposures before and during pregnancy.

To get past these limitations, Walsh and his colleagues took a different approach. Instead of trying to track cannabis use and tie it to cancer risk, Walsh’s team focused on families of children with cancer to see whether prenatal substance use was associated with any particular cancer subtypes. Their study, published last year in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, surveyed 3145 US families with a child diagnosed with cancer before age 18. The study, however, did not focus on just marijuana; it looked at illicit drug use during pregnancy more generally. Although the authors assumed that would mostly mean marijuana, it could include other illicit drugs, such as cocaine.

Overall, 4% of mothers reported using illicit drugs during pregnancy. Prenatal use of illicit drugs was associated with an increased prevalence of two tumor types: intracranial embryonal tumors, including medulloblastoma and primitive neuroectodermal tumors (prevalence ratio [PR], 1.94), and retinoblastoma (PR, 3.11).

“Seeing those two subtypes emerge was quite interesting to us, because they’re both derived from a cell type in the developing fetal brain,” Walsh said. That, he added, “aligns in some ways” with research finding associations between prenatal cannabis use and increased frequencies of ADHD and autism spectrum disorders in children.

Interestingly, Walsh noted, prenatal cigarette smoking — which was also examined in the study — was not associated with any cancer subtype, suggesting that smoking might not explain the observed associations between prenatal drug use and central nervous system tumors. But, he stressed, it will take much more research to establish whether prenatal marijuana use, specifically, is associated with any childhood cancers, including studies in mice to examine whether cannabis exposure in utero affects neurodevelopment in ways that could promote cancer.

Testicular Cancer

Testicular cancer is the one cancer that has been linked to cannabis use with some consistency. But even those findings are shaky, according to Meyerowitz-Katz.

A 2019 meta-analysis in JAMA Network Open concluded that long-term marijuana use (over more than a decade) was associated with a significantly higher risk for nonseminomatous testicular germ cell tumors (odds ratio, 1.85). But the authors called the strength of the evidence — from three small case-control studies — low. All three had minimal controls for confounding, according to Meyerowitz-Katz.

“Whether this association is due to cannabis or other factors is hard to know,” he said. “People who use cannabis regularly are, of course, very different from people who rarely or never use it.”

In their 2025 Lancet Public Health review, Nargis and her colleagues pointed to a more recent study, published in 2021 in BMC Pharmacology and Toxicology, that looked at the issue in broader strokes. The study found parallels between population marijuana use and testicular cancer rates, as well as higher rates of the cancer in US states where marijuana was legal vs those where it wasn’t.

However, Nargis said, observational studies such as this must be interpreted with caution because they lack data on individuals.

If regular cannabis use does have effects on testicular cancer risk, the mechanisms are speculative at best. Researchers have noted that the testes harbor cannabinoid receptors, and there is experimental evidence that binding those receptors may alter normal hormonal and testicular function. But the path from smoking weed to developing testicular cancer is far from mapped out.

Risk for Other Cancers?

The recent Lancet Public Health overview also highlights emerging evidence suggesting a relationship between cannabis use and risks for a range of other cancer types.

A handful of observational studies, for instance, showed correlations between population-level cannabis use and risks for several cancers, such as breast, liver, thyroid, and prostate. The observational studies, mostly from a research team at the University of Western Australia, made headlines last year with a perspectives piece published in Addiction Biology, claiming there is “compelling” evidence that cannabis is “genotoxic” and raises cancer risk.

But, as Meyerowitz-Katz pointed out, the paper is only a perspective, not a study. And the human data it cites are from the same limited evidence base critiqued in the NASEM and ACS reports.

Meyerowitz-Katz does not discount the possibility that marijuana use contributes to some cancers. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we find that extensive cannabis use — particularly smoking — is related to cancer risk,” he said. But based on the existing evidence, he noted, the risk, if real, is “quite small.”

Where to Go From Here?

What’s needed, Nargis said, are large-scale cohort studies like those that showed cigarette smoking is a cancer risk factor. For the ACS, she said, the next step is to analyze decades of data from its own Cancer Prevention Studies, which included participants with a history of cannabis use and cancer diagnoses verified using state registries.

Nargis also noted that nearly all studies to date have focused on marijuana smoking, and “almost nothing” is known about the long-term health risks of newer ways to use cannabis, including vaping and edibles.

“What’s concerning,” she said, “is that the regulatory environment is not keeping up with this new product development.”

With the evolving laws and attitudes around cannabis use, Nargis said, it’s the responsibility of the research community to find out “the truth” about its long-term health effects.

“People should be able to make their choices based on evidence,” she said.

Source: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/marijuana-use-rising-it-cancer-risk-2025a1000br5?

Filed under: Addiction,Cannabis/Marijuana,Crime/Violence/Prison,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Education,Health,Marijuana and Medicine,Mental Health,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

by Pat Aussem, L.P.C., M.A.C., Vice President, Consumer Clinical Content Development – June 2025

Teen substance use trends are always changing, and staying informed can help parents have better conversations with their kids. The good news? Teen substance use is at an all-time low! According to the Monitoring the Future survey, fewer teens are drinking, vaping, or using drugs compared to previous years.¹ So, the next time your teen says, “Everyone is doing it,” you can ask how they’re seeing substance use in their world and what their peers are saying. The truth is, most teens are making healthy choices.

That said, it’s still important to keep an eye on emerging trends. New products, shifting laws, and the influence of social media continue to shape how young people perceive and access substances. What was true when we were growing up may no longer apply today. This article breaks down the key trends for 2025—no scare tactics, just real information to help you guide and support your teen. Let’s explore what’s on the horizon together.

Trend #1: VAPING EVOLUTION

Vaping is not new, but it’s evolving. Today’s e-cigarettes are more discreet than ever, often resembling USB drives, pens, or even watches.

The biggest concerns? Flavors that mask the harshness of nicotine make it easier for first-time users. And nicotine concentrations have skyrocketed, as one pod can contain as much nicotine as an entire pack of cigarettes.

Signs of vape use can include increased thirst, sweet smells, unfamiliar tech devices, small cartridges or pods.

You can start a conversation with your child by asking, “Vaping devices keep changing. What are you seeing at school these days?”

Trend #2: NICOTINE POUCHES

Nicotine pouches are one of the fastest-growing nicotine products among young people. These small, tobacco-free pouches are placed between the lip and gum and contain nicotine powder delivered directly into the bloodstream.

Nicotine pouches come in small white pouches the size of Mentos or Chicklets gum. They are packaged in circular containers. In addition to seeing packaging, be aware of white stains on clothing and frequent spitting that are signs of use.

With flavors like mint and fruit, they’re designed to appeal to teens and young adults. In addition, because they’re tobacco-free, they face fewer regulations than traditional tobacco products.

If you see people using nicotine pouches or brands like Zyn on social media or TV shows, you could ask your child, “What have you heard about nicotine pouches?”

Trend #3: CANNABIS LANDSCAPE

With more states legalizing adult use of marijuana (cannabis), many people no longer see it as being risky. But today’s cannabis is not what it was decades ago.

Modern strains can have THC levels more than 3-4 times higher than in the 1990’s. And the ways to use it have expanded beyond smoking with options like edibles, vapes, drinks, salves and concentrates.

Marijuana use during adolescence has been linked to negative impacts on brain development and mental health problems like depression, anxiety, suicidal thinking and psychosis. And at the age when teens are becoming new drivers, remember that driving under the influence of marijuana is illegal, not to mention extremely dangerous. It can impact a person’s ability to make split-second decisions, even to stay in their lane without weaving.

You can talk about safety with your child by offering options should they be in a situation where the driver is impaired. For example, you can come up with an emoji symbol that they can text you to let you know they need to be picked up with no questions asked until the next day.

Trend #4: ALCOHOL AWARENESS

Even today, alcohol is still the most commonly used substance among teens. While overall use has declined in recent years, the way teens consume alcohol has changed dramatically.

Today’s alcohol landscape is dominated by sweet, flavored options that mask the taste of alcohol, like hard seltzers, alcopops and coolers, and spirit-based ready-to-drink cocktails. Many teens don’t even consider these to be “real alcohol.” And social media-driven drinking games and challenges have made dangerous drinking patterns like binge drinking more normalized.

You may be able to use yourself as a way to open a conversation. Think back to when you first tried alcohol or share a situation you experienced with alcohol. Ask about what types of alcohol kids your age are talking about.

Trend #5: PRESCRIPTION DRUG MISUSE

Prescription medications—particularly ADHD stimulants like Adderall—continue to be misused, often for studying or weight loss. School pressure can be intense, and some teens see these medications as performance enhancers rather than drugs of misuse.

Parents should secure medications, count pills regularly, and be aware of “study drug” culture. Teens often consider these medications “safe” because doctors prescribe them. But no one should take medication unless it is prescribed to them.

You may consider asking: “I’ve heard about students using medications to help with studying. What’s that like at your school?”

Trend #6: FENTANYL CRISIS

Fentanyl—a lab-made opioid 50 times stronger than heroin—is being found in counterfeit pills and mixed with other drugs like heroin and methamphetamine. These fake pills are flooding the U.S. and can look nearly identical to prescription medications like Xanax and Oxycontin. Even one counterfeit pill can be fatal.

One way to support your child is by practicing or role playing with them how to manage peer pressure and how to decline a potential offer of any pills.

Social media has transformed how substances are marketed and normalized. Content providers can push content making substance use look fun and cool, and teens are often exposed to misinformation.

What’s concerning? “Challenges” (like the Benadryl challenge) involving substances can go viral, and influencers may promote alcohol brands or cannabis products.

It’s helpful to stay familiar with your teen’s social platforms. Follow some of the same accounts they do. Create a family social media plan that includes critical thinking about sponsored content.

A conversation starter can be: “I noticed some of those social media videos show people partying with certain drinks or substances. Do you and your friends ever talk about whether that stuff is real or staged?”

Practical Tips:

What can you actually do with this information?

Build trust through ongoing conversations, by finding opportunities to talk about substance misuse and risk – not just one big “drug talk”
Focus on health and safety, not just rules
Always stay curious, not judgmental
Educate yourself on warning signs of substance use and mental health symptoms
Roleplay scenarios involving peer pressure, saying “no” and planning an exit plan
Identify trusted adults that your child can go to if you’re not available

The reality is that young people are going to encounter substances. Your goal isn’t to create fear around substance use, but to build trust and communication. With honest dialogue and good information, you’re giving them the tools to make better decisions.

Source: https://drugfree.org/article/top-7-teen-substance-use-trends-parents-need-to-know-in-2025/

Filed under: Alcohol,Brain and Behaviour,Cannabis/Marijuana,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Fentanyl,Internet,Parents,Prescription Drugs,USA,Vaping,Youth :

Originally published in JAMA – JAMA Network Open. 2025;8(1):e2457069. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.57069

by Nora D. Volkow MD; Joshua L. Gowin, PhD; Jarrod M. Ellingson, PhD; Hollis C. Karoly, PhD; Peter Manza, PhD; J. Megan Ross, PhD; Matthew E. Sloan, MD; Jody L. Tanabe, MD;

Abstract:

IMPORTANCE Cannabis use has increased globally, but its effects on brain function are not fully
known, highlighting the need to better determine recent and long-term brain activation outcomes of
cannabis use.

To access the full document:

Click on the ‘Source’ link below.
An image – the front page of the full document will appear.
Click on the image to open the full document.

Source: Brain Function Outcomes of Recent and Lifetime Cannabis Use

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Marijuana and Medicine,Mental Health,USA :

For Immediate Release

June 7, 2018

Contact: Bob Bushman

bbushman@nnoac.com

The National Narcotics Officers Association Coalition today released a letter to the President urging him not to weaken the memo issued by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions on January 4, 2018. The letter warns the President of the connection between legalized marijuana, the black market, and foreign cartel activity, as extensively documented by NBC News and Newsweek.

The text of the letter is as follows:

June 7, 2018

The President

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C., 20500

Dear Mr. President,

We write as representatives for major law enforcement organizations representing federal, state, and local law enforcement. We are deeply concerned about reports that you may be considering action to overturn the January 4, 2018 Memorandum from the Department of Justice that merely restates current federal drug laws.

The fact is, gangs and cartels have been making liberal use of legalization to provide cover for their illegal activities. These gangs have ties to Mexican, Cuban, Vietnamese, and Russian cartels.[i] The gangs often purchase homes in residential neighborhoods, wire in extra electricity and water capacity, and convert them into multi-million dollar grow houses in suburban neighborhoods. These gangs are also trafficking in other illegal drugs, organized crime, and prostitution. Crime has been steadily increasing in Colorado in all categories since legalization, including violent crimes.[ii]

Make no mistake, the black market does not honor state lines. Colorado and other legalized states have many embarrassing examples of providing cover for trafficking of marijuana to other states. In one of the most egregious examples, Operation Toker Poker, 62 people and 12 businesses were indicted for growing marijuana under the cover of legalization. Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman said, “The black market for marijuana has not gone away since recreational marijuana was legalized in our state, and in fact continues to flourish.”[iii]

In another example, an organized crime unit with multiple licenses to grow and manufacture marijuana was finally caught after several years of shipping marijuana to other states. The Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Colorado indicated that this was a common arrangement.[iv]

Other states, like Oregon and California, have been growing much more marijuana than the state can consume and are mass exporters of marijuana to other states. The California Growers Association estimates that their members grow at least eight times as much marijuana as the entire state of California can consume and ship the rest out of state.[v] The Oregon State Police estimate that their state grows four to five times as much as it can consume, shipping the rest as far as Florida and even abroad.[vi]

We urge you to see through the smoke screen and reject attempts to encourage more drug use in America.

Sincerely,

National Sheriffs’ Association

Major County Sheriffs’ Association

Major Cities Chiefs Association

National Narcotics Officers’ Associations’ Coalition

National High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Directors’ Association

Law Enforcement Action Network

CC: Marc Short, Office of Legislative Affairs

Kellyanne Conway, Counselor to the President

James Carroll, Acting Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy

The Honorable Jefferson Sessions, Attorney General of the United States.

Source: Copy of letter June 2018 https://www.nnoac.com/

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Crime/Violence/Prison,Economic,Legal Sector,Political Sector,USA :

This paper was forwarded to NDPA by Gary Hulse of Drug Free Australia, with his remark that this is “an important recent paper in JAMA from Dr Volkow on Cannabis Brain Damage Deficits

To access the full document:

Click on the ‘Source’ link below.
An image – the front page of the full document will appear.
Click on the image to open the full document.

Source: Brain Function Outcomes of Recent and Lifetime Cannabis Use

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Medicine and Marijuana,Mental Health,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

What Is The “Fentanyl Fold”?

by Jessica Sherer B.A., Ashford University – May 30, 2025

The “fenty fold” (also “fenty lean” or “fentanyl fold”) is a startling but common occurrence among regular users of fentanyl, and other illicit drugs like xylazine, where they are bent at the waist, slumped forward, in a rigid position. Their heads are bowed, their knees are bent, and they are often unable to respond or move.

While jarring to witness, the fenty fold has become a sad yet common phenomenon in cities like San Francisco and Baltimore, where fentanyl use has grown rampant alongside the growing nationwide trend. Chronic users of fentanyl can be stuck in this position for minutes to hours, with possible complications including decreased breath rate, poor circulation, and increased risk of falls and injuries.

Research has not yet pinpointed what exactly causes the fenty fold, as fentanyl use is not known to directly affect the spine. Instead, it’s becoming clear that it is a neuromuscular side effect of synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Studies from the Journal of Applied Physiology and the Harm Reduction Journal highlighted similar findings that fentanyl use can lead to severe and widespread muscle rigidity, particularly in the trunk muscles, which restricts respiration and affects posture and mobility.

Additionally, doctors and addiction professionals think the fold is also connected to the central nervous depression caused by opioids. After using fentanyl (usually in large amounts), people enter a state of slowed consciousness (nodding out), where their bodies and brains are functioning at a depressed level. This system depression leads to muscle weakness, which causes bending, and slowed thought processing, which inhibits the brain from instructing the body to stand upright, resulting in prolonged time spent in an unnatural position.

While more research is needed on the causes of fentanyl fold, it is clear that it is an uncomfortable and potentially dangerous side-effect of fentanyl use.

Pain: A Common Path To Fentanyl Addiction

In the 2024 exposé on the fentanyl fold, the San Francisco Chronicle highlighted that many of the fentanyl users they interviewed were first introduced to the pain-numbing effects of opioids through prescription opioids. These people were prescribed opioids like oxycodone and hydrocodone for legitimate pain and turned to fentanyl when they could no longer obtain their prescriptions.

This is the story of many fentanyl users who become dependent on and develop a tolerance to opioids without realizing it until they are unable to get them. As they continue to seek a solution for their pain, fentanyl often fills the gap as a cheaper, easier-to-obtain alternative, leading to a cycle of addiction that supersedes most everything else in their life.

Social Media’s Take On The “Fenty Fold”

In 2024, videos started circulating on social media sites like X and TikTok of people experiencing the fold, often on urban streets, with tags of #fentyfold and #fentylean used. This exposure garnered both disdain and empathy as the real-life effects of fentanyl abuse were put on display.

Some videos of the fenty fold, often stripped of context, were met with ridicule and disdain for the people featured in the videos. However, public health officials and substance abuse professionals warn of the dehumanizing effects of social media and urge the general public to acknowledge it for what it is: a sobering reminder of the dangerous and debilitating effects of opioid addiction.

They further emphasize the need for harm reduction strategies and addiction treatment to help the growing problem of fentanyl abuse.

Seek Help For Fentanyl Addiction

While more nationwide prevention efforts and reduction strategies are needed to combat the opioid epidemic, prevention can also start in the home. If you or a loved one is struggling with a fentanyl addiction, help is available. Inpatient treatment can provide you with a safe environment where you can detox and learn the tools necessary for a healthy recovery. Contact a treatment provider today to learn more and begin your healing journey.

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Fentanyl,Opioids,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Highlights

•
Simulations showed fentanyl spread challenges reducing overdoses in the short run.
•
Prevention of opioid misuse among opioid-exposed individuals should be prioritized.
•
Combined strategies effectively reduce fatalities and OUD prevalence.
•
Bolstering community awareness mitigates possible rise of fatalities in the future.

Abstract

Background

As part of the New York HEALing Communities Study, we modeled the opioid epidemic in New York State (NYS) to help coalition members understand short- and long-term capacity-building needs and trade-offs in choosing the optimal mix of harm reduction, treatment, and prevention strategies.

Methods

We built and validated a system dynamics simulation model of the interdependent effects of exposure to opioids, opioid supply and overdose risk, community awareness of overdose risk, naloxone supply and use, and treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD). We simulated overdose and fatality rates, OUD prevalence, and related measures from 2012 to 2032 for the NYS population aged ≥12 and tested policy scenarios for reducing future overdose deaths.

Results

Increasing naloxone distribution by 50 % led to a 10 % decrease in overdose deaths, but only minimally reduced OUD prevalence (1 %) by 2032. Enhancing by 50 % medications for OUD (MOUD) initiations and prevention efforts each led to substantial decreases in deaths (29 % and 25 %, respectively) and OUD prevalence (27 % and 6 %) by 2032. Simultaneously increasing naloxone distribution and MOUD initiations by 50 % resulted in 38 % fewer deaths, while adding prevention efforts alongside resulted in 56 % fewer fatalities. Sensitivity analyses of the models’ feedback loops demonstrated similar relative impacts.

Conclusions

A combination of evidence-based strategies while also promoting prevention should be prioritized to reduce overdose fatality. Sustained community awareness and prevention efforts are needed even as overdoses and deaths decline due to the significant effects of the community awareness feedback loop on the epidemic trends.

Introduction

Although opioid-related fatalities decreased in the United States (US) and New York State (NYS) from 2022 to 2023, fatality remains high (81,083 (US) and 5,308 (NYS) in 2023) after years of unprecedented increases of fatal and non-fatal overdoses (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, 2021, 2024; National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2023). A dramatic rise in the availability of illicitly manufactured fentanyl has also been documented in the US and NYS, resulting in a more potent opioid supply (Kilmer et al., 2022; New York State Department of Health, 2023a). Intentional and unintentional exposure to fentanyl among people who use drugs has been associated with increased risk of overdose and death (Hughto et al., 2022). Fentanyl co-involved with psychostimulants, benzodiazepines, and xylazine may characterize a new wave of the opioid epidemic (Ciccarone, 2021a; Friedman & Shover, 2023; Jenkins, 2021).

In 2019, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded the HEALing (Helping to End Addiction Long-term®) Communities Study (HCS), a large implementation research project designed to reduce opioid fatalities, increase access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), and reduce stigma toward people on MOUD (National Institutes of Health HEAL Initiative, n.d.; The HEALing Communities Study Consortium, 2020). The HCS employed a coalition-driven intervention to inform the deployment of evidence-based practices to rapidly reduce opioid-related overdoses and fatalities in 67 highly affected communities in NYS, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Ohio. Through a data-driven approach to community-engaged planning and action, the HCS sought to learn how to increase the reach of evidence-based harm reduction and treatment interventions (Chandler et al., 2023; Chandler et al., 2020; El-Bassel et al., 2021).

System dynamics (SD) modeling was incorporated to support the HCS in NYS to engage community coalitions. SD models use feedback loops (i.e., closed sequences of time-dependent causal relationships) to hypothesize the endogenous drivers of a system’s behavior over time (Richardson, 2011). These feedback loops are able to capture accumulation processes, nonlinearities, and time delays to gain insight into the causal nature of complex problems (Yasarcan, 2023). SD models also serve as tools to help diverse community members build a shared appreciation of why systems problems manifest and persist, how such problems can be resolved, and what can be done to mitigate unintended consequences of policies and practices (Forrester & Senge, 1980; Senge & Sterman, 1992). Simulation analyses can then test policy interventions and assess possible intended and unintended consequences (Sterman, 2006).

Prior publications have described SD models of earlier waves of the US opioid and non-opioid drug epidemics (Levin et al., 1972, 1975; Homer, 1993, 1997; Wakeland et al., 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016; Homer & Wakeland, 2021; Lim et al., 2022; Stringfellow et al., 2022; Sabounchi et al., 2023). The earliest model examined the 1970s heroin epidemic in a New York City neighborhood characterized by high rates of youth heroin use (Levin et al., 1972, 1975). This model included feedback loops capturing the heroin supply, community education, policing, and incarceration, among others. Though not calibrated to historical data, the model suggested that a comprehensive set of policy interventions were needed to curb the epidemic. Another early illicit drug model studied the US cocaine epidemic of the 1970s and 1980s (Homer, 1993, 1997). A key feedback loop of this model showed how the popularity of cocaine drove an increase in its use. By highlighting time delays and gaps in data reporting of drug use, the model pushed back against the then-current idea that drug seizure policies were effective at reducing cocaine use prevalence.

More recently, Wakeland et al (2011, 2013, 2015, 2016) modeled excessive opioid prescribing practices in the US and the diversion of pharmaceutical opioids to the illicit market through 2011. An update extended the model’s boundary to include the effects of fentanyl in the illicit drug supply after 2013 (Homer & Wakeland, 2021). Another update incorporated additional structures for MOUD, naloxone use, supply-side changes on prescription opioids, and the perceived risk of overdose fatality (Lim et al., 2022; Stringfellow et al., 2022).

Building upon these earlier SD models and adding additional structures identified in our preparatory qualitative modeling of the opioid epidemic (Sabounchi et al., 2023), we present here an opioid SD model built to support implementation of the HCS in NYS and the short- and long-term effects of simulated strategies around opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) and MOUD.

Section snippets

Model development

We developed and validated an SD model that simulated opioid overdose and fatality trends of the NYS population aged ≥12 years from 2012 through 2023 and their potential evolution to 2032. We iteratively revised the model’s structure in consultation with subject-matter experts, county staff and coalition members, and literature review, while also comparing simulated output to opioid-related historical data series (Table 1). This iterative model building process helped to ensure sufficient

Base run

Fig. 2 shows selected base run results and the fit to available NYS time series data. The base run showed an increasing trend in the number of annual opioid overdose deaths with a peak of 3,111 in 2017 and a second peak of 5,383 deaths in 2022, followed by a continuous decline to 4,189 in 2032 (Fig. 2A). Annual overdose-related ED visits and hospitalizations (Fig. 2B) and naloxone administrations by emergency medical services and law enforcement (Fig. 2C) showed similar trends. Naloxone

Discussion

We have presented a generalized opioid SD model structure that captures the main drivers of the opioid epidemic including the effects of fentanyl and the COVID-19 pandemic. When calibrated to NYS, the model replicated historical trends in opioid-specific overdose and fatality from 2012 to 2023 and generated plausible projected trends of key variables through 2032.

The model also serves as a unique analytical tool to facilitate an understanding of the underlying dynamics of the opioid epidemic

Limitations

Limited data availability led to higher uncertainty in calibrated parameters related to the opioid supply, exposure to opioids, and community awareness model sectors. Known limitations and uncertainty in the number of individuals using illicit opioids reported in national surveillance data (e.g., National Survey on Drug Use and Health) may have led to an underestimation of opioid use prevalence.

Our model does not explicitly inform questions or policies around health equity due to limited

Conclusions

Our model has revealed important insights about likely trajectories in NYS opioid overdose fatality rates, which have worsened with the COVID-19 pandemic and a growing supply of cheaper, more lethal illicit synthetic opioids. Simulated policies that simultaneously build capacity for OEND and MOUD and foster efforts around community awareness and prevention were shown to be most effective over time. Simulated results indicated a clear challenge in substantially reducing overdose death rates in

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration through the NIH HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term®) Initiative under award number UM1DA049415 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04111939). This study protocol (Pro00038088) was approved by Advarra Inc., the HEALing Communities Study single Institutional Review Board. We wish to acknowledge the participation of the HEALing Communities Study communities,

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955395925001434

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Opioids,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

NDPA opening statement:

This piece by AALM (Americans Against Legalisation of Marijuana) counters the assertion that legalisation would bring fairness to people of colour.

To access the full document:

Click on the ‘Source’ link below.
An image – the front page of the full document will appear.
Click on the image to open the full document.

Source: AALM statement on pot

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Prevention and Intervention,Social Affairs,USA :

by Rhea Farberman – rfarberman@tfah.org – Trust for America’s Health – Washington, D.C. – May 28, 2025

New data show that deaths due to drug overdose and alcohol are down nationally, but this progress is uneven across population groups and at risk due to cuts to federal health programs and workforce.

The declines in alcohol and drug deaths highlight the value of investment in mental health and substance use prevention programs – such as ensuring adequate mental health, substance use disorder, and crisis intervention services, access to overdose reversal drugs, and investing in children’s mental health and resilience. However, current and proposed federal budget cuts, public health workforce reductions, and proposed federal agency reorganizations are likely to undermine this progress. The data also show that much more needs to be done to ensure that the reductions in alcohol, drug overdose, and suicide deaths are occurring in every community and among all population groups.

“Data show that decades of investment and capacity building in substance use prevention, harm reduction programs, and mental health services have helped reduce associated deaths. The challenge now is to build on these investments and sustain this progress. These programs save lives; their funding should not be cut,” said J. Nadine Gracia, M.D., MSCE, President and CEO of Trust for America’s Health.

Drug overdose rates are declining but still at tragic levels.

In 2023, 105,007 Americans died from drug overdoses. After precipitous increases in the rate of drug overdose deaths in 2020 and 2021, the 2022 overall overdose mortality rate was virtually unchanged, and the 2023 mortality rate was 4 percent lower. Provisional mortality data for 2024 show an unprecedented one-year 27 percent decrease in overdose deaths nationally.

According to public health experts, improved data systems which allow for real-time tracking of substance use and its impacts, the expansion and effectiveness of overdose prevention strategies such as programs to ensure access to naloxone, buprenorphine, and drug-checking tools all played a significant role in bringing down mortality rates.

The improvement was, however, not consistent across all population groups or regions of the country. In 2023, white people were the only racial/ethnic population group that experienced a statistically significant decrease in drug overdose deaths; other population groups had nonsignificant changes or increases. Drug overdose death rates in 2023 were highest among American Indian/Alaska Native people (AI/AN) (65.0 deaths per 100,000 people), adults ages 35 to 54 (57.3 deaths per 100,000 people), Black people (48.5 deaths per 100,000 people), and males (45.6 deaths per 100,000 people).

Alcohol-induced deaths are down.
In 2023, 47,938 Americans died from alcohol-induced causes. The overall age-adjusted alcohol-induced mortality rate decreased by 7 percent from 2022 to 2023 (from 13.5 to 12.6 deaths per 100,000 people). This decrease built on a 6 percent reduction the year prior and crossed nearly all demographic and geographic groups, but such deaths still disproportionately impact some groups. Alcohol-induced death rates in 2023 were highest among AI/AN people (61.5 deaths per 100,000 people), adults ages 55 to 74 (32.5 deaths per 100,000 people), adults ages 35 to 54 (20.2 deaths per 100,000 people), and males (18.1 deaths per 100,000 people).

Suicide deaths unchanged.
The U.S. overall suicide mortality rate remained virtually identical from 2022 to 2023 (14.2 and 14.1 deaths per 100,000 people, respectively). In 2023, 49,316 Americans died from suicide. Age-adjusted suicide rates in 2023 were highest among AI/AN people (23.8 deaths per 100,000 people), males (22.7 deaths per 100,000 people), and adults ages 75 and older (20.3 deaths per 100,000 people).

Budget rescissions and future cuts to prevention programs will cost lives.
While these data demonstrate real progress, the public health community is united in its concern that progress will be lost due to cutbacks in federal investment in health promotion, crisis intervention, and overdose prevention programs. For example, staff and funding for the CDC Injury Center have been drastically reduced, and the Center is proposed for elimination in the Administration’s budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2026. The Injury Center conducts research and collects data. Approximately 80 percent of its funding goes to states and other entities for prevention of overdoses, suicide, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Additionally, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has experienced major staffing reductions including staff working on the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, and a potential $1.07 billion funding cut for FY 2026. These actions followed the Administration’s claw-back of billions of dollars in public health funding already at work in states and communities across the country, including for suicide prevention.

Recommendations for policy action.

The Pain in the Nation report calls for sustained investment in prevention and harm reduction programs and includes recommendations on actions federal and state policymakers should take including:

Protect and bolster investment in public health and behavioral health systems and injury and violence prevention programs to improve mental health and well-being for all Americans.
Continue to improve programs, like CDC’s Overdose Data to Action, to track emerging trends by geographic, demographic, and drug type metrics to guide local, state, and national responses and to prevent overdoses and deaths in real time.
Focus on underlying drivers of substance use disorder through early intervention and prevention policies including expanding resiliency and substance use prevention programs in schools and increasing access to social and mental health services for children and families.
Maximize harm reduction strategies and substance use disorder treatments to reduce overdose risk, and support efforts to limit access to lethal means of suicide.
Bolster the continuum of crisis intervention programs and expand the mental health and substance use treatment workforce. Build community capacity to ensure access to mental health and substance use services for anyone needing such services.

Source: https://www.tfah.org/report-details/pain-in-the-nation-2025/

Filed under: Addiction,Alcohol,Drug use-various effects,Mental Health,USA :

The latest substance abuse facts and insights.

Updated May 30, 2025 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

Key points

Rates of opioid/stimulant overdose deaths increased over the past decade.
In the Eastern U.S., it’s cocaine + fentanyl that’s problematic vs. methamphetamine + fentanyl in the West.
Adulterants are ever-changing with fentanyl, local anesthetics, xylazine, and medetomidine creating overdoses.
Fentanyl-only deaths among 15- to 24-year-olds now account for most fatal ODs among that age group

The good news about bad drugs is that overdose deaths caused by fentanyl are significantly down in the United States, although too many people are still dying. That’s the key take-home from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in its annual report released May 15, 2025. Drug overdose deaths decreased by more than 20 percent, marking the most significant 12-month reduction ever recorded. October 2024 was the eleventh consecutive month with a reported decline in drug-related deaths.

However, there’s also bad news in that increasing numbers of illicit users of stimulants like cocaine or methamphetamine are being poisoned by fentanyl-adulterated drugs, particularly in the Western part of the country. For example, a regional analysis of overdose deaths from fentanyl in the United States published in May 2025 revealed in the West, one in two deaths from drugs are currently linked to fentanyl contamination of cocaine or meth, while in the East, one in three fentanyl-related deaths occurred in users of cocaine or methamphetamine.

We have discussed this in detail in my other PT blog posts that the availability of Narcan (naloxone), a drug that reverses overdose, is largely responsible for significantly fewer opioid deaths from opioids. However, more stimulants, particularly cocaine and methamphetamine, are now being used with fentanyl, contaminated with fentanyl. Unfortunately, we don’t have a drug like Narcan to reverse speedballing (ingestion of both a depressant and a stimulant) or cocaine or methamphetamine overdoses.

Latest 2025 Update

The opioid crisis, currently driven by synthetic opioids such as illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF), is increasingly complex. Adulteration of IMF with veterinary sedatives, such as xylazine and now medetomidine, is creating zombie addicts and overdose nightmares. This adulteration has become commonplace across the United States, leading to prolonged sedation that cannot be reversed with just naloxone. The dangerous and deadly shift accelerated from plant-based drugs, like heroin and cocaine, to synthetic, chemical-based drugs, like fentanyl and methamphetamine.

Clinicians, harm-reduction experts, and others continue adapting to the drug cartel’s changes in the drug supply, such as testing drug products for the presence of other drugs and using oxygen when treating people with overdoses. In a May 21 JAMA, Dr. Joseph Palamar at NYU identified a new worrisome trend. Adulteration agents now include lidocaine and other local anesthetics, much as they were added to cocaine back in the 1970s. The local anesthetics can complicate overdose management by lowering pulse and blood pressure and causing confusion and life-threatening seizures.

Evolution of Illicit Drugs and Adulteration

Over the past five decades, the adulteration of illicit drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine has evolved, transitioning from inert bulking agents like sugar to potent pharmacologically active substances. This shift has heightened risks associated with drug use, contributing to increased toxicity and overdose fatalities.

When I was working at Yale with Herb Kleber in the 1970s–1980s, adding inert adulterants was the norm for illicit drug producers. During this period, heroin was commonly adulterated with sugars (e.g., lactose, maltose) to increase the weight and volume of the drugs and, thereby, their profits. However, in the late 1970s, our colleague David Smith saw the emergence of “China White” overdoses in Haight Ashbury, a highly lethal and potent synthetic opioid—methylfentanyl mixed with heroin. At Yale, we saw cocaine emergencies and found cocaine was typically cut with local anesthetics like lidocaine and procaine to mimic cocaine’s numbing effect and improve profits, as well as sugars and caffeine to increase bulk. We did not see many methamphetamine cases at all but, when meth was adulterated, it was with caffeine or other stimulants to enhance its effects.

The 1990s marked an era of wholehearted adulteration with pharmacologically active adulterants. For example, heroin included adulterants like quinine and other substances that could either potentiate the stimulant’s effects or mimic heroin’s appearance. The range of adulterants expanded further, to include pharmacologically active substances such as levamisole, a veterinary agent which became widespread in the 2000s. The State Department’s expert, Tom Browne, reported on these trends and warned that levamisole in heroin or cocaine could cause toxic and severe health issues. Methamphetamine adulteration began to include substances like pseudoephedrine and other byproducts from illicit synthesis processes.

The 2010s–2020s were marked by the emergence of highly potent synthetic adulterants. The illicit drug market saw a surge in the use of fentanyl and its analogs as adulterants in heroin, dramatically increasing the risk of fatal overdoses due to fentanyl’s high potency. Fentanyl adulteration and contamination extended to cocaine supplies, leading to unexpected opioid overdoses among stimulant users. Methamphetamine began to be adulterated with potent synthetic substances, including fentanyl, increasing the danger of overdose.

Drug overdose deaths also became the leading cause of injury death in the United States, in 2015, surpassing deaths by motor vehicles and firearms. In 2020, 83,000+ people died from drug-related overdoses, a significant increase from 2019. Illicit fentanyl, an extremely potent drug, was the primary driver of these deaths. Often, users had no idea their opioid was contaminated with fentanyl.

In 2015, the DEA noted that both controlled prescription drugs and heroin abuse were prevalent, with some prescription drug abusers initiating heroin use. By 2020, the situation changed, and illicit fentanyl, primarily produced by Mexican cartels using Chinese precursor chemicals, became the primary threat. DEA laboratories also reported a downward trend in the purity of fentanyl. For example, medetomidine, a powerful veterinary anesthetic, emerged in the fentanyl supply, posing new dangers, and the zombie drug Xylazine remains the top adulterant found in fentanyl powder.

Worldwide, We Are Still Number 1 in Drug Deaths

Provisional data indicate that an estimated 80,391 overdose fatalities occurred in the United States in 2024, a 27 percent decrease from 110,037 deaths in 2023. This represents the largest single-year drop since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began tracking overdose deaths 45 years ago. Nearly all states experienced declines, with significant reductions (≥35 percent) in Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C. While the Centers for Disease Control shows a 27% decline in overdose deaths in 2024. Still, during that 12-month period, Nevada saw a 3.4% increase. Unlike the rest of the nation, in Nevada, methamphetamine is causing more drug-related deaths than fentanyl at this time.

In 2024, the U.S. deaths decreased to the lowest since 2019. However, even with this progress, the United States still maintains the highest overdose death rate worldwide. Despite a significant decline in drug overdose deaths in the United States, we still have the highest overdose death rate in the world, with 324 deaths per million people, significantly surpassing other nations. Scotland was second, with 218 deaths per million people. Canada is ranked third globally in overdose death rates. For opioid overdose deaths, the United States is also number one with 15.4 overdoses per 100,000; Canada has 6.9, and Europe and Russia have fewer than 4 opioid overdoses per 100,000.

Summary

The new DEA national threat findings note that today, one in eight methamphetamine samples contains fentanyl, and one in four cocaine samples contains fentanyl. This adulteration heightens risks for unintentional overdoses among users. Adulteration with multiple, active synthetics is evolving and creating more risks than ever.

Overdose deaths remain the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18–44, and an unacceptable 80,000+ Americans per year die from overdoses. Regional differences are becoming more critical—methamphetamine + fentanyl in the Western United States versus cocaine + fentanyl in the East. Fentanyl is cheap to produce, so today it’s often the first choice of an active adulterant among drug cartels.

Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/addiction-outlook/202505/abuse-drugs-and-trends-were-up-against-in-the-us

Filed under: Cocaine,Fentanyl,Methamphetamine/GHB/Hallucinogens/Oxycodone,Prevalence,USA :

This is an Email – Sent: 24 May 2025 – from Stuart Reece: stuart.reece@bigpond.com

To: Ms. Erika Olson, Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy of the United States of America, Canberra, Australia. (askembassycanberra@state.gov)

Dear Chargé d’Affaires Olson,

It has been reported in several news pieces lately that President Trump is becoming concerned about exponential autism epidemic in USA which particularly affects boys. We and many other research have demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that this epidemic is driven by cannabis as you can see in this paper, this 2,500 page book, this video and the attached references.

Even worse that the exponentiating USA autism epidemic is the epidemic of holes in the heart (atrial septal defect) which is growing hyper-exponentially as you can see in the attached unpublished report. This is also driven by cannabis.

Cannabinoid genotoxicity has long been known. As you can see in the attached references its implications across diverse domains including aging, birth defects, cancers, and mental retardation are clinically significant and impose a vast burden on public health and health infrastructures internationally.

Cannabinoid genotoxicity is due to all the cannabinoids as they all share the genotoxic chemical moiety, known as olivetol on their C-ring.

Cannabinoid genotoxicity and epigenotoxicity (their toxic effects on the epigenetic regulatory machinery which controls gene expression) acts for three to four generations. The subject is covered at length in our recently published book.

Contamination of the food chain as is happening in several places in USA, including Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri and possibly Louisiana, means that the whole community is exposed without their knowledge or consent.

Breast cancer is the commonest cancer of all. Please find below graphs showing that both breast cancer and cannabis use increased across both Europe and USA together in coordinated fashion across space and time which strongly implicates cannabis in this commonest of cancers in a casual manner. Note where the graphs turn pink where both covariates increase at the same time in the same place. The “pinking of Europe” is clearly demonstrated. Similar changes albeit less well developed are clearly seen in USA.

Videos which explain these issues may be found as follows:

Cannabis and Autism – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8bDLzEInWA
Cannabis and babies born limbless https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOQpy69HIEw&t=60s
Cannabis and birth defects https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLQFvY-Z19g&t=19s
Cannabis – effect on genome and epigenome https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEKdLD60TcE&t=4s
Cannabis and cancers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T_RKFbkNFo
Cannabis and aging https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyyUG2A6RnE
Cannabis summary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0HwgyOfSEQ
Cannabis and hole in the heart https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIg0gHg4HmA

I have also included a recent review on cannabinoid teratogenicity prepared for the EU for your benefit.

Thank you for your assistance.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Dr Stuart Reece, University of Western Australia, Edith Cowan University.

Source: Email from stuart.reece@bigpond.com Sent: 24 May 2025

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Health,USA :

Updated estimates indicate a greater need for treatment.

A new study reveals that a large number of American children are growing up in homes where at least one parent struggles with alcohol or drug use. This troubling environment may increase the chances that these children will face similar challenges later in life.

Using the latest available data from 2023, researchers estimate that 19 million children in the United States — that’s one in four kids under the age of 18 — live with a parent or caregiver who has a substance use disorder.

Even more concerning, around 6 million of these children are living in households where the adult also has a diagnosed mental illness along with their substance use disorder.

Alcohol is the most commonly misused substance among parents. The data suggests that about 12 million parents meet the criteria for some form of alcohol use disorder. Cannabis use disorder follows, affecting over 6 million parents. Additionally, approximately 3.4 million parents are struggling with the use of multiple substances at once.

Rising Numbers and Growing Concern

The number living with a parent who had any substance use disorder in 2023 is higher than the 17 million estimated in a paper published just months ago that used data from 2020.

“The increase and fact that one in four children now live with parental substance use disorder brings more urgency to the need to help connect parents to effective treatments, expand early intervention resources for children, and reduce the risk that children will go on to develop substance use issues of their own,” said Sean Esteban McCabe, lead author of the new study and senior author of the recent one.

The new findings are published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics by a team from the University of Michigan Center for the Study of Drugs, Alcohol, Smoking, and Health, which McCabe directs. He is a professor in the U-M School of Nursing and Institute for Social Research, and a member of the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation.

Both studies used data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a federal program that has tracked U.S. drug and alcohol use since the 1970s, yielding data that researchers and policymakers have used.

That survey faces an uncertain future due to staff and budget cuts at the federal agency where it’s based, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA. The survey’s entire staff received layoff notices in April.

Drug Categories and Their Impact

In addition to alcohol and cannabis, McCabe and his colleagues estimate that just over 2 million children live with a parent who has a substance use disorder related to prescription drugs, and just over half a million live with a parent whose use of illicit drugs such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine meets criteria for a substance use disorder.

The researchers include Vita McCabe, the director of University of Michigan Addiction Treatment Services in the Department of Psychiatry at Michigan Medicine, U-M’s academic medical center.

“We know that children raised in homes where adults have substance use issues are more likely to have adverse childhood experiences, to use alcohol and drugs earlier and more frequently, and to be diagnosed with mental health conditions of their own,” said Vita McCabe, a board-certified in addiction medicine and psychiatry. “That’s why it’s so important for parents to know that there is effective treatment available, including the medications naltrexone and/or acamprosate for alcohol use disorder, cognitive behavioral therapy for cannabis use disorder, and buprenorphine or methadone for opioid use disorder including both prescription and non-prescription opioids.”

Both the new paper and the one published in March in the Journal of Addiction Medicine based diagnoses of substance use disorders and major mental health conditions on the criteria contained in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5, or DSM-5.

In the March study, the authors showed that the change in how substance use disorder was defined in DSM-5 compared with its previous version led to a major increase in the number of children estimated to be living with a parent with a substance use issue.

Ty Schepis, an addiction psychologist at Texas State University, was the lead author of the earlier paper and is senior author of the new paper.

“Our new findings add to the understanding of how many children are living with a parent who has a severe and comorbid substance use disorder and other mental illness such as major depression,” he said. “This is important to note because of the additional risk that this creates for children as they grow into adults.”

Source: https://scitechdaily.com/1-in-4-kids-lives-with-a-parent-battling-addiction-alarming-study-finds/

Filed under: Addiction,Culture,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Mental Health,Parents,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

by Dave Evans – Senior Counsel, Cannabis Industry Victims Educating Litigators (CIVEL)

via Drug Watch International <drug-watch-international@googlegroups.com> 24 May 2025

Subject: We need information on psychedelics.

Dr. Casey Means, the Trump Surgeon General pick, praised unproven psychedelic therapy and said mushrooms helped her find love. Her brother, Calley Means, an entrepreneur who now works in the Trump administration as a health adviser and has said he invested in biopharmaceutical companies that specialize in psychedelics.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/trump-surgeon-general-pick-praised-unproven-psychedelic-therapy-said-mushrooms-helped-her-find-love/ar-AA1EMtjb?ocid=BingNewsSerp

We also just heard that attorney Matt Zorn who was representing the pro-marijuana side at the DEA marijuana rescheduling hearing was just appointed as Deputy General Counsel at HHS to focus on streamlining psychedelics reform.

David G. Evans, Esq.

Source: Dave Evans – 24 May 2025

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Drug use-various effects,Psychedelics,USA :

by John J. Coleman, PhD – President, drug-watch-international – 23 May 2025

Today’s edition of “The Drug Report” (by SAM) brings some good news about drug-related overdose deaths. The piece leads with:

“According to estimates from the CDC, the number of overdose deaths declined in 48 states between 2023 and 2024, representing a 26.9% decline. This is equivalent to 81 fewer overdose deaths every day throughout the year. The CDC estimated that there were 80,391 overdose deaths in 2024, down from 110,037 in 2023. Overdose deaths peaked in the 12-month period ending in June 2023, when 114,670 occurred.” (See: The Drug Report)

This appears to be good news and let’s hope that it is. Several years ago, the CDC’s counting of drug overdose deaths was debunked as fraudulent when it turned out that for more than a decade, CDC was counting fentanyl-related deaths as resulting from prescribed fentanyl, not the street variety. This caused considerable inflation of prescription opioid deaths while at the same time diverting away scarce attention (and resources) to street drugs like heroin and fentanyl that were rapidly taking over the market.

Part of the problem we noticed back then was the agency’s use and reliance upon the ICD-10 for identifying drugs and causes of death. This somewhat obsolete system designed and promulgated by the World Health Organization is not sufficient to monitor drug-involved mortality. For example, codes do not distinguish between methadone used for pain treatment and methadone used to treat opioid use disorders. Consequently, all methadone-involved deaths are considered incorrectly as involving the prescribed variety of the drug. While some may think this is a difference without much distinction, consider that volume-wise, seven times more methadone is used in the U.S. for OUD than for pain.

And don’t think the CDC wizards didn’t know they had a problem with this. In 2014, the CDC reported that methadone represented 1 percent of opioids prescribed for pain but was involved in 23 percent of all prescription opioid deaths. But, alas, using the ICD-10 codes to characterize drugs, they put all those deaths on the prescribed or administered methadone used for pain, not on the methadone dispensed and administered for OUD.

So, let’s hope that today’s news about the decline in drug overdose deaths is genuine and not based on some new methodology or novel interpretation that omits important facts. To its credit, in 2018 the CDC published an article in an obscure public health journal in which it admitted issuing incorrect estimates for prescription opioid-related deaths for several years, possibly as long as a decade, because it was counting fentanyl-involved deaths as resulting from the prescribed form, not the street form that was causing the problem. Internal documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, however, showed that the CDC was well aware of the problem long before it came clean in the journal article.

John Coleman

Source: www.drugwatch.org

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Prevalence,USA :

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today co-led a bipartisan coalition of 40 other attorneys general from across the country in calling on Congress to pass the Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act, bipartisan legislation to reduce youth drug use through research-based public education campaigns and strategic community outreach. In a letter to Democratic and Republican leadership in the House and Senate, Attorney General James and the coalition emphasize the importance of proactive, science-based prevention efforts at a time when young people face increased risk of exposure to dangerous narcotics like fentanyl and xylazine.

“Too many young people know first-hand just how deadly drugs like fentanyl can be,” said Attorney General James. “As the opioid epidemic continues to tear apart families and communities, attorneys general remain on the front lines protecting our youth, and we need all levels of government to help fight back. The Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act is a common-sense bipartisan measure that will provide significant resources to help save lives and educate young people about the dangers of drug use.”

The legislation, introduced by U.S. Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), would amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide targeted federal funding for public service announcements (PSAs), youth-led campaigns, and other outreach tools that help prevent early substance use. All campaigns funded under the bill must be grounded in evidence, designed for cultural relevance, and adapted to meet the specific needs of local communities.

Attorney General James and the coalition argue that youth substance use remains a growing public health and safety concern, especially amid a rise in fentanyl-related overdoses and the increasing availability of synthetic drugs. Research consistently shows that young people who begin using drugs at an early age are more likely to develop long-term substance use disorders, and the consequences can be devastating for families, schools, and communities.

The Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act would fund a range of efforts to better reach young people with timely, credible, and accessible information, including:

Culturally relevant PSAs tailored specifically to youth;
Youth-led PSA contests to drive peer-to-peer engagement and creativity;
Federal grants for outreach across TV, radio, social media, streaming platforms, and other media; and
Annual reporting requirements to measure reach and effectiveness, ensuring transparency and accountability.

The letter is led by Attorney General James and the attorneys general of Connecticut, New Hampshire, and South Dakota. Joining the letter are the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and American Samoa.

Filed under: Culture,Drug use-various effects,Political Sector,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

There is a video to illustrate this information. To see the video, go to the Source at the foot of this article, then press the ‘play’ button as indicated.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Youth overdose deaths have remained elevated in recent years as the illicit drug supply has become increasingly contaminated with fentanyl and other synthetics. There is a need to better understand fatal drug combinations and how trends have changed over time and across sociodemographic groups in this age group.

METHODS

We used the National Vital Statistics System’s multiple cause of death datasets to examine trends in overdose deaths involving combinations of synthetic opioids with benzodiazepine, cocaine, heroin, prescription opioids, and other stimulants among US youth aged 15 to 24 years from 2018 to 2022 across age, sex, race and ethnicity, and region.

RESULTS

Overdose death counts rose from 4652 to 6723 (10.85 to 15.16 per 100 000) between 2018 and 2022, with a slight decrease between 2021 and 2022. The largest increases were deaths involving synthetic opioids only (1.8 to 4.8 deaths per 100 000). Since 2020, fatal synthetic opioid–only overdose rates were higher than polydrug overdose rates involving synthetic opioids, regardless of race, ethnicity, or sex. In 2022, rates of synthetic-only overdose deaths were 2.49-times higher among male youths compared with female youths and 2.15-times higher among those aged 20 to 24 years compared with those aged 15 to 19 years.

CONCLUSIONS

Polydrug combinations involving synthetic opioids continue to contribute to fatal youth overdoses, yet deaths attributed to synthetic opioids alone are increasingly predominant. These findings highlight the changing risks of the drug supply and the need for better access to harm-reduction services to prevent deaths among youth.

Source: https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article-abstract/doi/10.1542/peds.2024-069488/201955/Changes-in-Synthetic-Opioid-Involved-Youth?redirectedFrom=fulltext

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Drug use-various effects,Opioids,Synthetics,USA,Youth :

by Lisa O’Mary – works for WebMD – contributor to Medscape, LinkedIn, int. al – April 21, 2025

Forwarded by Herschel Baker <hmbaker1938@hotmail.com> 14 May 2025 04:45

A newly published large-scale study has cast serious doubt on the long-term safety of cannabis. Based on data from more than 6 million Canadians, the research shows that adults who had used cannabis and been hospitalized or visited an emergency room were up to four times more likely to develop dementia within five years, compared to non-users.

The findings have sparked concern among researchers and public health experts, especially given the sharp rise in cannabis-related hospital visits in recent years.

“The data is too compelling to ignore” – they recommend that one should “Add cannabis to the list of things now linked to a heightened risk of dementia.” the study’s authors said, according to WebMD.

Cannabis users who visited the emergency room or were hospitalized were up to four times as likely as people in the general population to be diagnosed with dementia within five years, according to a large new study.

Is Marijuana Safe for Teens?

How does it affect their grades, their mental health, and more?

While the study can’t say that cannabis use causes dementia – a progressive disease that affects memory, thinking, and language, along with emotions and behavior – its findings are compelling enough to capture attention from both the public and the medical community.

Here’s what to know about those findings, what’s still being investigated, and why it matters to you.

What the Study Found

The most well-known biological feature of dementia is the presence of brain plaques that kill neurons. Age is the biggest risk factor, but strong links have also been made to things like high blood pressure, diabetes, poor diet, heart and sleep problems, and lack of physical activity.

Published in JAMA Neurology, the study found that:

Cannabis users who went to the ER were 23% more likely to be diagnosed with dementia within five years, compared with nonusers who also went to the ER.
Among hospital patients, those who used cannabis had a 72% greater risk of dementia within five years, compared with cannabis abstainers.
The rate of people seeking ER or hospital care with documented cannabis use skyrocketed between 2008 and 2021, increasing five-fold. The rate among people ages 65 and older increased nearly 27-fold.

Does This Research Apply to You?

The study only included Canadian adults ages 45 and older who had no prior dementia diagnosis. It’s garnered a lot of respect in medical circles because of its size – more than 6 million people’s health data was included, making the results more reliable than past, smaller marijuana studies.

Marijuana Addiction and Abuse

1/14

Is Marijuana Addictive?

Addiction is more common in drugs like alcohol or cocaine. But it’s possible to get hooked on marijuana, also known as cannabis. That means you can’t stop using it, even if you want to. Studies show about 1 in 10 adults who use marijuana can get addicted. Your chances go up to 1 in 6 if you use it before age 18.

2/14

What Is Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD)?

You might have this condition if smoking marijuana causes physical, emotional, or social problems. It’s also called marijuana use disorder. CUD can range from mild to severe.

3/14

How Do You Know If You Have CUD?

Do you use marijuana every day or almost every day? Have you tried to quit but can’t? Do you get unwanted symptoms when you stop, like anxiety, crankiness, or trouble sleeping? Do those go away when you use marijuana again? Do you have a strong urge, or craving, to use it? Do you keep using it even though bad things happen, like problems at work, school, or with friends and family? If you answered yes to any of these, you may have CUD.

4/14

Problems Linked to CUD

Marijuana use can make it hard to think, learn, or pay attention. If you drive while high, you’re more likely to have a car wreck. If you already have mental health problems, CUD can worsen them. People who use marijuana a lot are more likely to be jobless and not happy with life. If you use it every day, you might get withdrawal symptoms a day or two after stopping. These include insomnia, mood problems, or cravings you can’t control.

5/14

Who Gets CUD?

Early use may lead to marijuana problems. Genes and environment also play a role. You’re more likely to get CUD if you misuse other drugs, like alcohol. Your chances also go up if you use marijuana a lot and by yourself. Mental health issues, like an anxiety or a mood disorder, can raise your chances, too.

6/14

How Does CUD Happen?

Marijuana has THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol as the primary psychoactive ingredient. It triggers receptors in your brain called endocannabinoid receptors. When you use addictive drugs like marijuana a lot, you can change circuits in your brain. Over time, you become less sensitive to the chemicals in marijuana. You might make less endocannabinoid, which your body produces on its own. That means you may need to use more of the drug to feel “normal,” or you may feel stressed out when you’re not using it.

7/14

How to Avoid CUD

The only sure way to stop CUD from happening is to never use marijuana. Not using drugs when you’re young might lower your chances. If you have children, make sure they know marijuana can be harmful. Keep a close eye on your kids if you get divorced, move, or have to send them to a different school. Teenagers tend to use drugs when faced with uncertain changes or stressors.

8/14

How to Treat CUD

Most people with CUD don’t seek treatment. But you may get better if you try psychotherapy, or talk therapy. That includes cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational enhancement therapy (MET), and contingency management (CM). These can help you change thoughts and behaviors that make it hard to quit. You could also try to set limits such as only using marijuana on certain days of the week, like the weekends. If you have trouble sticking to self imposed limits, it may indicate a problem. Meditation or other stress relieving activities may also help you use less.

9/14

Treatment for Teens with CUD

Psychotherapy can help young people too. But they may do better when loved ones are involved in treatment. That’s how multidimensional family therapy (MDFT) works. If you’re a caregiver, you can go to MDFT with your teen.

10/14

Can Medicine Help With CUD?

If you’re dependent on cannabis, you could go through withdrawal for weeks or relapse after you quit. That’s why experts are studying how medicine can ease withdrawal symptoms like bad mood, anxiety, restlessness, and sleep issues. They’re looking at antidepressants, cannabinoid agonists, mood stabilizers, and insomnia medication, but there are no FDA-approved meds for CUD. Some of these may treat mental health problems that worsen CUD.

11/14

Marijuana Abuse and Sleep

You may use cannabis to help you doze off at night. But in the long run, marijuana can do a lot of harm to your sleep. And heavy use may cause a lot of problems when you try to quit. You might have nightmares, insomnia, or bad sleep quality. If this happens to you, talk to your doctor about how to treat these symptoms.

12/14

CUD and Pregnancy

Experts aren’t sure how cannabis affects your baby. But animal studies show it may change how their brain grows. More research is needed to know what’ll happen after they’re born. But if they’re exposed to marijuana daily, they may have a hard time learning or paying attention when they get older. If you’re pregnant or want to be, ask your doctor for help on how to give up cannabis

13/14

How to Use Medical Marijuana

In some states, doctors can prescribe cannabis. There’s research into its health benefits. It’s used to treat pain that doesn’t go away and may help with symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, or glaucoma. Write down what type of cannabis you use. (For example, is it an edible, a joint, or an oil?) Keep track of how it makes you feel. Tell your doctor about any bad side effects. They may be able to recommend a different kind or dose or whether you should be using it at all.

14/14

Medical Marijuana and Pregnancy

You may have heard that marijuana helps with morning sickness. But there’s no scientific evidence this is safe. If you’re pregnant, you shouldn’t use medical marijuana unless your doctor says it’s OK.

Next

Medically Reviewed by Poonam Sachdev on October 11, 2023

But there are some important limitations and context to consider:

Most people in the study were included for comparison purposes, and the number of cannabis users was only about 16,000. The average age among users was 55, and their age varied a lot. About 60% were men.
The cannabis users were getting medical care for reasons related to their cannabis use – including mental and behavioral illness due to cannabis use, poisoning or adverse effects of cannabis or its derivatives, and cannabis addiction.
About 5% of cannabis users in the study were diagnosed with dementia within five years, compared to 3.6% of people who went to the ER or hospital for other reasons. The rate of dementia in a general population comparison group was 1.3%.
Looking 10 years after the ER or hospital visit, 19% of users were diagnosed with dementia, compared to 15% of nonusers who got the same level of medical care.
Cannabis use was linked to a 31% lower risk of dementia within five years, compared to people who were treated in the ER or hospital due to alcohol use, the researchers found.

Related:Binge Drinking: How Much Is Too Much?

What’s Still Being Investigated

There’s still a lot we don’t understand about the possible link between dementia and cannabis use. What researchers still don’t know:

Whether the link still exists for people who use cannabis without needing medical care
How the complex interaction of genetics, lifestyle, and other health conditions combine with cannabis use to increase a person’s risk of having dementia

The Bigger Picture

This is just the latest in a string of recent studies shedding long-awaited light on the health impacts of cannabis use.

How Marijuana Affects Your Body

1/12

It Makes You High

Let’s be honest: This is why most people use marijuana. THC is what causes the high. When you smoke marijuana, THC goes from your lungs to your bloodstream and then makes its way to your brain. There it connects to parts of certain cells called receptors. That’s what gives you those pleasant feelings. You can also get marijuana in things like cookies, gummies, and brownies. These are called edibles. They get into your blood through your digestive system.

2/12

Brain

You might find it harder to focus, learn, and remember things when you use marijuana. This short-term effect can last up to 24 hours after you stop smoking. Long-term use, especially in your teens, may have more permanent effects. Imaging tests that take pictures of the brain show fewer connections in areas linked to alertness, learning, and memory. Tests show lower IQ scores in some people.

3/12

Lungs

Marijuana smoke can inflame your lungs. If you’re a regular user, you could have the same breathing problems as a cigarette smoker. That means a cough, sometimes long lasting, or chronic. It might produce colored mucus, or phlegm. You could also be more likely to get lung infections. Inflamed lung tissue is part of the reason, but THC also seems to affect the way some people’s immune systems work.

4/12

Heart

Your normal heart rate of 50 to 70 beats per minute can rise by 20 to 50 beats or more for up to 3 hours after you use marijuana. Scientists think that this, along with tar and other chemicals in the drug, may raise your chance of a heart attack or stroke. The risk could go up further if you’re older or you already have heart problems.

5/12

Mental Health

Anxiety and paranoia are common complaints among marijuana users. Clinical anxiety and depression are also more likely, but scientists aren’t yet sure exactly why. The drug can make symptoms of more serious mental illness like psychosis and schizophrenia worse. It’s also linked to a higher likelihood of substance abuse. These effects could be worse if your genes make you more likely to get a mental illness or an addiction.

6/12

Appetite

Regular marijuana users often refer to this as the munchies. Some reports suggest this increased appetite might help you gain weight lost to illnesses like AIDS or cancer, or because of treatment for those diseases. Scientists are still studying when and if the treatment works or if it’s safe.

7/12

Stomach

By itself, THC (marijuana’s active ingredient) seems to ease nausea, especially if your symptoms are from chemotherapy treatment for cancer. Some people say the stomach-settling effects work better when you use marijuana instead of THC alone. This may be because other chemicals enhance the effects of THC. But long-term marijuana use can have the opposite effect and cause more vomiting. Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome can occur in regular users and leads to frequent vomiting.

8/12

Eyes

Some evidence suggests that marijuana, or chemicals in it, can lower the eye pressure that’s a main symptom of glaucoma. The problem is the effect only lasts 3 to 4 hours. To keep it low, you’d have to get the drug into your bloodstream 6-8 times a day. Doctors have yet to come up with a form of the drug that’s safe to use as a glaucoma treatment. And though marijuana does seem to lower eye pressure, it also might reduce the blood supply to your eye, which could make glaucoma worse.

9/12

Chronic Pain

Both marijuana and a pill version of THC called dronabinol seem to help relieve pain by attaching to parts of brain cells called cannabinoid receptors. Some studies suggest CBD oil could ease pain from arthritis, nerve damage (neuropathy), and muscle spasms, among other causes. Scientists continue to study how and when and if this works in people.

10/12

Multiple Sclerosis

A version of THC that you spray up your nose called nabiximols is available in Canada, the U.K., and other countries. It seems to help calm muscle spasms, lessen nerve pain, and improve sleep for many people with multiple sclerosis. It may also help with other illnesses, like cancer. The FDA is working to test the drug for use in the U.S.

11/12

Inflammation

Though smoking marijuana can inflame your lungs, substances called cannabinoids seem to lessen the swelling in certain other tissues. Cannabidiol may be a good choice because it doesn’t cause the same high as THC. In animal tests, it shows some promise in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and conditions that inflame the digestive tract, like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

12/12

Seizures

There’s good evidence that marijuana, or drugs made from it, may help lessen seizures in some people with epilepsy. The FDA has even approved a drug made with cannabidiol for that purpose (Epidiolex). But the agency only recommends it for two rare forms of childhood epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome.

Next

Medically Reviewed by Jabeen Begum, MD on March 16, 2024

A lack of scientific research has led many people to form their understanding of marijuana’s health effects based on limited evidence from their own or others’ experiences. Medical experts have long warned that the true health impacts of marijuana are largely unknown, and in recent years, some of the first rigorous studies have offered new information, including links between cannabis and:

Cardiovascular problems, like strokes and heart attacks
Early death
Reduced brain function during tasks that involve mental skills

Those risks are along with the already well-established understanding that cannabis use is particularly risky among youths and young adults, whose brains are still developing. The American Psychiatric Association says there’s evidence that cannabis use can speed up the start of mental illness, particularly in young adulthood. People with depression who use cannabis are at an increased risk of suicidal thoughts or attempts. Risks increase based on how much and how long a person uses.

Source: https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20250421/new-study-links-cannabis-and-dementia-heres-what-that-means

Filed under: Brain and Behaviour,Marijuana and Medicine,Mental Health,USA :

Carfentanil is a chilling reminder of how the opioid epidemic continues to evolve and introduces new threats at an alarming pace.

What is Carfentanil?

Carfentanil is a synthetic opioid originally developed for veterinary use, more specifically to tranquilize large animals such as elephants. It is extraordinarily potent and not approved for human use. In fact, it is estimated to be 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times stronger than fentanyl.

Because of its strength, a nearly microscopic amount of carfentanil can induce a powerful, and often deadly, effect in humans.

In an effort to increase drug potency and profits, carfentanil has been found mixed with other drugs or pressed into pills that look like prescription painkillers. This increases the likelihood of fatal overdose and poisoning deaths, especially among users who are unaware they are ingesting such a powerful substance.

Increasing Prevalence

DEA, local law enforcement, and first responders have recently seen an increased presence of carfentanil in the illicit drug market, which has been linked to a number of overdose deaths in various parts of the country. According to the CDC, deaths involving carfentanil increased approximately sevenfold – from 29 deaths from January to June 2023, to 238 deaths from January to June 2024. Carfentanil has now been detected in 37 states.

The current rise in carfentanil prevalence is reminiscent of previous surges observed in late-2016-2017 and 2019-2020. During these periods, the DEA noted significant increases in carfentanil encounters. During this current wave, DEA laboratories have tested more than 100 kilograms of carfentanil mixed with fentanyl, fentanyl-related substances, and other drugs in calendar year 2024 alone. This is larger than the three previous calendar years combined, which totaled approximately 87 kilograms of seized material containing carfentanil.

The majority of carfentanil seizures throughout 2024 were in a pill or tablet form, not the typical powder form previously encountered. This trend is concerning due to:

Increased Risk of Overdose: The extreme potency of carfentanil significantly increases the risk of overdose and death, even with a single pill.
Deceptive Appearance: Within the past year, more carfentanil is being pressed into pills that resemble prescription medications, leading to unintentional consumption by individuals who believe they are taking a less potent drug.

Overdose and Treatment Challenges

Exposure to carfentanil can cause respiratory depression or arrest, drowsiness, disorientation, sedation, pinpoint pupils, and clammy skin. The onset of these symptoms usually occurs within minutes of exposure. Its rapid effect on the central nervous system leaves little time for life-saving interventions.

Treating an overdose involving carfentanil is extremely difficult. While naloxone is widely used as an emergency antidote for opioid overdoses, it may not be effective against carfentanil in normal doses. Multiple, high doses of naloxone may be required, and even then, effective reversal of an overdose is not guaranteed.

Raising Awareness and Staying Safe

Public awareness is critical to preventing overdoses and poisonings involving synthetic opioids. Anyone who might encounter illicit substances, including powders and fake pills, should be aware of the potential presence of carfentanil.

Public education and increased awareness are needed to combat the devastating impact of synthetic opioids, like carfentanil.

Remember that One Pill Can Kill. To protect yourself:

Avoid Illicit Drugs and Fake Pills: Refrain from using illicit drugs, as they may contain carfentanil without your knowledge. Never take a pill that was not prescribed to you by a doctor and dispensed by a licensed pharmacist.
Seek Help: If you suspect someone has been exposed to carfentanil or is experiencing symptoms of overdose, call emergency services immediately and administer naloxone, if available.
Stay Informed: Understand the dangers of carfentanil and educate your loved ones about the risks associated with synthetic drugs.

Source: https://www.dea.gov/stories/2025/2025-05/2025-05-14/carfentanil-synthetic-opioid-unlike-any-other

Filed under: Carfentanil,Fentanyl,USA :

By Kathleen Gustafson – May 14, 2025

Katie Cornwell and Andrew Scrivo from The Seward Prevention Coalition joined host, Kathleen Gustafson to discuss the results of their Planet Youth survey and the coalition’s implementation of the Icelandic Prevention Model. Kathleen Gustafson came to Homer in 1999 and has been involved with KBBI (www.kbbi.org) since 2003.

The proceedings of their discussion can be accessed via the links shown below

Contact the Seward Prevention Coalition at:

https://www.sewardpreventioncoalition.org/

Find out more about the Icelandic Model at:

https://planetyouth.org/the-icelandic-prevention-model/

Source: https://www.kbbi.org/podcast/coffee-table/2025-05-14/the-seward-prevention-coalition-and-the-icelandic-prevention-model-for-youth-drug-abuse

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Education,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

To maximize their effectiveness, prevention programs must reach adolescents before they are exposed to substance use in their peer groups. Yet nearly one-third of 12- to 17-year-olds reported that they did not see or hear any substance use prevention messages in school, according to the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. This lack of prevention education has serious implications for health equity, as racial and ethnic minority youth are less likely to report seeing these messages in their schools.

Prevention takes a village. All sectors of a community must be aligned in order to set healthy norms. This approach guides the Drug-Free Communities Support Program, which involves sectors from businesses and media to schools and religious organizations.

Unfortunately, numerous actors that pursue private profits at the expense of public health actively undermine these efforts. These include marijuana shops and, more recently, psychedelics shops. Our children are given conflicting messages when we tell them not to use addictive substances now being promoted throughout their neighborhoods.

Given the increasing embrace of mind-altering drugs at the state level, it’s no surprise that drug use has risen. A study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that recreational marijuana legalization was associated with a 13 percent increase in past-month marijuana use among youth ages 12 to 17, and a 22 percent increase among young adults ages 18 to 25. Between 2012 and 2023, the prevalence of marijuana use among 19- to 30-year-olds increased from 28.1 percent to 42.4 percent, while it more than doubled from 13.1 percent to 29.3 percent among 35- to 50-year-olds, according to the Monitoring the Future survey. Over this same period, annual overdose deaths nationwide more than doubled from 41,502 to 105,007.

As highlighted in the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions’ The Hyannis Consensus: The Blueprint for Effective Drug Policy, the nation’s drug policy “should promote a health standard that normalizes the non-use of substances.” Our drug policies should not make it easier to use licit and illicit substances.

Other things being equal, the harms of drug use will decline as the prevalence of drug use declines. Notably, the White House recently estimated that the societal cost of illicit opioids was $2.7 trillion––with a “t”––in 2023, which is “equivalent to 9.7 percent of GDP.” Viewed through this lens, prevention is essential and must remain central to drug policy efforts. A proactive, upstream approach premised on prevention will also reduce strain on downstream systems like treatment and recovery.

Policymakers must remember that prevention programs are cost-effective. A 2016 report from the surgeon general explained:

Interventions that prevent substance use disorders can yield an even greater economic return than the services that treat them. For example, a recent study of prevention programs estimated that every dollar spent on effective, school-based prevention programs can save an estimated $18 in costs related to problems later in life.

National Prevention Week is also a fitting time to spotlight novel approaches to prevention. The Icelandic Model is particularly promising. A 2019 study explained that “by working to increase social and environmental protective factors associated with preventing or delaying substance use and decreasing corresponding risk factors, the model prevents substance use by intervening on society itself and across a broad spectrum of opportunities for community intervention.” In practice, this approach may encourage youth to join community groups and participate in extracurricular activities, which are protective factors against substance use.

To scale what we know works, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy director nominee Sara Carter should relaunch a national prevention campaign, similar to the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. Those public awareness efforts were particularly effective in reducing rates of tobacco use, and will help set strong anti-drug cultural norms and promote health.

The current administration deserves praise for centering prevention in a recent statement of its drug policy priorities. We fully support its plan to “encourage educational campaigns and evidence-based prevention programs, particularly in schools and communities.” But it’s time we back it up with dollars and programs. As we recognize National Prevention Week, we must not forget about the importance of prevention and its role in helping more Americans live healthy, drug-free lives.

Dr. Kevin Sabet is President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions (FDPS) and a former White House drug policy advisor across three administrations.

The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/save-americas-youth-lawmakers-should-invest-drug-prevention-opinion-2071582

Filed under: Health,Law (Papers),Legal Sector,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

From clincoln-dfaf.org@shared1.ccsend.com – 15 May 2025

For the first time in years, there’s encouraging news in the fight against the overdose crisis. According to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 80,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2024—30,000 fewer than the year before, marking a 27% decrease and the largest single-year decline ever recorded. This milestone reflects the impact of prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts across the country and reinforces the urgent need to continue investing in strategies that save lives.

Drug Free America Foundation proudly joins communities nationwide in recognizing National Prevention Week 2025, a public education platform led by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Held annually during the second week of May, National Prevention Week showcases the incredible work of individuals, organizations, and communities who are committed to preventing substance use and misuse and promoting positive mental health.

Why Prevention Matters Now More Than Ever

The need for strong prevention strategies has never been more urgent. According to the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 70.5 million people aged 12 or older (that’s nearly 1 in 4 Americans) used illicit drugs in the past year. Marijuana was the most commonly used, followed by hallucinogens and the misuse of prescription pain relievers. These findings underscore the critical importance of investing in prevention today to protect the health and well-being of future generations.

Prevention in Action: Raising Awareness and Building Resilience

This observance highlights the importance of raising awareness about substance use and mental health challenges through data-driven prevention strategies and evidence-based programs that have proven effective in creating healthier, safer communities. It also serves as a reminder of the power of collaboration and community experience in improving public health outcomes and building strong, lasting partnerships.

National Prevention Week is about more than just awareness—it’s about sharing knowledge, disseminating high-quality resources, and empowering people with the tools they need to live healthy, substance-free lives.

Showcasing our newest initiative: The Trauma & SUD Action Force Initiative (TSAFI)

The Trauma & SUD Action Force Initiative (TSAFI) is an international effort committed to bridging the gap in trauma-informed care within Substance Use Disorder (SUD) services—from prevention and treatment to recovery—using approaches grounded in neuroscience and scientific evidence.

TSAFI unites experts, organizations, and decision-makers to promote the recognition and integration of trauma within all aspects of SUD care.

By combining insights from neuroscience and psychology, TSAFI addresses the neurological and social dimensions of trauma, ensuring a comprehensive and informed response to its role in SUD.

Discover more here or get involved by reaching out to tsafi@wfad.se or visiting https://tsafi.wfad.se/.

Source: From clincoln-dfaf.org@shared1.ccsend.com – 15 May 2025

Filed under: Addiction,Culture,Drug use-various effects,Drugs and Accidents,Gambling,Prevention and Intervention,USA,Youth :

Issued by DEA Public Affairs – May 15, 2025

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration today announced the release of the 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA), DEA’s comprehensive review of the threats posed to the United States by deadly illicit drugs and the violent domestic and international drug trafficking organizations responsible for producing and trafficking the drugs poisoning our communities.

For more than a decade, DEA’s NDTA has been an integral resource for informing drug policies and laws. It remains a trusted resource for law enforcement agencies, policy makers, community leaders, and prevention and treatment specialists, while also serving as a critical tool to inform and educate the public.

“This year’s report indicates progress in the fight against fentanyl and also outlines the increasing challenges we face with the changing landscape of the synthetic drug crisis. The adulterating of fentanyl with highly potent, dangerous chemicals reminds us that this fight is far from over,” said DEA Acting Administrator Robert Murphy. “DEA and our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners must continue to adapt and work together to attack global drug trafficking organizations at every level. By joining forces to reduce supply and demand, we can destroy the drug trafficking networks and achieve a safer and healthier future for all Americans.”

In addition to highlighting current trends and emerging threats, this year’s NDTA includes overviews of the cartels and criminal organizations that were designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs), including the Sinaloa Cartel, Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Northeast Cartel, the New Michoacán Family, Gulf Cartel, United Cartels, Tren de Aragua (TdA), and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13).

Other key findings of note:

Drug overdose deaths decreased by more than 20% in 2024. October 2024 was the eleventh consecutive month in which CDC reported a reduction in drug related deaths. This is positive momentum in this fight to save lives; however, with more than 80,000 Americans still dying from drug poisonings and overdose deaths, the synthetic drug threat remains grave.
DEA laboratories are reporting a downward trend in fentanyl purity. This should not be mistaken for street-level fentanyl being any less dangerous. While purity levels are decreasing, the mixing of fentanyl with animal tranquilizers and other synthetic opioids is on the rise, which results in people not knowing the exact composition of what they are consuming or selling.
The mixing of illicit substances, known as drug cocktails, is becoming more common. Recent data from the National Forensic Laboratory Information System (NFLIS) indicated one in four submissions of cocaine and one in eight submissions of methamphetamine also included fentanyl. This is another indication that the drug landscape is as dangerous as ever.
Veterinary tranquilizer xylazine remains the top adulterant found in fentanyl powder; however, a more powerful veterinary anesthetic, medetomidine, has emerged in the fentanyl supply – a dangerous development in the fight against fentanyl.
More than four million youth and young adults (ages 12-20) reported vaping marijuana in the past year.
Chinese transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) dominate the domestic cultivation and distribution of marijuana, with most grow sites located in states where the cannabis industry is “legal.” These Chinese TCOs are producing the most potent form of marijuana in the history of drug trafficking, with a THC content averaging 25-30%.

This edition of the NDTA is dedicated to DEA Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, who was brutally murdered in Mexico in 1985. In February 2025, the United States secured custody of Rafael Caro Quintero, the man charged in the United States with the torture and murder of Special Agent Camarena. He will now face justice in the United States for his alleged crimes committed on behalf of the Guadalajara Cartel.

The 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment is available to view or download on DEA.gov.

Source: https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2025/05/15/dea-releases-2025-national-drug-threat-assessment

Filed under: Crime/Violence/Prison,Drug use-various effects,Drugs and Accidents,HIV/Injecting-Drug-Users,Mental Health,Prescription Drugs,Prevention and Intervention,Social Affairs,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

From sfunes@drugfreeamericafoundation.ccsend.com – 16 May 2025

Today you can find marijuana everywhere, dispensaries around every corner or easily accessible through social media. This normalization is leading researchers to investigate its effects on various health conditions and the dangers associated with overconsumption of marijuana. This research shows that there is an association between marijuana use and the weakening of our immune system. Its consumption affects key parts of our defences against cancer while contributing to faster tumor progression, particularly for gastrointestinal conditions.

In general, individuals with substance use disorders, including cannabis use disorder (CUD), are more likely to experience delays in diagnosis and reduced involvement in their medical care. In addition, behavioral and psychiatric conditions linked to marijuana use such as anxiety and depression may prevent the adherence to the required treatment leading to negative prognosis.

Two recent studies, one on chronic pancreatitis and the other on colorectal cancer, highlight how CUD is linked to poorer outcomes in individuals suffering from chronic pancreatitis and colorectal cancer.

In the first study, researchers analyzed over 1,000 patients and found that those with pre-existing CUD were more likely to die within 5 years of receiving a colon cancer diagnosis. Among those who had a documented history of CUD prior to being diagnosed, the difference in outcomes were stark:

Five-year mortality rate:

Patients with CUD: 55.9%
Patients without CUD: 5.1%

In the second study, researchers linked CUD to worsened clinical outcomes in individuals with chronic pancreatitis, a painful and progressive condition where the pancreas becomes inflamed and damaged over time. These patients were found to be at greater risk of pancreatic flare up, pancreatic cancer, all-cause mortality, and pancreatic necrosis.

This association held firm even after the researchers accounted for opioid use, suggesting that marijuana itself may contribute to disease progression and complications.

CUD affects 3 in 10 users in the U.S., according to the CDC. As it becomes more normalized, the risks for vulnerable populations, in this case those with colon cancer and pancreatitis, continue to grow. These risks are too significant and call for more research, awareness and education, serving as a critical reminder that marijuana use is not harmless, especially when dependence develops.

For resources related to marijuana, check out www.dfaf.org/education.

Source:

From sfunes@drugfreeamericafoundation.ccsend.com

And for further related information. visit:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024). Cannabis use disorder. https://www.cdc.gov/cannabis/health-effects/cannabis-use-disorder.html
Brooks, A. (2025). Cannabis use, dependence linked to worse clinical outcomes in chronic pancreatitis. HCPLive. https://www.hcplive.com/view/cannabis-use-dependence-linked-worse-clinical-outcomes-chronic-pancreatitis
The ASCO Post Staff. (2025). Cannabis use disorder significantly increases mortality risk in colorectal cancer. The ASCO Post. https://ascopost.com/news/may-2025/cannabis-use-disorder-significantly-increases-mortality-risk-in-colorectal-cancer/
Cuomo, R. (2025). Cannabis use disorder and mortality among patients with colon cancer. Annals of Epidemiology, 35(4), 140-147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2025.04.012

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects,Health,Marijuana and Medicine,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Mark Kelly, Arizona Senator, USA – May 6, 2025

Today, Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced bipartisan legislation to fund public service announcement (PSA) campaigns and contests to help young Americans understand the dangers of drug use.

The Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act would expand the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) for research-based PSAs launched by state and local governments to help youth in their local communities.

“As drug addiction continues to destroy the lives of young people and their families in red and blue states alike, we need to address the problem in ways that speak directly to teens,” said Senator Kelly. “Arizona has already taken the lead in promoting PSA campaigns against substance use, and this bill will help my state and other states reach more people about the dangers of drug use and save lives.”

“We must do everything we can to make young adults aware of the dangers of substance abuse,” said Senator Tillis. “I am proud to co-lead this bipartisan legislation with Senator Kelly to expand COSSUP so we can coordinate with states and local entities to conduct public service announcements and spread awareness.”

“Too many young Americans know firsthand the harms of opioid addiction and deserve every opportunity to be leaders in combatting this crisis in their communities,” said Senator Coons. “This bill will give them the resources and opportunity to use what they know to save lives.”

The Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act is supported by Arizona Attorney General Mayes, Partnership to End Addiction, Drug Policy Alliance, Addiction Policy Forum, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA), the National Association for Children Impacted by Addiction (NACoA), the Brent Shapiro Foundation, the Alexander Neville Foundation, National Crime Prevention Council, MATFORCE, the Substance Awareness Coalition Leaders of Arizona (SACLAz), and Gang Free North Carolina.

See what Arizona stakeholders are saying about the Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act:

“Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. Cartels are even targeting Arizona teenagers on social media, leading to overdoses in children as young as 14 years old. Our Fentanyl PSA contest has been one of the most successful ways my office has engaged the next generation of Arizonans in the fight against the fentanyl crisis, and we’ve made inroads toward making sure every young person in Arizona knows how to protect themselves and their friends from fentanyl,” said Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. “Thank you, Senator Kelly, for putting this bill forward and creating new federally-funded opportunities for other local law enforcement and government offices to offer PSAs like the one we’ve seen such success with. We need every tool in our tool belt as we continue to fight the scourge of fentanyl in our communities.”

“Research consistently demonstrates that early use of addictive substances heightens the risk of addiction later in life, with the likelihood increasing the earlier use begins. Preventing and delaying substance use among young people is essential to ending our nation’s addiction crisis. The most effective prevention takes a comprehensive approach, addressing the diverse factors that influence youth substance use while meeting the unique needs of individual communities. Public awareness campaigns, guided by research and regularly evaluated to ensure effectiveness, play a vital role in this holistic and evidence-based approach. The Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act will help communities use federal funding to prevent youth substance use by including research-based public service awareness campaigns in their prevention strategies,” Linda Richter, PhD, Senior Vice President of Prevention Research and Analysis, Partnership to End Addiction.

“At the Alexander Neville Foundation, we’re dedicated to helping young people and their caregivers understand the serious dangers of substance misuse, especially fentanyl and social media harms. Our goal is to raise awareness and offer the support necessary for young individuals to make informed, healthy choices. The Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act is a perfect match for our mission, as it boosts public service announcement campaigns designed to prevent substance misuse among youth. This important legislation plays a key role in tackling the fentanyl crisis and substance misuse, ensuring that young people receive the right education at the right time. By supporting evidence-based prevention programs, we’re working toward a safer, healthier future, one where young people can thrive both online and offline, free from the dangers of substance use,” said the Alexander Neville Foundation.

“When NACoA was founded in 1983, schools had counselors and student assistance programs equipped to support children impacted by the disease of addiction — that is no longer the norm. Today, 1 in 5 children in the U.S. live in a household where a parent has a substance use disorder (American Academy of Pediatrics). The National Association for Children Impacted by Addiction (NACoA) supports this vital legislation, because locally driven, peer-centered education can break the intergenerational cycle of this chronic, progressive and fatal disease. Every dollar invested in prevention can save up to $18 in future costs (SAMSHA) — and it’s always easier to help a child than to heal a broken adult,” said President/CEO NACoA Denise Bertin-Epp RN, BScN, MSA.

“The Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act is a positive step towards stopping youth drug and alcohol use before it starts. Nine of 10 individuals who develop a drug addiction began using drugs as teenagers, our nation needs to make the protection of our children and their developing brains a top priority. The Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act will provide youth with the information necessary to help them make healthy choices. This legislation can save lives. The Substance Awareness Coalition Leaders of Arizona support this legislation,” said Merilee Fowler, Executive Director, MATFORCE, Community Counts.

Background:

The Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program (COSSUP) was developed as part of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) of 2016. COSSUP’s purpose is to provide financial and technical assistance to states, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments to develop, implement, or expand comprehensive efforts to identify, respond to, treat, and support those impacted by illicit opioids, stimulants and other drugs.

Source: https://www.kelly.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/kelly-tillis-coons-introduce-legislation-to-address-youth-drug-use/

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Political Sector,USA,Youth :

by Connery, Lucy MPH; Tomilin, Kailyn MPH; Lynch, Joshua DO, FACEP – Emergency Medicine News

Introduction

Since the first wave of the opioid epidemic in the 1990s, more than 550,000 people from various backgrounds have died of an overdose in the United States.¹ In 2023, opioid overdose deaths decreased 3% nationwide and by 10% in states like New York—the first decline in the last decade.² Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported a near 24% decline in overdose deaths between October 2023 and September 2024 compared to the previous year.³ While these milestones may bring hope to communities across the country, community leaders are also reporting alarming racial and ethnic disparities in these health trends. Emergency departments (EDs) are at the frontlines of the opioid epidemic, treating individuals who are in acute withdrawal or postoverdose.⁴ Therefore, emergency physicians and ED staff members must be aware of the changing demographics of the opioid epidemic and the resources available to effectively address opioid use disorder (OUD).

The Waves of the Opioid Epidemic

The distinct waves of the opioid epidemic presented unique challenges in communities across the United States, necessitating rapid and adaptive responses from public, private, and nonprofit sectors to address the evolving patterns of substance use, shifting demographics, and emerging public health threats. Table 1 summarizes the four waves of the opioid epidemic.

Table 1 – Summary of demographics, data, and trends of the opioid epidemic

Wave	Time Period	Primary Driver	Most Impacted Demographics	Data Trends & Consequences
First wave	1990-2010	Increased opioid prescribing, aggressive pharmaceutical marketing, and regulatory shortcomings from federal agencies	Non-Hispanic White individuals, ages 45-54	1999-2009: Prescription opioid overdose deaths rose from ~3,442 to 13,523
Second wave	2010-2013	Opioid-prescribing regulations tightened, shift from prescription opioids to heroin due to cost and accessibility	Non-Hispanic Black individuals, ages 45-64	2000-2013: Heroin-related overdoses nearly quadrupled 2010-2016: Heroin-involved deaths increased from 1% per 100,000 to 4.9% per 100,000
Third wave	2013-2019	Proliferation of synthetic opioids, particularly fentanyl	Younger individuals (ages 25-34) and non-Hispanic Black populations (ages 45-64)	2012-2016: Drug overdose deaths rose from 1,600 to over 18,000 nationwide 2013-2019: Opioid overdose rates from synthetic opioids (particularly fentanyl) increased over 1,000%
Fourth wave	2019-present	Increasing presence of fentanyl mixed with stimulants (eg, cocaine, methamphetamine) and other contaminants (eg, xylazine)	Non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous populations	2018: Synthetic opioid overdose rates increased 79% for White individuals and over 100% for Black individuals 2018-2022: EMS agencies’ nonfatal opioid overdose encounters increased 3.4% for White, 7.4% for Black, and 5.7% for Hispanic people

The First Wave

The first wave of the opioid epidemic was marked by a drastic rise in opioid prescribing and overdose deaths across the United States in the 1990s.⁹ Many experts believe that this surge was driven by marketing strategies from pharmaceutical companies promoting aggressive prescribing for opioids, such as OxyContin.^10,11 This, coupled with insufficient oversight and regulatory shortcomings by governmental agencies, including the US Food and Drug Administration, permitted the dissemination of misleading information about the safety and efficacy of these drugs.^10,11

During this first wave, non-Hispanic Whites aged 45-54 had the highest opioid overdose mortality rates.¹² This health disparity can be associated with inequitable access to health care and medications for addiction treatment (MAT) among different racial and ethnic groups, as well as older adults seeking medical care more frequently than younger populations.^13,14 Once efforts were made to control over-prescribing of opioids, many individuals sought illicit substances to manage cravings and withdrawal symptoms. This uptick in illicit opioid use, specifically heroin, led to a second wave of the opioid epidemic by 2010.⁹

The Second Wave

The second wave of the opioid epidemic was marked by increased overdoses in non-Hispanic Black individuals ages 45-64.¹⁵ This age group was most impacted for a variety of reasons; as regulations around opioid-prescribing tightened, access to legally obtained opioids decreased. Many people with OUD transitioned to using illicit opioids to manage cravings and withdrawal symptoms.¹⁶ Between 2000 and 2013, the number of heroin-involved overdoses nearly quadrupled.¹⁷ Between 2010 and 2016, heroin-involved deaths increased from 1% to 4.9% per 100,000.⁹ Although there have been many changes in the age of those who are most affected by the opioid epidemic, the shift in race-based demographics has remained consistent.

The Third Wave

In 2013, the third wave of the opioid epidemic emerged and was characterized by overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids, particularly fentanyl.¹⁸ Non-Hispanic Black communities were disproportionally impacted, with the rate of fentanyl overdose deaths increasing among non-Hispanic Black people by about 140% every year between 2011 and 2016.¹² Unlike the first and second waves, two distinct age groups experienced the most dramatic increase in opioid-involved overdose deaths during the third wave of the opioid epidemic: opioid overdose death rates increasing by 4.6 per 100,000 for men aged 25-44 and 3.7 per 100,000 for men aged 45-64.¹⁹ One potential reason for this shift in age may be that younger people are more likely to misuse illicit substances compared to older adults.²⁰ Older adults are more likely to receive prescription medications like opioids compared to younger people and, therefore, are less likely to seek illicit substances from other sources.²¹ Figure 1 displays the different waves of the opioid epidemic (as defined by the CDC) and the demographics of those who were most impacted by each wave.^5,22-24

The Fourth Wave

Although national leaders like the CDC recognize only three waves of the opioid crisis, many academic journals have published literature on a fourth wave of the epidemic.^18,25-27 This fourth, and current, wave is characterized by increased rates of opioid overdose deaths with involvement of stimulants.^26,27 This presents a distinct challenge across communities in the United States because many people who use stimulants are not seeking opioids and may not have a tolerance. Fentanyl is the primary driver of all opioid overdose deaths in the United States; because of its shorter period of euphoria compared to heroin, sedatives like xylazine and medetomidine are being added to the illicit fentanyl supply to lengthen its effects.^28,29 These sedatives do not respond to naloxone and have effects including hypotension and respiratory depression, further complicating overdose response and prevention strategies.

The disparity in overdose rates among different racial and ethnic populations is particularly evident when looking at the third (and fourth) wave(s) of the opioid epidemic. In May 2024, the CDC announced the first decline in opioid overdose deaths nationwide since 2018, but there were alarming racial disparities in these health outcomes.^3,30,31 Notably, opioid overdose deaths decreased among White people by 14%, but decreased by only 6% for Black communities and 2% for Asian or Pacific Islanders. Overdose deaths also increased for Native American/American Indian populations by 2%.^30,31 These changes in the demographics of people most impacted by the opioid epidemic call for action at the local, state, and federal levels to address racial bias and health care discrimination.

Emergency Medicine Breeds Innovation

Being that EDs are often the first point of interaction with healthcare services for most people with OUD, emergency medicine physicians and staff members are critical stakeholders in addressing the opioid overdose epidemic across the United States.⁴ Recent shifts in overdose death rates across races demonstrate the systemic issues in the U.S. healthcare system, including health inequities, discrimination, and implicit bias. To begin addressing these health inequities, EDs must employ various interventions for OUD to meet patients where they are; these interventions should include initiation of MAT, linkage to outpatient treatment, and distribution of harm reduction supplies.⁴

Medication for Addiction Treatment and Electronic Referrals (MATTERS) is a New York-based initiative that, since its inception in 2016, has supported EDs in linking people with OUD to treatment and resources within their own communities. Its rapid referral platform connects people with OUD to a network of over 250 addiction treatment centers that offer MAT and agree to accept any patient, regardless of insurance status, polysubstance use, or previous treatment history. Developed by Joshua Lynch, an emergency physician, MATTERS was created to address the inefficiencies in the way our healthcare system addressed OUD. Referrals take as little as 3 minutes to complete, and patients are automatically provided with medication and transportation vouchers, peer support referrals, and follow-up services to ensure continuity of care and retention in treatment. These resources are automatically provided to patients at the time of referral—all without making a single phone call. For individuals who are not ready for treatment, MATTERS distributes free harm reduction supplies, including drug checking strips, naloxone, and sterile syringes via direct mail. Additionally, MATTERS has deployed over 20 vending machines across New York State to dispense these free supplies 24/7.

Conclusion

While each wave of the opioid epidemic has affected communities differently, the third and fourth waves have revealed and intensified health disparities, particularly among Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities.³² To effectively reduce overdose rates and address opioid use disorder, it is essential for emergency physicians and ED staff members to prioritize equitable, inclusive, and culturally competent prevention and treatment strategies.⁴ MATTERS provide various services to patients and providers alike to effectively respond to the opioid epidemic, including linkage to treatment, access to telemedicine services, and distribution of free harm reduction supplies across New York State. Providers seeking resources for OUD can access educational materials and support by visiting www.mattersnetwork.org.

Correction

In the April issue (EMN. 2025;47(3):2,11,15), the 2nd sentence of the 11th paragraph of the article, “STEMI Critics Are Right. We’re Missing Too Many Heart Attacks,” has been changed to Why did we need that? (How do I pronounce that again?)—the case for the new OMI/non-occlusive myocardial infarction (NOMI) paradigm is powerful. This change has been made online.

JOSHUA LYNCH, DO, FACEP is the founder and Chief Medical Officer of the MATTERS program. He is also an associate professor of Emergency & Addiction Medicine at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine, a senior physician with UBMD Emergency Medicine, clinical co-chair of the UB Clinical & Research Institute on Addictions, and medical director of Mercy Flight of Western New York.

LUCY CONNERY, MPH is the marketing coordinator at MATTERS. She also serves as an adjunct professor for Daemen University’s Health Promotion and Master of Public Health departments and secretary of the Urban Roots Cooperative Garden Market’s Board of Directors.

KAILYN TOMILIN, MPH is the program evaluator at MATTERS and has written several evidence-based articles on emerging drug threats and contaminants in the United States. She has a passion for public health and plans to spend her career helping to improve health outcomes for underserved populations.

Source: https://journals.lww.com/em-news/fulltext/2025/05000/the_changing_demographics_of_the_opioid_epidemic.10.aspx

Filed under: Medicines,Opioids,Prevalence,USA :

From: Dr Karen Randall – Vermont School of Medicine
Sent: 01 May 2025 02:55

There is no other medication on the market where a patient can decide what type and how much to consume. And, as with all medications, the more is not always the merrier. Every drug has an LD50 where the harms exceed the benefits. Given the high potency of most products, the LD50 is lower and the harms more evident. Every day, as I start my shift in the emergency ward, I would guess that 1/4 to 1/3 are directly a consequence of cannabis

-cannabis hyperemesis – here’s a very simple calculation of low end estimated costs. We see a hyperemesis patient at least once a day. If this patients treated in the ER – IV fluids, medications without x-rays/ct scan/admission, the cost is about 5000 US dollars (likely higher now). For a year, that cost – is ~1.8 million dollars. There are 25 ERs in Colorado the yearly cost is 45.6 million dollars! These are for very simple visits and this is a very low estimate. Add on cost for CT scan, Ultrasounds, X-rays, admission, etc and the cost skyrockets. The county that I live in was promised so much money in tax revenue. Last year, this county took in less than 200,000. So, the cost of treatment for one associated disease entity is higher than tax excess. The remaining health care costs get passed to the public/the citizens. Meanwhile the cannabis companies take out the profits and go.

-cannabis psychosis
-accidental ingestions
-cardiovascular injuries – MI, heart failure
-lung damage
-pregnancy harms

And the list goes on.

Additionally, likely half of the ED visits I see are related to abuse of a substance of some sort.

In the states, cannabis as a medicine is most definitely held to the same standards of quality, purity and dosing as FDA approved medications. The industry also touts a plethora of diseases that are cured by cannabis;

The above is a published diagram of all the ailments “treated” by cannabis. One is that it treats cancer – most cancer medications go through years of rigorous testing and then blinded studies prior to being approved. And yet, the cannabis industry puts these claims out and people fall for the rhetoric. I saw a 42 y/o male who had liver cancer – he opted to treat with cannabis. By the time I saw him, he was immediately placed into hospice and died 3 days later as his cancer had widely spread.

I have, from the last 10 years, thousands of clinical stories of harms that we seen in the ER. Costs are exorbitant. But wait to until the long term side effects happen – lung disease will be more rapid, more advanced and less reversible than that of cigarettes. Cardiovascular side effects – hardening of the arteries, heart attacks – will leave many younger people (40’s) with life long debilitating cardiac disease. And finally, I believe we will see a marked increase in the number of people diagnosed with early onset dementia – since cannabis is a soil scrubber – it has the potential for many contaminants. Many of these contaminants are heavy metals. Heavy metals get deposited in the brain/amygdala and will remain there for the life of the person – leading to earlier onset dementia. Additionally, as cannabis hardens/alters the cardiac arteries, it also hardens intracranial arteries – leading to decreased blood flow and strokes.

Source: Dr. Karen Randall, FAAEM, Certified in Cannabis Science and Medicine – University of Vermont School of Medicine

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Marijuana and Medicine,USA :

by Joe Edwards – Newsweek

Update, 05/06/2025, 12:11 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Chip Lupo.

A new analysis by WalletHub has revealed the states struggling most with drug use, with New Mexico, West Virginia and Nevada ranking at the top.

Why It Matters

The study evaluated all 50 states and the District of Columbia using 20 metrics ranging from arrest and overdose rates to opioid prescriptions and employee drug testing laws. More than 80,000 drug overdose deaths were recorded nationwide in the 12 months ending in November 2024, according to CDC data cited by WalletHub.

The findings come amid rising concerns over the spread of powerful synthetic drugs e fentanyl. In 2024 alone, the Drug Enforcement Administration seized the equivalent of 380 million lethal doses of fentanyl, according to WalletHub.

What To Know

According to WalletHub, the top 10 places with the highest overall drug use issues are:

New Mexico
West Virginia
Nevada
Alaska
Washington, D.C.
Oklahoma
Missouri
Colorado
Louisiana
Arkansas

The study found New Mexico to have the worst drug problem in the U.S., particularly among teens. It leads the nation in teen illicit drug use and early marijuana experimentation. Adults in the state also rank third for illicit drug use.

Contributing to the crisis are weak drug prevention policies, a lack of adults with drug problems receiving treatment, and a high number of children exposed to substance abuse at home. New Mexico also has one of the highest rates of drug overdose deaths per capita, according to the study.

West Virginia ranks second in the nation for drug problems, with the highest drug overdose death rate and fourth-most campus drug arrests per capita.

The state faces a shortage of mental health and substance abuse professionals, limiting access to treatment, according to the study.

Additionally, many children are exposed to drug-related issues at home, with one of the highest rates of kids living with someone struggling with drug problems.

Nevada ranks third for the worst drug problems in the U.S., with nearly 30 percent of students exposed to drugs at school and the third-highest rate of early teen marijuana use, the study found.

The state struggles to address addiction, the report suggested, with few treatment facilities and counselors, and a high percentage of untreated adult drug users.

On the other side of the spectrum, Hawaii, Utah, Nebraska, Connecticut, and Florida were the lowest ranking states, suggesting relatively fewer drug-related issues according to WalletHub’s metrics.

What People Are Saying

WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said in the report: “Drug problems can start from multiple sources, like taking illegal substances with friends or getting hooked on a prescription that was originally given for a legitimate medical issue. As states fight drug addiction, they need to consider all angles and make sure they are not just addressing things from a law enforcement perspective but also providing the resources necessary to help people with addictions get clean.”

Lupo told Newsweek: “Washington and Oregon have seen their rankings slide over the past three years, driven largely by worsening scores in drug use and enforcement.

Over the past three years, Washington has experienced a significant decline in its fight against drug abuse, rising steadily in the ranks toward worse conditions. In 2023, the state ranked 33rd overall, but by 2024 it had worsened to 31st, and by 2025 it reached 18th—marking a troubling upward trend toward the most severe drug problems.

“The most alarming shift came in the ‘Drug Use & Addiction’ category, where Washington’s rank deteriorated from 19th in 2023 to 15th in 2024 and 5th in 2025—placing it among the five worst states in that area.

“Similarly, Oregon’s overall rank declined from 19th worst in 2023 to 12th worst in 2025. Its drug use and addiction rank worsened from 10 to three. While its access to rehab remained relatively strong (ranking between eight and 10), persistently low law enforcement performance and increasing drug use dragged down its overall standing.”

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/map-shows-states-with-highest-drug-use-issues/ar-AA1E3A4t

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Fentanyl,Opioids,Prevalence,USA :

by Lisa Ryckman – NCSL’s associate director of communications. (National Conference of State Legislatures)

Somewhere in America right now, a teenager searches the internet for drugs. The pills they buy might look like the real thing—Xanax, maybe, or Adderall—but chances are, they’re not getting what they think they are.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that six out of 10 pills bought online actually might contain lethal doses of the opioid fentanyl, says Rahul Gupta, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

“So, the odds of dying from those pills is worse than playing Russian roulette with your life,” he told a session at the 2023 NCSL Legislative Summit.

“Substance use cuts across every geographic boundary, every sociocultural boundary. It doesn’t matter what race you are, how rich or poor you are, where you live.”

—Rahul Gupta, Office of National Drug Control Policy

More than 110,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2022, Gupta says.

“Substance use cuts across every geographic boundary, every sociocultural boundary. It doesn’t matter what race you are, how rich or poor you are, where you live,” he says. “It’s got your number.”

An iteration known as “tranq dope”—a potent cocktail of fentanyl, heroin and the animal tranquilizer xylazine—is the latest scourge to hit the streets, Gupta says. It is particularly problematic because the xylazine tends to increase the effect of the other drugs.

The costs of opioid addiction and trafficking fall mostly on the states: an economic loss of $1.5 trillion in 2020 alone, Gupta says. He outlines a two-pronged federal approach that includes treating addiction and disrupting drug trafficking profits. Making the drug naloxone, which can reverse an overdose, available over the counter has been a game-changer, he says, as have efforts to disrupt the fentanyl supply chain—chemicals from China, production in Mexico and sales in the U.S.

“We’re going after every choke point in this supply chain,” Gupta says, “and we’re putting sanctions on all of these folks to make sure that we’re choking off those important points the cartels and others depend on to create this deadly substance that kills Americans.”

Expanding Treatment Access

In Oklahoma, fentanyl overdose deaths increased sixfold from 2019 to 2021, and fentanyl was involved in nearly three out of four opioid-related deaths, compared with 10%-20% in previous years, says state Sen. John Haste, vice chair of the Health and Human Services Committee.

The Legislature focused on prevention and treatment by expanding access to naloxone, including requiring hospitals and prisons to provide it to at-risk patients and inmates upon release, he says. Telehealth can now be used for medication-assisted treatment, and fentanyl test strips have been legalized, Haste says.

The state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse has launched a campaign to reduce the number of accidental overdoses through education awareness and resource access, he says. As part of the campaign, the department is placing more than 40 vending machines in targeted areas that freely dispense naloxone and fentanyl test strips. “This is the largest program of its kind in the country,” Haste says. “All around Oklahoma, you can see messages reminding the public to utilize test strips and naloxone on billboards, buses, local businesses and other strategic locations.”

Opioid Alternatives

In Hawaii, legislators are looking at safe alternatives to opioids for pain relief.

“It’s easy to say, just stop opioids, stop all drugs,” says Rep. John Mizuno, chair of the Hawaii House Committee on Human Services. “We know that chronic pain is complex; in addition to pain, you’ve got mental health. We need to think about the person’s quality of life. We’ve got to balance the patient’s right to manage his or her pain.”

Mizuno suggests that legislators meet with their state’s top pain management physician to learn about safe pain alternatives, including nerve blocks, implanted medication pumps, physical therapy, acupuncture, massage therapy, chiropractic treatment and medical cannabis.

His state has asked that Medicaid expand coverage for native Hawaiian healing that previously has been covered only for tribal members.

Mizuno says coverage is the main barrier to safer treatments, many of which might not be paid for under private health insurance or federal programs.

“But the best thing to do is work with your colleagues, work with your medical providers, and try to get these safe alternatives (covered),” Mizuno says. “It’s a lot better than being addicted to opioids.”

Source: https://www.ncsl.org/events/details/states-and-feds-are-partners-in-fight-against-opioid-epidemic

Filed under: Addiction,Opioids,Political Sector,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA,Youth :

by H Horning, DFAF, 28 April 2025

Published by the NATIONAL DRUG-FREE WORKPLACE ALLIANCE

*********************************************

You play a key role in supporting your employees’ well-being, including those struggling with substance use disorder (SUD). With millions affected by SUD worldwide, it’s important to create a workplace culture that encourages support and understanding for those facing this challenge.

Substance use disorder is often intertwined with mental health issues like anxiety and depression, making it difficult for employees to seek help. However, by offering flexible, personalized support, you can help them take meaningful steps toward recovery.

The first step is recognizing that everyone’s journey is different. Some employees may be ready to make changes, while others might need more time. By offering tailored resources, such as counseling, therapy, and peer support, you can meet employees where they are in their recovery process.

Many employees don’t seek help due to stigma, fear of judgment, or lack of awareness about available resources. To combat this, create a work environment where mental health discussions are encouraged and seeking help is confidential. Make sure employees know what resources are available and are reminded regularly about those programs, whether through an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or community-based programs.

Check out Drug Free America Foundation’s Guide on Stigma in the Workplace here for more guidance on how to avoid stigma and support your employees in recovery.
Goal-setting is another important aspect of recovery. Encourage employees to set clear, achievable goals, such as finding and supporting healthier ways to cope with stress. Providing incentives to encourage employees to try out things like yoga classes, or walking challenges is an easy way for employers to boost these activities. These goals should be approached with curiosity, allowing employees to experiment and reflect on what works best for them.

A supportive work environment is also crucial. Studies1 indicate that employees who have faced depression or anxiety appreciate when managers initiate conversations about mental health and are willing to adjust workloads as needed. To foster a supportive and healthy workplace culture, encourage managers to talk openly about mental health and recognize substance use disorder as a condition that may require empathy and assistance.

By creating a supportive, stigma-free environment, you can help your employees manage substance use disorder and foster a healthier, more productive workplace. Providing access to the right resources and being proactive about support can make a lasting impact on your team’s well-being.

Source: McConnell, Kim. “The Challenge of Change: How Employers Can Modernize Workplace Substance Use Support.” How Employers Can Modernize Workplace Substance Use Support | Spring Health, Spring Health, 1 Apr. 2024, www.springhealth.com/blog/how-employers-can-modernize-workplace-substance-use-support

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,USA,Workplace :

Scott Strode and his company have an active take on recovery and sobriety.

Wall Street Journal Andy Kessler March 23, 2025

It wasn’t hard to find Scott Strode when we first met. He was the big guy in a black T-shirt with the word “SOBER” splashed across it. Mr. Strode is founder of the Phoenix, a national “sober active” community. Addiction statistics in the U.S. are sobering. According to Mr. Strode’s book, “Rise. Recover. Thrive,” one-third of Americans have substance-abuse issues or mental disorders.

When drinking, Mr. Strode felt valued. “People wanted to spend time with me. And I found community,” he says. “It’s just what we were building it around wasn’t healthy.” Alcohol. Cocaine. Dependency. Until one night he finally hit bottom. “I couldn’t imagine someone having to tell my mom this is how I died.”

The road to sobriety wasn’t easy for Mr. Strode, but he found solace in physical challenges. “I saw a poster for ice climbing,” he said. “It gave me something to strive for, and that led me into the boxing gym and triathlons and racing Iron Mans.” But it wasn’t enough. “I realized when I took other people with me, I felt lifted in a different way.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant. “Getting into recovery is like getting out of a burning building,” he said. “But there are other people in there, so you have to reach back in to help get them out. By using my passion to help others, it filled a void. That was really what the Phoenix was born from.”

The Phoenix Multisport active recovery community, its original name, started in Boulder, Colo., roughly 20 years ago. It was funded by friends and a few grants—no fees. Others might have been content with helping one community. Not Mr. Strode. After a few years, he started helping active-duty service members and many others in Colorado Springs and set up a location in Denver.

What’s the magic? “Your life gets so much bigger, and you start to realize what’s possible. You connect somewhere where you feel valued, accepted and loved.” Climbing. Hiking. Running. Yoga. A fellow rider and Phoenix member, Ben Cort, told him, “I got sober because I didn’t want to die. I stayed sober because I wanted to live.”

A mother who heard about the Phoenix approached Mr. Strode and offered him $200,000 to expand to San Diego to help her son. Sadly, her son passed away before they could get there, but the idea of scaling to other communities kicked in for Mr. Strode. Maybe people’s desire to help others could be leveraged and help the Phoenix scale. “We opened up this opportunity on our website for folks to raise their hand to become volunteers,” Mr. Strode said. “We thought we’d get a few. We got 700.” Over the next 10 years, they were in 28 locations.

In 2016 the Phoenix received some funding from the philanthropic organization Stand Together. One of their pillars is to help solve addiction. They discussed scaling, and Mr. Strode told them that for each location, “it starts with a man and a bike.” In January 2020 they mutually agreed on $50 million in funding with a goal of “serving one million people impacted by substance use” in five years. A stretch, for sure. But it had to go from push to pull—“stimulating volunteers in places where we can’t reach.”

What started in Boulder with a deal with CrossFit is now in every state—almost 200 communities with more than 5,000 volunteers. “We have served over 800,000 since Phoenix started.” It scales because it works—83% of Phoenix participants stay sober after three months, compared with an average of 40% to 60% from other programs.

That’s the power of volunteers. And technology. The Phoenix has a mobile app called NewForm. Anyone can have a profile. The Phoenix isn’t in your community? Start one yourself. The app links to other nonprofits, such as SeekHealing, that help people overcoming trauma, a potential cause of addiction. The Phoenix also sets up sober supportive spaces at concerts and festivals—the app can reveal “thousands of other sober people in those spaces.”

“We distribute tablets in prisons across the country, so you can come to Phoenix virtually,” Mr. Strode says. “We joke that we’re the sober Peloton in prisons.” Smart. Plus, “you don’t have to turn to those old cellphone numbers in your phone when you return home. You can actually find new connections and community to help support you on your healing journey.”

What about other addiction programs? “At the Phoenix, we’re really focused on helping people with what’s possible in their recovery. So it’s very forward-looking. We start to dream of what’s possible in our sober life. In the 12-step community, people often identify as their disease. ‘I’m Scott, I’m an addict, I’m an alcoholic.’ But I always say, ‘I’m Scott, I’m in recovery, I’m an ice climber and so much more.’ We see everybody for their intrinsic strength, not a problem to be fixed.”

The Phoenix should hit its goal of one million people helped later this year. I’m convinced after talking to Mr. Strode that 10 million is a reachable goal.

Source: https://www.wsj.com/opinion/a-new-approach-to-addiction-phoenix-fitness-community-mental-health-a3591f99

Filed under: Addiction,Brain and Behaviour,Drug use-various effects,Health,Mental Health,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman is tapping into his state’s love of college basketball to promote his drug prevention campaign aimed at young people

By Associated Press March 19, 2025, at 2:08 p.m.

Louisville guard J’Vonne Hadley celebrates after scoring against the Clemson during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Tapping into his state’s love of college basketball, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman has recruited two players from top programs and given them roles as social media influencers to promote his drug prevention initiative aimed at young people.

Social media videos released Tuesday feature University of Kentucky forward Trent Noah and University of Louisville guard J’Vonne Hadley. The separate messages bridge their schools’ storied rivalry by offering a common theme — the importance of staying active and disciplined as part of the “Better Without It” campaign. Their videos coincide with the start of the NCAA basketball tournament.

“March always brings madness to the commonwealth, and this year it also brings a lifesaving message: our young people are ‘Better Without It,’” Coleman said.

The Bluegrass State is using prevention and treatment efforts to fight back against a drug addiction epidemic. Kentucky’s drug overdose death toll reached nearly 2,000 in 2023, with fentanyl — a powerful synthetic opioid — blamed as the biggest culprit. It marked a second straight annual decline in deaths, but the state’s top leaders say the fight is far from over. Kentucky lawmakers last year created tougher penalties for fentanyl dealers when their illicit distribution results in a fatal overdose.

Coleman launched the drug prevention campaign last month with pitches from college coaches. The messages from Noah and Hadley are a key part of Coleman’s playbook. In a state where top college athletes become household names, he’s enlisting some of them to deliver positive, anti-drug messages.

“To reach Kentucky’s young people with an effective statewide drug prevention message, we need the right messengers,” Coleman said in February. “That’s why we’re partnering with some of the biggest names in Kentucky’s college athletics to tell … young people they are truly better without it.”

In a previous video, University of Kentucky women’s basketball player Cassidy Rowe urges viewers to find pursuits that give them joy and that they can work toward. She said basketball taught her resilience, accountability and discipline — traits she applies to her everyday life.

“If you’re feeling pressured, I would just encourage you to stay true to yourself and not let others influence you to become something that you’re not,” she said in the video released last month.

The drug prevention campaign encourages young people to be independent, make their own decisions and stay informed about the dangers of drug use, while highlighting the positive effects of a drug-free lifestyle, Coleman’s office said.

Last year, the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission approved Coleman’s two-year, $3.6 million proposal to establish the youth education campaign. Through name, image and likeness deals and other partnerships, student-athletes, influencers and others will promote positive messages about a drug-free lifestyle, the office said.

Source: https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2025-03-19/kentuckys-better-without-it-anti-drug-campaign-recruits-college-basketball-players-to-reach-youth

Filed under: Drug use-various effects,Prevalence,USA,Youth :

This blog was also published in the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Weekly, on March 18, 2025.

For many people trying to recover from a substance use disorder, perhaps for the majority, abstinence may be the most appropriate treatment objective. But complete abstinence is sometimes not achievable, even in the long-term, and there is a need for new treatment approaches that recognize the clinical value of reduced use.

According to a recently published analysis of data from the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, two thirds (65.2 percent) of adults in self-identified recovery used alcohol or other drugs in the past month¹. There is increasing scientific evidence to support the clinical benefits of reduced substance use and its viability as a path to recovery for some patients. Reducing drug use has clear public health benefits, including reducing overdoses, reducing infectious disease transmission, and reducing automobile accidents and emergency department visits, not to mention potentially reducing adverse health effects such as cancer and other diseases associated with tobacco or alcohol.

The FDA has historically favored abstinence as the endpoint in trials to develop medications for substance use disorders. Abstinence has been evaluated using absence of positive urine drug tests, absence of self-reported drug use, and regularly attending sessions where drug use is assessed. But abstinence is a high bar comparable to requiring that an antidepressant produce complete remission of depression or that an analgesic completely eliminate pain. Recognizing this limitation, the FDA encourages developers of opioid² and stimulant³ use disorder medications to discuss with FDA alternative approaches to measure changes in drug use patterns.

A model for reduced use as an endpoint exists with treatments for alcohol use disorder. Reduction in alcohol use is relatively easy to measure since alcoholic beverages tend to be purchased and consumed in standard quantities, and substantial evidence supports the clinical benefit of reduction in heavy drinking days (defined as 5 or more drinks/day for men and 4 or more drinks/day for women). Consequently, the percentage of participants with no heavy drinking days is accepted by the FDA as a valid outcome measure in trials of medications for alcohol use disorder⁴. The FDA recently announced a new tool through which investigators can determine if proposed treatments for alcohol use disorder (AUD) work based on whether they reduce “risk drinking” levels. The new tool can be used as an acceptable primary endpoint in studies of medications to treat adults with moderate to severe AUD.

Use reduction could readily be used as an endpoint in the development of treatments for tobacco use disorder too, since the number of cigarettes smoked per day is easily measured and there is evidence that 50 percent reduction in cigarette use produces meaningful reduction in cancer risk⁵. Thus, the NIH and FDA have recently called for consideration of meaningful study endpoints in addition to abstinence in research on new smoking-cessation products⁶; though abstinence is still required as the main outcome for medication approval.

Objective assessment of use reduction for illicit substances presents a greater difficulty given variability and uncertainty of the composition and purity of illicit drugs purchased. This challenge may account for part of the reluctance of the pharmaceutical industry to invest in developing new medications aimed at reducing drug use. Also, anecdotally, the expectation that medications that can produce complete cessation are the only treatments that will advance to market has discouraged addiction neuroscientists and some in the pharmaceutical industry from advancing new medication targets or compounds relevant to reduced use or other endpoints besides abstinence. Nevertheless, there is increasing research demonstrating the relative strength of quantitative measures of drug use frequency versus binary measures of abstinence in assessing the efficacy of drug use disorder treatments.

A 2023 analysis of pooled data from 11 clinical trials of treatments for cocaine use disorder found that reduction in use, as defined by achieving at least 75 percent cocaine-negative urine screens, was associated with short- and long-term improvement in psychosocial functioning and measures of addiction severity⁷. A 2024 secondary analysis of data from 13 clinical trials of treatments for stimulant use disorders (cocaine and methamphetamine) found that reduced use was associated with improvement in several indicators of recovery, including measures of depression severity, craving, and domains of symptom improvement (legal, family/social, psychiatric, etc.)⁸.

A secondary analysis of seven clinical trials of treatments for cannabis use disorder found that reductions in use short of abstinence were associated with meaningful improvements in sleep quality and reduction of cannabis use disorder symptoms⁹. Fifty percent reductions in days of cannabis use and 75 percent reductions in amount of cannabis used were associated with the greatest clinician-rated improvement.

Little research has been conducted on alternative endpoints in opioid use disorder treatment, but it will be needed to advance medication development in this area. Among the important research questions that still need answering is whether treatment aimed at reducing opioid use could produce better overdose-related outcomes than treatment aimed at cessation of use, since many fatalities arise from a return to use after tolerance to the drug is lost following periods of abstinence. Even in the absence of clinical trial evidence, however, any reduction in illicit substance use can reasonably be argued as beneficial, entailing less risk of overdose or of infectious disease transmission, less frequent need to obtain an illegal substance with the attendant dangers, and so on¹⁰. Decreased substance use also makes it more likely that the individual can hold a job, be a supportive family member, and so on.

Broadening the goals of treatment to include reduced use or other clinically meaningful outcomes as a main outcome for medication approval could potentially expand therapeutic interventions and help increase the number of people in treatment. It could also reduce the stigma that is typically associated with return to use. Setting abstinence as the goal of treatment can be obstacle to treatment engagement for those who are unready or unwilling to make that commitment. And when attempts at abstinence falter, these expectations can compound the sense of failure the patient experiences.

There is little scientific evidence to support the stereotype that people who return to use after a period of abstinence inevitably do so at the same intensity. Some research on post-treatment patterns of alcohol and other drug use in adolescents suggests that returns to use, when they occur, are often at a lower intensity than before¹¹. People in recovery sometimes draw a distinction between resumption of a heavy and compulsive use pattern and isolated, one-time returns to substance use, recognizing that brief “slips” or “lapses” don’t need to be catastrophic to recovery efforts and may even strengthen the person’s resolve to recover.

When returns to use are catastrophic, the sense of failure at living up to the abstinence expectation could play a role in exacerbating further substance use. So could the rules of treatment programs or recovery communities that require abstinence. It too often happens that patients are discharged from addiction treatment if they return to use, which as the American Society of Addiction Medicine notes in its recent guidance document Engagement and Retention of Nonabstinent Patients in Substance Use Treatment, is illogical and inconsistent with our understanding of addiction as a chronic disease: excluding a person from treatment for displaying symptoms of the disorder for which they are being treated¹².

Recognizing that recovery is often nonlinear, a more nuanced view of treatment is needed, one that acknowledges that there are multiple paths to recovery. Expecting complete abstinence may be unrealistic in some cases and can even be harmful. It can pose a barrier to seeking and entering treatment and perpetuate stigma and shame at treatment setbacks. By the same token, reduction of substance use has important public health benefits as well as clinical benefits for patients, and recognition of this could greatly advance medication development for treatment of addiction and its symptoms.

Source: https://nida.nih.gov/about-nida/noras-blog/2025/03/advancing-reduction-drug-use-endpoint-in-addiction-treatment-trials

Filed under: Addiction,Drug use-various effects,Health,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

In trials to develop medications for substance use disorder, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has historically favored abstinence as the endpoint/goal, rather than reduced use.

The details: A model for evaluating treatments based on reduced use instead of abstinence exists with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and is in the works for smoking.

The percentage of participants with no heavy drinking days is accepted by FDA as a valid outcome measure in trials of medications for AUD. The National Institutes of Health and FDA have recently called for consideration of study endpoints in addition to abstinence in research for new smoking cessation products.
Reduction in alcohol or tobacco use is easy to measure since alcoholic beverages/tobacco products tend to be purchased and consumed in standard quantities. Substantial evidence supports the clinical benefit of reduction in heavy drinking days.

But:

Objective assessment of use reduction for illicit substances presents greater difficulty given variability and uncertainty of the composition and purity of illicit drugs.
Little research has been conducted on alternative endpoints in OUD treatment.

Why it’s important:

Reducing drug use has clear public health benefits, including reducing overdoses, infectious disease transmission, car accidents, and emergency department visits, as well as reducing adverse effects such as cancer and other diseases associated with tobacco or alcohol.
Broadening the goals of treatment could potentially expand treatment options, increase the number of people in treatment, and reduce stigma associated with return to use. Expecting complete abstinence may be unrealistic in some cases and can pose a barrier to treatment.

Source: https://drugfree.org/drug-and-alcohol-news/nida-director-rethinking-sud-treatment-goals/

Filed under: Addiction,Alcohol,Opioids,Prevalence,Prevention and Intervention,Treatment and Addiction,USA :

by Gould, H., Zaugg, C., Biggs, M. A., Woodruff, K., Long, W., Mailman, K., Vega, J., & Roberts, S. C. M. (2025).

Mandatory warning signs for cannabis: Perspectives and preferences of pregnant and recently pregnant people who use cannabis.

Marijuana and the Risks to Pregnancy & Breastfeeding

Marijuana contains almost 500 components including the psychoactive ingredient THC that can pass through the placenta to the baby during pregnancy, causing harm to the fetus. When a breastfeeding mother uses marijuana, the baby can be exposed to THC and other toxins stored in the mother’s fat tissues, which are slowly released over time, even after the mother has stopped using marijuana.

Explore the various risks of marijuana use during pregnancy and breastfeeding through the resources below. Access expert insights, research updates, training courses, videos, and our new PhotoVoice project—designed to empower mothers with knowledge and support.

We’re launching an empowering initiative for mothers and mothers-to-be with lived experience of substance use in Florida. Lived experience could mean in treatment, recovery or affected by substance use in any way. This transformative project combines photography and storytelling to give participants a platform to share their experiences, connect with others, and advocate for healthier, drug-free futures for their families.

Through this six-month journey, participants will have the opportunity to connect with a supportive community, explore the power of visual storytelling, and contribute to meaningful change. This project aims to raise awareness about the importance of substance use prevention, celebrate the strength of mothers, and inspire collective action for healthier communities.

A recent qualitative study exploring the perspectives of people who used marijuana before or during pregnancy in states where mandatory warning signs (MWS) are required found that fear-based signs were ineffective in discouraging the purchase and use of marijuana, highlighting a crucial gap between intent and impact.

The study, which included a small sample size of 34 interviews, found that these signs often left pregnant individuals feeling judged, stigmatized, and perhaps defensive. While these signs are intended to deter marijuana use during pregnancy, pre- and post-partum, they may instead alienate pregnant people.

According to participants in this study, many found the warning signs unhelpful, vague, and even misleading. Some questioned the credibility of the sources of the facts provided, while others pointed out that the signs did little to change behavior, particularly since many had already made up their mind before entering the dispensary. Instead of prompting reconsideration, the signs triggered distrust, and for some, even shame.

A cause for greater concern is the study’s suggestion that MWS- marijuana signs may discourage pregnant people from seeking care or discussing marijuana use with healthcare providers. Fear of punishment, especially for marginalized communities, can create barriers to open conversations about substance use, leaving pregnant individuals without guidance and the support they deserve.

So, if fear-based messages are not effective, what is? Participants in the study offered a clear answer: health information should be evidence-based, clear, and supportive of autonomy. Rather than vague threats or legal warnings, people preferred messages that provided specific, research-backed information on the potential risks, allowing them to make informed choices about their health. Sources such as the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists and the CDC were considered more trustworthy, especially when they explained the biological mechanisms that make marijuana harmful and explicitly stated what is known and what still needs to be studied.

While the sample size of this study is small, it underscores an important point: to effectively communicate the known risks of marijuana during pregnancy and postpartum, we need science-based messaging that is both transparent and compassionate. And while researchers are still uncovering the full picture of how marijuana affects pregnancy; the existing science strongly suggests that marijuana use during pregnancy and postpartum is linked to many health risks for both parent and child.

Public health research often suggests that emphasizing positive, health-promoting behaviors is more effective than focusing solely on risk and punishment. For people who are already skeptical of government messaging, a more transparent and supportive approach may be the key to building trust and fostering meaningful conversations about marijuana use during pregnancy.

To ensure that the message about the risks of marijuana use during pregnancy reaches those who need it most, it is essential to avoid stigmatizing or alienating language that could undermine trust. Instead, we should focus on presenting science clearly and empathetically to promote informed decision-making.

Source: https://www.marijuanaknowthetruth.org/marijuana-and-pregnancy/

Filed under: Cannabis/Marijuana,Drug use-various effects on foetus, babies, children and youth,Prevention and Intervention,USA :

USA

Cannabis use, vaping and the use of psychedelic drugs are at or near all-time highs, research shows.

H, please include pic and DEA icon. P.

Image via Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Staff Sgt. Shane Sanders – 161st Air Refueling Wing

by Staff Sgt. Shane Sanders – 01.28.2026 – PHOENIX, ARIZONA, UNITED STATES

PHOENIX, ARIZONA, UNITED STATES

by Staff Sgt. Shane Sanders – 161st Air Refueling Wing – 01.28.2026

by Brian Walker, RPh

Nitrous Oxide: Retail Availability, Clinical Consequences

Kratom: Opioid Activity Without Oversight

Delta-8 and Delta-9 THC: Potency and Labeling Concerns

Salvia Divinorum: A Legal Hallucinogen

Implications for Pharmacy Practice

Use of most drugs remains low among U.S. teens and abstention from drug use remains at historic highs, according to NIDA.

The change was made despite lack of evidence of medicinal benefits.

Abstinence and common substances

Energy drinks and illicit substances

Implications for clinicians and prevention

Therapeutic Use of Cannabis and Cannabinoids –

A Review

“Fentanyl Designated a Weapon of Mass Destruction

Published December 15, 2025

by Sohrab Ahmari – US editor of UnHerd – 29 Nov 2025

Drug Enforcement Administration

by Rosa Valle-Lopez – December 03, 2025

Those most likely to drive after using cannabis

Beyond the riskiest groups

Age-specific messaging

Media Contacts

The synthetic opioid is 100 times more potent than Fentanyl

Why It Matters

What The Review Found

What Other Experts Think

What People Are Saying

Troubling symptoms

Users speak out

Medical uncertainty

Calls for more awareness

Cannabis Regulators Association

What the different levels of addiction are

Where people can get help for cannabis use disorder

In This Episode:

Key Themes

Call to Action

from neurosciencenews.com – – Barbara Prempeh – Weill Cornell University – November 21, 2025

Tracking Neural Energy Shifts

Opposing Patterns in Boys and Girls

Toward More Personalized Prevention

Key Questions Answered:1

Contact: Keila DePape – Organization: Media Relations, McGill University

Researchers using brain imaging gain rare insight into how prenatal exposure to modern, high-THC cannabis affects brain development into adulthood

Tracking brain development over time

A rare look across the lifespan

Supporting informed choices

About the study

Source: https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/heavy-cannabis-use-during-pregnancy-linked-disruption-brain-growth-368978

From CADCA – 19 November 2025

Monitoring the Future study finds percentage of 12th graders admitting they would use marijuana reaching levels never before seen in 43-year history

by Amanda L. Graham, Sarah Cha, Elizabeth K. Do, Megan A. Jacobs, Giselle Edwards & George D. Papandonatos

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Trial Registration

Background

Methods

Trial design

Interventions

Recruitment, enrollment, and randomization

Retention

Measures

Statistical analyses

Results

What were the overall patterns of abstinence from e-cigarettes and cannabis at 7-months?

Was there a treatment effect in promoting dual abstinence at follow-up?

Did treatment effects in promoting dual abstinence vary by baseline product use?

Was there an interaction effect between vaping status at 7 months and baseline tobacco product use on cannabis use outcomes?

Discussion

Conclusions

by Thanitsara Rittiphairoj¹, Louis Leslie², Jean-Pierre Oberste², Tsz Wing Yim², Gregory Tung³, Lisa Bero⁴, Paula Riggs⁵, Kent Hutchison⁶, Jonathan Samet⁷, Tianjing Li⁸