An estimated 321,566 children in the United States lost a parent to drug overdose from 2011 to 2021, according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry. The rate of children who experienced this loss more than doubled during this period, from approximately 27 to 63 children per 100,000. The highest number of affected children were those with non-Hispanic white parents, but communities of …

Leading this list are New Mexico, Nevada, and Alaska, where 19.24 percent, 15.94 percent, and 15 percent of youth use marijuana respectively, according to data from the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. All three of the states have legalized recreational marijuana. In fact, out of the top 10 U.S. states by annual marijuana use among youth, only Louisiana — …

A 17-year-old boy with shaggy blond hair stepped onto the scale at Tri-River Family Health Center in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. After he was weighed, he headed for an exam room decorated with decals of planets and cartoon characters. A nurse checked his blood pressure. A pediatrician asked about school, home life, and his friendships. This seemed like a routine teen checkup, …

Americans under the age of 20 made up 56 percent of all 2022 exposures to Delta-8 THC, a psychoactive substance found in cannabis sativa plants like marijuana and hemp. And while teenagers comprised 15 percent of these exposures, children 12 and under constituted 41 percent, according to data from America’s Poison Centers 2022 Annual Report of the National Poison Data System. Consuming Delta-8 THC leads to adverse …

For something that isn’t candy, Zyn nicotine pouches sure look a lot like it. The packaging, a small metal can, looks more than a little like a tin of mints. The pouches come in a wide variety of flavors: citrus, cinnamon, “chill,” “smooth.” And they’re consumed orally, more like jawbreakers or Warheads than cigarettes. America has found itself in the …

A bill to curb what its sponsor called the youth “vaping epidemic” in Kentucky passed the state House on Monday and is now in the Senate. Sponsor Rebecca Raymer, R-Morgantown, told her colleagues that she was inspired to work on the issue after hearing from school officials across the state about how “rampant the vaping is in our schools.” Raymer said …

According to the 2023 Monitoring the Future Survey, approximately 11% of 12th Grade students across the US reported past-year use of delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. Delta-8 is a psychoactive substance that is typically derived from hemp, a variety of the Cannabis sativa plant. It has intoxicating effects similar to delta-9 THC, which is the primary THC component responsible for the …

Opioid dispensing rates have fallen across the board, but Kentucky’s is still well above the national average. Why? HAZARD, Ky. (WKYT) – Despite progress being made on many fronts in the fight against opioid misuse and abuse, Kentucky’s opioid prescription dispensing rates are still among the highest in the country, numbers show. [INTERACTIVE MAPS | State- and county-level opioid dispensing rates] …

SAVING LIVES FROM OVERDOSE America’s overdose crisis impacts all of us. Families in small towns, large cities, Tribal lands, and every community in between are affected, no matter who they are, what they look like, or how much money they make. That’s why President Biden named beating the opioid and overdose crisis a key pillar of his Unity Agenda during …

Shared from the DEA WASHINGTON – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration today issued a letter to e-commerce companies regarding the sale of pill presses.  As regulated entities under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), e-commerce platforms are generally required to comply with CSA recordkeeping, identification, and reporting requirements on the distribution, importation, and exportation of pill press machines. The United States is in the midst …