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 …
Delt-8 THC use reported by 11% of 12th Graders in 2023.
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 …
Kentucky opioid prescription dispensing rates still among highest in country
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] …
White House Challenge
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 …
DEA Issues Letter to E-Commerce Companies on the Sale of Pill Presses Used to Make Fentanyl Pills
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 …
Kratom
In January of this year the FDA announced that it was supporting the development, implementation, and evaluation of a human abuse potential study on the use of kratom. The FDA stated that “addressing the use of botanical Kratom is a priority as it works to characterize its abuse potential and subjective effects, given the absence of published literature and clinical …
Harlan County Drug Summit
Prevention, community involvement stressed as ways to address substance misuse and addiction HARLAN – There’s good news and bad news related to drugs and addiction, Van Ingram, Executive Director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, told the nearly 200 people attending the third annual Harlan County Drug Summit on Thursday, January 11. The bad news, Ingram said, is …
Fentanyl Syndrome In Babies
A new study has found a potential new syndrome in babies whose mothers used fentanyl while they were pregnant. Doctors have identified 10 babies who were born with congenital abilities and whose mothers used fentanyl during pregnancy. Researchers identified key recognizable traits that the babies have in common, including small heads, genital abnormalities, cleft palates, and clubfoot among others. They …
Frankenstein Opioids
A group of novel synthetic opioids emerging in illicit drugs in the United States may be more powerful than fentanyl, 1,000 times more potent than morphine, and may even require more doses of the medication naloxone to reverse an overdose, a new study suggests. Nitazenes are a synthetic opioid, like fentanyl, although the two drugs are not structurally related. Nitazene …