Can Legal Cannabis Fix Vaping Illness?

Legalization solves problems related to the legal status of a drug, but has far less impact on the problems related to the nature of the substance itself.

Drug names can be difficult to pronounce. Here’s one: medetomidine. Accent on the third syllable.

Worth the effort to learn, though, because it’s dangerous stuff, now making an appearance on the streets of Philadelphia.

Why Philly? Because like in New York, Baltimore, DC, and other big cities, there’s a large existing population of chronic opioid users, on the lookout for something newer and stronger — in hopes of re-experiencing the ‘high’ they once got from drug use during the early years of using.

Medetomidine, when added to fentanyl or coke, promises just that. On the street, it’s sometimes known as “rhino tranq”. Powerful stuff indeed.

Like ketamine and xylazine (a close relative), medetomidine comes to us from the world of veterinary medicine, where it’s used as a sedative and painkiller. Now, according to reports, medetomidine has largely replaced xylazine in Philadelphia’s street drug supply, usually in combination with fentanyl. Due to its...

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A Closer Look at Overdose

All this time and money spent on sophisticated technology and systems to track patterns in use, and scientists are still forced to rely on data that’s six months out of date?

A Closer Look at Overdose

All this time and money spent on sophisticated technology and systems to track patterns in use, and scientists are still forced to rely on data that’s six months out of date?

Out of Focus

...plenty of Americans are involved as well, and presumably would continue their involvement in future, if they think they can get away with it.

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Life in a Hot Spot

Make it a continuing effort, using strategies based in evidence, and harnessing the power of human interaction-- instead of relying on a burst of anti-drug education, however intense.

Anonymity — Out of Date?

...isn’t TikTok and influencer culture undeniably afflicted with far too much of,that same “ambition and illegitimate pride” that AA’s founders felt they must avoid?

Should We Pay People Not to Use Meth?

...the fastest growing drug of abuse in many areas is methamphetamine, a stimulant. Incentive programs for drug abuse patients first appeared in the treatment of stimulant disorders, and much of the  evidence in support of the practice is based there.

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Parenting Under The Influence

Children raised in such families are more likely to be exposed to violence, to initiate their own substance use at an earlier age, and to have mental health problems in childhood.

Overstimulated?

I was nonetheless surprised to learn that one of the areas where use increased the most was among people in their 70s. 

Parenting Under The Influence

Children raised in such families are more likely to be exposed to violence, to initiate their own substance use at an earlier age, and to have mental health problems in childhood.

Officers in the House

...with law enforcement agencies taking on vastly different roles, planning and practicing our response appears more important than in the past.

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A Novel Approach

...the author, who grew up in and around the region, chose to use its earnings to found Higher Ground, a home for recovering women.

A Novel Approach

...the author, who grew up in and around the region, chose to use its earnings to found Higher Ground, a home for recovering women.

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