written for Inspire Malibu
As the dust from the November 2018 election settles, voters in three states voted to approve new marijuana laws. Michiganders will soon have access to recreational marijuana, bringing the number of states that allow for recreational consumption to 10. Missouri and Utah voters cast their ballots for the use of medical cannabis. In total, 33 states in the U.S. now allow for some form of legal marijuana use.
written for Inspire Malibu
The stark reality of the opioid crisis in America is that more than 115 people die every day as a result of prescription painkillers, heroin and fentanyl. To put that tragic statistic into context, more people die in one year from opioid overdoses than American lives lost during the entirety of the Vietnam War.
written for Inspire Malibu
It’s easy to forget that not every country in the world approaches issues of drug abuse and addiction as if it were a war. In fact, federal and state laws on illegal drug use in the United States seem uncompassionate at best and barbaric at worst, when compared to some other developed nations.
As the nation comes t
o recognize drug abuse and addiction as a public health issue rather than a moral failing or lack of character that far too many people are incarcerated for, harm reduction strategies have leapt to the forefront. These tactics are taking on new forms and making advances that save lives.
written for Inspire Malibu
A little more than a week ago, on August 10, President Trump announced plans to declare a national emergency in lieu of the nation’s crisis of opioid overdose deaths. According to the White House’s own survey, opioid related fatalities now kill 142 Americans every single day.
written for Inspire Malibu
Alcoholism is among the most pervasive diseases in the United States. The statistics stagger the mind. More than 15 million adults over the age of 18 suffer from alcohol use disorder, reports the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and that number falls short because these are just the diagnosed cases.
written for Inspire Malibu
August 2, 2017
There’s good news and bad news. The number of prescriptions for opioid painkillers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is in decline. Since 2010, the peak of opioid prescriptions, the agency tracked a 41 percent decrease. However, the analysis also revealed the prescribing rate is still three times higher than in 1999, near the beginning of America’s opioid crisis.
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The crisis of opioid addiction in the United States is an ever-evolving tragedy. Healthcare professionals, state and federal legislatures and law enforcement have, so far, been unable to stop or contain the spread of opioids and heroin spiked with even more powerful and deadly drugs. In fact, it has become increasingly difficult for scientists to keep pace with new heroin cocktails.
written for Inspire Malibu
April 25, 2017
LOS ANGELES – Like other states in the U.S., California has seen a spike in overdoses as a result of heroin and prescription painkillers. While the news cycle appears to have moved away from the country’s opioid epidemic, the problem persists. In 2015, an estimated 33,000 people fatally overdosed on heroin or opioid medication, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.