Current Events

New Charges in the Opioid Arena  As the United States continues to endure the worst of the opioid epidemic, the nation has reached the point where it starts asking difficult questions. Like all those who’ve found themselves in crises of various types throughout history, there’s a watershed moment where one pauses, considers their situation, and […]

Although national studies show that underage alcohol use has steadily declined since 2002, there were still 7.4 million drinkers between the ages of 12 and 20 in 2017.1 With this in mind, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is leveraging Alcohol Awareness Month in April and National Prevention Week May 12-18 to bring […]

In April 2016, rock legend Prince, suffering from intense hip pain, consumed a Vicodin for relief. Shortly afterward, he overdosed and died at his Paisley Park estate. Investigators determined that the pill was counterfeit and laced with fentanyl and that Prince, in all likelihood, did not know it. That incident brought attention to fentanyl on […]

Well, the time has come at long last; the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has stepped in to the opioid epidemic arena. And it did so by prescribing firm action regarding opioid research. The agency issued a mandate that applies to all manufacturers of opioid drugs. It requires them to conduct long-term studies for one express […]

Oh, the pain….whether it comes from an accident, surgery, or other cause, the narcotic painkiller du jour prescribed by doctors far and wide was OxyContin. Available legally by prescription, this substance came on the market in 1996 from its maker, Purdue Pharma. And when it did, an aggressive sales and marketing strategy touted its benefits. […]

At first glance, the opioid epidemic seems like an insurmountable problem. According to the CDC, over 70,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2017, nearly 50,000 of which were opioid related. Meanwhile, a recent SAMHSA survey found that nearly 20 million people struggled with some form substance use disorder (SUD) in 2018. And yet, there […]

They’re called supervised injection sites (SIS). You may know them by other terms too. These include drug consumption facilities (DCF), fix rooms, medically supervised injection centers (MSIC), safe injection sites, safer injection facilities (SIF), and overdose prevention sites.  Although their names may differ, they function the same way. They provide a service – actually, a […]

The opioid epidemic is perhaps the worst public health crisis the U.S. has ever endured. Each year, tens of thousands of individuals die of opioid-related overdoses, while millions more suffer from addiction. To win the war against opioids, the country needs every weapon in its arsenal. Unfortunately, one of the most effective weapons in that […]

As a top Triple-A baseball team and affiliate of the famed Boston Red Sox, the team affectionately called PawSox (Pawtucket Red Sox) has a history of making careers. From its early beginnings in 1896 as the Toronto Maple Leafs, through its jump to Louisville, KY, and then to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the PawSox team has […]

Research has proven that a variety of factors can influence whether a person develops an addiction. One of the most prevalent factors is environment. This environment becomes all the more important when considering children, researchers from Duke University noted. Genetics, environment, or both? There is a well-established controversy on whether addiction is related to the […]

There was a time when Steven Strafford never thought he would overcome his meth addiction. Now, the Broadway actor is bringing his show to his hometown of Chicago, after debuting it in New York and Cincinnati, DNAinfo Chicago reported. Strafford first tried crystal meth in 2000 while on a date. The date asked him if […]

The causes of addiction are so varied from person to person and so difficult for even drug rehab programs to identify that many suffering from drug addiction have a hard time recognizing that there is even a problem in the first place. While certain genetic and physical traits certainly factor into substance abuse, a deteriorating […]