Drug Addiction

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/266941

Is it really just because of the fentanyl situation? I know there is a huge disagreement with how the strict rules for prescribing opioids are so tight even for chronic pain patients like myself who can’t participate in life without em struggle to find a provider who is willing to prescribe us them.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/115663

A sweeping law could see Australians jailed for three years for posting what’s deemed ‘offensive’ on Facebook in an attempt to protect minority groups.

Queensland’s Labor government has introduced a bill that would dramatically increase the maximum prison sentence for racist, anti-gay, anti-trans or seriously bigoted statements.

Making such statements already carry a maximum six-month jail term, but that would be increased to three years under the new bill.

Portugal's drug-induced death rate has plummeted to five times lower than the E.U. average and stands at one-fiftieth of the United States’. Its rate of HIV infection has dropped from 104.2 new cases per million in 2000 to 4.2 cases per million in 2015. Drug use has declined overall among the 15- to 24-year-old population, those most at risk of initiating drug use.

Hoping to build the community up to open minded medical professionals who could weigh in on a lot of the content I’m seeing here. I think the two communities would go well together. Let me know if you guys have any ideas

The long-term impacts of semaglutide, especially on the brain, remain unknown. In diabetes and obesity, semaglutide is supposed to be a lifelong medication, and its most dramatic effects are quickly reversed when people go off. “The weight comes back; the suppression of appetite goes away,”

The proportion of new schizophrenia cases that may be attributed to cannabis use disorder has consistently increased over the past five decades.

The companies run more than 90% of the nation’s drug and medical supply chain and have been accused of allowing the proliferation and abuse of prescription opioids.

The companies failed for more than a decade to track suspicious orders or increases in opioid use among purchasers, despite likely criminal activity from some physicians in overprescribing the drugs.

Toronto’s plan does not limit the amount of drugs that can be possessed for personal use. But the city still claims that it will investigate drug trafficking and other violations.

“Drugs in possession for personal use can vary considerably depending on the type of drugs being used, or an individual’s tolerance to a substance. For the anticipated benefits of decriminalization to be available to all Torontonians, the model should apply to all drugs in possession if they are for personal use.”

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/85847

According to the 13-page complaint, the 64-year-old allegedly received at least 61 packages at her San Jose home from various countries — including China, Canada and India — between October 2015 and January 2023.

About time

“Fentanyl is devastating the lives of Americans in every corner of our country. With fentanyl-related deaths climbing every year, we need new solutions to stop this alarming trend,” Calvert said. “This is not a partisan issue – it’s a national crisis.”

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/83537

The bill would not penalize people for using or possessing tobacco products. Instead, it would fine retailers for selling to them. Connolly said he’s open to amendments that might create an exemption for religious and cultural uses. But he said the ban would not impact marijuana, which is legal to smoke recreationally in California.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/82029

Boston Mayor’s finance director charged with money laundering in prison drug smuggling scheme

Freda Brasfield, the Administration and Finance Director in Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s office, was arraigned Friday on money laundering charges in an alleged prison drug smuggling scheme.

The research team discovered that individuals who used cannabis long-term (for several years or more) and heavily (at least weekly, though a majority in their study used more than four times a week) exhibited impairments across several domains of cognition.

Long-term cannabis users’ IQs declined by 5.5 points on average from childhood, and there were deficits in learning and processing speed compared to people that did not use cannabis. The more frequently an individual used cannabis, the greater the resulting cognitive impairment, suggesting a potential causative link.

The impact of cannabis on cognitive impairment was greater than that of alcohol or tobacco use. Long-term cannabis users also had smaller hippocampi (the region of the brain responsible for learning and memory). Interestingly, individuals who used cannabis less than once a week with no history of developing dependence did not have cannabis-related cognitive deficits. This suggests there is a range of recreational use that may not lead to long-term cognitive issues.

British Columbia was granted permission by the government to try out the plan for three years, when the drugs will still be illegal but those carrying less than 2.5 grams will not be arrested, charged or have the drugs confiscated.

Instead, residents carrying the drugs will be offered information on health and social services.

Anyone looking for public health campaigns that actually discourage drug use — similar to the high-profile prime-time ads warning against cigarette smoking — would have looked in vain this past year in New York City.

Fentanyl-related deaths among infants (children under age one) quadrupled from 2019 to 2021; more than tripled among children between the ages of 1 and 4 and nearly quadrupled among children between the ages of 5 and 14.

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/75200

He was subsequently charged with taking multimillion-dollar bribes from the powerful Sinaloa cartel, once run by the drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, in exchange for allowing it to operate with impunity, all while he was supposedly spearheading Mexico’s anti-drug efforts.

A growing body of evidence linking pot use during adolescence to both mental illness and changes in the reward circuitry of the brain that likely contribute to later addictions to other drugs, and the stage is set for yet another youth mental-health crisis on top of a wave of depression, anxiety and attempted self-harm thanks to disastrous school-closure policies during the pandemic.

Harm Reduction Therapeutics Inc. said its 3 milligram nasal spray naloxone formulation, called Rivive, had three times higher concentration in the blood of 36 participants than naloxone delivered as a shot. The company said Monday that the FDA gave it a target approval date of April 28. The FDA declined to comment.

Our open border is an open invitation to sophisticated, violent and vast Mexican cartels. For over a decade, these syndicates have been shifting their production and distribution efforts from cocaine and heroin to synthetic drugs: meth and fentanyl.

Those drugs are much easier to overdose on and far more addictive, and their flood into our country is clearly responsible for the brain-shattering increase in drug deaths. In 2007, the nation saw 27,000 ODs. Last year? 107,000, per CDC data. Of those, the agency estimates around 71,000 were fentanyl-involved.

Schumer and the bipartisan group plan to attach this legislation to a must-pass year-end bill like the annual National Defense Authorization Act.

This episode could save your or your loved one's life.

Fentanyl is killing American young people at a rate of 300 a day. We are losing American's faster than we lost our men during World War II. Many parents don't know the real danger of the drug. I spell what you need to know.

• Why do people overdose?
• What does an overdose look like and what do you do to save someone?
• What does Fentanyl look like and what form does it come in?
• What is China's role in this?
• Is this an act of war on America?
• We expose the "contact" myth about Fentanyl that even has police confused.
• You can not die from simply coming in contact or breathing Fentanyl. The government lied to us again.
• The Government lie about a "grain of sand" can kill you, is actually getting people killed. The myth is putting people in danger. I will explain why and why the government should be ashamed of itself.

According to the health department, there were 104 deaths in 2016 attributed to fentanyl, which ballooned to 1,662 in 2001.