The FDA Public Workshop entitled “Reconsidering Mandatory Opioid Prescriber Education Through a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) in an Evolving Opioid Crisis” is looking for input from stakeholders—which is practically everyone in the country if we’re being honest. The FDA hopes to hear from healthcare providers, healthcare professional associations, pharmacists, pharmacy benefit managers, public Read more »
Drug Abuse
Are Drug Habits Changing in America?
On June 17, 1971, President Richard Nixon declared that the United States was launching a war on drugs. To date, America has spent over a trillion dollars enforcing the drug policies put in place over the past half a century. Have America’s drug habits changed for the better overall? The war on drugs campaign has Read more »
5 Facts About Marijuana that Users Don’t Want to Admit
Back in the 1930s, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Narcotics conducted an anti-marijuana campaign promoting marijuana as a menace to society. It was proclaimed an evil drug that turned men’s hearts toward the occult, and women were proclaimed to “do anything for it.” The campaign was called “reefer madness.” Propaganda films and ads were spread Read more »
Don’t Ignore Signs of Alcohol Use Disorder
Alcoholism and abuse, otherwise known as alcohol use disorder (AUD), destroy millions of lives each year. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) defines AUD as a “chronic relapsing brain disorder characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control use despite adverse social, occupational, or health hazards.” The alcohol-related statistics released for Read more »
How Fentanyl Connects to Cocaine Deaths
The synthetic opioid, fentanyl, is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Drug users—addicts included—normally shy away from fentanyl because it’s so lethal. Still, it’s linked to more cocaine overdoses than ever before. What’s going on? Drug dealers use fentanyl to “cut” cocaine, methamphetamine, and other drugs to enhance the Read more »
Is a Benzodiazepine Epidemic Looming?
It’s no secret that drug use has been on the rise since 2020 came screeching to a halt in March of this year due to the pandemic. Illicit drug use may spring to mind when the topic comes up but prescriptions for anxiety medications–like benzodiazepine for instance–are being filled in droves. In fact, an Express Read more »