Opioid use disorder (OUD) among Veterans is a growing problem with far-reaching consequences. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) 2018 National Health Care Survey revealed that opioid abuse has been on the rise among veterans since 2011, with an estimated one in six now battling OUD. Opioids being abused include: This alarming jump in
The National Crime Prevention Council, best known for its McGruff ad campaign, sent a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Merrick Garland. The group, which typically advocates for crime victims and children, is calling for an investigation of Snapchat's role in the current fentanyl crisis among teens. Snapchat's Role in Teen Drug Overdoses Teens across the
Fentanyl, a drug that is 50 to 100 times the strength of morphine, has become a fixture in the illicit drug industry. It’s been added to opioids, cocaine, and even psychedelic drugs like Molly. And while there are plenty of people ingesting it accidentally, there are also many users who tried it once and became
The New England Opioid Strike Force, aka NEPO, assembled to combat the proliferation of opioid pills in the region, has announced its first arrest. The criminal case involves the illegal distribution of narcotics. Prosecutors say Dr. Merideth C. Norris illegally prescribed opioids without any legitimate medical purpose. The Case Against Dr. Norris Dr. Norris, who
In 2020, fentanyl was involved in 51 percent of deadly overdoses in Los Angeles County. In the digital era, getting ahold of illicit drugs can be as simple as ordering groceries or a pizza online. Apps have paved the way for drug dealers to sell discreetly to users in their areas. As a result, the
Research from the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence helps medical, and addiction professionals focus on substance use trends and overdose patterns. For many years, the patterns revolving in these research areas stayed relatively the same, with some years with higher numbers across the board but no fundamental changes in which drugs were being used. That
Across the US, hundreds of attorneys representing cities, counties, states and small towns, have filed lawsuits against opioid makers (such as Perdue Pharma) and distributors (including such everyday names as Walgreens. All of these lawsuits point blame at the various players for helping escalate the opioid addiction epidemic and seek monetary compensation. Now, attorneys have
Researchers: Fentanyl Test Strips Can Change Drug Users’ Behaviors, Prevent OD’s Nearly 72,000 overdoses took place last year in the US, and experts say that many of these were due to street drugs being tainted with fentanyl, which is nearly 100 times stronger than heroin. And now, a Brown University study aimed at stopping overdoses found that
Last week, Dr. Ernesto Lopez, from Long Island, New York, alongside his assistant and nurse practitioner were all arrested for a familiar scheme; they’re accused of operating several locations of their practices as pill mills. All three face 20 years in prison for writing what authorities say were millions of dollars worth of fake prescriptions
Fentanyl use made up 65 percent of the DEA’s opioid identifications (seizures) in the second quarter of this year, according to Foreign Policy, which got a copy of the report via a public records request. And numbers released early in October by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention note that fentanyl is now the leading
