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14 Jan
Recreational Ketamine Use Surging Among Young Adults
A new study finds a dramatic increase in the number of adults using ketamine for recreational purposes. Ketamine is a medical anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects.
Health News Results - 190
A sedative used in animals is showing up more often in illegal drugs and may be making opioid overdoses harder to treat, U.S. health officials warn.
The drug, called medetomidine, is used by veterinarians to sedate pets. It's similar to xylazine, another animal drug that has already made the U.S. opioid crisis worse, The Associated Press reported.
Now, medetomidine is being...
- I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter
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- May 2, 2025
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Colonoscopy for younger adults. Chest CT scans for lung cancer. Statin meds to lower cholesterol. Screening for drug addiction.
More than 150 million Americans might lose no-cost access to these and other preventive care services under a case being heard Monday at the U.S. Supre...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- April 21, 2025
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A legal loophole is allowing marijuana ads to slip past regulations and land right in front of kids on social media, a new report shows.
Although the federal Controlled Substances Act prohibits advertising the sale or use of marijuana through federal airwaves or across state lines, these rules haven’t stopped social media ads on...
- India Edwards HealthDay Reporter
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- February 13, 2025
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People using weed for medical purposes are as likely – or more – to become addicted to cannabis as recreational tokers, a new study says.
Folks using medical marijuana were more likely to have cannabis use disorder than those who get high recreationally, researchers re...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- January 24, 2025
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Hundreds of beloved pet dogs and cats were reported as being unintentionally poisoned by cocaine and methamphetamine left out in their owners' homes, new data from one U.S. pet poison control hotline shows.
When a dog or cat consumes cocaine or meth, it can quickly prove fatal, warned a team led by Orrin Ware, an assistant professor ...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- December 23, 2024
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After years of decline, U.S. life expectancy is finally on the rise again for the first time since 2019, new government research shows.
This turnaround was driven in part by a decline in drug overdose deaths, which had risen dramatically as a result of the opioid epidemic, according to a second
People are at higher risk of schizophrenia if they indulge in psychedelic drugs, a new study warns.
Patients who land in the ER following hallucinogen use have a 21-fold higher risk of developing schizophrenia compared to the general population, Canadian researchers report.
Even after controlling for a person’s existing
Generations of parental warnings may not be wrong: A massive study of available data finds teens who use marijuana have significantly worse outcomes at school.
Data from 63 studies involving almost 440,000 youths found "cannabis use during adolescence is probably associated with lower school grades; less likelihood of high school completion, university enrollment and post-secondary degree...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- October 7, 2024
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A Wisconsin program that sends suspects in minor drug-related crimes to treatment instead of jail is paying off, a new study shows.
Researchers who evaluated the Madison Area Recovery Initiative (MARI) found that non-violent offenders who were given a clinical assessment and six months of
Teens from minority groups seeking treatment at pediatric trauma centers are more likely than their white counterparts to be tested for drugs and alcohol.
That's the takeaway from a new study led by researchers at UCLA and Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
"While screening can positively affect patients if it is followed by counseling and treatment, it can also lead to negative...
- Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
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- October 4, 2024
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Americans who turn to online pharmacies to find cheaper versions of expensive prescription medications, especially opioids, may instead be buying themselves dangerous drugs that could trigger an overdose, U.S. health officials warned Wednesday.
The warning, issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, follows a
Patients with opioid use disorder who receive higher doses of a drug to treat their addiction are more likely to have positive results, a new study finds.
Daily doses of the drug buprenorphine is a standard treatment for opioid use disorder, and the findings suggest that higher doses may be a better way to manage it. Researchers say this could be an important way to improve treatmen...
- Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
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- September 27, 2024
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Chroming, where toxic fumes from common household items are inhaled for a quick high, is on the rise among youth and TikTok may be to blame, new research suggests.
In findings that are to be presented Saturday at the American Academy of Pediatrics annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., experts took a closer look at over 100 chroming videos that had garnered 25 million views on the social media ...
- Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter
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- September 27, 2024
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Prescriptions for amphetamine stimulants to treat ADHD have increased significantly in recent years, particularly during the pandemic.
Unfortunately, high doses of stimulants like Adderall can increase the risk of psychosis or mania by more than fivefold, a new study finds.
Patients had a nearly 63% ...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- September 12, 2024
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Recreational drug users are three times more likely to have repeated heart health emergencies than people who don’t use, a new study has found.
About 11% of patients admitted to intensive cardiac care units have been using recreational drugs, said researcher Dr. Raphael Mirail...
The U.S. opioid epidemic has caused a startling number of overdose deaths, but a new survey shows that most Americans still have no idea how to help an OD victim.
More than 3 in 4 people (77%) said they would not know how to respond if they saw someone having an overdose, according to survey results from Ohio State ...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- August 26, 2024
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Regular bedtimes won't just help your child be alert for a busy school day; they might also help keep them from abusing drugs or alcohol as a teen, new research suggests.
Youth who'd had early bedtimes in childhood and adolescence were significantly less likely to be drinking or using marijuana by the time they were 15, compared to kids who'd stayed up late and had fewer hours sleep, rese...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- August 15, 2024
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Advocates for the use of the psychedelic drug MDMA (midomafetamine) to treat mental health conditions were delivered a setback on Friday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve it as treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
There is insufficient evidence that MDMA -- currently illegal and also known as Ecstasy or molly -- can ease PTSD, the agency told ...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- August 12, 2024
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Nearly 1 in every 10 chronic pain patients treated with prescription opioids winds up addicted to the painkillers at some point, a new review finds.
Further, nearly 1 in 3 will show symptoms of opioid addiction, researchers reported Aug. 7 in the journal
Millions of Americans use the opioid-like herbal supplement known as kratom, but evidence of its dangers continue to mount.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued another alert ...
The rate at which young Americans are ending up in hospital ICUs after using fake Oxycontin pills spiked with fentanyl is soaring, especially in the U.S. West, a new report warns.
Medical toxicology data from one unnamed hospital in the western U.S. found the number of cases involving overdoses involving fake "M-30" Oxycontin pills rose from just three in 2017 to 209 during 2022, accordin...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- July 26, 2024
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Misuse of illicit prescription drugs is falling dramatically among U.S. high school students, a new study says.
The percentage of seniors who say they’ve misused prescription drugs in the past year has dropped to 2% in 2022, down from 11% back in 2009, researchers reported July 24 in the ...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- July 24, 2024
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Mushroom gummies being sold to promote brain function might instead contain harmful ingredients not listed on the label, including illicit psilocybin, the hallucinogen found in “magic†mushrooms, experts warn in new report.
Five people in Virginia, including a 3-year-old child, have been sickened by the gummies, University of Virginia doctors said.
The gummies claimed to...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- July 19, 2024
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In a joint effort to curb the illegal sales of food products containing delta-8 THC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday they have warned five companies to stop marketing such products.
Because the packaging for these THC edibles mimics that of popular snack foods, the FDA said it is concerned they can be easily mistaken for traditional food...
- Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter
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- July 17, 2024
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As psilocybin mushrooms become the most popular psychedelic in the United States, some states have started to ease regulations on its recreational use.
Now, a new report warns that the federal government will have to decide whether to follow suit.
RAND, a nonprofit research group, stresses in the report that if efforts t...
- Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
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- June 27, 2024
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Growing public fascination with "magic"psilocybin mushrooms as a trendy treatment for depression had led to increased interest in another type of psychedelic mushroom, a new study reports.
Unfortunately, this second sort of shroom -- known as Amanita muscaria -- can be more toxic than fentanyl, cocaine and PCP, researchers say.
Marketing the two types of mushrooms as essent...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- June 12, 2024
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America's poison control centers are increasingly fielding calls on cases of deliberate or accidental poisonings that end in disability or death, a new report finds.
Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System reviewed more than 33.7 million poison exposures reported to the 55 poison centers in the United States between 2007 and the end of 2021.
Over that time, the...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- June 6, 2024
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Police seizures of illicit fentanyl pills have soared in recent years, a new study has found.
The number of pills containing fentanyl seized by law enforcement was 2,300 times greater in 2023 than in 2017"more than 115 million pills, compared ...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- May 13, 2024
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When folks in rural America need treatment for a substance use disorder, significant obstacles stand in their way, researchers say.
They are more likely to have to look outside their insurance network for care, resulting in higher out-of-pocket costs, according to a recent study published in the journal Health Servi...
New mothers who like to smoke marijuana might wind up exposing their babies to THC through their own breast milk, a new study says.
THC, the intoxicating compound in cannabis, dissolves in the fats contained in human milk, researchers found.
Mother's milk produced by weed users always had detectable amounts of THC, even when the mothers had abstained for 12 hours,
More than 320,000 U.S. children lost a parent to drug overdose during the past decade, according to a new study reported May 8 in JAMA Psychiatry.
What's more, the death rate accelerated during the period, more than doubling between 2011 and 2021, researchers found.
About 27 children per 100,000 had a parent die ...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- May 8, 2024
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Calls to U.S. poison centers regarding so-called synthetic cannabis jumped 88% between 2021 and 2022, as use of these legally sold products rose, research shows.
Synthetic cannabis contain varying forms of the active ingredient in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC): delta-8 THC, delta-10 THC and THC-O acetate.
They're banned or regulated in 14 states, but even then people c...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- May 8, 2024
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Lab tests of counterfeit oxycodone (Oxycontin) pills seized by police in Rhode Island in 2022 found 99.3% also contained dangerous fentanyl.
It was typically mixed with another potentially deadly drug, xylazine.
Both drugs make overdose more likely and more fatal, experts note.
As too many American families have tragically come to know, "counterfeit prescription pi...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- May 7, 2024
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Parents can be very effective buzzkills for their teens, just by letting kids know they're being closely watched, a new study reports.
Teenagers are less likely to drink, smoke or use drugs when parents keep tabs on their activities, according to fin...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- May 7, 2024
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Nearly 100,000 U.S. children lost a parent in 2020 to gun violence or drug overdose, a three-fold rise since 1999, according to a new study.
Overall, these two causes made up nearly a quarter (23%) of parental losses in 2020, almost double the level cited in 1999, according to a team who reported its findings May 4 in the
Each year, thousands of Americans head home after a surgery clutching prescription opioids to help ease post-surgical pain.
Trouble is, most won't use all those pills, and that could lead to a lot of misuse and addiction, one study found.
And with National Prescription Drug Take Back Day slated for Saturday, it's time yet again to rais...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- April 26, 2024
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Even though fentanyl-linked fatal overdoses are soaring among young adults, a new survey of American college students found that just 1 in 7 knew how to administer the overdose antidote drug naloxone.
Many who took the survey "reported high willingness to intervene during an overdose, yet only a small proportion knew how to administer naloxone, an easily learnable skill," said a team led ...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- April 22, 2024
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Two-thirds of homeless people are experiencing some form of mental health disorder, a large, new review of data on the subject.
The analysis found that men who are homeless are more likely to be battling mental illness than women, although rates were high for both genders compared to the general population.
There are signs that rates of mental illness may be on the rise among homele...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- April 17, 2024
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More middle-aged Black and Native Americans are now falling prey to "deaths of despair"than whites, a new study finds.
These deaths -- from suicide, drug overdose and alcoholic liver disease -- initially had been more common among whites.
But a new analysis has determined that deaths of despair have skyrocketed for Black and Native Americans over the past decade.
The deaths of...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- April 10, 2024
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College students who use drugs like Adderall to help them focus on their studies may be setting themselves up for trouble.
Researchers asked 700 undergraduates across the United States about drugs commonly used by students -- including ADHD medications like Adderall, cannabis, nicotine, alcohol, MDMA and ecstasy. They also asked about students' academic performance and physical and mental...
- Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
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- March 14, 2024
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They're cheap, easy to buy and now new research shows they have become the buzz of choice for American teens.
Delta-8-THC products, which include gummies and vapes, are legal in 22 states and Washington, D.C. There is no federal minimum age requirement for buying them, and they are sold in gas stations, chain drug stores and online.
That has made the products a marketing magne...
- Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
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- March 12, 2024
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People diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show a marked decline in their two-year risk for death once they start taking medication, new research shows.
That was particularly true for deaths due to accidents and drug overdose.
People taking ADHD drugs also showed no higher...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- March 12, 2024
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It's well known that long-acting opioid meds raise the odds for addiction in users -- including folks dealing with pain after an orthopedic surgery.
Now, new research suggests that patients fare just as well if doctors prescribe less risky immediate-release opioids following a knee replacement surgery.
U.S. poison center calls related to psilocybin "magic mushrooms"among youth skyrocketed after U.S. cities and states began decriminalizing the hallucinogen, a new study shows.
Psilocybin-related calls among teens ages 13 to 19 more than tripled between 2018 and 2022, rising from 152 to 464 calls annually, according to data from the National Poison Data System.
Calls among young adul...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- February 26, 2024
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After states legalize the sale of weed for recreational use, on-the-job injuries rise among younger workers, new research shows.
U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics for 2006 through 2020 show that legal "recreational marijuana sales were associated with a 10% increase in workplace injuries among individuals aged 20 to 34 years,"the study authors concluded.
They note that prior research ...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- February 23, 2024
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American teenagers cite stress as the leading reason they might get drunk or high, a new report reveals.
That only underscores the need for better adolescent mental health care, according to the research team behind the study.
Better "access to treatment and support for mental health concerns and stress could reduce some of the reported motivations for substance use," concluded inve...
- Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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- February 9, 2024
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Reducing homelessness by 25% could save nearly 2,000 lives lost each year to opioid overdoses, a new study estimates.
It also could save 850 lives from alcohol poisoning and 540 from cocaine overdoses, researchers from the University of Georgia estimate.
This is the first study to suggest that homelessness contributes to deaths from substance use, the researchers said.
"One of...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- February 8, 2024
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Police seizures of "magic"mushrooms have more than tripled within the past five years, the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse reports.
The total weight of psilocybin mushrooms seized by law enforcement increased from 498 pounds in 2017 to 1,861 pounds in 2022, according to a new report published Feb. 6 in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
To put those seizures in ...
- Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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- February 6, 2024
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It's known by the street name "gas station heroin," but a new government report finds the highly addictive supplement Neptune's Fix may also contain synthetic pot.
The product has already been linked to seizures, brain swelling and hallucinations, researchers reported Thursday in Morbidity and Mortality Wee...
There's one treatment for pregnant women addicted to opioids that's safer for their unborn child, a new study reports.
Buprenorphine is associated with a slightly lower risk of birth defects overall compared to methadone, according to findings published recently in the journal JAMA Internal Medici...