Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
17% Of US Adults Use Cannabis, Most To Manage Symptoms Like Stress, Pain
San Francisco Chronicle: One In Six US Adults Use Cannabis — Most Therapeutically, Study Finds
One in six U.S. adults use cannabis, and more than a third who do are using at levels considered moderate to high risk for cannabis use disorder, according to a new study by UCLA researchers. The study, published in JAMA Network Open on Wednesday, found that 17% of adults who saw their primary care doctor for an annual wellness visit between 2021 and 2023 reported using cannabis in the last three months. Most, more than three-quarters of the patients, said they used cannabis to manage symptoms such as stress, sleep and pain. (Ho, 6/5)
Stat: Psychedelics Companies See FDA Panel Vote As An Opportunity For Growth
A day after a panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration expressed deep concerns about the use of MDMA to help treat post-traumatic stress disorder, companies working to develop other psychedelics said their optimism had not been dimmed — and that the concerns provided a clearer blueprint for what it might take to get such a drug approved. The advisory committee overwhelmingly voted that Lykos Therapeutics, which is seeking FDA approval for MDMA and therapist oversight, rather than just the drug itself, had failed to demonstrate that the therapy would be effective in treating PTSD. (Keshavan, 6/6)
PBS NewsHour: ‘The Pain Is So Much.’ How Stigma And Shame Over Fatal Overdose Make Grief More Unbearable
One Sunday afternoon, days before Christmas, two police officers knocked on Janice Persson’s door in Ludlow, Massachusetts. Her son Brian, 30, was dead. For years, Persson had offered support and calm reassurance to people when they felt scared or overwhelmed. She has worked as a nurse caring for organ transplant patients, staying by their side throughout their procedure and recovery. But the news that her own son had died of an overdose put her “in total shock.” (Santhanam, 6/5)
More health and wellness news —
CBS News: Researchers Say Getting More Sleep At Night Can Lead To Improved Overall Happiness
A study from researchers at Baylor University show that happiness may be correlated with the amount of sleep one gets. According to experts, in recent years happiness has declined in the U.S. while sleep problems have grown. ... Added sleep was associated with improvements in sleepiness and mood disturbances and greater feelings of flourishing, resilience, and gratitude. (Marshall, 6/5)
CBS News: Drowsy Driving By Teens Poses Public Safety Risk, National Sleep Foundation Study Says
A new study finds that drowsy driving by teens poses a serious and common public safety risk. Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death in U.S. adolescents and the National Sleep Foundation found that approximately one in six teen drivers reported having driven while drowsy, amounting to approximately 1.7 million drowsy teen drivers on U.S. roadways. (Marshall, 6/5)
AP: A Realistic Way To Protect Kids From Social Media? Find A Middle Ground
Ahmed Othman isn’t on TikTok and doesn’t want to be. He and his younger sister got iPhones when they were in eighth and seventh grade respectively, but with no social media, just iMessage. Their parents, who are both computer scientists, spent the next year teaching them about social media, bombarding them with studies about its effects on teen mental health. “They really tried to emphasize social media is a tool, but can also be like your worst enemy if you so make it,” Othman said. Now 17, Othman credits his parents’ deep involvement for what he calls a “healthy relationship” with his phone. That includes staying away from TikTok. (Ortutay, 6/6)
The Washington Post: AI Employees Warn Of Technology’s Dangers, Call For Sweeping Company Changes
A handful of current and former employees at OpenAI and other prominent artificial intelligence companies warned that the technology poses grave risks to humanity in a Tuesday letter, calling on companies to implement sweeping changes to ensure transparency and foster a culture of public debate. The letter, signed by 13 people including current and former employees at Anthropic and Google’s DeepMind, said AI can exacerbate inequality, increase misinformation, and allow AI systems to become autonomous and cause significant death. Though these risks could be mitigated, corporations in control of the software have “strong financial incentives” to limit oversight, they said. (Verma and Tiku, 6/4)
