Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: During Opioid Epidemic, Boost Funds, Efforts To Reverse Number Of Overdose Deaths
The Hill: We Must Provide Sustained Funding Proportional To The Severity Of The Opioid Epidemic
Every day, our women and men on the frontlines — community organizers, first responders, public health officials — are fighting to save the lives of our most vulnerable residents. In Baltimore, we have installed an uncompromising three-pillar strategy: save lives with naloxone, increase access to ethical treatment and provide education to reduce stigma and prevent addiction. (Leana S. Wen, 9/9)
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Have A Conversation With Your Doctor About Pain Medication
My oral surgeon told me there are two big reasons why people should get wisdom teeth removed when they are teenagers: 1) the jaw matures in a way that places sensory nerves in the area closer to the wisdom teeth, making damage more likely, and 2) things take longer to heal and hurt more when you're a cranky, busy thirty-something. I was gratefully spared the risks from the former but endured the latter -- especially after the prescribed opiate-based pain pills ran out. (Clare Mathes, 9/9)
The Washington Post: Drug Users Keep Accidentally Poisoning Themselves. Here’s An Idea To Stop Them.
The tragic epidemic of more than 100 overdoses in New Haven, Conn., last month had health workers literally scrambling from one patient to the next on my hometown’s central green. These overdoses are better characterized as poisonings. The victims were exposed to tainted synthetic marijuana laced with Fubinaca, a powerful synthetic drug that mimics the effects of cannabis but is far more potent. The problem has reached epidemic proportions because amateur chemists here and abroad find it easy to manufacture a host of deadly synthetics. Established approaches to drug-law enforcement are inadequate to deal with this flood onto the illegal marketplace. As Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said: “We need new tactics to address synthetics.” One option to consider: drug exchanges. (Ian Ayres, 9/9)
The Hill: New Senate Legislation Would Protect And Serve Veterans Who Consume Marijuana
Last week, Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) made history with the introduction of legislation, known as The Veterans Medical Marijuana Safe Harbor Act, to expand and facilitate medical cannabis access to military veterans suffering from chronic pain, PTSD, and other serious medical conditions. (Justin Strekal, 9/9)
St. Louis Post Dispatch: Illinois' Sensible Solution To Opioids
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has signed a law allowing medical marijuana to be used as a painkiller in place of highly addictive and potentially deadly opioids. The move highlights, somewhat ironically, how our national thinking on drugs has evolved: The dangers of marijuana have been exaggerated in our culture for generations, while the far greater dangers of opioids were ignored until the nation became immersed in an addiction and overdose crisis. The Illinois law is a sane and compassionate approach to the opioid crisis that should serve as an inspiration for Missourians as they vote this fall whether to legalize medical marijuana here. (9/9)
Philadelphia Inquirer: The Crystal Meth Crisis: Addiction In America Goes Beyond Opioids
While we often hear about the opioid crisis infiltrating middle-class America, we must not forget that crystal meth continues to ravage our minority communities, further perpetuating health and economic burdens. ...Regardless of where and how our political leaders attend to our nation's addictions, be it opioids or meth, the true enemy — capitalism and business — is the beast that fuels these addictions, and goes unchallenged. (Perry Halkitis, 9/7)
Columbus Dispatch: Regulation Of Hemp-Derived CBD Products Misses The Mark
Now the Ohio Board of Pharmacy may end such Ohio sales by declaring that all CBD products, whether extracted from hemp or marijuana, or their lack of THC, can only be sold in a licensed medical marijuana dispensary. Moreover, per the pharmacy board, all CBD products will have to comply with the rules and regulations of the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program. (Rachel Friedman, 9/8)
