Incarcerated people in prisons and jails have high rates of substance use, but there are few programs that offer them drug treatment. That’s set to change in New York State, with a new law allocating nearly $20 million to establish medication-assisted programs (MAT) in each of the state’s prisons and jails. Today, such treatment is offered at only seven or eight of the state’s 50 prisons, and at 42 county jails statewide, plus Rikers Island, which includes the five counties comprising New York City. Nationwide, an estimated 85 percent of incarcerated individuals have active substance use but only a fraction receive treatment. The new law also requires treatment programs to provide preparing for release with information about community-based treatment facilities and a one-week supply of medications that were prescribed during their incarceration.
Meanwhile, a new study based on input from Michigan emergency departments found that neuropsychiatric toxicity (NPS) was common among patients presenting with cannabis toxicity. Of the nearly 40 percent diagnosed with NPS, more than a third had severe anxiety and altered mental status. Toxicity symptoms included nausea, vomiting, or abdominal pain and those consistent with intoxication such as blurry vision, giddiness, and disorientation.
And finally, Gov. Newsom of California has signed a law imposing an excise tax on e-cigarette sales in a bid to slow the teen vaping epidemic. The aim is to discourage vaping by minors by bringing taxes on e-cigarettes more in line with levies on other tobacco products. Making vaping devices more expensive is likely to reduce the number of purchases by those younger than 21, the legal age of purchase. The tax comes after Newsome signed legislation to ban the sale of all flavored vaping products, but that has been held up by a tobacco industry-backed referendum on the November 2022 ballot.