With more than 100,000 American deaths from a drug overdose over the past 12 months, the New York Times looks at the root causes behind this tragic crisis, noting that the U.S. is the only developed nation in the world dealing with a comparable problem. It blames the crisis on the easy availability of prescription painkillers over the past decades, followed by the wave of heroin use after prescription monitoring was put in place, and the current situation in which the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl is fueling the surge in overdose fatalities. Compounding the problem, the Times observes, is that Americans have insufficient access to both mental health and drug treatment. A better treatment network would have mitigated the damage—but the U.S. has never had such a system. Over time, the lack of leadership and resources to confront addiction and overdose has led us to the current public health crisis, in which we have effectively made it easier to get high than to get help, the article notes.
Meanwhile, Forbes reports that tech giant Apple has quietly swung its support and corporate muscle behind cannabis reform—joining Amazon and other companies in efforts to open a federally legal, commercial cannabis industry across the U.S. For years, large tech companies such as Facebook and Google didn’t get involved in marijuana policy, but that changed over the summer when Apple, without much fanfare, changed its policy to allow apps handling the sales and delivery of both medical and recreational cannabis in legal marijuana states. Not surprising that corporate America is backing legal pot, as more and more states adopt legalization. But they should also be lobbying for tough rules and regulations governing this booming market, in order to protect vulnerable populations such as young people.
And finally, many people who consume marijuana say it helps them stave off nausea during pregnancy and treatment for cancer. But new studies show that for some daily, long-term pot users the effect is the opposite: nearly uncontrollable vomiting. The condition, known as cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, is receiving more attention with the growing use of marijuana in legal states. Those with the syndrome can suffer bouts of vomiting so severe that they may need to be hospitalized along with dehydration, weight loss, and life-threatening electrolyte disorders—shattering the image of the drug as a largely benign substance.