Around 13% Of High School Students Use Tobacco Products
A study of U.S. smoking habits found over 1 in 8 high school students are users of a tobacco product of some type, and around 4% of middle school students are, too. Separately, in Florida, the state Supreme Court issued a ruling that could make it harder to sue tobacco companies.
The Washington Post:
2.55 Million Middle And High School Students Use Some Type Of Tobacco Product
The latest analysis of smoking habits among U.S. youths describes 2.55 million middle school and high school students as users of some type of tobacco product (combustible, smokeless or electronic). That equates to about 13 percent of high school students and 4 percent of middle school students. The findings are from the 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey, run jointly by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. (Searing, 3/20)
Health News Florida:
Tobacco Industry Gets A Win At Florida Supreme Court
In what a dissenting justice called a “fundamental shift,” the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday issued a ruling that likely will make it harder for many plaintiffs suing tobacco companies about smoking-related illnesses. The 6-1 ruling dealt with plaintiffs in a large group of cases — known as “Engle progeny” cases — and claims that tobacco companies fraudulently concealed or conspired to conceal information about the health effects and addictiveness of smoking. Siding with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., the Supreme Court said plaintiffs must show that smokers relied on misleading information from cigarette makers to prevail on the claims. (Saunders, 3/18)
In news about marijuana use —
CNN:
Study Raises Questions About Risks Of Using Medical Marijuana For Mood And Anxiety Disorders
Some people with pain, anxiety or depression who obtain medical marijuana cards may overuse marijuana within a short time frame, leading to cannabis use disorder while failing to improve their symptoms, a new study found. Cannabis use disorder, also known as marijuana use disorder, is associated with dependence on the use of weed. People are considered dependent on weed when they feel food cravings or have a lack of appetite, irritability, restlessness, and mood and sleep difficulties after quitting, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Heavy use of marijuana by teens and young adults with mood disorders — such as depression and bipolar disorder — was linked to an increased risk of self-harm, suicide attempts and death, according to an earlier study published in 2021. (LaMotte, 3/19)
NBC News:
States, Flush With Marijuana Money, Are Now Fighting Over What To Do With It
Legal marijuana sales have been a boon to revenues in 11 states. But as the marijuana tax revenue boosts state treasuries, activists and politicians are jockeying over how to spend it. In California, state marijuana growers are pushing the Legislature to lower the taxes they’re required to pay, a move that child advocates say will cut funds meant for vulnerable communities. And on the East Coast, a battle over tax spending pushed back an early start of marjuana sales in Virginia. (Ramos, 3/17)
In other news about drug use and addiction —
Fox News:
Fentanyl Found In Ventilation System Of Ohio Juvenile Detention Facility; 7 Victims Rushed To Hospital
At least seven people have been taken to the hospital after fentanyl was discovered in the air ventilation system of an Ohio juvenile detention facility, forcing an evacuation. Multiple ambulances and emergency personnel responded to dispatch calls at the Northwest Ohio Juvenile Detention Training and Rehabilitation Center in Stryker after several victims began collapsing for an unknown reason, WTOL reported. It was later discovered that fentanyl was being spread throughout the facility via the air conditioning, affecting four juveniles and three corrections officers, Williams County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Lehman told the outlet. (Richard, 3/21)
Anchorage Daily News:
‘Lethal Batch’ Of Heroin Has Caused At Least 6 Deaths In Mat-Su, According To Alaska State Troopers
A “lethal batch” of heroin circulating now in Mat-Su has caused at least six deaths and 17 overdose emergencies, Alaska State Troopers say. Troopers, along with Palmer and Wasilla police departments, responded to several suspected overdoses just this week, troopers said in an online dispatch. “Law enforcement believe that a lethal batch of heroin is currently circulating in the Mat-Su, causing the rise in overdose events.” The deaths and emergencies — any overdose that required a 911 call for help or other request for assistance — were all within the last 30 days, according to troopers spokesman Austin McDaniel. (Hollander, 3/18)
St. Louis Public Radio:
St. Louis Saw Hundreds Of Overdose Deaths During The Pandemic
The number of reported drug-related deaths in the St. Louis region has held steady over the past year, but public health experts say that’s not a cause for celebration. In the first three quarters of 2021, there were 780 overdose deaths in the region, about the same as during the same period in 2020, according to the Missouri Institute of Mental Health at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The St. Louis area was the only part of the state where overdose deaths didn’t increase. However, almost half of Missouri overdose deaths occurred in and around St. Louis. (Fentem, 3/21)
Axios:
Latinos Experienced A 40% Spike In Drug Overdose Death Rates: Study
Latinos in the U.S. experienced a 40% spike in drug overdose death rates in 2020, according to a new study. The large percentage increase for Latinos shows how the pandemic and isolation may have affected Hispanics, who experienced higher rates of COVID-19 deaths. The study published this month in JAMA Psychiatry found that Latinos had a drug overdose death rate of 17.3 per 100,000 residents in 2020, compared to around 12.3 the year before. (Contreras, 3/18)
KHN:
Money Flows Into Addiction Tech, But Will It Curb Soaring Opioid Overdose Deaths?
David Sarabia had already sold two startups by age 26 and was sitting on enough money to never have to work another day in his life. He moved from Southern California to New York City and began to indulge in all the luxuries his newly minted millionaire status conveyed. Then it all went sideways, and his life quickly unraveled. “I became a massive cocaine addict,” Sarabia said. “It started off just casual partying, but that escalated to pretty much anything I could get my hands on.” (Rinker, 3/21)
Prenatal Exposure To BPA May Cause Asthma In School-Age Girls
There could be several possible explanations, Dr. Leonardo Trasande, director of environmental pediatrics at NYU Langone Health and author of the new study, told CNN. “BPA is a synthetic estrogen, and sex hormones shape nearly every bodily function during fetal development,” he said.
CNN:
BPA Linked To Asthma In School-Age Girls, Study Finds
Exposure in the womb to bisphenol A, commonly known as BPA, may increase the risk of asthma among school-age girls, according to a new study of over 3,000 pairs of mothers and children from six European countries. “We believe that the effect may be due to the fact that bisphenols can cross the placental barrier and interfere with the child’s respiratory and immune systems during the developmental phase,” said first author Alicia Abellán, a postdoctoral researcher at Barcelona Institute for Global Health, in a statement. There was a significant association between levels of BPA in mothers’ urine and asthma and wheezing for girls, but not boys, according to the the study published Friday in the journal Environment International. (LaMotte, 3/18)
In other public health news —
Los Angeles Times:
L.A. Homeless Encampment Is Cleared Amid Taunts And Shoves
Night was falling Thursday when sanitation crews had to pause work on clearing a homeless encampment at a Little Tokyo plaza. A protester had jumped into a sanitation truck and refused to get out. She cursed and yelled at sanitation workers for tearing down the encampment. By then, most of the homeless people had been given temporary housing or moved to the sidewalk. The 10-minute standoff was one of several clashes that continued past midnight as sanitation crews tried to clear and fence off Toriumi Plaza, reflecting the knot of tensions in a city with little agreement on how to deal with the homeless crisis. (Vives, 3/18)
NBC News:
Black Women Start To Talk About Uterine Fibroids, A Condition Many Get But Few Speak About
When Daye Covington visited her doctor for a routine physical last year, she expressed concern about weight gain in her belly that she said made her look seven months pregnant. But she knew she wasn’t pregnant, and she had a healthy lifestyle. An MRI revealed that she had multiple uterine fibroids — noncancerous growths in the uterus — the size of cantaloupes. “First, I was relieved to know that I was not pregnant because I was not trying to be pregnant,” she told NBC News, “and then I was scared, because I didn’t know much about fibroids.” (Bellamy, 3/21)
San Francisco Chronicle:
In Wake Of COVID, Advocates For HIV Care Seek Return To Spotlight
San Francisco’s aggressive, nationally recognized push to drive HIV infections to near zero and improve the health of those living with the virus took a discouraging hit during the COVID pandemic, as attention citywide focused on a new and different public health crisis. HIV cases continued a decade-long decline during the pandemic, but testing also fell off dramatically and health officials worry they missed some infections in 2020 and 2021. Prescriptions for drugs to prevent HIV also decreased, potentially leaving some San Francisco residents vulnerable. (Allday, 3/20)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Advocacy Group Stresses Need For More Paid Caregivers For People With Alzheimer’s
The pandemic has made healthcare workers harder to find and that’s also affected families of Alzheimer’s patients who are looking for help. By 2050, the number of Georgians living with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to reach 190,000, an increase of 26.7 percent, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. That rise will put even more pressure on caregivers and families, said Linda Davidson, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association, Georgia Chapter. Nationally, fueled by the general aging of the population, the number of people age 65 and older with Alzheimer’s is projected to reach 12.7 million by 2050, according to the report. (Poole, 3/21)
