Is marijuana really the low-risk drug that many Americans believe it is? Emergency room physician Dr. Roneet Lev says the popular conception of cannabis—as an all-natural treatment for pain, anxiety, seizures, and so many other ailments—is far too simplistic. She joins us on episode 25 of the Science Dispatch podcast.
drug policy
Two thousand people a week are dying from (almost entirely) illegal street drugs. While at the same time prescriptions for legal pain medications have been cut by half in the past decade. The FDA’s solution? Postage-paid envelopes for people to return the extra pills they don't have. It's almost funny. Just don't laugh until it hurts.
Beginning with Prohibition, all U.S. efforts to control drugs of abuse have made matters worse. Here's another. Methamphetamine is back, and it's killing more and more people. This was entirely predictable.
The U.S. Court of Appeals just delivered another blow to a rather-clever-but-cunning play by Allergan, the pharmaceutical giant, to game the patent system.
It is immoral and reckless to leave drugs within the reach of children. That five kids were poisoned makes grandpa, who had a medical marijuana prescription, an irresponsible pothead.
It is Game On! for President Trump appointee Scott Gottlieb, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Things are definitely changing there, and at this point, it's a pretty good start.
The Trump Administration has convened a panel to address America's opioid epidemic. Its first mission should be to find convincing data to identify the actual cause(s) of the problem. That will be much harder than it sounds, since ideologues are always in plentiful supply.