STATISTICS & TRENDS

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Scotland's Overdose Epidemic – Finding the Correct Solution

Here's an eye-catching headline: “Where the Nurse Prescribes Heroin." One might think it was the headline to a fictional piece, a dystopian essay or novel on what life would be like if full-scale drug use permeated our society.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Safe Driving – The Importance of Getting There Alive

It's important to learn the truth about drunk and drugged driving, the harm involved, what precipitates such decisions, and what people can do to prevent the lethal phenomena of under-the-influence driving.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

What Was Johnson & Johnson's Role in Triggering the Opioid Epidemic?

Oklahoma's lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson revealed the role this company played in encouraging the too-liberal use of opioid painkillers. Witness testimony also pointed to the special way this company profited from increased prescribing – of their...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

As Jobs are Lost, Addiction Statistics Soar

People turn to drugs and alcohol for many different reasons. For as many people that there are who are addicted, there are just as many reasons why those people use substances. Addicts are unique individuals. Each one will have his or her story of why...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Opioid Lawsuits – Where Should Settlement Money Go?

An October 2019 article in USA Today focused on how critical it is that opioid lawsuit settlement dollars are used to treat addiction. This should be a given, to use settlements from pharma companies to treat addicts (especially considering that many addicts...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Recession, Poverty, and Substance Abuse Leads to a Drop in Life Expectancy in Great Britain

A headline in the New York Times reads, “Shortchanged: Why British Life Expectancy Has Stalled.” With just a glance at the headline, I was hit with a wave of deja vu. Then I remembered I’d written about this subject before, except in the context...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Should State Governments Regulate Alcohol Consumption?

It’s clear that consuming alcohol can be harmful. In fact, anything beyond infrequent and conservative levels of drinking should be strongly discouraged for health reasons alone. To drink with any kind of frequency is to open oneself up to potential...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Opiates? Hospitals Now Changing Their Approach

One of my colleagues is a veteran nurse who works in a hospital in Baton Rouge. He was born and raised in a sparsely populated, underserved area of Louisiana which is now being devastated by the opioid epidemic...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

How Can We Make REAL Progress on the Drug Crisis in the 2020s?

We have just passed into a new year and a new decade. There is some significance to that. We are saying our goodbyes to 2019 and the 2010s and saying hello to the year 2020 and the new decade of the 2020s. There is much that we need to work on in the new...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Childhood Exposure to Opiates – A Potentially Lethal Crisis for Parents

The opiate epidemic has rocked America and brought on one of the worst national public health emergencies of our time. This crisis has also brought with it a range of unpleasant consequences. New study findings suggest that young people are being taken...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Alarm Bells Sound In Oklahoma Meth Epidemic

When we think of the drug problem in the U.S., the first thing we almost always think of is the opiate epidemic. The opiate epidemic usually takes the spotlight. And not without good reason. The majority of all drug deaths every year are at the hands of...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Drug Abuse Leads to an Increase in Working-Age Deaths

Over the last few years, several articles, research papers, and studies have been published, all of which indicate a decline in life expectancy for the American people. That’s something to be concerned about. In one of the wealthiest, most technologically...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Drug Addiction and Overcrowded Jails

The subject of drug addiction and incarceration has been a contentious one for some time. Many people still feel as though drug use is a crime and therefore should be punished as such. But as the years go by and as our understanding of addiction improves,...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Halting the Runaway Train That is Our Opioid Crisis: Can We Do it?

It may seem like an impossible task to halt the runaway train of our opioid crisis. But Oklahoma has prepared a plan to do just that which can serve as a model for other states and let us estimate the price tag to eliminate this catastrophe.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Drug Addiction on a Global Scale

Almost universally across the world, drug use is going up. Why is this? Why are more people using drugs? Are people naturally inclined to use drugs? Certainly not. National and international communities work very hard to crack down on drug production,...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Why is Binge Drinking on the Rise for Women?

Although men still misuse alcohol at a rate higher than women, new research indicates that the gap is closing. A study published in PLOS Medicine and reported on in U.S. News brought the spotlight onto this concerning issue.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

New Global Drug Report Shows Increasing Use of All Drugs, Huge Growth of Opioid Use and Record Cocaine Production

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reports each year on global drug use and addiction. This year’s report shows that despite the efforts of tens of thousands of people around the world, there is more drug use and loss of life than ever.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

A Controversial Awareness Campaign Hits Home but Misses the Mark for Some in South Dakota

A news story out of South Dakota made national headlines when the state launched a controversial media campaign. Governor Kristi Noem led an ad campaign to raise awareness of the state’s meth problem. The slogan of the campaign was: “Meth. We’re...

STATISTICS & TRENDS

How Recovery High Schools Help Teens Launch Sober Adult Lives

In fifteen states around the U.S., recovery high schools offer youth in recovery the right environments in which they can get their lives on the right track for success.

STATISTICS & TRENDS

Adverse Consequences of Marijuana Use on the Rise in States that Legalized

Just about everything having to do with marijuana is seen as highly controversial. As states continue to legalize its use for recreational purposes, we are beginning to see growing evidence that not all is as it seems. Using marijuana has consequences...