Drug-related deaths have more than doubled worldwide since 1990, despite an 8% drop in new addiction cases, according to a comprehensive analysis published in Frontiers in Psychiatry. The paradoxical findings expose critical failures in global harm-reduction and recovery systems. Global drug mortality rates surge in wealthy nations Between 1990 and 2021, global drug mortality rates...
Austin Draper once worked in Michelin-starred restaurants and lived on organic farms in Northern California. Now, at 35, he has survived six cases of endocarditis, three open-heart surgeries and the amputation of nine toes, yet heart infections from drug addiction continue to threaten his life. His medical bills exceed $1 million. The true cost, however,...
A Cleveland psychiatrist has raised alarm over how Ohio cannabis legalisation affects young people’s mental health. He warned that, as a result, the growing normalisation of cannabis use may mask serious psychiatric risks. For example, Dr Fawad Taj described treating a patient in his 20s who began using cannabis gummies for sleep. However, what started...
In a revelation from her recent memoir published last month, Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai shared how cannabis triggered trauma from the 2012 Taliban attack that nearly killed her. A University Experiment Gone Wrong Whilst studying at Oxford University, the shooting survivor tried smoking cannabis from a bong with friends in a campus summerhouse....
Eli Robinson, brother of NBA star Duncan Robinson, survived a 150-foot jump from the Piscataqua River Bridge in October 2024. When he awoke from a medically induced coma, he promised his family: “I will never do that again.” But the voices in his head – the ones warning of danger to his family – survived...
A study published last week in JAMA Psychiatry has revealed a disturbing consequence of marijuana legalisation in the United States, finding that cannabis use amongst people with psychosis increased nearly 10% following legalisation. Moreover, this striking finding sits at the intersection of public health and public safety, directly linking policy changes to increased consumption amongst...
Devastating new research from the American College of Surgeons has exposed the lethal consequences of cannabis-impaired driving, revealing that more than 40% of drivers killed in car crashes between 2019 and 2024 in Ohio tested positive for high levels of THC. Moreover, the findings, released last week, shatter the persistent myth that cannabis is a...
A comprehensive decade-long study examining drug and alcohol presence in Victorian road crashes has revealed alarming trends, with methylamphetamine emerging as the most prevalent illicit substance detected in both injured and fatally injured drivers between 2010 and 2019. The research, published in Injury Prevention and led by Monash University, represents the largest investigation of its...
Whilst stimulant-involved overdose deaths continue to climb across developed nations, a groundbreaking study has revealed that a relatively simple treatment approach could be saving thousands of lives if only it were widely available. New research published in the American Journal of Psychiatry shows that contingency management treatment (a behavioural intervention that rewards people for meeting...
Life expectancy keeps climbing worldwide, childhood mortality has plummeted, and older adults are living longer than ever. Yet there’s a crisis hiding in plain sight: preventable youth deaths are surging, and the leading causes aren’t what you’d expect. The latest Global Burden of Disease study—one of the most comprehensive health analyses ever conducted—examined over 310,000...