"First, if the goal of the policy shift is to reduce preventable deaths and other harms, it may be key to clearly distinguish which organizations, private and public, benefit from the criminalization of drug use before integrating their inclusion into guiding the model (Michaud et al., 2024a).
"Despite clear evidence demonstrating the effect of alcohol consumption on cancer risk, there is a large gap in public understanding of the risk.
"In the U.S., there are about 20,000 alcohol-related cancer deaths annually.1,2 This is greater than the number of alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities (about 13,500 annually) in the U.S.a,13 Alcohol-related cancer deaths shorten the lives of those who die by an average of 15 years.14 Annually, a total of about 305,000 years of potential life are lost due to alcohol-related cancer deaths.14 Breast cancer accounts for the majority (~60%) of alcohol-related cancer deaths in women, whereas liver cancer (~33%) together with colorectal cancer (an additional ~21%) account for the majority
"Alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity.1
"In 2023, 24.3% of adults experienced chronic pain, and 8.5% of adults experienced high-impact chronic pain (or 34.9% of adults who had chronic pain). Women were more likely than men to experience chronic pain. Chronic pain was also generally higher in American Indian and Alaska Native adults and those age 65 and older. Similarly, high-impact chronic pain was higher in women, American Indian and Alaska Native adults, and those age 65 and older. Percentages of adults who had chronic pain and high-impact chronic pain in the past 3 months increased with decreasing urbanization level.
"SCRA vaping products were almost exclusively on sale as liquid formulations for refilling EVDs. It therefore does not appear that the rise in popularity of disposable nicotine e-cigarettes [17] has so far impacted on the online SCRA vaping product market. The most common bottle size on sale was 5mL. Given the lack of data on the concentration of SCRA in these liquids, it is difficult to quantify how many SCRA doses this may constitute.
"This study provides evidence of a rapidly evolving and active online marketplace from which SCRA vaping products seem to be easily obtainable, but also difficult to identify as controlled substances. Using simple search terms on a widely used search engine, we identified 62 websites selling SCRA vaping products, with 1225 individual listings and 128 unique brands.
"Since the early 1990s, binge drinking (defined as drinking at least 4 drinks in a row for women or at least 5 drinks in a row for men) has been a key indicator of risky drinking.
"However, the binge threshold may not clearly distinguish drinking risk. A person who consumes five drinks over a few hours may or may not show signs of intoxication, depending on factors including body composition, food and water intake, and tolerance. In contrast, a person who consumes ten drinks over the same time period is at high risk for alcohol poisoning and other negative outcomes.
"The tusi phenomenon complicates the drug landscape because it has the potential to confuse both people who use and researchers alike. With respect to people who use, given the drug concoction’s name, people may assume the drug is 2C/2C-B. Since many partiers are unfamiliar with 2C series drugs (14), there is also potential for people to simply think this is a new (and perhaps benign) drug – especially given that the powder is pink with a sweet scent.
