addiction
For children exposed to alcohol before birth, services are in short supply
When Sara Lawton first brought her baby boy home from the hospital, she wasn’t sure if the endless crying was “normal baby behavior” or an indication of prenatal exposure to alcohol. Unlike most first-time mothers, Lawton didn’t have months to prepare. Three days after her husband’s relative gave birth, Child Protective Services asked the Lawtons […]
Efforts to roll back parts of Oregon drug decriminalization law gain momentum
This article was first published by the Oregon Capital Chronicle. A coalition funded by prominent Oregonians, including retired Nike co-founder Phil Knight, plans to ask Oregon voters in 2024 to roll back some of Measure 110, the voter-passed law that decriminalized the use of hard drugs. The group, the Coalition to Fix and Improve Ballot […]
Death counts remain high in some states even as COVID fatalities wane
Several months after President Joe Biden ended the national emergency for COVID-19, preliminary health data indicates the historic degree to which the pandemic increased death rates nationwide — not just because of the virus itself, but also through the pandemic’s reverberating effects on society. Deaths from vehicle crashes, homicides, suicides and overdoses spiked in many […]
White House rolls out strategy to battle deadly drug mixture of fentanyl and xylazine
WASHINGTON — The White House is unveiling a plan to combat the growing threat of drug overdose deaths involving the combination of illicitly manufactured fentanyl and the powerful sedative xylazine, approved only for veterinary use. The plan comes ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’s meeting with state attorneys general next week to discuss the staggering […]
Why WA is taking a new approach to caring for newborns exposed to drugs
In Washington, hospitals automatically report newborns affected by their mother’s use of drugs or alcohol during pregnancy to Child Protective Services. State guidelines then call for testing those infants every few hours using a complex scoring system to determine whether they need morphine or other medications to treat withdrawal. They’ll also often be sent to […]