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The idea of safe injection sites have been at the forefront of overhauling the behavioral health care system in the United States as the drug overdose epidemic continues to rise. Last month in August 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsome vetoed a bill allowing Los Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco to open up supervised injection sites until the end of 2027. Newsome seemed weary of the idea and noted that it had the potential to “induce a world of unintended consequences.”

September is National Recovery Month. Launched in 1989 by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Recovery Month was implemented in an attempt to increase public awareness surrounding the obstacles of mental health disorders and substance addiction recovery. Today, Recovery Month continues to highlight and promote new evidence-based treatment methods and effective practices of addiction recovery. 

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), in 2020, an estimated 92,000 individuals in the United States died from a drug-involved overdose. This alarming number includes both prescription opioids and illicit drugs.  International Overdose Awareness Day this August 31 aims to bring light to a highly stigmatized and often overlooked matter when it comes to mental health and substance use disorders. 

In July of 2022, the number 998, was officially designated as the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. For those people experiencing a mental health crisis, the new three-digit number modeled after the emergency services number 911, was created to make access to behavioral health services easier and more accessible. According to data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), in 2019, there was a recorded one death by suicide every 11 minutes in the United States.

Polydrug use, also known as polysubstance use, is a term for using more than one drug at the same time or one after another within a certain period of time. These drugs can include both legally prescribed and illicit drugs. This includes mixing depressant substances, mixing stimulant drugs, mixing stimulants with depressants and mixing multiple prescription medications.

Women’s health and wellbeing have been at the forefront of discussion since the recent June 2022 Supreme Court ruling overturning the historic Roe v Wade. This controversial decision revokes the fundamental health rights, at the federal level, to privacy that protects a persona’s choice to have an abortion.

Substance addiction is a disease that does not discriminate, affecting all genders from all backgrounds. According to a 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in the United States, about 18.7 million people age 18 or older had a substance use disorder (SUD).

As more and more states begin to legalize the usage of medical and recreational marijuana, will there be any significant effects of marijuana usage or a significant trend in usage of other substances such as opioids and alcohol? In 1996, California became the first state to legalize the usage of medical marijuana.

Do substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions significantly contribute to the higher risk of mass gun violence in the United States? According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), gun violence is now the leading cause of death among young people in America.

Is vaping a gateway into the usage of other drugs and alcohol? The saga for the popular e-cigarette brand Juul takes another surprising turn. On June 23, 2022 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned Juul from selling and marketing its popular e-cigarette products as well as the removal of all current inventory on the market.