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go to Mental & Behavioral Health( parent category ) Mental & Behavioral Health Substance Use

From alcohol use and smoking to the opioid crisis, the ripple effects of untreated mental illness can lead to a host of other public health concerns.

11.07.2018 Heroin, a lighter, and a straw on tinfoil

Undercounting Heroin

Heroin lasts in the human body for just a few minutes before being converted into morphine and other compounds. This complicates the task of a medical examiner trying to identify the substance that caused an overdose death.

Guest Authors Joshua M. Sharfstein, Isabelle Horon

10.22.2018 Black and white photo of bars with a person's silhouette behind them

Opioid Overdose Deaths among the Formerly Incarcerated

The United States has underutilized prevention and treatment strategies in its response to opioid overdose death in people with a history of incarceration.

Guest Author Shabbar I. Ranapurwala

10.18.2018 a pile of pills with white text

Three Notes on the Opioid Crisis

We are in the midst of the greatest American health crisis of this young century, an opioid epidemic that has now led to an astounding 500,000 deaths in the past two decades. There has been substantial ink—appropriately—devoted to this issue, we think there are three areas that receive far less attention than they should.

Guest Author Sandro Galea

Editor Michael Stein

10.04.2018 A box of Narcan (naloxone)

Is There a Risk to Naloxone?

Naloxone is a life-saving intervention used to reverse drug overdose, but critics argue that it increases crime and promotes drug use. Ostrach and colleagues disagree, arguing that withholding it is immoral.

Guest Authors Nathan Mullins, Hillary Brown, Bayla Ostrach