#substance-use-disorder-prevention

#substance-use-disorder-prevention

Lasting change begins with honest self-awareness and self-compassion. Every habit and coping pattern has served a purpose, meeting a need at some point in time.

"Every sort of physical manifestation, like the foam coming from the mouth and nose, as if they had an overdose. Their blood tested negative for any substance, which was very odd."

On February 1, 2026, a man associated with Ivaylo Kalushev received a message from him: 'Goodbye, friend, we are very tired and have no more strength.' The next day, police found the bodies of three middle-aged men at Kalushev's burnt lodge in western Bulgaria.

The reason people use drugs of any kind is because they want to escape, Delaney says. I had suicidal ideations from a very, very young age because I assumed that, if I was dead, maybe my mum and dad wouldn't be arguing.

Proposition 36, a state ballot measure, enacted harsher penalties for minor theft and drug offenses, with proponents pledging the crackdown would lead to mass treatment to keep people alive, out of jail, and off our streets. Case records, however, suggest the state is largely failing to meet the central goal of getting people help and instead conducting mass arrests and incarcerating more people with addiction.

The number of suicides per 100,000 young people ages 10 to 24 declined by nearly 12 percent, from 11 to 9.7, between 2021 and 2024. The decrease was driven largely by reductions among young men, whose suicide levels fell by nearly 15 percent, while suicides among young women declined by about 2 percent.

Some experts have mischaracterized smoking fentanyl as "safer" than injecting, seeking to reduce risks among users. Narrowly considered, the statement is accurate, as inhalation avoids needle-sharing, reducing risks for HIV, hepatitis C, bacteremia, abscess formation, and infective endocarditis among users. However, there's no clinical-trial-level evidence (randomized trials with real patients) showing smoking illicit fentanyl is safer than injecting it. It isn't, and that conclusion is unsupported by toxicology, environmental exposure science, or emerging data.

The day I turned 16, I picked up two things - my driver's license and a $1.98 pack of Kool 100 Milds from a gas station I knew would sell to me. It was 1995, and I still remember the freedom and rebellion alive in my heart while my hair blew in the wind. From the window of her mom's LeBaron convertible, my friend and I flicked our cigarettes and seemingly our adolescent troubles with them.

For decades, addiction treatment in the United States has relied on a familiar explanation when people relapse: recovery is hard, addiction is chronic and setbacks are part of the process. That narrative is often delivered with compassion, but it can obscure a more troubling reality. Many treatment failures are not personal shortcomings. They are predictable outcomes of how recovery is currently designed.

By creating one of the nation's first state health departments, lawmakers and elected officials in 1901 were taking a leadership role in public health that continues to this day. Take the issue of heart health: Just last month, Governor Hochul unveiled a budget proposal that makes major investments in our fight against cardiovascular disease. Healthy hearts start with healthy diets, which is why Governor Hochul included over $100 million for nutrition programs, food banks and food pantries in the Executive Budget.