New cultivation methods are making psychedelic mushrooms stronger, and fiendishly potent varieties are kicking in faster and lasting longer—even if you eat only a fraction of what you would with another variety. Psychedelic Mushrooms Are Getting Much, Much Stronger – https://www.wired.com/story/breeding-stronger-magic-mushrooms/
Have a nice trip. When you see God tell her I said hello.
Individuals who visited the ER for substance-induced psychosis had a 160% greater risk of developing a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) compared with the general population, new research shows. Three years after an initial ER visit, 18.5% of those with substance-induced psychosis were diagnosed with an SSD. Cannabis-induced psychosis was associated with the greatest risk.
Eve Bender. Substance-Induced Psychosis Tied to Schizophrenia Risk – Medscape – Oct 04, 2023 – https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/997093
There were 464 workplace fatalities from unintentional overdoses due to non-medical use of drugs or alcohol in 2021. This is a 19.6-percent increase from 2020 when there were 388 fatalities and is the ninth consecutive annual increase. Unintentional overdoses from non-medical use of drugs include overdoses from stimulants such as methamphetamine and from narcotics such as fentanyl.
Unintentional overdoses rose for the ninth consecutive year in 2021– https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2023/unintentional-overdoses-rose-for-the-ninth-consecutive-year-in-2021.htm
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Unintentional overdoses rose for the ninth consecutive year in 2021 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2023/unintentional-overdoses-rose-for-the-ninth-consecutive-year-in-2021.htm (visited August 20, 2023).
Total drug violations reported into the clearinghouse in 2022, including positive tests and refusals to take a drug test, increased 18% to 69,668 compared with last year’s 59,011, according to the most recent statistics released this week by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. That rate almost doubled the 9.2% annual increase in drug violations reported in 2021. Much of the increase can be attributed to violations related to marijuana, the substance identified most in positive tests. Marijuana violations increased 31.6% in 2022 compared with 2021, to 40,916. That compares to a 5.3% increase between 2020 and 2021.
Truckers’ positive drug tests up 18% in 2022 — https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truckers-positive-drug-tests-up-18-in-2022
At least binge drinking prevalence is just 19%
Truck drivers have been reported as a highly vulnerable working population due to different risk factors [16,17,18] including hypertension, fatigue [19], obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and sleep deprivation [20,21], and insufficient physical activity [22]. Other risk factors are exposure to diesel exhaust and risk of developing lung cancer [23], poor diet, obesity, dyslipidemia, and other metabolic disorders [24]. Furthermore, they are prone to risky behaviors and lifestyles such as smoking, drinking, using psychoactive substances, and having casual sexual contacts [25].
Patterns of Harmful Alcohol Consumption among Truck Drivers: Implications for Occupational Health and Work Safety from a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis — Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Jun; 15(6): 1121.
Published online 2018 May 30. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15061121
I ask them why the industry has a 90 percent attrition rate within the first year. All instantly respond: “No money.” They describe a predatory apprenticeship system that conspires against new drivers seeking to enter the profession. The industry is made up of thousands of mostly small-fleet owners—95 percent of them with 20 trucks or fewer—but dominated by about two dozen giant companies that serve as its gatekeepers. These megacarriers often house schools where some 400,000 new truckers receive commercial driver’s licenses annually. The companies entice people with promises of financial plenty, even as they ensnare them in “training contracts”—binding agreements that require them to drive for the company at below-market wages for a year in exchange for training or else be hit with an exorbitant fee for that training, to be paid off at high interest. Many drivers stick around for the full year to avoid those fees, enduring what amounts to debt peonage.
“I have panic attacks,” he says. “That’s why I drink.”
Life as a 21st-Century Trucker — https://www.wired.com/story/life-as-a-21st-century-trucker/
For the first post in this series see Drive By Truckers.
It’s not entirely clear how cannabis hyperemesis syndrome occurs though there are several theories. One is that since cannabinoids have long-half lives and are lipid soluble, they accumulate in the brain and over time cause symptoms, particularly in young people who may have genetic variations in enzymes which lead to further accumulation. Another theory is that there is a thermoregulatory and autonomic imbalance in the limbic system caused by chronic use. Other suggestions are that with long-term consumption cannabis becomes a receptor antagonist, or that they become down-regulated or de-sensitised over time. This reverses the antiemetic effect of cannabis. It seems that chronic over-stimulation of receptors leads to dysregulation of the body’s control of nausea and vomiting, leading to CHS.
Owen Hibberd . What you need to know about Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, Don’t Forget the Bubbles, 2022. Available at: https://doi.org/10.31440/DFTB.48627
I am so glad I never inhaled.
“Major issues” that may have to be managed in the context of acute intoxication with propylhexedrine include severe agitation, tachycardia, hypertension, myocardial infarction, hyperthermia, stroke, bowel obstruction, pulmonary hypertension, and seizures, the FDA said.There is no specific agent for reversing the effects of acute propylhexedrine intoxication, so management is symptomatic and supportive, the FDA notes.
Abuse of OTC Decongestant Potentially Deadly – https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/948125?src=rss
This is an OTC decongestant I’ve never heard of nor used.
I’m speechless.
YIKES!
Somehow I missed this article from 2019 https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/922914
Even under the best circumstances, however, addiction is a disease prone to relapse. An estimated 40-60% of people who misuse drugs will return to using them at some point during recovery—and it’s this time that leaves them most vulnerable to overdose, since their tolerance has dropped, often dramatically, during their period of abstinence.
The US covid pandemic has a sinister shadow—drug overdoses — BMJ 2020; 371 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m4751 (Published 17 December 2020)
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) exerts lifelong impairment, including difficulty sustaining employment, poor credit, and suicide risk. To date, however, studies have assessed selected samples, often via self-report. Using mental health data from the entire Swedish population (N = 11.55 million) and a random sample of credit data (N = 189,267), we provide the first study of objective financial outcomes among adults with ADHD, including associations with suicide. Controlling for psychiatric comorbidities, substance use, education, and income, those with ADHD start adulthood with normal credit demand and default rates. However, in middle age, their default rates grow exponentially, yielding poor credit scores and diminished credit access despite high demand. Sympathomimetic prescriptions are unassociated with improved financial behaviors. Last, financial distress is associated with fourfold higher risk of suicide among those with ADHD. For men but not women with ADHD who suicide, outstanding debt increases in the 3 years prior. No such pattern exists for others who suicide.
Science Advances
30 Sep 2020:
Vol. 6, no. 40, eaba1551
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba1551 — https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/40/eaba1551
Here in the US we’ve seen an steady increase in ADHD diagnoses.
And an alarming increase in suicide.
Then my mind wanders to drugs (to drugs, not due to drugs).
To summarize, the psychiatric side effects of methylphenidate are quite similar to those of cocaine and amphetamines, giving more support to the idea that almost all CNS stimulants will produce a similar clinical picture. A person using cocaine can experience nervousness,57,58 restlessness,58 agitation,57 suspiciousness,60 paranoia,61–63 hallucinations and delusions,61,63 impaired cognitive functions,64 delirium,65 violence,57,58,62,65,66 suicide,67 and homicide.67–70
Methylphenidate Abuse and Psychiatric Side Effects — http://Prim Care Companion J Clin Psychiatry. 2000 Oct; 2(5): 159–164. doi: 10.4088/pcc.v02n0502
I just hope I’m wrong.
The rate of drug overdose deaths involving cocaine was stable between 2009 and 2013, then nearly tripled from 1.6 per 100,000 in 2013 to 4.5 in 2018.
NCHS Data Brief No. 384, October 2020 — https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db384.htm
Memo to all of my friends in the mortality risk business:
With so much attention being paid to Covid-19 it’s easy to forget people die from other causes. Don’t forget this.
According to Ginger, an organization that provides mental health services to companies, compared to January and February of this year, prescriptions for psychotropics, most of which were antidepressants, were up 86% for the months of March and April.
The stress of unemployment, social isolation and health concerns are all cited by Americans who say the lock down is having a serious impact on their mental health.
Pharmacy group Express Scripts also revealed that prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications were up 34.1% between mid-February and mid-March, while prescriptions for antidepressants increased 18.6%.
Wow.
lifeunderwriter.net 
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