Photo of cocaine

Cocaine Deaths up in US, and Opioids Are a Big Part of It

NEW YORK — Cocaine deaths have been rising in the U.S., health officials said Thursday in their latest report on the nation's deadliest drug overdose epidemic. After several years of decline, overdose deaths involving cocaine began rising around 2012. And t...
Photo of flavored liquid used for e-cigarettes

Calling Teen Vaping ‘Epidemic,’ Officials Weigh Flavor Ban

WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials are sounding the alarm about rising teenage use of e-cigarettes, calling the problem an "epidemic" and ordering manufacturers to reverse the trend or risk having their flavored vaping products pulled from the market. "The ...

Here’s How to Prevent Opioid Deaths in Fresno County

Opinion By Ken Bird, M.D., M.P.H Todd was 29 years old when he died alone, with a needle in his arm, in an abandoned house five miles from where he grew up. His family deserted him about two years prior, after several attempts to treat his heroin addict...

Walters: Opioids Deadlier Than Guns in California

Abuse of opioids is a national epidemic, and California is no exception. CALmatters columnist Dan Walters writes in his Oct. 15 column: "Last year, California doctors and dentists wrote 23.7 million presc...