Celebrity deaths increase the general recognition of drug problems, which lately have been heroin and prescription painkillers overdoses and deaths. Oscar and Tony-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman’ s overdose death is the most recent in a long list of celebrity drug death. Hoffman probably died of heroin mixed with some form of fentanyl, an extreme powerful opioid used as a surgical anesthetic and as a pain reliever for people with extreme conditions. The various designer variations of the drug, which in the 70s was often sold as china white, does not show up in blood tests. It is 100 times stronger than morphine (and 50x of heroin.) We also discuss the business of heroin, and increased presence in suburbia.
Also the pharmacy chain CVS made news by announcing it would no longer sell cigarettes, with other large pharmacy chains like Walgreens saying they may follow suit. And the dangers of 3rd hand smoke are highlighted in a new study coming out of University of California Riverside.