The federal government said it is clamping down on the use of telehealth for drugs with a high risk of abuse.

Under the proposed rules, doctors will be required to see patients in person for a prescription at least once for drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin. Nearly four million people reported misusing prescription stimulants in 2021, according to data from the National Institutes of Health.

Michelle Lydenberg, senior manager of data and learning at Cincinnati-based Interact for Health, said both prescription and nonprescription drug use have had devastating effects on Ohio communities.

"So we're talking about HIV, hepatitis C. Those are extremely costly, unfortunate diseases to have to deal with," Lydenberg pointed out. "There are many ripple effects that go along with an increased rate of substance-use disorder, overdose, and overdose death in a community."

In a news release, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration administrator Anne Milgram said the agency is committed to the expansion of telemedicine with guardrails to prevent the online overprescribing of controlled medications which can cause harm. The new rules will likely go into effect this spring.

Lydenberg noted counties could begin thinking about how to improve access to substance-use resources in rural counties, especially as opioid settlement money flows in.

"The stigma of addiction makes it harder to expand and access those services," Lydenberg acknowledged.

In Ohio, more than 5,200 people died of a drug overdose in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to a new Axios-Ipsos poll, around one in four Americans said opioids and fentanyl are the nation's top public-health threat.

Reporting by Ohio News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.

By Adam Pinsker for WISH-TV.
Broadcast version by Joe Ulery for Indiana News Service reporting for the WISH-TV-Free Press Indiana-Public News Service Collaboration

THC retailers across Indiana are being warned they could be violating Indiana law by selling cannabis products containing more than 0.3% of the chemical Delta-9, which can have an intoxicating effect and may cause some side effects.

Although no Indiana law regulates Delta-9, the Indiana Attorney General's Office issued an opinion in 2023 defining Delta-8 and Delta-10 as Schedule I drugs.

Vigo County Prosecutor Terry Modesitt says violators could be charged with a high-level felony.

"I personally felt the fair way to deal with this was to send a letter to all the businesses and advise them of the attorney general's ruling, and to give them some time to get these products off their shelves," the prosecutor based in Terre Haute said.

Modesitt estimates from 30 to 40 retailers in the county along I-70 on the Illinois border - many of them gas station convenience stores - are in violation.

"We've actually had our drug task force, since I've sent this letter, going around checking businesses," he said.

Modesitt said until state lawmakers pass legislation clearly defining how much cannabis can be sold in Indiana, he'll have to enforce the laws based on the attorney general's opinion.

Indiana State Police investigators secretly bought THC products and found some of them were mislabeled. In other cases, they found Delta-9 products had more than the 0.3% of THC allowable under a federal law passed in 2018.

State officials and CBD retailers have also expressed concerns that some THC products may have chemicals added to them.

Scott Hughes, co-owner of WildEye Lounge dab bar in Indianapolis, said he and his business partner, Nick Brown, test all of their cannabis products. "To show there is no heavy metals, to show there is no pesticides in the product, which we do regularly with all of our products before we release them."

Hughes urges customers to do their homework before purchasing any CBD product.

"You're not going to go to your mechanic to ask why your knee hurts. You're not going to go to your doctor to ask what is wrong with your car," Hughes said.


Adam Pinsker wrote this article for WISH-TV.


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President Joe Biden is urging stricter penalties for drug smugglers to combat the fentanyl crisis nationwide. Meanwhile, North Carolina District Attorneys are focusing on local strategies to address the epidemic's effects in their communities.

In 2023 alone, an average of 12 people died every day from overdoses, according to North Carolina's Chief Medical Examiner.

Jeff Nieman, district attorney for Orange and Chatham counties, emphasizes the urgent need for action.

"What I see with fentanyl is a drug that accelerates the addictiveness and deadliness of substance use disorder," Nieman explained.

He argued there is a critical need for comprehensive strategies combining prevention, enhanced treatment options, and robust community support. On a federal level, the President will ask Congress for tougher penalties on drug traffickers and more regulations on substances related to fentanyl.

Todd Williams, district attorney for Buncombe County, echoes the need for a comprehensive approach. For him, it means intercepting fentanyl at the community level and holding traffickers accountable, while also expanding recovery services. Williams said he has already seen positive effects in his county through drug treatment courts.

"The program set up to provide for multiple chances at recovery," Williams emphasized. "All while ensuring that the offender is very well supervised and supported, and is not reoffending; not committing new crimes."

Both district attorneys touted the progress North Carolina has made, from creating a Fentanyl Task Force and passing an anti-money-laundering statute, to securing opioid settlement funds through Attorney General Josh Stein's office. Nieman stressed the measures are critical for supporting community efforts.

"He brought over $1 billion into the state of North Carolina," Nieman noted. "That's North Carolina in general, but the way that the settlement is structured, so that money is brought down to the local community, so that local leaders can decide how best to use that money to combat the crisis. That's key for us."

The Biden-Harris administration is also launching an "information partnership" with financial institutions, law enforcement and national security officials to crack down on drug trafficking and disrupt their means of financing.


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The most recent data from the group Trust for America's Health show overdoses and suicides remain at historic levels - despite a small decrease in 2022. But the findings for New Mexico are more encouraging than many other states.

Over the past two decades, said Brandon Reavis senior government relations manager for the Trust, said deaths from alcohol, drugs and suicide in the United States increased by 142%, from 74,000 in 2002 to almost 208,000 deaths in 2022.

"The report shows that in terms of combined deaths from alcohol, suicide and drug overdose, New Mexico is actually doing better than the national average," he said. "There was a 7% decline in the state, compared to a 1% decline across the country."

In contrast, he said, New Mexico has seen an increase in deaths from both fentanyl misuse and unintentional cocaine overdoses. While the combined rate of alcohol, drug and suicide deaths in 2022 was slightly lower for the first time in five years, it is still more than double what it was 20 years ago.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.

New Mexico has had suicide prevention success using harm-reduction techniques, but Reavis said the state needs more oversight of insurance providers and sustainable funding for the 988 lifeline. He noted that the new data comes at a time when many groups are reporting more mental-health issues, especially among kids.

"New Mexico was near the bottom of the state rankings in terms of school mental-health services," she said, "so, surging resources and training for those types of services, I think, is really critical to achieving the kind of generational and foundational changes that we need here."

Suicide is often not preceded by warnings. New Mexico authorities believe there have been three suicides at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge near Taos this year. Some community leaders say more bridge safety features are needed, but there are crisis hotline phones at the bridge, as well as an intervention security unit.


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