Drug abuse is a serious problem, which is capable of not only causing death to the one using it, but create a havoc in the lives of those who are associated with that person too. There have been plenty cases, whether it is Matthew Perry or the recent death of Liam Payne, which is in trial currently.

It is also a problem in the US and is emerging as one of the health concerns that could destroy families and society. One of the most alarming aspects of drug abuse is also its impact on public safety as well as increased crime rates. Drugs also take a heavy toll on healthcare systems as emergency departments frequently encounter cases of drug overdoses, which puts the burden on medical professional who have the strain the limited resources available.

There are also long-term health impact due to drug abuse, which includes organ damage, infectious disease, mental health disorders and rise in healthcare cost.

Are there any specific drugs which are most abused in US?

Yes. There are commonly used drugs, which also includes prescribed painkillers like oxycodone, hydrocodone, and fentanyl, as well as illicit substances like heroin. As per recent data, opioid abuse has also reached alarming levels which has affected millions of Americans.

Here are the most abused drugs in the US:

Stimulants

They are used to increase alertness, attention, and energy. They also have a high potential for abuse due to the euphoric and performance enhancing effects. Cocaine and methamphetamine are notable stimulants frequently abused in the US. As per 2019 data, 10.3 million people reported to misuse stimulants in the previous year.

Depressants

These substances are used to slow down brain activity and induce relaxation. Benzodiazepines is one of the commonly prescribed medicine. Around 4.8 million individuals in the US have misused this drug.

Other misused drugs and its affects on the health:

Opioids:

It could lead to slow breathing and heart rate. It can also increase the risk of overdose and respiratory failure, constipation and a weakened immune system.

Stimulants:

It can elevate heart rate and blood pressure. It could also increase body temperate and lead to an irregular heartbeat. Furthermore, one can experience loss of appetite and weight loss.

Cannabis:

This can alter perception and coordination. People who consume it often have red eyes and a dry mouth. This can increase appetite, sometimes the "munchies" can reach to a point of no return and it could impair memory and cognitive function.

Benzodiazepines:

It could lead to sedation and drowsiness and an impaired coordination and balance. There also could be memory problems and confusion, along with respiratory depression, when combined with other depressant substance.

Alcohol:

This could lead to slurred speech, impaired condition, poor judgment and decision-making, liver damage and cirrhosis and an increased risk of accidents and injuries, which is the 3rd most leading cause of death in the US.

Additional Negative Impact: Social and psychological

Substance abuse impairs job performance and reliability, leading to frequent absenteeism, reduced productivity, and even job loss. This further leads to financial instability, strained relationships, and a cycle of dependency.

One child in India dies every nine minutes from an infection caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, as it becomes one of the top 10 global public health threats, experts warn.

Dr HB Veena Kumari of the Department of Neuromicrobiology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, claims: "The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly contributed to rising antimicrobial resistance. The World Health Organisation projects that 10 million deaths will occur annually by 2025."

According to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria in the body learns to withstand and remain unaffected by the medicines (antibiotics) meant to kill them.

In such cases, doctors have to switch to different antibiotics, but these backup medicines might not work as well or might cause more side effects. Additionally, infections may also worsen over time as bacteria can become resistant to all available drugs.

Alarmingly is that these tough, drug-resistant bacteria can spread from one person to another, both in hospitals and at home.

According to Dr TS Balganesh, Gangagen Biotechnologies, nearly 36 percent of haemodialysis patients die from fatal infections, which is second only to cardiovascular diseases as a cause of death.

He tells Deccan Herald: "The risk for infective endocarditis in haemodialysis patients is approximately 18 times higher than in the general population and up to 58 percent of these episodes are caused by a bacteria named 'S aureus', with an in-hospital mortality of more than 50 percent."

What Does WHO Say?

One out of every six serious infections confirmed in labs worldwide last year could not be killed by the antibiotics meant to treat them.

Between 2018 and 2023, the problem of antibiotics failing (called resistance) got much worse. For many common types of germs, resistance went up by 5% to 15% every year. The growing inability of these essential medicines to work is a huge threat to people everywhere.

Which Antibiotics Are People Becoming Resistant To?

The WHO's latest report is the most detailed look yet at this issue. It reports on how much resistance exists across 22 different antibiotics, which include common drugs used to treat everyday illnesses. The report focused on eight common types of bacteria that cause things like:

• Urinary tract infections (UTIs)
• Stomach and intestinal infections
• Dangerous blood infections
• Gonorrhoea

Additionally, Dr Obaidur Rahman of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital has also warned that the country’s casual use of Azithromycin, sold under brand names such as Zithromax, Azee and Zmax, has worsened its effectiveness and pushed India closer to a major public health challenge.

A drug often prescribed for sore throats and upper respiratory tract infections, Dr Rahman noted that Azithromycin was once effective against Mycoplasma Pneumonia, a bacterium responsible for pneumonia in adults and children.

READ MORE: India’s New Antibiotic in 30 Years Offers Hope Against Antibacterial-Resistant Infections

However, this is no longer the case as India now shows an alarming 80 to 90 percent resistance to the drug when treating infections caused by this bacterium. A medicine that once addressed a wide range of respiratory problems is no longer reliable for many patients.

The surgeon has since urged people to avoid taking antibiotics without proper medical advice. Most seasonal respiratory infections resolve on their own, and unnecessary drugs only add to the resistance problem.

Supreme Court on Friday declared the right to menstrual health as part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. The court issued a slew of directions to ensure that every school provides biodegradable sanitary napkins free of cost to adolescent girls. The guidelines also ensured that schools must be equipped with functional and hygienic gender-segregated toilets. The Court directed the pan-India implementation of the Union's national policy, 'Menstrual Hygiene Policy for School-going Girls' in schools for adolescent girl children from Classes 6-12.

Read: Menopause Clinics Explained: Latest Launch By Maharashtra And Kerala Government

Supreme Court Declares Menstrual Hygiene As Part Of Right To Life: Here Are the Directions

A bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan passed the following directions:

• All States/UT must ensure that every school, whether government-run or privately managed, in both urban and rural areas, is provided with functional gender segregated toilets with usable water connectivity.
• All existing or newly constructed toilets in schools shall be designed, constructed and maintained to ensure privacy and accessibility, including by catering to needs of children with disabilities.
• All school toilets must be equipped with functional washing facilities and soap and water available at all times.
• All states/UTs must ensure that every school, whether government-run or privately managed, in both urban and rural areas, provide oxo-biodegradable sanitary napkins manufactured in compliance with the ASTM D-6954 standards free of cost. Such sanitary napkins must be made readily accessible to girl students, preferably within toilet premises through sanitary napkin vending machines or, where not visible, at a designated place.
• All States/UTs must ensure that every school, whether government-run or privately managed, in both urban and rural areas establish menstrual hygiene management corners. It must be equipped with spare innerwears, uniforms, disposable pads and other necessary materials to address menstrual urgency.

The court also issued directions for the disposal of sanitary waste. Justice Pardiwala said, "This pronouncement is not just for stakeholders of the legal system. It is also meant for classrooms where girls hesitate to ask for help. It is for teachers who want to help but are restrained due to a lack of resources. And it is for parents who may not realise the impact of their silence and for society to establish its progress as a measure in how we protect the most vulnerable. We wish to communicate to every girlchild who may have become a victim of absenteeism because her body was perceived as a burden when the fault is not hers."

Read: Menstrual Cups To Replace Sanitary Napkins In Karnataka Government Schools

Why Is This Judgment So Important?

In India, menstruation is still seen as taboo. In fact, there is a lot of shame around it. Menstrual shame is the deeply internalized stigma, embarrassment, and negative perception surrounding menstruation, which causes individuals to feel unclean, or "less than" for a natural biological process. This judgment thus is an effort to do away with the shame rooted in cultural, social, and religious taboos, which is often the reason why many girls drop out, or due to lack of awareness, develop health adversities.

Most health videos on YouTube, even those made by doctors are also not reliable medical information, found a new study, published in JAMA Network Open. The researchers reviewed 309 popular YouTube videos on cancer and diabetes and found that fewer than 1 in 5 were supported by high quality scientific evidence. About two-thirds of the view had low, very low or no evidence at all to back up their health claims.

What was more concerning is that weaker evidence often attracted more viewer than those backed with strong science. The study looked at videos which had at least 10,000 views. The lead author of the study Dr EunKyo Kang of South Korea's National Cancer Center, said, "This reveals a substantial credibility-evidence gap in medical content videos, where physician authority frequently legitimizes claims lacking robust empirical support."

"Our findings underscore the necessity for evidence-based content-creation guidelines, enhanced science communication training for health care professionals, and algorithmic reforms prioritizing scientific rigor alongside engagement metrics," Kang added in a news release.

How Was The Study Conducted?

The researchers reviewed videos from June 20 and 21, 2025, focusing on cancer and diabetes content. 75 per cent of them were made by physicians. The videos had a median count of 164,000 views and a median length of 19 minutes.

Researchers also developed a scoring system, called E-GRADE to rate the strength of science backed evidence in each video's claim.

This is how the grading system worked:

• GRADE A: high quality evidence
• GRADE B: standard quality evidence
• GRADE C: low quality evidence
• GRADE D: very low or no evidence

What Were The Results Of The Medical Videos?

• GRADE A: 19.7%
• GRABE B: 14.6%
• GRADE C: 3.2%
• GRADE D: 62.5%

The study also found that videos with the weakest evidence were 35% more likely to get higher views than videos with strong scientific evidence.

Richard Saver, a professor of law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill noted that this issue is not just limited to YouTube. "Physician-spread misinformation is a long-standing problem, dating back well before the internet era," he wrote in an accompanying editorial.

Saver said some doctors continue to lean on personal experience rather than solid data, despite evidence-based medicine being regarded as the gold standard. He noted that EBM can feel like it downplays individual clinical judgment. Still, Saver stressed that more research is needed, adding that the study underscores the importance of examining the evidence behind health professionals’ claims on social media.

How Health And Me Has Helped With Medical Facts

Health and Me has always stayed a step ahead from medical misinformation and ensured that its readers too consume correct information. Health and Me's Fact Check series have consistently ran checks on bizarre medical claims, whether it is about a magical potion for weight loss, fake health news, or un-scientific remedies.

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