As officials struggle to fight the opioid epidemic that is plaguing the country, some big cities are considering creating "safe injection" sites. Addicts would be able to use their drugs under the watch of medical professionals, and they would be provided clean needles. While no city has submitted a formal plan, the idea is already stirring up controversy.
Dina Fine Maron, Health & Medicine Editor at Scientific American, explains the science behind safe injection sites. Allowing addicts to use drugs under supervision and with clean needles helps to reduce diseases associated with intravenous drug use such as HIV.
While no city in the United States has a "safe injection" site, Fine Maron says existing sites in Europe and Canada have proven to be a success. Data shows that opening these sites helps reduce opioid-related deaths and problems.
Smoke and ash from massive wildfires in the American West shrouded the sky and led to air quality alerts on parts of the East Coast.
U.S. life expectancy fell by a year and a half in 2020, the largest one-year decline since World War II. The decrease for both Black Americans and Hispanic Americans was even worse: three years.
Health officials say the delta variant of the coronavirus continues to surge and accounts for an estimated 83% of U.S. COVID-19 cases.
Canada will begin letting fully vaccinated U.S. citizens into Canada on Aug. 9, and those from the rest of the world on Sept. 7.
Pacific Gas & Electric says its equipment may have been involved in the start of the big Dixie Fire burning in the Sierra Nevada.
German officials defended their actions ahead of last week’s devastating floods that caught many towns by surprise and left 196 people dead in Western Europe, but they conceded that lessons still need to be learned from the disaster.
Smoke and heat from the massive wildfire in southeastern Oregon are creating so-called fire clouds over the blaze.
Emergency workers in western German and Belgium are rushing to rescue hundreds of people in danger or still unaccounted for as the death toll from devastating floods rose to more than 125 people.
Jeff Bezos blasted into space Tuesday on his rocket company’s first flight with people on board, becoming the second billionaire in just over a week to ride his own spacecraft.
A Dutch 18-year-old is about to become the youngest person in space. Blue Origin announced that instead of a $28 million auction winner launching with founder Jeff Bezos on Tuesday, runner-up Oliver Daemen will be on board.
