NYTIMES (Matt Richtel and Alana Paterson) - At Shambhala Music Festival, a Plan To Make Drugs Like Ketamine and MDMA Safer
Most raves turn a blind eye to drugs. At Shambhala, free testing offers peace of mind — but can’t eliminate risk altogether.
NEWSNATIONNOW (Anna Kooiman) - Risk and recreation: US sports betting soars, marijuana use multiplies
In 2025, Americans spent $166 billion betting on sports; and 21.4 million people used marijuana on a near-daily basis.
AMERICANGREATNESS (Bryan Hyde) - Study Finds Daily Marijuana Use Surpasses Daily Alcohol Consumption Among US Adults
Daily or near-daily marijuana use has surpassed daily alcohol consumption in the United States, reaching 20.9 million to 21.4 million daily users compared to roughly […] Source
STRIPES (Matthew Adams) - Army bans kratom use, underscoring Pentagon’s prohibition of the drug | Stars and Stripes
Soldiers are prohibited from using, possessing or distributing kratom or its primary psychoactive components, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine.
HUFFPOST - Enhanced Games, Which Allow Drugs Banned In Mainstream Sports, Get Off To A Bumpy Start
Only one athlete went faster than the existing world record at the event.
NYTIMES (Maria Cramer and Olivia Bensimon) - New York’s Rape Laws Leave Out Many Victims Who Drank Willingly
Prosecutors say accusers who chose to drink or get high have a “very high burden” of proving they were physically helpless and unable to consent. There is a push to change the law.
AXIOS (Avery Lotz) - Teen temptations beware: MAHA-era FDA gives vapes, tanning beds a boost
The Food and Drug Administration is easing restrictions on unauthorized vapes and scrapping a proposed ban on minors using tanning beds, reflecting a tumultuous shift in priorities during the MAHA era . The big picture: The moves risk weakening federal efforts to protect teens from unhealthy habits and emboldening industries that market addictive or high-risk products, public health experts warn. Driving the news: The FDA handed the vaping industry two wins in May: authorizing its first fruit-flavored vaping products for adults, a decision opposed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, and signaling it won't prioritize enforcement against some unauthorized products. - Former FDA commissioner Marty Makary reportedly resisted …
AXIOS (Avery Lotz) - Today's teens are a more sober, less social generation
Teens today are drinking less than their parents did — but the trends that may be supercharging their sobriety aren't all positive. The big picture: Researchers say there isn't one definitive reason for the shift . Some hypothesize it isn't solely a health kick, but that some teenagers have no one to say "cheers" with. - The generation whose childhood was warped by a pandemic and the exponential acceleration in tech and social media is, perhaps unsurprisingly, isolated . - "The way that we socialize post-COVID is just really different," says Rachel Janfaza, a Gen Z researcher and author of "The Up and Up" newsletter. Coupled with social media, "those two forces ... have created a perfect storm for a change in how we hang out." By…
NYTIMES (Ezra Klein and Annie Galvin) - GLP-1s and the ‘Wild West’ of Wellness
One in eight American adults is taking GLP-1s. What does that mean for how we relate to our food, bodies and one another?
NYTIMES (Andrew Jacobs) - A Long, Strange Trip: How the G.O.P. Came to Embrace Psychedelic Drugs
For decades, conservatives were adamantly opposed to the use of drugs like psilocybin and LSD. Now, the Trump administration has made a sharp pivot.