In December of 2025, Janica Mendenhall took her daughter to a local urgent care. The 16-year-old had a respiratory infection with excessive coughing that worried her mother. Providers at the clinic sent the teen to a nearby hospital – her condition reported as “severe complications of the flu, exacerbated by
Williamson County commissioners have voted to expand the alcohol sales buffer zone around churches, schools and hospitals. In Texas, the typical buffer zone is 300 feet past the property line, but state law allows it to be expanded to 1000 feet, or about the length of three football fields. The … Continue to full story .......
Cannabis is here to stay in Texas, lawmakers and industry leaders said this week, as efforts to ban consumable hemp are losing steam. However, figuring out how to regulate the market remains a glaring problem that lawmakers will likely address in 2027. State Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, and
Access to THC hemp for Texas patients could change drastically. On Jan. 9, the Texas Department of State Health Services proposed raising licensing fees for the THC hemp industry. Retailers would pay $20,000 per location, up from $150, and manufacturers would pay $25,000 per facility, up from $250. State officials
More than $4,000-worth of THC vape cartridges was allegedly at the center of Travis County’s first homicide of 2026, according to an arrest affidavit filed on Jan. 15 by a Travis County Sheriff’s Office detective. The fatal shooting happened on Jan. 7, shortly before midnight, at a gas station near … Continue to full story .......
New regulations for the consumable hemp industry were approved by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC). The rules change little for the $5 billion industry, replacing the temporary emergency rules in place since September. The rules prohibit the sale of consumable hemp products by TABC license holders to people under
Hays County District Attorney announced that 29-year-old Izaiah Vela was sentenced to 75 years in prison for sexual assault of a child, and evidence showed the defendant repeatedly sold fentanyl pills to high school students in Hays County, including to a 15-year-old high school sophomore who died in 2023.
Opioid use disorder among young people is a serious but often overlooked issue in the United States. In a national 2023 survey, 1.3% of kids between the ages of 12 and 17 reported an opioid use disorder. While 1.3% might not sound like a lot, it represents around 342,000 … Continue to full story .......
Pharmacists address the hidden risks of legal substances like nitrous oxide and kratom, emphasizing the need for public education and safety measures. Substances marketed as “legal” or “natural” alternatives are increasingly accessible to adolescents through gas stations, convenience stores, and vape shops. Although legality may reassure consumers, pharmacists are seeing
New research indicates a significant shift in the fentanyl crisis, with a major disruption in the illegal fentanyl market possibly linked to actions by the Chinese government which may have contributed to a sharp decline in overdose deaths in the U.S. and Canada starting in mid-2023 and continuing into … Continue to full story .......
The Trump administration reversed course just after notifying thousands of organizations across the country that their substance use recovery and mental health grants were being terminated. Democratic lawmakers criticized President Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over the terminations after they came to light mid January.
The cuts
Texas state health officials have proposed raising licensing fees by as much as 13,000% for some hemp businesses, among a slate of changes that many industry members and advocates say will shutter small operations in favor of large out-of-state companies. Supporters of this change say this is necessary to strengthen
Current Webinars
Past Webinars
Preventing Opioid Misuse Among Girls – Community of Practice (CoP) grant from the Federal Office of Womens Health