Health
Oglala Sioux Tribe embraces recreational marijuana sales
PINE RIDGE, S.D. — In a growing number of U.S. states, people can both drink alcohol and legally smoke recreational marijuana. In others, they can use alcohol but not pot. But on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the opposite is true: Marijuana is legal, but booze is banned. Citizens of the Oglala […]
City officially shuts down Coronado Park, leaving some to find new place to sleep
City officials put up fences around Coronado Park near Downtown Albuquerque on Wednesday, the official closure of a place where as many as 125 unsheltered people once camped. Mayor Tim Keller made the announcement about closing the park last month, surprising many. The move comes amid a housing shortage in the city and right after […]
Governor praises health care workers as she further lifts COVID protections
At an awards ceremony for health care workers at a high-end hotel with a cocktail dress code on Tuesday night, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham praised their collective effort to save lives from COVID. “We stood up testing. We stood up vaccinations. We stood it all up. Nobody pointed at one other group and said, ‘Your […]
Complex PTSD finally has a name; now those living with it want acceptance
WASHINGTON – Over more than 30 years, Peoria resident Michael Burns was diagnosed with everything from ADHD to PTSD to depression, but it was not until he did his own research that he found a diagnosis that fit: Complex PTSD. When he showed his research to his clinicians, they agreed he was the poster child […]
Abortion should be a kitchen table conversation
My mom began dating an obstetrician-gynecologist when I was in high school. While she always spoke openly about reproductive health care with me, our kitchen table conversations quickly turned into question and answer sessions with her new partner. When asked about his day, he described the differences in birth control methods, new technology for hysterectomies, […]
Twenty states, D.C. join in opposing Texas lawsuit on emergency abortion care
WASHINGTON — Attorneys general from 20 states and the District of Columbia filed a brief in federal court on Tuesday, challenging Texas’ assertion that states shouldn’t have to comply with a federal law that protects doctors who end a pregnancy to save the patient’s life. The brief argues the judge in the case shouldn’t grant […]
NM lawmakers concerned that DOH vacancies will hinder goals to fight nicotine addiction
The Department of Health’s anti-nicotine program wants to prevent people statewide from smoking in the first place and battle addiction for those who already are. But lawmakers are concerned about the reality of achieving these goals amid the program’s staffing shortages. Nicotine Use Prevention & Control Program Manager Esther Hoang led a presentation to the […]
UNM Health Sciences VP calls on lawmakers to consider solutions for vulnerable smokers
With nearly 3,000 smoking-related deaths annually, New Mexico’s Department of Health reports that commercial tobacco use is the largest preventable cause of disease, disability and death in the state. Effects are even worse on people struggling with mental health. Smoking tobacco increases relaxation and releases tension but causes various cancers and diseases, shortens lifespans and […]
U.S. House Democrats send sweeping climate, health and tax legislation to Biden
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Friday cleared Democrats’ long-sought climate, health care and tax package, sending it to President Joe Biden for his signature. The roughly $750 billion measure is much smaller than the $2 trillion reconciliation package the House originally sent to the Senate in November. The final product left out dozens of […]
Biden signs landmark bill aiding veterans exposed to burn pits overseas
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed legislation into law Wednesday that will provide health care and benefits to veterans exposed to burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq, achieving a long-term, personal goal. “I was in and out of Iraq over 20 times,” Biden said of prior trips to the war zone he took as both […]
Cannon Air Force Base ducking public meetings about ‘forever chemical’ risk, neighbors say
Dairy farmers and advocates near Cannon Air Force Base say officials there are stonewalling their call for transparency and more public forums to discuss PFAS contamination. In October 2018, representatives from the military base just outside of Clovis approached Art Schaap, a dairy farmer on more than 3,500 acres adjoining the base, and told him […]
Muslim candidate to slowly resume public appearances after police arrest homicide suspect in NM
Running to represent part of northeast Albuquerque in New Mexico’s House, Muslim engineer Khalid Emshadi halted in-person aspects of his campaign for a few days out of fear for his life amid a string of killings. Now that police have taken a suspect into custody, the Republican candidate plans to gradually start returning to public […]