Population Health

Alcohol is a causal factor in more than 200 disease and injury conditions in the human body. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define excessive drinking as binge drinking (4 or more drinks for women, 5 or more for men on one occasion in the past month), heavy drinking (8 or more drinks for women, 15 or more for men in a week), and any drinking during pregnancy or by persons younger than age 21 years. More

Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) are an effective legal tool for reducing firearm suicide by temporarily removing access to firearms for certain individuals who exhibit dangerous behavior. Unlike most state laws restricting access to firearms based on status, ERPOs are predicated on the assessment of future risk of harm to self or other, as determined by civil court file finding. Emerging research indicates that separating those in crisis from lethal means reduces firearm mortality. We assess Maine’s unique approach and consider whether it is a replicable policy option for other states or should be modified to comport with other states’ more broadly applicable model. More

The United States continues to experience a nearly unprecedented level of drug-related health harms, with over 105,000 Americans dying of overdose in 2023 alone. Although overall overdose deaths declined slightly from 2022 to 2023, rates for Black people continued to rise. Stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine are increasingly involved in overdose deaths, and xylazine and other contaminants continue to be prevalent in the illicit drug supply. More