MMWR News Synopsis for July 14, 2016

 

Tobacco Product Use Among Adults — United States, 2013–2014

CDC Media Relations
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Continued implementation of proven population-based interventions focused on the diversity of tobacco product use could help reduce tobacco use and tobacco-related disease and death. An estimated 49.2 million US adults used a tobacco product every day or some days during 2013-2014. Cigarettes remained the most commonly used tobacco product. Young adults ages 18–24 years reported the highest use of emerging tobacco products, including hookahs and e-cigarettes. Differences in the use of any tobacco product were observed, with higher use reported among males; people younger than 45 years; non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, or non-Hispanic other races; people in the Midwest or South; people with a General Educational Development certificate; people who were single/never married/not living with a partner or divorced/separated/widowed; people with annual household income <$20,000; and people who were lesbian, gay, or bisexual. Proven population-based interventions to prevent and reduce tobacco use include a combination of comprehensive smoke-free laws, high-impact media campaigns, tobacco price increases, and easy access to quitting assistance.

Acute Poisonings from Synthetic Cannabinoids — 50 U.S. Toxicology Investigators Consortium Registry Sites, 2010–2015

CDC Media Relations
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Synthetic cannabinoids are potentially dangerous street drugs responsible for an increasing number of severe intoxications requiring medical attention and/or hospitalization in the United States. Acute intoxications by synthetic cannabinoids appear to be increasing in the United States. Synthetic cannabinoids are two to 100 times more potent than cannabis, with exposure causing a range of mild to severe neuropsychiatric, cardiovascular, and other effects. From 2010–2015, physicians in the Toxicology Investigators Consortium (ToxIC) treated 456 patients for synthetic cannabinoid poisoning. Among the 277 patients with synthetic cannabinoids as their sole toxicologic exposure, the most common clinical signs were neurologic, including agitation, coma/central nervous system depression, and delirium/toxic psychosis. Relative to all poisoning cases logged by 50 different sites in ToxIC, there was a statistically significant association between reporting year and the annual proportion of synthetic cannabinoid cases, corroborating recent upward trends reported by others and underscoring the need for prevention.

Notes from the Field

• Meningococcal Disease in an International Traveler on Eculizumab Therapy — United States, 2015
• Acute Sulfuryl Fluoride Poisoning in a Family — Florida, August 2015

QuickStats:

• Percentage of Adults Aged ≥18 Years with Two or More Visits to the Emergency Department in the Previous 12 Months, by Home Ownership and Age Group — National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2015

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES