ACSH Science Dispatch

“The stricter the law enforcement, the more dangerous the drug.” That’s how ACSH advisor and Cato Institute senior fellow Dr. Jeffrey Singer describes the iron law of prohibition, which he argues is driving America’s overdose epidemic. How do we reverse this alarming trend? Legalize all drugs. Dr. Singer joins us on a special episode of Science Dispatch to make that case.

You asked, we answered. Join Cam English and Dr. Chuck Dinerstein on the latest episode of Science Dispatch as we tackle your questions about health and medicine. This week, we examine the risks and benefits of protein supplements, caffeine pouches and cold plunges.

The use of a newer class of opioids, nitazenes, is growing across the US. Once rarely seen in illicit markets before 2019, the drugs have been found on nearly every continent at this point. Their elevated potency—250 to 900 times stronger than morphine for the most common nitazene—makes them far deadlier than heroin and fentanyl. Can we slow or stop the use of these opioids before they do more damage?

Eating more calories earlier in the day may improve your insulin sensitivity, boosting your metabolic health and aiding weight management. Was "breakfast like a king, dinner like a pauper" right all along? Maybe. Recent genetics research might help validate this age-old nutritional wisdom.

Americans are regularly exposed to low levels of radiation during CT scans, fueling media speculation that this routine medical procedure is driving a cancer epidemic. Is there any truth to the CT scan-cancer association? Let's look at the data.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is once again warning about the supposed dangers posed by mercury-containing vaccines. "I’m proud to finally deliver on a long-overdue promise: protecting our most vulnerable from unnecessary mercury exposure," he tweeted in early August.

Kennedy was celebrating the removal of the preservative thimerosal from a small fraction of seasonal flu vaccines. The problem? He bungled basic chemistry in his rush to (once again) badmouth immunization. Let's take a look.

A growing body of research suggests that your gut microbiome can influence your health in a variety of subtle but important ways, and the foods you consume can have an upstream effect on the health of these trillions of microbes residing in your digestive system. An ACSH reader asks whether the widely used sweetener high fructose corn syrup should be avoided for that reason. Let's take a look.

Smoking kills hundreds of thousands of Americans annually. As this death toll mounts, studies continue to show that nicotine vaping is significantly less harmful than smoking and far more effective than FDA-approved cessation therapies like nicotine gum. Why, then, do so many public health experts malign vaping as a threat? Let's take a closer look

America's political debate over gun violence is a perennial food fight about the ethics of restricting access to firearms. While this makes for entertaining news clips on X, it doesn't get to the heart of the problem—namely that gun violence isn't monolithic.

Some populations are more likely to commit homicide while others are more inclined to suicide. Stemming the country's violent streak requires a more nuanced approach. What could that look like?

The White House recently disclosed that President Trump experiences chronic venous insufficiency, possibly intended to head off concerns that he suffers from a serious age-related health condition that could impair his ability to govern. This raises an important question: are high-level government officials entitled to medical privacy when their illnesses could affect their decision-making ability?