CU Anschutz In The News

David Kroll, a professor at the University of Colorado’s Skaggs School of Pharmacy, has spent 35 years studying drugs from nature — like psilocybin mushrooms and other naturally occurring chemicals — that he says have given rise to 25% of all prescription drugs and 65% of all the country’s over-the-counter medications. Kroll said the growing population of patients who are not responding to traditional treatments for depression, anxiety, PTSD and substance abuse has opened the door to further investigation of any chemicals that may deliver relief.

Ashley Brooks-Russell, an assistant professor at the Colorado School of Public Health studying adolescent substance use, called the policy an “essential update” to the state’s ban on indoor smoking, which was passed more than a decade ago. “If we allow e-cigarettes to be used in public places, it falsely communicates that products are different from cigarettes or other tobacco products,” said Brooks-Russell, who also directs the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey. “It reinforces the mistaken idea that these products are safe and acceptable for our youth to use.”

The state ranks at the bottom because the law allows parents to claim exemptions for medical, religious or personal reasons, which is “essentially the easiest exemption policy in the country,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, an associate professor in pediatrics and infectious diseases at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “We need to do something about it.”

“A good reason that Colorado does pretty well is that it’s a pretty healthy place,” said Dr. Myles Cockburn, co-leader of the University of Colorado Cancer Center’s Cancer Prevention and Control Program, which released the Colorado cancer data.

Dr. Brenda Bucklin, associate dean for CME and professional development at the University of Colorado Medical School, said she isn’t sure a minimum requirement would make a big difference in the state. “I think most people participate anyway,” Bucklin said. She said 27,000 physicians participated in CU’s continuing education program last year, although not all were from Colorado.