ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital said it’s seeing a big increase in respiratory illnesses.
According to the hospital, cases of some illnesses, like the flu, have jumped by more than 300% from this time last year. One pediatric emergency medicine physician said there’s not one clear reason for the spike.
What You Need To Know
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital said it’s seeing a steep increase in respiratory illnesses from this time last year
According to the hospital, flu cases are up by 322%, RSV cases jumped by 114% and other respiratory illnesses have increased by 244%
Emergency medicine physician Dr. Ebony Hunter said multiple factors are likely behind the spike, including a dip in immunizations
Hunter said it’s not too late in the cold and flu season for kids and adults to get vaccinated
“Kids being a little bit more social, drop in immunization rates — I think there are multiple things contributing to the contagion this year,” said Dr. Ebony Hunter.
One of Hunter’s recent patients in the emergency department was 2-year-old Jace Paner. His mother, Karina Paner, said the symptoms that brought him to the hospital started a few days before and included sneezing, coughing, and a runny nose.
“He started having breathing issues last night and this morning. So, we went over to the pediatrician’s office, and then he wasn’t responding to Albuterol treatment,” she said. “They sent us over here.”
Hunter said she’s seeing more and more cases like Jace’s in the emergency room.
. @allchildrens says it’s seeing a big spike in respiratory illnesses. According to the hospital, compared to this same time last year: 🤧Flu cases – ⬆️322% 🤒Common cold cases – ⬆️244% 😷RSV cases – ⬆️114%@BN9pic.twitter.com/IR4qoLxEVj
“Jace is here for viral URI symptoms, and his oxygen got low,” Hunter explained as she examined Jace.
“It’s always distressing when the child is in distress, and it’s that time of year,” said Karina.
According to the hospital, cases of the flu are up 322% from this same time last year, and RSV cases have jumped by 114%. Other respiratory illnesses have increased by 244%.
“I will say our admission rates are through the roof right now,” said Hunter. “We’re doing a lot of holds in the ER, and the hospital is full to capacity. We are trying our best to service the community during this time.”
Hunter said the severity of individual cases depends on the illness and the age of the child. Younger children have a higher risk of being hospitalized because with smaller airways, congestion can make it harder to breathe. Jace and his mom were waiting on a X-ray and test results early Friday evening.
“We’re still kind of waiting on answers, but he’s doing a little bit better since we left the pediatrician’s office. So, hopefully we’re on the mend soon,” said Karina.
To stay healthy, Hunter recommends both kids and adults wash their hands and wear a mask. She also said anyone who’s immunocompromised or not vaccinated should stay away from others who are sick. She also noted that it’s not too late to get vaccinated for the flu and RSV.
In Finland, some parents have adopted a bedtime routine that seems almost too simple to matter. Each night, they ask their children one question: “What was the last good moment of your day?” No screens, no lectures, no moralizing, just a moment to pause and reflect.
Psychologists who followed families practicing this ritual for 10 years found remarkable results. Children who answered the question daily were up to 80 percent less anxious by the time they reached their teenage years. Ending the day on a calm note helps the brain wrap up its stress cycle, allowing children to sleep more peacefully and recover emotionally from the day’s challenges.
The story recently became popular on social media, but it also makes us think about something bigger: why don’t the media talk more about such easy and helpful ways to take care of our mental health? In a news world focused on major crises and troubling stories, reporters don’t often highlight positive developments happening around the world.
The hidden cost of daily news
Newsrooms have long followed the mantra: “If it bleeds, it leads.” Stories about crime, disasters, or conflict grab attention – and clicks. But reading it can really affect people’s feelings. The research has shown that many adults experience stress or discomfort when following the news, and some even limit their news consumption because they find it stressful (American Psychological Association 2023). Meanwhile, the Reuters Institute notes that “news avoidance” is rising globally, as people deliberately turn away from stories that make them feel overwhelmed.
The paradox is clear: journalism aims to inform and empower the public, yet relentless coverage of negative events can leave readers anxious, helpless, or disengaged. Ignoring these effects undercuts the basic mission of the press.
Learning from Finland: A different approach
The Finnish bedtime ritual offers a useful metaphor for journalism. Just like children think about their day before going to sleep, readers can better understand the news if stories include background information, ideas for fixing problems, and messages of hope.
This is the philosophy behind solutions journalism, promoted by groups like the Solutions Journalism Network. It doesn’t mean sugar-coating problems or avoiding hard truths. Instead, it means telling the full story, highlighting not just the problem but also credible responses and examples of success.
For instance, when reporting on youth anxiety, a journalist could explore programs in schools, community initiatives, or national policies that help children build resilience. Research from the University of Texas at Austin’s Engaging News Project found that readers of solutions-focused articles felt more optimistic about the issue and more confident that there were effective ways to address it, compared with readers who only saw problem-focused news. Engaging audiences this way also strengthens trust in media, an important advantage at a time when many people doubt the news.
Small shifts, big impact
In many ways, journalism can borrow inspiration from the Finnish habit of ending the day with a moment of reflection. It’s a simple cultural practice, not a rule, but it shows how small habits can shape how people process the world around them and be less anxious.
Similarly, there are a few modest adjustments journalists can consider when thinking about how audiences absorb the news:
Language: choosing clear, calm wording instead of dramatic phrasing when covering difficult subjects.
Balance: showing not only the problem, but also what people or communities are trying in response.
Context: helping readers understand why something is happening, not only that it happened.
Follow-up: returning to stories so people see what changed over time.
They are reflections on how reporting might support a clearer and more grounded understanding of events. And just as the Finnish ritual helps families end the day with perspective, these small journalistic choices can help audiences navigate the news with a better coherence.
Real-world examples
Some news outlets are already using solutions journalism. The Guardian’s Upside series, BBC’s People Fixing the World, and CBC’s What On Earth? spotlight serious issues, like climate, health, and inequality, while focusing on real-world innovations and responses. These programs illustrate that news can inform without overwhelming, by highlighting constructive change.
Closing the cycle
In a world where headlines bombard us with crisis after crisis, journalism can offer closure. Just as the Finnish ritual encourages children to reflect on a positive moment before sleep, journalists can help audiences finish the news cycle feeling informed rather than exhausted. The goal isn’t “feel-good news” – it’s resilience and understanding in an age of constant noise.
Journalism has always been about sharing information. Today, it can also help improve our mental well-being, one calming story at a time.
American Psychological Association (2023). Stress in America: The State of Our Nation.
Reuters Institute (2024). Digital News Report: Trends in News Consumption and Avoidance.
University of Texas at Austin (2021). The Effects of Solutions Journalism on Audience Trust and Engagement.
Having a smartphone may be harmful for children younger than 12, according to a new study.
The study published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal Pediatrics found that owning a smartphone during early adolescence is associated with increased risks of mental health issues and obesity. As far as psychological impacts, it pinpointed higher incidences of depression and insufficient sleep among children who owned smartphones by ages 12 or younger, compared with others kids without the devices.
Researchers at Children’s Hospital Philadelphia, the University of California at Berkeley, and Columbia University arrived at those conclusions after analyzing data from more than 10,000 adolescents around the United States who participated in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD) between 2018 and 2020. That study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, describes itself as “the largest long-term study of brain development and child health” in the country.
According to researchers, 63.6% of the ABCD study’s participants owned a smartphone, and the median age they received them was at 11 years old. Using that data, the researchers determined that younger children had greater risks than older participants of poor sleep or obesity linked to smartphone ownership, with increasingly worse health outcomes reported for kids the younger they were when they received their first smartphone.
“We didn’t even look at what the kids did on the phone,” Ran Barzilay, the lead author of the study and a child psychiatrist with the Youth Suicide Prevention, Intervention and Research Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told CBS News. “We basically asked one simple question: does the mere factor of having one’s own smartphone at this age range have anything to do with health outcomes?”
The Pediatrics study also compared children who had obtained a smartphone by age 12 and children who had not, and found that one year later, those without smartphones were experiencing better mental health than those who had them.
“We did account for the fact that the kids may have had other technological devices like tablets or iPads, and it did not change the results,” Barzilay said in an interview on CBS News’ “The Daily Report.”
In a separate statement, Barzilay said his study’s findings suggest that parents should see smartphones as having “a significant factor in teen health” and approach the decision to give children a phone with care and consideration. He noted that smartphones “can play a constructive role” in teens’ lives by strengthening their social connections and helping them learn, adding that some families see smartphones as necessary for their children’s safety.
Going forward, Barzilay said the researchers behind the study hope to investigate which aspects of smartphone use and ownership are connected with negative health effects for young people. Researchers intend to study younger children, who acquired smartphones before age 10, in an effort to understand who is most vulnerable to the detrimental impacts of smartphone use who and who could most benefit from it. Ultimately, Barzilay said the goal is to identify ways to protect children and adolescents who own smartphones from the consequences outlined in their findings.
In recent years, a growing number of experts have sounded the alarm about increased screen time and the effect it has on kids and teens. In a 2023 advisory on social media use and mental health, former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy recommended creating “tech-free zones” and encouraging kids to “foster in-person friendships.” Meanwhile, several states have taken steps to ban cellphones in schools.
According to Pew Research Center, 95% of teens between the ages of 13 and 17 owned a smartphone in 2024. More than half of parents with children between the ages of 11 and 12 who were surveyed by the research center at that time said their kids also owned smartphones. The same survey found that nearly 30% of parents with children between 8 and 10 years old said their kids owned smartphones, as did 12% of parents with children between 5 and 7 years old, and 8% of parents with children younger than 5.
“Most probably, all teens will eventually have a smartphone,” said Barzilay. “Once this happens, it is advisable to monitor what our children do on their phones, ensuring they’re not exposed to inappropriate content and that smartphones don’t disrupt sleep.”
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — A Pinellas County teacher is in critical condition after being struck by lightning while vacationing with family and friends in Peru.
What You Need To Know
A Pinellas County teacher is in critical condition after being struck by lightning while vacationing with family and friends in Peru
James Fernandez was biking down a mountain last Wednesday with his close friend, Yuri, when both were hit by a lightning strike
Yuri was killed instantly. Fernandez survived but suffered catastrophic injuries
James Fernandez was biking down a mountain last Wednesday with his close friend, Yuri, when both were hit by a lightning strike. Yuri was killed instantly. Fernandez survived but suffered catastrophic injuries.
Fernandez had traveled to Peru with his wife, Alexis, their 5-month-old child and close friends for a holiday trip.
Rick Alvarez, Fernandez’s father-in-law, says the family is reeling.
“He is fighting for his life,” Alvarez said. “He has a severe spinal injury. They had to do emergency surgery to stabilize the C3–C4 area. At the moment, he’s just fighting.”
Alvarez says Fernandez didn’t take a direct hit, but was close enough to the strike to be severely injured. The electrical arc from the lightning may have thrown him from his bike.
Alexis is at his bedside in Peru.
“She’ll call me and start crying — it’s just tough,” Alvarez said. “I can truly say their marriage was Camelot. Two people that met and love each other.”
He describes Fernandez as an adventurous outdoorsman and a devoted father.
Yuri, the friend who died, was like family.
“He’s the type of guy you want to hug,” Alvarez said. “A big guy, a super guy. It’s a tragic loss.”
For now, the family can only hope and pray. Doctors in Peru have not yet cleared Fernandez for medical transport back to Florida.
BRADENTON, Fla. — It is hard to pick who will get to read the Lewis family’s favorite book sometimes.
What You Need To Know
Miles Lewis had his first seizure at 4 years old. He was diagnosed with epilepsy after those seizures kept happening
He was put on medication, but eventually a team of doctors at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital felt surgical intervention was his best chance to live a seizure-free life
Miles underwent a surgery called an anterior temporal lobectomy. Dr. Neel Parikh said it gave him close to an 80% chance of eliminating his seizures
Since his surgery, Miles has not had a seizure and has been taken off all epilepsy medicine.
Mariah Lewis, 5, crosses her little arms, mad that her older brother Miles, 7, gets to read it out loud today.
Not only getting the role of the narrator, Miles is also the main character in this story.
Mariah and the youngest brother, Micah, instead choose to act out the book while Miles reads. They take on and off different colorful capes to demonstrate emotions like courage, cheerfulness and sadness.
Constance Lewis with her kids, Mariah (lower left), Micah (upper right) and Miles. (Spectrum News/Erin Murray)
Those are just some of the emotions the Lewis family felt when their lives hit a plot twist a few years ago.
“We didn’t know what had happened, and we didn’t know why,” said Miles’ mother, Constance Lewis, thinking back.
Out of nowhere, Miles had what they thought was a fever-induced seizure when he was 4. Then a few months later, he had another seizure, then another.
His family saw several specialists searching for answers.
“It was just why, why is this happening? And it took a while to figure that out,” said Constance.
“In his brain is what we call focal cortical dysplasia. These are clusters of cells that are just abnormally grown,” said Dr. Neel Parikh, a neurologist and epileptologist at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. “He was born with that.”
Parikh points to side-by-side scans showing Miles’ brain.
“The initial brain MRI showed a concerning abnormality, which was seen on the left side of the screen,” said Parikh. “The scan shows the focal cortical dysplasia in the left mesial temporal region of Miles’ brain. This was large enough that Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (LiTT) would not cover the entire location, so the epilepsy surgery team decided to do an open craniotomy to remove the abnormal brain tissue.”
Miles had been put on medication after being diagnosed with epilepsy. But the frequency of his seizures kept increasing to a point that he would have one every 10 to 14 days.
“He would always say to me, ‘The nightmares are coming.’ And that breaks my heart to think about it now,” said Constance.
Those nightmares were the family’s sign, along with headaches and nausea, that Miles was about to have another seizure.
Parikh and a team of specialists at Johns Hopkins All Children’s proposed brain surgery as the solution.
“Surgery, in a way, actually offers a lot more percentage of becoming seizure free,” said Parikh.
The surgery was a complete success.
“This was a perfect surgical outcome. We do not expect the area that was removed to cause any trouble for Miles in the future,” said Parikh.
“We are off of the medicine,” said Miles with a smile. He stopped with medication three months ago — another positive step.
Even the scar from his surgery is getting covered by fast-growing hair.
“I like to show how I got the brain, the brain surgery,” said Miles. “It was a battle scar, like I battled it.”
His family and doctors are feeling confident that this is a chapter of his life’s story.
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital said it is on the forefront of epilepsy treatment with kids. From using a third-generation epilepsy medication that is showing high efficacy, to a newer technology called Responsive Neurostimulation. That is a procedure currently used on adults, but is now being used on kids who suffer from bad epilepsy.
Meghan Jenkins had her hands full with her toddler, Malachi. He was energetic and inquisitive, eager to explore the world around him. He loved anything to do with the Miami Dolphins and played constantly with dinosaurs and monster trucks. He was settling in at day care while Jenkins returned to work after taking a year off. Life was busy, but happy.
In March 2021, Jenkins noticed Malachi was tired and lethargic. He also had a lingering cough. One day, he threw up. When Jenkins changed his diaper, she found black stool. Immediately concerned, she and Malachi went straight to the emergency room.
Things moved quickly then, Jenkins said. Malachi was “connected to all these cords.” Someone said he might need a blood transfusion. Hours passed with no answers. Jenkins grew more scared by the minute. Finally, Malachi was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit, where doctors performed a bone marrow biopsy.
Finally, a doctor sat Jenkins down for the diagnosis: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She was told her little boy’s life expectancy could be just two and a half to three more years.
“In that moment, you question God. You ask him ‘Why did this happen?’” Jenkins said. “I was so lost. This was my only child. I was young still, going through life, trying to figure things out. And then I had a big hit.”
Meghan Jenkins’ son Malachi in the hospital.
Meghan Jenkins
What is acute lymphoblastic leukemia?
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL, is a rare cancer that starts in the bone marrow, according to the American Cancer Society’s website. Only about 6,100 new cases of ALL are diagnosed a year, according to the American Cancer Society, with children under the age of 5 having the highest risk of developing the disease.
ALL is a fast-growing cancer that results in the body producing immature white blood cells. Malachi’s white blood cell count was more than 10 times higher than it should be. The white blood cells were crowding out healthy cells, weakening his immune system and making it impossible for his body to fight off infections.
ALL can quickly spread throughout the body and affect the lymph nodes, liver, spleen and other organs, as well as the central nervous system. Because the cancer grows so quickly, immediate treatment is key.
Malachi was already “quite sick” when he was diagnosed, said Dr. Julio Barredo, the director of pediatric cancer programs at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. She started Malachi on chemotherapy immediately.
Treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia
For the first month of treatment, Malachi was hospitalized. The first weeks of chemotherapy are intense, so staying in the hospital is often safer, said pediatric hematologist Dr. Aditi Dhir. Malachi had side effects including nausea and fatigue. He regressed in his potty training. Jenkins needed to wear gloves to hold him because of his compromised immune system. The toddler milestones she’d expected to celebrate were nowhere to be seen.
“There were days I didn’t even think I was going to go on, but I had to,” Jenkins said. “It was stressful. It was depressing, constantly being in there.”
Meghan Jenkins’ son Malachi in the hospital.
Meghan Jenkins
Still, the chemotherapy was clearly helping Malachi, Dhir said. She recalled seeing him run around the PICU within a week of starting treatment. Barredo said that Malachi handled the chemotherapy “as well as anybody could have handled it given the circumstances.”
After the first month, Malachi continued chemotherapy at home. He took eight medications a day, Jenkins said, and spent several days a week in the hospital. Next came the “maintenance” phase, Barredo said. During this time, Malachi remained on oral medication and only needed to go to the hospital every few weeks, Dhir explained. The maintenance phase lasted for two years.
Finally, in August 2023, “the storm blew over,” Jenkins said. Malachi was able to ring the bell that signified the completion of cancer treatment.
“You can’t tell he ever had leukemia”
Today, Malachi is a “very loving” 7-year-old who excels in school, takes gifted classes and regularly appears on the honor roll, Jenkins said. He still cheers for the Dolphins and plays with dinosaurs and trucks. He’s become a big reader and loves to share fun facts.
Most importantly, he is in remission. With acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the highest risk of relapse is within the first year of completing therapy, Barredo said. Malachi passed that milestone with flying colors. There’s “some risk” of relapse in the second year, Barredo said, but Malachi and Jenkins marked that in August without incident. After two years, it “is quite unusual” for an ALL patient to relapse, Barredo said. Malachi has outperformed his initial prognosis, and the success of his treatment means “his life expectancy is like that of any other kid his age.”
Meghan Jenkins’ son Malachi after completing cancer treatment.
Meghan Jenkins
“You look at him, you can’t tell he ever had leukemia,” Barredo said. “For all practical purposes, he is pretty much cured at this point in time. … He’ll be able to do whatever he wants to do.”
Malachi’s immune system remains compromised, Jenkins said, but she hopes to build it up so can have a normal childhood going forward. The family is looking forward to “finally blossoming” after the years of treatment and trauma.
“This whole process was very hard. It’s still hard. I have moments sometimes where I’m in shock, like I don’t believe we went through this or this even happened,” Jenkins said. “But there is a brighter situation. Every situation doesn’t have this outcome. But there are brighter outcomes. There are happier days than just being in the hospital and being sad.”
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Nolan Revels passes time in his football-themed hospital room playing football video games.
The 10-year-old’s older brother, Reed, is also a sports fan, practicing his throw with a target toss game in the room.
“They’re their own team, really. It’s very cool to watch,” said their mother, Megan Revels.
What You Need To Know
Nolan Revels, 10, has a rare genetic mutation for bone marrow cancer
His brother, Reed, was first diagnosed with the cancer and went through chemotherapy and had a bone marrow transplant
Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital performed a preemptive bone marrow transplant on Nolan before he developed leukemia, which was a first for the hospital
The brothers are helping each other navigate their health battles
The brothers are on a team that’s been building an unbreakable bond through more than medical issues. First, Reed was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive bone marrow cancer.
“When he got diagnosed, he went through chemotherapy and ended up having a bone marrow transplant,” said Megan. “Last March, when we did the genetic testing, we were trying to find a donor for Reed, we found out that Nolan, our youngest son, also carries the gene.”
That’s why Nolan is in the hospital.
“I got my cells in me and so far, they haven’t reacted yet,” said Nolan about his recent bone marrow transplant.
Dr. Natalie Booth has cared for both Reed and Nolan.
“Unfortunately, Nolan was also positive for the same gene. So, Nolan has not yet developed leukemia, which is our hope. We don’t want him to develop leukemia, which is the nidus for doing transplant and a preemptive setting to prevent Nolan from developing leukemia,” said Dr. Booth, who specializes in Pediatric Hematology Oncology.
A rare case, Dr. Booth said this was the first time Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital performed a preemptive bone marrow transplant before a patient developed leukemia.
“But for both boys to undergo this transplants within the same year is rare in of itself,” said Dr. Booth.
The boys have been leaning on each other over the last year.
“I’ve already been through this, and I’ve done about everything that you can do in the hospital. So, if he ever needs help with anything, if he has any questions, I’m just always here,” said Reed, who is now in remission and supporting his little brother.
“He makes me feel really good,” said Nolan.
Something else making him feel good: a surprise.
Spectrum Bay News 9 was there when the nonprofit organization, Casting for the Kids, surprised the family with four tickets to a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game next year.
“It means everything to me, because our daughter went through this when she was two years old, and we know what just a little bit of joy comes when a family gets a surprise like this so anything we can do to help lighten the heavy weight of childhood cancer,” said Executive Director Ben Shroyer.
A family that could use some of that weight lifted during the holidays.
“I think I am most grateful for them because they are so strong,” said Megan. “They were already very close before this, but the bond is kind of like unbreakable. And with Reed’s experience, it certainly helps navigate Nolan through this very difficult process.”
An unbreakable bond between young brothers tackling their health scares together.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The production lines at Indeed Brewing moved quickly, the cans filling not with beer, but with THC-infused seltzer. The product, which features the compound that gets cannabis users high, has been a lifeline at Indeed and other craft breweries as alcohol sales have fallen in recent years.
But that boom looks set to come to a crashing halt. Buried in the bill that ended the federal government shutdown this month was a provision to ban those drinks, along with other impairing beverages and snacks made from hemp, which have proliferated across the country in recent years. Now the $24 billion hemp industry is scrambling to save itself before the provision takes effect in November 2026.
“It’s a big deal,” said Ryan Bandy, Indeed’s chief business officer. “It would be a mess for our breweries, for our industry, and obviously for a lot of people who like these things.”
Ryan Bandy, chief business officer at Indeed Brewing in Minneapolis, stands near a pallet of six-packs of seltzer containing THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his brewery on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)
Ryan Bandy, chief business officer at Indeed Brewing in Minneapolis, stands near a pallet of six-packs of seltzer containing THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his brewery on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)
Here’s what to know about the looming ban on impairing products derived from hemp.
Congress opened the door in 2018
Marijuana and hemp are the same species. Marijuana is cultivated for high levels of THC in its flowers. Low-THC hemp is grown for its sturdy fibers, food or wellness products. “Rope, not dope” was long the motto of farmers who supported legalizing hemp.
After states began legalizing marijuana for adult use over a decade ago, hemp advocates saw an opening at the federal level. As part of the 2018 farm bill, Congress legalized the cultivation of industrial hemp to give farmers, including in Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell’s home state of Kentucky, a new cash crop.
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But the way that law defined hemp — as having less than 0.3% of a specific type of THC, called delta-9 — opened a huge loophole. Beverages or bags of snacks could meet that threshold and still contain more than enough THC to get people high. Businesses could further exploit the law by extracting a non-impairing compound, called CBD, and chemically changing it into other types of impairing THC, such as delta-8 or delta-10.
The result? Vape oil, gummy candies, chips, cookies, sodas and other unregulated, untested products laden with hemp-derived THC spread around the country. In many places, they have been available at gas stations or convenience stores, even to teens. In legal marijuana states, they undercut heavily taxed and regulated products. In others, they evaded the prohibition on recreational use of weed.
Some states, including Indiana, have reported spikes in calls to poison-control centers for pediatric exposure to THC.
Cans of seltzer containing THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, are shown in a cooler at the Indeed Brewery taproom in Minneapolis on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)
Cans of seltzer containing THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, are shown in a cooler at the Indeed Brewery taproom in Minneapolis on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)
A patchwork of state regulations
Dozens of states have since taken steps to regulate or ban impairing hemp products. In October, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill banning the sale of intoxicating hemp products outside the state’s legal marijuana system.
Texas, which has a massive hemp market, is moving to regulate sales of impairing hemp, such as by restricting them to those over 21. In Nebraska, lawmakers have instead considered a bill to criminalize the sale and possession of products containing hemp-based THC.
Washington state adopted a program to regulate hemp growing. But the number of licensed growers has cratered since the state banned intoxicating hemp products outside of the regulated cannabis market in 2023. Five years ago, there were 220, said Trecia Ehrlich, cannabis program manager with the state agriculture department. This year, there were 42, and with a federal ban looming, she expects that number to drop by about half next year.
Minnesota made infused beverages and foods legal in 2022 for people 21 and older. The products, which must be derived from legally certified hemp, have become so popular that Target is now offering THC drinks at some of its stores in the state.
They’ve also been a boon to liquor stores and to small Minneapolis brewers like Indeed, where THC drinks make up close to one-quarter of the business, Bandy said. At Bauhaus Brew Labs, a few blocks away, THC drinks account for 26% of their revenues from distributed products and 11% of revenues at the brewery’s taproom.
A powerful senator moves to close the loophole
None of that was what McConnell intended when he helped craft the 2018 farm bill. He finally closed the loophole by inserting a federal hemp THC ban in the measure to end the 43-day federal government shutdown, approved by the Senate on Nov. 10.
“It will keep these dangerous products out of the hands of children, while preserving the hemp industry for farmers,” McConnell said. “Industrial hemp and CBD will remain legal for industrial applications.”
Some in the legal marijuana industry celebrated, as the ban would end what they consider unfair competition.
They were joined by prohibitionists. “There’s really no good argument for allowing these dangerous products to be sold in our country,” said Kevin Sabet, president and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana.
But the ban doesn’t take effect for a year. That has given the industry hope that there is still time to pass regulations that will improve the hemp THC industry — such as by banning synthetically derived THC, requiring age restrictions on sales, and prohibiting marketing to children — rather than eradicate it.
“We are very hopeful that cooler heads will prevail,” said Jonathan Miller, general counsel of the industry group U.S. Hemp Roundtable. “If they really thought there was a health emergency, there would be no year-long period.”
The federal ban would jeopardize more than 300,000 jobs while costing states $1.5 billion in lost tax money, the group says.
Drew Hurst, president and chief operating officer at Bauhaus Brew Labs, has no doubt his company would be among the casualties.
“If this goes through as written currently, I don’t see a way at all that Bauhaus could stay in business,” Hurst said.
Drew Hurst, president and chief operating officer of Bauhaus Brew Labs in Minneapolis, stands outside a cooler for cans of seltzer containing THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his brewery’s taproom on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)
Drew Hurst, president and chief operating officer of Bauhaus Brew Labs in Minneapolis, stands outside a cooler for cans of seltzer containing THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his brewery’s taproom on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski)
What comes next?
A number of lawmakers say they will push for regulation of the hemp THC industry. Kentucky’s second senator, Republican Rand Paul, introduced an amendment to strip McConnell’s hemp language from the crucial government-funding bill, but it failed on a lopsided 76-24 vote.
Minnesota’s Democratic U.S. senators, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, are among those strategizing to save the industry. Klobuchar noted at a recent news conference that the ban was inserted into the unrelated shutdown bill without a hearing. She suggested the federal government could allow states to develop their own regulatory frameworks, or that Minnesota’s strict regulations could be used as a national model.
Kevin Hilliard, co-founder of Insight Brewing in Minneapolis, said the hemp industry needs a solution before planting time next spring.
“If a farmer has uncertainty, they’re not going to plant,” Hilliard said.
___
Johnson reported from Seattle. AP congressional reporter Kevin Freking contributed from Washington, D.C.
Americans are navigating seasonal viruses as they come together for the holidays. Dr. Céline Gounder, an internist, epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist, joins CBS News with more.
Some might say the new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus that opened recently in a former 255-room hotel is undergirded by one of humanity’s seven deadly sins — envy.
The intent is to turn that feeling into a motivational force. For his part, Mayor Mike Coffman prefers to refer to the three-tiered residential system at the homeless navigation center as an “incentive-based program” — one that awards increasingly comfortable living quarters to those showing progress on their journey to self-sufficiency.
“The notion here is (that) different standards of living act as an incentive,” Coffman said in early November during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the campus, which occupies a former Crowne Plaza Hotel at East 40th Avenue and Chambers Road. “The idea is to move up the tiers into much better living situations.”
Clients in the new facility, which opened its doors on Nov. 17, start at the bottom with a cot and a locker. They can eventually migrate to a hotel room, with a locking door and a private bathroom.
But that upgrade comes with a price.
“To get a room here, you have to be working full time,” Coffman said.
It’s an approach that the mayor says threads the needle between housing-first and work-first, the two prevailing strategies for addressing homelessness today. The housing-first approach emphasizes getting someone into a stable home before requiring employment, sobriety or treatment. A work-first setup conditions housing on a person finding work and seeking help with underlying mental health and addiction problems.
“We’re providing a continuum of services that starts with an emergency shelter,” said Jim Goebelbecker, the executive director of Advance Pathways.
Advance Pathways, the nonprofit group that ran the Aurora Resource Day Center before its recent closure, was chosen through a competitive bidding process to operate the new navigation campus in Aurora — with $2 million in annual help from the city. Goebelbecker said the tiered approach at the new facility “taps into a person’s motivation for change.”
The Aurora Regional Navigation Campus’ debut nearly completes a mission that has been in the works for more than three years. It is the fourth — and penultimate — metro Denver homeless navigation center to go online since the Colorado General Assembly passed House Bill 1378 in 2022.
The bill allocated American Rescue Plan Act dollars to stand up one central homeless navigation center. The plan has since shifted to five smaller centers, with locations in Aurora, Lakewood, Boulder, Denver and Englewood. The Colorado Department of Local Affairs in late 2023 approved $52 million for the centers. The final center, the Jefferson County Regional Navigation Campus in Lakewood, is undergoing renovations and will open next year.
Aurora’s center, with 640 beds across its three tiered spaces, is by far the largest of the five facilities.
Cathy Alderman, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, said the opening of Aurora’s navigation campus is “a really big deal.” Aside from serving its own clientele, she expects the center to send referrals to the coalition’s newly opened Sage Ridge Supportive Residential Community near Watkins, where people without stable housing go to address their substance-use disorders.
“A person can go to one place and get multiple needs met,” Alderman said, referring to the array of job, medical and addiction treatment services that give homeless navigation centers their name. “We are excited that the new campus is now up and running.”
The new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus, operated by Advance Pathways, photographed in Aurora on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
‘How do I move up?’
Walking into the Aurora Regional Navigation Campus feels like walking into, well, a hotel.
The swimming pool was removed during renovation, as was a water fountain in the lobby. Everything else stayed, including beds, bedding, furniture — even a stash of bottled cocktail delights. But not the alcohol to go with it.
“They left everything, down to the forks and knives and a wall of maraschino cherries,” said Jessica Prosser, Aurora’s director of housing and community services, as she walked through the hotel’s industrial kitchen.
The kitchen, which was part of the $26.5 million sale of the Crowne Plaza Hotel to Aurora last year, was a godsend to an operation tasked with serving three meals a day to hundreds of people. The city spent another $13.5 million to renovate the building.
“To build a new commercial kitchen is a half-million dollars, easy,” Prosser said.
The layout of the navigation center was deliberate, she said. The hotel’s convention center space is now occupied by Tier I and Tier II housing. The first tier is made up of nearly 300 cots, divided by sex. There are lockers for personal belongings and shared bathrooms. Anyone is welcome.
On the other side of a nondescript wall is Tier II, which is composed of a grid of 114 compartmentalized, open-air cubicles with proper beds and lockable storage. The center assigns residents in this tier case managers to help them treat personal challenges and get on the path toward landing a job.
The Tier II “Courage” space, which offers overnight accommodation for people who are working on recovery, employment and housing pathways at the new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus in Aurora, on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Tier III residents live in the 255 hotel rooms. They must have a full-time job and are required to pay a third of their income to the program. Residents in this tier will typically remain at Advance Pathways for up to two years before they have the skills and stability to find housing on the outside, Goebelbecker said.
People living in the congregate tiers can house their dogs in a pet room, which can accommodate 40 canines. (No cats, gerbils or fish). The center also doesn’t accept children. Around 60 staff members, plus 10 contracted security personnel, will work at the facility 24/7.
Shining a bright light on the path forward and upward inside the facility — the windows of some of the coveted private rooms are fully visible from the lobby — is an “intentional design feature,” Prosser said.
“How do I move up?” she mused, stepping into the shoes of a resident eyeing the facility’s layout. “How do I get in there?”
The Tier III “Commitment” space, which provides private rooms that will serve people who are in the workforce and are building towards financial independence, seen at the new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus in Aurora on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
It’s a system that demands something of the people using it, Coffman said, while at the same time providing the guidance and help that clients will need.
“This is not just maintaining people where they are — this is about moving people forward,” the mayor said.
The approach is familiar to Shantell Anderson, Advance Pathways’ program director. She told her life story during the ribbon-cutting ceremony, bringing tears to the eyes of some in the audience.
A native of Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood, Anderson fell in with the wrong crowd. She became pregnant at 15 and got hooked on cocaine. She spiraled into a life on the streets that resulted in her children being sent to an aunt for caretaking.
But through treatment and by intersecting with the right people, she recovered. She earned a nursing degree and worked at RecoveryWorks, a nonprofit organization that operated a day shelter in Lakewood, before taking the job at Advance Pathways.
The Tier I “Compassion” emergency shelter, which provides immediate short-term shelter for those in need at the new Aurora Regional Navigation Campus in Aurora on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
“This is a system that honors people’s dignity,” Anderson said, her voice heavy with emotion.
In an interview, she said assuming the burden to improve her situation was critical to her transformation.
“I actually did that — no one gave me anything,” said Anderson, 48. “If it was handed to me, I didn’t appreciate it.”
How much responsibility to place on the people being helped by such programs is still a matter of intense debate by policymakers and advocates for homeless people. The housing-first approach favored by Denver and many big cities across the country is anchored in the idea that work or treatment requirements will result in many people falling through the cracks and staying outside, particularly those who face mental-health challenges.
The Bridge House in Englewood, one of the five metro area navigation centers, follows a “Ready to Work” model that is similar to that of the upper tiers of the Aurora Regional Navigation Campus.
Opened in May, the Bridge House has 69 beds. CEO Melissa Arguello-Green said the organization asks its clients (called trainees) to put skin in the game by landing a job with Bridge House’s help and then contributing a third of their paycheck as rent.
“We help them find employment through our agency so they can leave our agency,” she said. “We’re looking for self-sufficiency that will get people off system support.”
Arguello-Green said she would like to see more coordination between the metro’s five navigation centers, though she acknowledged it’s still in the early going.
“We’re missing that come-to-the-table collaboration,” she said.
Advance Pathways volunteer outreach coordinator Evan Brown organizes the clothing bank before the Aurora Regional Navigation Campus’ grand opening ceremony in Aurora on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
Homeless numbers still rising
Shannon Gray, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, said her department had started convening quarterly in-person meetings across the locations.
“While each navigation campus is unique and reflects community-specific strategies, they are all a part of a regional effort to bring external partners together onsite to provide needed services and referrals,” Gray said. Together, they are “building towards a larger regional system to connect homeless households to a larger network of opportunities.”
The centers are permitted to “tailor their approach to their unique needs and vision,” she said. While Englewood and Aurora use a tiered system, Gray said, the other three centers don’t.
“It is important to understand that DOLA serves as a funder for these regional navigation campuses — we do not oversee their operation or maintenance,” she said.
Denver’s navigation center, which opened in December 2023 in a former DoubleTree Hotel on Quebec Street, offers 289 rooms to those in need, said Julia Marvin, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Housing Stability.
She called the facility an “integral component of Denver’s All in Mile High homelessness initiative,” Mayor Mike Johnston’s ambitious effort to appreciably reduce homelessness in the city. The center is just one of several former hotels and other shelter sites in the system.
Earlier this year, his administration cited annual count numbers showing a 45% decrease in the number of people sleeping on the streets since 2023 — dropping from 1,423 to 785 people, despite overall homelessness continuing to increase in that time.
In fact, homelessness numbers are still going in the wrong direction across the seven-county metro, per the latest Point-in-Time survey from the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, which captures a one-night snapshot. The January count revealed that 10,774 people were homeless on the night of the survey, up from 9,977 in the count the year before.
Anderson, the Advance Pathways program director, said the new Aurora facility was opening at just the right time. Despite a recent calming in runaway home values in metro Denver, the $650,000 median price of a detached home in October still demarcated a housing market that was out of reach for many.
“I am excited,” Anderson said of the Aurora navigation campus’ debut. “I’m waiting for people to walk through the door and start the next chapter of their journey.”
I’ve never cared more about my sleep in my life than during the month-plus that I’ve worn the Oura Ring 4 Ceramic. Previously, if I woke up drowsy, I’d blame the past night’s bad choices and think, “Well, better luck tomorrow night!” Now, the first thing I do when I wake up is check my sleep score.
I’ve always been a person obsessed with tracking my body metrics, having become addicted to both my heart rate and my step count when fitness trackers first came out. But when sleep was added to the devices, I largely ignored it. All that data was starting to add up and feel like too much information to me. How could I possibly walk 10,000 steps in a day, get a perfect sleep score, and keep my heart rate down, my heart rate variability up, and my cardiovascular age lower than my actual age? I am literally just one person.
Oura Ring 4 Ceramic
If you want to track every biometric you can using available sensors, the Oura Ring 4 Ceramic does it best. But it still requires you to put in the work.
Long battery life
Extremely comfortable
Lots of size options
Very accurate tracking
Probably tracks too much data
Needs to be worn 24/7 to get detailed insights
Most fitness trackers these days try to do it all and, honestly, most of them fall short on that task. But surprisingly, when I tested the Ring 4 Ceramic, I stopped feeling bothered by all the data points. Yes, the Ring 4 Ceramic does cram every body metric possible into its tiny device and accompanying app. And yet, somehow, it does so in a way that I am at least a little bit less bothered about than I had been in the past.
I’ve also decided that of all the options currently out there to track my health—smartwatches, straps, etc.—a smart ring is by far superior.
The Oura Ring, which originally debuted exactly a decade ago after a successful Kickstarter campaign, is currently in its fourth iteration, which came out over the summer. In October, the company also debuted its ceramic version of the Oura 4, which is made up of high-performance zirconia ceramic, which is a material known for its durability and light weight. The new Oura Ring 4 Ceramic comes in four colors: Tide, Petal, Cloud, and Midnight.
A benefit of the Ring 4 Ceramic, according to Oura, is that the colors are part of the ceramic, and not an added extra layer like they had been with past metals. With older models, users had issues with the colors (a mix of silvers and golds) fading or chipping over time; ceramic has no such issues. And while I’m only going on my second month, my Tide-colored Oura is still just as vibrant as day one.
The Oura Ring 4 Ceramic is currently priced at $500, which is on the pricier end for a health tracker. The regular Ring 4 is $350. Competing devices like the screenless Whoop 5.0 is an annual subscription that includes the band and starts at $200, the Samsung Galaxy Ring is $400, and the most decked-out Fitbit Sense 2 is $250.
You also need a subscription for the Oura Ring, which is $6 a month (you can also pay $70 upfront for the whole year). If you don’t want to pay that monthly fee, the smart ring still works and you will still get certain data, including sleep analysis, a readiness score, and an activity tracker. But if you want access to everything else, you’ll need to pay that monthly fee.
I’m not generally a big ring person, but I honestly found the Ring 4 Ceramic to be pleasantly snug and cozy on my finger. I often alternated between wearing it on my middle or index finger. For the best and most accurate results, Oura recommends the index finger mostly because it provides a snug fit, and generally, the company suggests avoiding fingers where the knuckle is wider than the base. In my experience, I found that if I wore it on my middle finger, I could more easily forget it was there, whereas if I wore it on my index finger, I tended to fidget with it.
Comfort is a huge component of health and fitness trackers, and it’s one that doesn’t get talked about enough when reviewing these products. If the goal is to wear them 24/7, then they have to be comfortable, and it’s worth trying on a bunch of different types—smartwatches, straps, smart rings—to figure out which one works for you and your lifestyle.
A single charge lasts for up to 8 days, according to the company. In testing, mine has lasted a full 7 days multiple times. It’s available in a wide variety of sizes—4 to 15—which is even more than the smart ring’s previous iteration.
The Ring 4 Ceramic comes with what the company calls “smart sensing,” which is essentially an algorithm where the smart ring optimizes its multiple sensors to use the one with the best signal at any given time.
The better question, honestly, is what can’t the smart ring track? The Oura Ring 4 Ceramic uses infrared LEDs to measure blood oxygen during sleep. It also uses photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensors, which detect changes in blood flow, to measure heart rate and heart rate variability as well as respiration rate (which is important for sleep tracking). Temperature sensors measure average body temperature and accelerometer sensors track movement and activity.
All of those sensors mean that the Ring 4 Ceramic has the ability to track a huge swath of data, but the key is how it spits all that out into a usable form.
The Ring 4 Ceramic provides a daily sleep score. It also breaks sleep down into smaller details like total sleep versus time in bed and gives you a sleep efficiency percentage, which is how much of your time in bed you actually spent sleeping. It knows when you are doomscrolling or tossing and turning with the Sunday scaries. The Ring 4 Ceramic takes all of this, along with your nighttime resting heart rate, and calculates a sleep score. Anything 85 and above is optimal, and I’m proud to announce to the entire internet that my highest score was 88. This is where health optimization can get somewhat addictive, and I’m absolutely prone to it.
The tracker also provides a daily “Readiness” score, which it calculates using an algorithm that takes into account your resting heart rate, heart rate variability, any significant body temperature fluctuations, as well as your respiratory rate and sleep. Again, anything 85 or higher is optimal, and I’ve been getting a lot of scores in the 90s, which makes me proud of my mind, body, and spirit, honestly.
It also provides a daily activity goal, which you can set yourself, and it’s nice to hit that goal each day. Though a daily activity goal is pretty standard across all trackers, Oura’s is really well presented.
Similar to its competitor Whoop, the Ring 4 also provides a daily stress analysis. It tells you how long your body was in high stress (which it detects based on shifts in your heart rate, heart rate variability, and your body temperature). It also shares a daily stress score by telling you if you were “stressed,” “engaged,” or “relaxed” that day.
It didn’t predict that I was getting sick, but it could tell I was sick
Luckily for you all, I tested the Oura Ring 4 Ceramic during the month of October and November, which is peak fall cold season. The smart ring has an algorithm built into it called the Symptom Radar, which essentially uses changes in skin temperature, respiratory rate, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability to detect if something is off in your system. Theoretically, the idea is that it could detect these changes early and predict that you are getting sick. You could then take it easy those days or maybe even sleep an extra hour or two that night.
I got a cold in mid-October, which honestly came on pretty suddenly. I babysat a friend’s kid on a Monday. She sneezed into my face multiple times (so cute) and then on Thursday morning, I woke up with that dreaded scratchy lump in my throat, which continued to get worse and then better over the course of that next week and a half. The Ring 4 Ceramic didn’t detect any shifts from my baseline on Tuesday or Wednesday, or even Thursday, when I woke up feeling off. But once my cold was full-blown, the app did note that both my body temperature and resting heart rate were elevated, and wanted to know what was up.
That cold was fairly mild, and came on quickly, so I do wonder if I had had something worse, like the flu or covid, if it would have detected it a bit earlier. I also wonder if I keep wearing the Ring 4 Ceramic for longer, would it get better at knowing what’s normal and what’s not for me?
I still think that the best period tracker is a pen and paper (or a dedicated note in your notes app). Oura’s new cycle insights and fertility feature, which was unveiled at the end of October by the company (I had been using it since the start of my testing in early October) requires 60 nights of data in order to make accurate predictions. In order to really assess whether it’s working well or not, I’d want to give the Ring 4 Ceramic another couple of months after that, too. So, it’s too soon to tell how well it works.
To predict your period, the tracker collects body temperature readings over a long period of time (two months or more) and uses that in addition to an algorithm to predict when your next cycle might arrive and when you might be ovulating.
The Oura 4 Ceramic really can do it all, from tracking your sleep and your stress score to monitoring your period, your activity level, and your heart rate. There are also a slew of integrations that you can use with the Ring 4, including Headspace, Strava, Natural Cycles, and even Stelo, which is a continuous glucose monitor. Connecting it to the smart ring allows users to see their glucose levels in the Oura app, which shows how factors like meal choices, sleep, and activity impact their glucose levels. Oura’s newest partnership, as of late October, is with Quest Diagnostics, the blood testing company. For an additional yearly membership fee of $100, users can get a comprehensive blood panel, though it’s not available in every state.
However, like I’ve written about in the past when reviewing similar products such as the Whoop and Polar Loop, how much of this data is that useful?
After a month of use, I did become obsessed with my sleep score, but I am not sure if I actually became a better sleeper because of it. This is similarly true for tracking my activity and my strain score. I’ve been a health tracking user for years now, and I’ve found that the key question you have to ask yourself when deciding whether you want to spend a couple of hundred dollars or more on these devices is: what are you trying to get from these devices? Is it better sleep, less stress, increased energy and activity? These devices can do it all, to a degree, and perhaps Oura can do it the best, but it still comes down to how much work you are personally willing to put into making your health better.
MINNEAPOLIS — The production lines at Indeed Brewing moved quickly, the cans filling not with beer, but with THC-infused seltzer. The product, which features the compound that gets cannabis users high, has been a lifeline at Indeed and other craft breweries as alcohol sales have fallen in recent years.
But that boom looks set to come to a crashing halt. Buried in the bill that ended the federal government shutdown this month was a provision to ban those drinks, along with other impairing beverages and snacks made from hemp, which have proliferated across the country in recent years. Now the $24 billion hemp industry is scrambling to save itself before the provision takes effect in November 2026.
“It’s a big deal,” said Ryan Bandy, Indeed’s chief business officer. “It would be a mess for our breweries, for our industry, and obviously for a lot of people who like these things.”
Here’s what to know about the looming ban on impairing products derived from hemp.
Marijuana and hemp are the same species. Marijuana is cultivated for high levels of THC in its flowers. Low-THC hemp is grown for its sturdy fibers, food or wellness products. “Rope, not dope” was long the motto of farmers who supported legalizing hemp.
After states began legalizing marijuana for adult use over a decade ago, hemp advocates saw an opening at the federal level. As part of the 2018 farm bill, Congress legalized the cultivation of industrial hemp to give farmers, including in Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell’s home state of Kentucky, a new cash crop.
But the way that law defined hemp — as having less than 0.3% of a specific type of THC, called delta-9 — opened a huge loophole. Beverages or bags of snacks could meet that threshold and still contain more than enough THC to get people high. Businesses could further exploit the law by extracting a non-impairing compound, called CBD, and chemically changing it into other types of impairing THC, such as delta-8 or delta-10.
The result? Vape oil, gummy candies, chips, cookies, sodas and other unregulated, untested products laden with hemp-derived THC spread around the country. In many places, they have been available at gas stations or convenience stores, even to teens. In legal marijuana states, they undercut heavily taxed and regulated products. In others, they evaded the prohibition on recreational use of weed.
Some states, including Indiana, have reported spikes in calls to poison-control centers for pediatric exposure to THC.
Dozens of states have since taken steps to regulate or ban impairing hemp products. In October, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill banning the sale of intoxicating hemp products outside the state’s legal marijuana system.
Texas, which has a massive hemp market, is moving to regulate sales of impairing hemp, such as by restricting them to those over 21. In Nebraska, lawmakers have instead considered a bill to criminalize the sale and possession of products containing hemp-based THC.
Washington state adopted a program to regulate hemp growing. But the number of licensed growers has cratered since the state banned intoxicating hemp products outside of the regulated cannabis market in 2023. Five years ago, there were 220, said Trecia Ehrlich, cannabis program manager with the state agriculture department. This year, there were 42, and with a federal ban looming, she expects that number to drop by about half next year.
Minnesota made infused beverages and foods legal in 2022 for people 21 and older. The products, which must be derived from legally certified hemp, have become so popular that Target is now offering THC drinks at some of its stores in the state.
They’ve also been a boon to liquor stores and to small Minneapolis brewers like Indeed, where THC drinks make up close to one-quarter of the business, Bandy said. At Bauhaus Brew Labs, a few blocks away, THC drinks account for 26% of their revenues from distributed products and 11% of revenues at the brewery’s taproom.
None of that was what McConnell intended when he helped craft the 2018 farm bill. He finally closed the loophole by inserting a federal hemp THC ban in the measure to end the 43-day federal government shutdown, approved by the Senate on Nov. 10.
“It will keep these dangerous products out of the hands of children, while preserving the hemp industry for farmers,” McConnell said. “Industrial hemp and CBD will remain legal for industrial applications.”
Some in the legal marijuana industry celebrated, as the ban would end what they consider unfair competition.
They were joined by prohibitionists. “There’s really no good argument for allowing these dangerous products to be sold in our country,” said Kevin Sabet, president and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana.
But the ban doesn’t take effect for a year. That has given the industry hope that there is still time to pass regulations that will improve the hemp THC industry — such as by banning synthetically derived THC, requiring age restrictions on sales, and prohibiting marketing to children — rather than eradicate it.
“We are very hopeful that cooler heads will prevail,” said Jonathan Miller, general counsel of the industry group U.S. Hemp Roundtable. “If they really thought there was a health emergency, there would be no year-long period.”
The federal ban would jeopardize more than 300,000 jobs while costing states $1.5 billion in lost tax money, the group says.
Drew Hurst, president and chief operating officer at Bauhaus Brew Labs, has no doubt his company would be among the casualties.
“If this goes through as written currently, I don’t see a way at all that Bauhaus could stay in business,” Hurst said.
A number of lawmakers say they will push for regulation of the hemp THC industry. Kentucky’s second senator, Republican Rand Paul, introduced an amendment to strip McConnell’s hemp language from the crucial government-funding bill, but it failed on a lopsided 76-24 vote.
Minnesota’s Democratic U.S. senators, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, are among those strategizing to save the industry. Klobuchar noted at a recent news conference that the ban was inserted into the unrelated shutdown bill without a hearing. She suggested the federal government could allow states to develop their own regulatory frameworks, or that Minnesota’s strict regulations could be used as a national model.
Kevin Hilliard, co-founder of Insight Brewing in Minneapolis, said the hemp industry needs a solution before planting time next spring.
“If a farmer has uncertainty, they’re not going to plant,” Hilliard said.
___
Johnson reported from Seattle. AP congressional reporter Kevin Freking contributed from Washington, D.C.
MINNEAPOLIS — The production lines at Indeed Brewing moved quickly, the cans filling not with beer, but with THC-infused seltzer. The product, which features the compound that gets cannabis users high, has been a lifeline at Indeed and other craft breweries as alcohol sales have fallen in recent years.
But that boom looks set to come to a crashing halt. Buried in the bill that ended the federal government shutdown this month was a provision to ban those drinks, along with other impairing beverages and snacks made from hemp, which have proliferated across the country in recent years. Now the $24 billion hemp industry is scrambling to save itself before the provision takes effect in November 2026.
“It’s a big deal,” said Ryan Bandy, Indeed’s chief business officer. “It would be a mess for our breweries, for our industry, and obviously for a lot of people who like these things.”
Here’s what to know about the looming ban on impairing products derived from hemp.
Marijuana and hemp are the same species. Marijuana is cultivated for high levels of THC in its flowers. Low-THC hemp is grown for its sturdy fibers, food or wellness products. “Rope, not dope” was long the motto of farmers who supported legalizing hemp.
After states began legalizing marijuana for adult use over a decade ago, hemp advocates saw an opening at the federal level. As part of the 2018 farm bill, Congress legalized the cultivation of industrial hemp to give farmers, including in Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell’s home state of Kentucky, a new cash crop.
But the way that law defined hemp — as having less than 0.3% of a specific type of THC, called delta-9 — opened a huge loophole. Beverages or bags of snacks could meet that threshold and still contain more than enough THC to get people high. Businesses could further exploit the law by extracting a non-impairing compound, called CBD, and chemically changing it into other types of impairing THC, such as delta-8 or delta-10.
The result? Vape oil, gummy candies, chips, cookies, sodas and other unregulated, untested products laden with hemp-derived THC spread around the country. In many places, they have been available at gas stations or convenience stores, even to teens. In legal marijuana states, they undercut heavily taxed and regulated products. In others, they evaded the prohibition on recreational use of weed.
Some states, including Indiana, have reported spikes in calls to poison-control centers for pediatric exposure to THC.
Dozens of states have since taken steps to regulate or ban impairing hemp products. In October, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill banning the sale of intoxicating hemp products outside the state’s legal marijuana system.
Texas, which has a massive hemp market, is moving to regulate sales of impairing hemp, such as by restricting them to those over 21. In Nebraska, lawmakers have instead considered a bill to criminalize the sale and possession of products containing hemp-based THC.
Washington state adopted a program to regulate hemp growing. But the number of licensed growers has cratered since the state banned intoxicating hemp products outside of the regulated cannabis market in 2023. Five years ago, there were 220, said Trecia Ehrlich, cannabis program manager with the state agriculture department. This year, there were 42, and with a federal ban looming, she expects that number to drop by about half next year.
Minnesota made infused beverages and foods legal in 2022 for people 21 and older. The products, which must be derived from legally certified hemp, have become so popular that Target is now offering THC drinks at some of its stores in the state.
They’ve also been a boon to liquor stores and to small Minneapolis brewers like Indeed, where THC drinks make up close to one-quarter of the business, Bandy said. At Bauhaus Brew Labs, a few blocks away, THC drinks account for 26% of their revenues from distributed products and 11% of revenues at the brewery’s taproom.
None of that was what McConnell intended when he helped craft the 2018 farm bill. He finally closed the loophole by inserting a federal hemp THC ban in the measure to end the 43-day federal government shutdown, approved by the Senate on Nov. 10.
“It will keep these dangerous products out of the hands of children, while preserving the hemp industry for farmers,” McConnell said. “Industrial hemp and CBD will remain legal for industrial applications.”
Some in the legal marijuana industry celebrated, as the ban would end what they consider unfair competition.
They were joined by prohibitionists. “There’s really no good argument for allowing these dangerous products to be sold in our country,” said Kevin Sabet, president and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana.
But the ban doesn’t take effect for a year. That has given the industry hope that there is still time to pass regulations that will improve the hemp THC industry — such as by banning synthetically derived THC, requiring age restrictions on sales, and prohibiting marketing to children — rather than eradicate it.
“We are very hopeful that cooler heads will prevail,” said Jonathan Miller, general counsel of the industry group U.S. Hemp Roundtable. “If they really thought there was a health emergency, there would be no year-long period.”
The federal ban would jeopardize more than 300,000 jobs while costing states $1.5 billion in lost tax money, the group says.
Drew Hurst, president and chief operating officer at Bauhaus Brew Labs, has no doubt his company would be among the casualties.
“If this goes through as written currently, I don’t see a way at all that Bauhaus could stay in business,” Hurst said.
A number of lawmakers say they will push for regulation of the hemp THC industry. Kentucky’s second senator, Republican Rand Paul, introduced an amendment to strip McConnell’s hemp language from the crucial government-funding bill, but it failed on a lopsided 76-24 vote.
Minnesota’s Democratic U.S. senators, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, are among those strategizing to save the industry. Klobuchar noted at a recent news conference that the ban was inserted into the unrelated shutdown bill without a hearing. She suggested the federal government could allow states to develop their own regulatory frameworks, or that Minnesota’s strict regulations could be used as a national model.
Kevin Hilliard, co-founder of Insight Brewing in Minneapolis, said the hemp industry needs a solution before planting time next spring.
“If a farmer has uncertainty, they’re not going to plant,” Hilliard said.
___
Johnson reported from Seattle. AP congressional reporter Kevin Freking contributed from Washington, D.C.
NEW YORK (AP) — While reflecting on what we’re thankful for during the holiday season, we often focus on the external: the company of loved ones. The nourishment of a shared meal. The homes in which we gather.
It’s fairly uncommon, because people generally are more comfortable expressing gratefulness to others. But psychologists say taking the time to thank ourselves for the qualities that carried us through life can be healthy and important, even if doing it feels awkward or arouses fears of appearing egotistical.
One reason self-gratitude doesn’t come naturally: the human brain evolved to look for problems and dwell on the negative when everyday life required an awareness of immediate dangers, said Kristin Neff, associate professor in the educational psychology department at the University of Texas, Austin.
Our ancestors who kicked back and relaxed were more likely to be eaten by lions, while the ones who dwelled on where the lions might be tomorrow were more likely to survive, Neff said.
“It’s not that it’s hard to do, but we have to overcome the natural tendency of the brain to always be looking for problems as a way of staying safe,” she said.
If people spent five minutes a day looking at themselves with compassion, their days would be different, said Maryanna Klatt, director of the Center for Integrative Health at Ohio State University. She recommended acknowledging our strengths, but also our challenges, which we can view as opportunities that may lead us to a place we never would have discovered.
In this story, several people approached in parks share what they appreciate about themselves.
Seeing the positive
Lorenzo Cruz, 26, grew up in the Dominican Republic, where he recently earned a bachelor’s degree in business before moving to Boston.
As a child, he experienced not having basic necessities, but as a teenager he moved and had a more comfortable life which enabled him to travel, receive an education and expand his perspective, he said.
“I’m grateful for the rough childhood I had because that made me appreciate so many different things that I’ve noticed people don’t look at or don’t appreciate enough,” Cruz said. “The way I see life, I’m grateful for that.”
To express thanks to himself, Cruz gives himself permission “to go for that trip, to binge watch that show, to go have fun at the bar, to eat that pizza at 12 a.m. I think we all tend to judge and put too much pressure on ourselves. Sometimes I just have to give myself a break and thank me for everything.”
Giving
As a single mother in her 40s, Ana Anitoaie appreciates the way she manages her family life and gives back to her community through teaching.
“I’m an immigrant. I came to the United States in 1995, and I’m really grateful for being on-task and following my education, and I have achieved so much by myself. I help my family back in Europe,” said Anitoaie, a secondary school math teacher.
“Today’s society is not really looking for what we’re grateful for,” Anitoaie said. “I think we should practice that more and we’ll be living in a happier Earth.”
Taking chances
Lara Furac, a primary school teacher who lives in Switzerland, is thankful for her courage and caring for others. She was in New York attending a bartending class with the goal of switching careers.
“I’m very grateful that I’m someone who gives everyone a fair chance, and I’m not scared to open up to people and meet new people,” said Furac, 29. “I always said I’m not scared to make steps in life that are uncomfortable to some, but for me, the most important thing in life is that I can look back one day and be like, yes, I really lived, and I’m grateful that I really tried to do that, even if it’s scary sometimes and if it means something new, but also saying goodbye to something you know. I’m grateful that I’m brave enough to do that.”
Self-care
Jose Santiago, a student at Mercy University in New York, recognizes his optimism as an asset. “You know, I don’t see the negative or anything,” the 18 year old said. “I always see the situation as a way to get better. I always see each day as a blessing because someone didn’t get to wake up today.”
“I express gratitude to myself in sometimes just the way I get ready for the day and the way I approach it,” he said. If he’s in a bad mood, he starts his day “with a nice shower, go through a skin care routine, hair care routine, maybe play a certain song that makes me think of a good memory in my life, back to when I was a child.”
Determination
As an actor in New York City, Joe Osheroff, 54, is “grateful for my persistence when it pays off. And by payoff, I mean if I’m able to do things in life, in my career, and outside of my career that are fulfilling and justify all the parts of it that are difficult.”
To thank himself, Osheroff takes time to slow down and sit in the park, especially with a good cup of coffee. He also searches for small treasures at antique shops, enjoying browsing even if he doesn’t buy anything.
Taking action
Souzanne Eng, who retired from the fashion industry, said she always appreciates what the higher powers have given her, “but I never really say to myself, ’You know, a lot of these things, it’s because I put them in action.”
“I’m grateful that I am kind. I’m grateful that I’m good to people. I am grateful that I am patient,” Eng said. “Grateful that I am able to put in action, to go for it. I’ve always been a goal-oriented person, and I never let things stop me. So I guess I’m grateful for those attributes.”
Eating right
Dea Shpati, an accountant, said she doesn’t excel at physical activity, but “I am grateful that I try to take care of my body, especially by nutrition. I’m really grateful that I do that.”
“I push myself to walk or to run or to exercise, but for the eating part, it comes naturally and for that I’m grateful,” said Shpati, 24.
“I’m grateful that I want to work. I would hate if I don’t have a job. I’m grateful that I have the desire to do so, to earn for myself and to contribute in the family budget.”
Self-love
College friends Emily Milner, 33, and Meagan Hicks, 32, were walking together during a visit in New York.
“I like to show gratitude to myself by just giving myself thought time, and in that time, I thank my past self for my current life,” said Milner, a marketing professional who lives in Sedalia, Colorado.
“In a lot of ways we live in a self-deprecating society, and when you care for other people, you don’t have to reflect inwards, because that’s a difficult thing to do,” Milner said. “So people use caring about other people and being grateful for other people as a way to avoid introspection.”
“It is the greatest form of self-love, giving gratitude to yourself,” Hicks said.
Reusable straws took off as more people started paying attention to waste and sustainability. The classic plastic straw gave way to paper, metal, silicone, bamboo, and glass. The options felt endless, and for many, a glass straw seemed like the cleanest and safest choice. But one California woman says that assumption nearly landed her in surgery.
TikTok creator @colorful__chaos is now urging viewers to stay away from glass straws altogether after a piece of one broke off while she was drinking water and ended up inside her body. Her warning video, filmed from a hospital bed, has racked up more than 28.7 million views.
“Don’t use glass straws,” she says at the start of the clip. “It’s not worth it.”
Woman Has Important PSA About Glass Straws
In the video, she explains that she had been drinking water like normal when something suddenly felt off. “I was drinking my water with a glass straw and I swallowed something,” she says. “And I was like, what was that?”
She looks at the straw and immediately sees the problem. A large shard is missing from the tip. “There’s a piece about that big gone,” she says, holding her fingers about two inches apart.
At first, she tries to stay calm. “I kind of freaked out a little bit,” she says, then explains why she didn’t rush to the hospital right away. “I didn’t feel anything, so I thought maybe it was fine.”
Two hours later, that feeling changes fast. “I burped really big and my mouth had blood in it,” she says. That’s when she heads straight to the emergency room.
Once there, she says staff initially doesn’t treat it like an emergency. “At first I really don’t think that they’re taking me seriously,” she says. “They were not trying to get me back quickly.”
That changes when doctors review her case more closely. “The doctor talked to the gastro, and he said to expedite a CAT scan immediately,” she says. The imaging shows a piece of glass sitting in her stomach.
Doctors rush her in for an emergency procedure. “They put me to sleep and put the tube down my throat to try to get it,” she says. But by the time they begin the procedure, the shard has already moved.
“By the time they got me into the room, it had already left my stomach,” she says. “So I’ve got a piece of glass floating around in my intestines.”
Doctors sent her home with instructions to closely monitor symptoms. “They told me to watch for bleeding over the next two days and to check my poop,” she says. The doctors explain that since the shard already passed through her throat and stomach, they expect it to pass on its own.
Still shaken, she leaves viewers with an unmistakable warning. “Do not buy these straws,” she says. She also explains that she had previously promoted the product online and is now trying to have that post removed. “I will not promote those. The cups are great, but glass straws will be a no-go forever in my house.”
She reinforces that message in her caption, writing, “SEND THIS to anyone you know who uses glass straws! If you’re using them TOSS THEM OUT. Not worth it.”
In follow-up updates, the creator tells viewers she’s doing okay so far, with no pain or bleeding as of her last post. However, she says there is still no clear sign that the shard has passed.
Are Glass Straws Actually Dangerous?
Glass straws sit in a strange middle ground. They’re reusable, easy to clean, and don’t retain flavors like plastic or silicone. But they are still made of glass, which means they can break, chip, or crack if dropped, bitten, or exposed to rapid temperature changes.
There have been previous reports of users swallowing shards when glass straws fracture during use. Dentists have also warned that sipping on hard glass can contribute to chipped teeth, especially for children. Some safety articles also caution against using glass straws with very hot beverages, where heat stress can weaken the glass over time.
None of those risks is common, but when breakage does happen, the injuries can be serious.
The video’s comment section quickly fills with alarm and disbelief.
“Glass straws should be illegal,” one person writes.
Another shares a photo of herself drinking directly from a cup and adds, “I don’t understand why people can’t just.”
One parent responds immediately, writing, “Me immediately throwing away my daughter’s glass straws.”
Ljeonida is a reporter and writer with a degree in journalism and communications from the University of Tirana in her native Albania. She has a particular interest in all things digital marketing; she considers herself a copywriter, content producer, SEO specialist, and passionate marketer. Ljeonida is based in Tbilisi, Georgia, and her work can also be found at the Daily Dot.
OHIO — Did you eat your fill this Thanksgiving? Feeling like taking a little nap?
According to a Cleveland Clinic dietitian, there’s some science behind why you may be getting drowsy on Turkey Day, and the turkey is actually part of it.
What You Need To Know
According to the Cleveland Clinic, turkey contains the amino acid tryptophan, which can cause drowsiness
Other foods also contain this amino acid
You may also be getting sleepy due to the amount of food you’re eating or alcohol you’re consuming
According to a post on the hospital system’s website, they said the amino acid called tryptophan is found in turkey, and it can cause drowsiness. It’s also found in other foods such as chicken, milk, peanuts, pumpkin seeds and more.
However, it’s not this amino acid alone that may be making you tired. The Cleveland Clinic states that another reason could be due to the amount of food you’re eating.
“The meal typically contains large amounts of carbs (stuffing, potatoes, pie, desserts, rolls), which can spike your blood sugar initially,” Dietitian Julia Zumpano said in the post. “But then, your blood sugar levels crash or decrease, which leaves you feeling lethargic.”
Additionally, she said more blood is directed to your bowels to help with digestion, leaving less in the brain, “causing you to feel less alert.”
Finally, if you had any alcohol (fairly common during the holidays), that’s likely to make you even more sleepy.
Here’s how they say you can avoid becoming sleepy:
Make your portions smaller
Limit yourself on alcohol
Eat slower and cut yourself off when you’re full
Consider taking a walk
Make sure get enough sleep the night before the holiday
Alternatively, the family room couch can be awfully comfy. Maybe a little nap is still an option.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry limped away from the bench late in Golden State’s 104-100 loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night after bruising his right quadriceps. He will undergo an MRI exam on the injury to determine his status.
The Warriors will have to regroup with the idea that Curry might be out for a stretch.
“It obviously changes everything, our rotations, how we’re playing, who we’re playing through, so we’ll see,” coach Steve Kerr said. “When I heard it was a quad I was actually kind of relieved, better than an ankle or a knee, so hopefully he can recover quickly and be OK. But we’ve got to hold down the fort.”
Curry and Amen Thompson went down hard under the basket with 3:24 remaining and the game tied at 91 after Thompson’s drive to the hoop, which initially was whistled an offensive foul. Houston challenged and the call was overturned to a block by Curry.
Kerr said he could see Curry ailing after that play. The two-time MVP finished with 14 points on 4-for-13 shooting — 2 of 9 on 3-pointers — seven rebounds, five assists and seven of the Warriors’ 16 turnovers that led to 22 Houston points.
“That’s a challenge, if Steph is out everybody else has to kind of improve their game a lot to fill that void,” rookie Will Richard said.
Guard Gary Payton II also suffered a sprained left ankle that limited him to just under five minutes.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A West Virginia judge ruled on Wednesday that parents can use religious beliefs to opt out of school vaccine requirements for their children.
Raleigh County Circuit Judge Michael Froble on Wednesday issued a permanent injunction, saying children of families who object to the state’s compulsory vaccination law on religious grounds will be permitted to attend school and participate in extracurricular sports.
Froble found that a state policy prohibiting parents from seeking religious exemptions violates the Equal Protection for Religion Act signed into law in 2023 by then-Gov. Jim Justice.
West Virginia was among just a handful of states to offer only medical exemptions from school vaccinations when Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order earlier this year allowing religious exemptions.
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey said that the ruling “is a win for every family forced from school over their faith.”(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
However, the state Board of Education voted in June to instruct public schools to ignore the governor’s order and follow long-standing school vaccine requirements outlined in state law.
The board said following Wednesday’s ruling that it “hereby suspends the policy on compulsory vaccination requirements” pending an appeal before the state Supreme Court.
Morrisey said in a statement that the ruling “is a win for every family forced from school over their faith.”
Two groups had sued to stop Morrisey’s order, arguing that the legislature has the authority to make these decisions instead of the governor.
Legislation that would have allowed the religious exemptions was approved by the state Senate and rejected by the House of Delegates earlier this year.
The judge found that a state policy prohibiting parents from seeking religious exemptions violates the Equal Protection for Religion Act signed into law in 2023.(Julian Stratenschulte/dpa (Photo by Julian Stratenschulte/picture alliance via Getty Images))
The judge ruled that the failure to pass the legislation did not determine the application of the 2023 law. He rejected the defendants’ argument that religious exemptions can only be established by legislative moves.
“Legislative intent is not absolute nor controlling in interpreting a statute or determining its application; at most, it is a factor,” Froble said.
A group of parents had sued the state and local boards of education and the Raleigh County schools superintendent. One parent had obtained a religious exemption to the vaccine mandate from the state health department and enrolled her child in elementary school for the current school year before receiving an email in June from the local school superintendent rescinding the certificate, according to the lawsuit.
In July, Froble issued a preliminary injunction allowing the children of the three plaintiffs’ families in Raleigh County to attend school this year.
State law requires children to receive vaccines for chickenpox, hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus and whooping cough before attending school.(iStock)
Last month, Froble certified the case as a class action involving 570 families who had received religious exemptions in other parts of the state. He said the class action also applies to parents who seek religious exemptions in the future.
Froble said the total number of exemptions so far involved a small portion of the statewide student population and “would not meaningfully reduce vaccination rates or increase health risks.”
State law requires children to receive vaccines for chickenpox, hepatitis B, measles, meningitis, mumps, diphtheria, polio, rubella, tetanus and whooping cough before attending school.
At least 30 states have religious freedom laws. The laws are modeled after the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which was signed into law in 1993 by then-President Bill Clinton, allowing federal regulations that interfere with religious beliefs to be challenged.
93-year-old matriarch pushes family to be more active amid nationwide shift – CBS News
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Americans of all ages are becoming more active. Leading the way are young people between 14 and 24, and women over 65. Mark Strassmann met a family whose 94-year-old matriarch is leading the charge.
