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In 2016, about six weeks after cannabis was legalized for adults in Massachusetts, I was at a bustling New Year’s Eve party. It was a fun crowd, and I was having a good time. Suddenly, a friend shouted, “Peter, come quickly, you’re the only doctor here who isn’t high. We have an emergency.” (Peter Grinspoon, 7/9)

For women, they’re a depressingly rational choice. (Jessica Grose, 7/8)

As global approvals of new anti-obesity medicines accelerate, drugmakers have a public service announcement for the world: “Obesity is a disease.” Eli Lilly launched a website asserting that obesity is not merely a risk factor for medical complications but a chronic and complex medical entity in its own right. Novo Nordisk, more circumspectly, appeals to institutional authority on its website: “Recognised as a disease by the World Health Organization, obesity is serious, progressive and chronic.” (Max Moser, 7/9)

�������ýҕ�l Health News: My Search For A Psychiatric Bed In An Overburdened Health System

Eight days before my 33rd birthday in April, a social worker at a crisis clinic near Denver determined I was an imminent danger to myself. She placed me on an involuntary 72-hour mental health hold. What came next wasn’t treatment, but a search for a bed. Clinic staffers called area hospitals with inpatient psychiatric units, asking if they had available beds. They didn’t. So, I was told I had to spend the night at the clinic, which is open 24/7. I settled into a recliner, trying to make myself comfortable as my mind drifted in a blank, disassociated haze. Sleep came in brief bursts. (Helen Santoro, 7/9)

Behind closed doors, millions of Americans are stepping into one of the hardest roles they’ll ever take on: caring for their aging parents. (Amanda Su, Emily Holzknecht and Jan Kobal, 7/8)

When a family waits for an emergency to dictate a move to senior living, they unknowingly surrender their power of choice. (Lindsey Lavery, 7/7)