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Hunter Biden Must Not Be Named – 259 Days Since Liberal Media Said His Name

<p><strong>The name “Hunter Biden” has not been mentioned by <em>ABC</em>, <em>CBS</em> or <em>NBC</em> in the last 259 days, according to the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/scott-whitlock/2022/03/28/its-been-259-days-network-newscasts-said-words-hunter-biden" target="_blank"><em>Media Research Center</em></a> <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/scott-whitlock/2022/03/28/its-been-259-days-network-newscasts-said-words-hunter-biden" target="_blank">(MRC)</a></strong>.</p>
<p>July 12, 2021, was the last time any of the aforementioned network newscasts said the name.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, alternative media outlets like <em><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/what-do-hunter-biden-klaus-schwab-the-cia-have-to-do-with-us-biolabs-in-ukraine-pt-2/" target="_blank">Infowars</a></em> and <em><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://thenationalpulse.com/2022/03/24/biden-linked-company-partnered-with-ukraine-biolabs/" target="_blank">The National Pulse</a></em> have been consistently exposing Hunter’s shady business deals and deep ties to US-run biolabs in Ukraine.</p>
<p>Even <em>Fox News</em> anchor Tucker Carlson <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/tucker-carlson-on-secret-us-biolabs-in-ukraine-why-are-we-funding-this/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">addressed the massive Hunter Biden biolab story</a> in <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/watch-more-tucker-carlson-coverage-of-us-funded-ukraine-biolabs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">several segments</a> over the last few weeks.</p>
<p>In addition to the Hunter biolab connections the media largely ignored, they have also disregarded the fact that the infamous laptop belonging to the president’s son was confirmed to be legitimate <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/16/us/politics/hunter-biden-tax-bill-investigation.html" target="_blank">by <em>The New York Times</em> on March 16th.</a></p>
<p>So, the same media outlets that claimed the Hunter laptop was a product of Russian disinformation are now ignoring the fact that they lied then and are continuing to cover up for the degenerate crackhead son of Joe Biden.</p>
<p>“They need to say his name, report on this controversy, and all the other Hunter Biden scandals,” the MRC writes.</p>
<p>The media weren’t the only ones who ran cover for Hunter Biden when the laptop story was originally made popular in 2020, as <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://nypost.com/2022/03/18/intelligence-experts-refuse-to-apologize-for-smearing-hunter-biden-story/" target="_blank">over fifty intelligence officials signed a letter</a> at the time falsely claiming the laptop was Russian disinformation.</p>
<div class="nfYERo9K"><a href="https://www.infowarsstore.com/specials-clearance/top-selling-products-sale?ims=qlupe&utm_campaign=blowoutsalebhero&utm_source=Infowars+Hero&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=blowoutsalebhero" target="_blank"><img src="https://api.directus.libertycdn.com/uploads/_/originals/IEBS-hero-385-2.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>One of the intelligence officials even <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/former-cia-spy-brags-about-swinging-2020-election-with-hunter-biden-laptop-suppression-campaign/" target="_blank">bragged on Twitter recently</a> about how falsely labeling the laptop as Russian propaganda helped swing the election in favor of Joe Biden.</p>
<p>The media outlets that failed to accurately report on the Hunter laptop when it first came out continue to ignore the saga’s evolving storyline despite a recent poll showing <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/poll-two-thirds-of-americans-think-hunter-biden-laptop-story-important/" target="_blank">two-thirds of Americans think it’s an “important” issue.</a></p>
<p>While it’s great they finally came out and admitted the laptop is real, Americans don’t need confirmation from <em>The New York Times</em> regarding the validity of the computer.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/intel-chief-slams-schiff-hunter-bidens-laptop-is-not-part-of-some-russian-disinformation-campaign/">Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe</a> confirmed the laptop was not Russian disinformation back in October of 2020.</p>
<p><em>Infowars</em> covered the DNI revelation and even <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/debunked-heres-all-the-media-democrats-who-falsely-claimed-hunter-biden-laptop-story-was-russian-disinformation/" target="_blank">published a list of Democrat politicians and media outlets</a> that falsely claimed the Hunter laptop story was Russian propaganda.</p>
<p><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/hunter-in-sack-with-crack-shock-photos-show-biden-son-amid-drug-binge/" target="_blank">Adan Salazar of <em>Infowars</em></a> first wrote about the Hunter Biden laptop on October 14th, 2020, which is just another reason why we’re known as Tomorrow’s News Today.</p>
<p>While the establishment ignores the bombshell scandal and prepares their deflection propaganda campaign, alternative outlets will continue providing the latest updates regarding the national security risk that is the president’s son.</p>
<p>See the videos and links below for updates:</p>
<br />
<strong>Hunter Biden Invested / Raised Millions for Ukrainian Bio-Lab and Secured U.S. Military Contracts</strong> – powered by <a href="https://sovren.media/" title="sovren.media">sovren.media</a>
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source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/hunter-biden-must-not-be-named-259-days-since-liberal-media-said-his-name">https://www.infowars.com/posts/hunter-biden-must-not-be-named-259-days-since-liberal-media-said-his-name</a>

news Hunter Biden Must Not Be Named – 259 Days Since Liberal Media Said His Name

The name “Hunter Biden” has not been mentioned by ABC , CBS or NBC in the last 259 days, according to the Media Research Center (MRC) . ...

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news Oscar Slap False Flag

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Dumbphone Sales Are Soaring As People Revolt Against “Overwhelming” Smartphones

<p><strong>In a time when various “developed world” intelligence agencies are filling up petabytes of hard disk space with domestic phone recordings and tracking their own citizens who – in the pursuit of a “liberal” agenda – have been escalated to a greater terrorist threat than actual foreign terrorists, some people have had enough and are throwing their smart phones into the trash and replacing them with “dumbphones” instead.</strong></p>
<p>One among them is seventeen-year-old Robin West, who according to the BBC is an anomaly among her peers: “she doesn’t have a smartphone.” Instead of scrolling through apps like TikTok and Instagram all day, she uses a so-called “dumbphone”.</p>
<p>Those readers who had a cell phone in the late 1990s are all too familiar with these; for everyone else these are basic handsets, or feature phones, with very limited functionality compared to say an iPhone. For the most part, you can typically only make and receive calls and SMS text messages. And, if you are lucky, <strong>listen to radio and take very basic photos, but definitely not connect to the internet or apps.</strong></p>
<p>Robin’s decision to ditch her former smartphone two years ago was a spur of the moment thing. While looking for a replacement handset in a second-hand shop she was lured by the low price of a “brick phone”. Her current handset, from French firm MobiWire, cost her just £8. And because it has no smartphone functionality she doesn’t have an expensive monthly data bill to worry about.</p>
<p>“I didn’t notice until I bought a brick phone how much a smartphone was taking over my life,” she says. “I had a lot of social media apps on it, and I didn’t get as much work done as I was always on my phone.”</p>
<p>The Londoner adds that she doesn’t think she’ll ever buy another smartphone. “I’m happy with my brick – I don’t think it limits me. I’m definitely more proactive.”</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60763168">BBC</a>, dumbphones are enjoying a revival. Google searches for them jumped by 89% between 2018 and 2021, according to a report by software firm SEMrush. And while sales figures are hard to come by, one report said that global purchases of dumbphones were due to hit one billion units last year, up from 400 million in 2019. This compares to worldwide sales of 1.4 billion smart phones last year, following a 12.5% decline in 2020.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, a 2021 study by accountancy group Deloitte said that one in 10 mobile phone users in the UK had a dumbphone.</p>
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<p>“It appears fashion, nostalgia, and them appearing in TikTok videos, have a part to play in the dumbphone revival,” says Ernest Doku, mobiles expert at price comparison site Uswitch.com. “Many of us had a dumbphone as our first mobile phone, so it’s natural that we feel a sense of nostalgia towards these classic handsets.”</p>
<p>Doku says it was the 2017 relaunch of Nokia’s 3310 handset – first released in 2000, and one of the biggest-selling mobiles of all time – that really sparked the revival. “Nokia pushed the 3310 as an affordable alternative in a world full of high-spec mobiles.” He adds that while it’s true that dumbphones can’t compete with the latest premium Apple and Samsung models when it comes to performance or functionality, “they can outshine them in equally important areas such as battery life and durability”.</p>
<p>Five years ago, Przemek Olejniczak, a psychologist, swapped his smartphone for a Nokia 3310, initially because of the longer-lasting battery. However, he soon realised that there were other benefits.</p>
<p>“Before I would always be stuck to the phone, checking anything and everything, browsing Facebook or the news, or other facts I didn’t need to know,” he says.</p>
<p>“Now I have more time for my family and me. A huge benefit is that I’m not addicted to liking, sharing, commenting, or describing my life to other people. Now I have more privacy.”</p>
<p>However, Olejniczak, who lives in the Polish city of Lodz, admits that initially the switch was challenging. “Before I’d be checking everything, such as buses and restaurants, on my smartphone [when travelling]. Now that is impossible, so I have learned to do all those things beforehand at home. I got used to it.”</p>
<p>One maker of dumbphones is New York company Light Phone. Slightly more clever [than] the norm for such products, its handsets do allow users to listen to music and podcasts, and link by Bluetooth to headphones. Yet the firm pledges that its phones “will never have social media, clickbait news, email, an internet browser, or any other anxiety-inducing infinite feed”.</p>
<p>The company says it recorded its strongest year for financial performance in 2021, with sales up 150% compared with 2020. This is despite its handsets being expensive for dumbphones – prices start at $99 (£75).</p>
<p>Light Phone co-founder, Kaiwei Tang, says the device was initially created to use as a secondary phone for people wanting to take a break from their smartphone for a weekend for example, but now half the firm’s customers use it as their primary device.</p>
<p>“If aliens came to earth they’d think that mobile phones are the superior species controlling human beings,” he says. “And it’s not going to stop, it’s only going to get worse. Consumers are realising that something is wrong, and we want to offer an alternative.”</p>
<p>Tang adds that, surprisingly, <strong>the firm’s main customers are aged between 25 and 35. </strong>He says he was expecting buyers to be much older. Tech expert, Prof Sandra Wachter, a senior research fellow in artificial intelligence at Oxford University, says it is understandable that some of us are looking for simpler mobile phones.</p>
<p>“One can reasonably say that nowadays a smart phone’s ability to connect calls and send short messages is almost a side feature,” she explains. “Your smart phone is your entertainment centre, your news generator, your navigation system, your diary, your dictionary, and your wallet.”</p>
<p>She adds that smartphones always “want to grab your attention” with notifications, updates, and breaking news constantly disrupting your day. “This can keep you on edge, might even be agitating. It can be overwhelming.”</p>
<p>Prof Wachter adds: “It makes sense that some of us are now looking for simpler technologies and think that dumbphones might offer a return to simpler times. It might leave more time to fully concentrate on a single task and engage with it more purposefully<strong>. It might even calm people down. Studies have shown that too much choice can create unhappiness and agitation.”</strong></p>
<p>Yet back in London, Robin West says that many people are bewildered by her choice of mobile. “Everyone thinks it’s just a temporary thing. They’re like: ‘So when are you getting a smartphone? Are you getting one this week?’.”</p>
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<p><em><a href="https://banned.video/watch?id=622927b6456fae60bcd64b2c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Leaked Phone Call From 2014 Proves Obama Regime Was Involved In Ukraine Coup</a></em></p>
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source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/dumbphone-sales-are-soaring-as-people-revolt-against-overwhelming-smartphones">https://www.infowars.com/posts/dumbphone-sales-are-soaring-as-people-revolt-against-overwhelming-smartphones</a>

news Dumbphone Sales Are Soaring As People Revolt Against “Overwhelming” Smartphones

In a time when various “developed world” intelligence agencies are filling up petabytes of hard disk space with domestic phone recordings an...

You can’t save the Oscars by making them sponcon

<p>It’s not that nobody’s interested, at least in the abstract, in what <em>wins</em> an Oscar. It’s that they don’t want to give up four hours of their evening on a school night to watch an event that feels eerily, well, like a telethon. Or a commercial. Or a pledge drive.</p>
<p>The Oscars come off as one big ad, which, in a way, they are. Why is Tony Hawk here? Oh, because his documentary will hit streaming next week. It’s not that Woody Harrelson, Wesley Snipes, and Rosie Perez Dawson are unwelcome presences, but why are they here? Oh, <em>White Men Can’t Jump</em> is turning 30. This tribute to James Bond looks like a trailer. Everyone’s got a project or a nostalgia play to promote. The Academy’s new museum gets a lengthy comedic bit by way of promotion. Twitter polls about “cheer-worthy moments” get air time. The Oscars are sponcon, an infomercial for movies. Cinema Is Magical! Movies Matter, Now More Than Ever! Really! We promise!</p>
<p>(If you didn’t already agree with that, would you be watching the Oscars?)</p>
<p>The Oscars have a problem. But that problem is not with the Oscars. The problem is that, somewhere along the way, we’ve decided the Oscars ought to be a TV show. That means it has to succeed by TV standards — not just TV standards, but <em>network</em> TV standards for live broadcasts: lots of viewers, lots of ad sales, some unpredictability but nothing that will upset any of the viewers, who can just turn it off at will.</p>
<p>(Admittedly, this year they got that when <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/22999328/will-smith-hit-chris-rock-oscars-best-actor">Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage, yelled at him, and then won Best Actor minutes later</a>. But you can’t plan for that kind of thing.)</p>
<figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1648498793_7865_31558" data-cdata='{"asset_id":23349614,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rnpQm5i9ojLrHS0s2E-PJlae9SQ=/0x0:5352x3880/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/w0i4K8UssRbBvgDGldg0E7OtuaE=/0x0:5352x3880/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ECQL0hP-04B8pj9FLhoKgGuhAlY=/0x0:5352x3880/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ONyMgElR2gMiWQ8OwrM-JVUx2Kg=/0x0:5352x3880/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZX_PluAwBFEgFMv4XbaxbqI7w2I=/0x0:5352x3880/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dAtvMVp-f2iyZtxUe3Q27h4RnZM=/0x0:5352x3880/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/14S5zO_cHkIekpJEjIFAMiKcIY0=/0x0:5352x3880/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/okKcw2SDQi8aeB-egHPI7GmpTnU=/0x0:5352x3880/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xYTWRx9bWBhA6Exe2m2jfVCzaLw=/0x0:5352x3880/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="94th Academy Awards - Show" data-upload-width="5352" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jicUIgdXuYknvkY6Nf1W2HK3hSI=/0x0:5352x3880/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zUABSGyDp2agYfzIjMqBdPUNpS0=/0x0:5352x3880/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DCXcanSB50Oc9Djgo8mvIzGmGuI=/0x0:5352x3880/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1LzJk1bK24NWA8DrWn4rbTrhRnc=/0x0:5352x3880/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/v-hTXU1ww2LoQt1r5ZoxuUZOS5E=/0x0:5352x3880/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yMJXmbPAGFDJ52_vhPAWDjC0r_E=/0x0:5352x3880/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/076q4uv1L7W-v4Ft0b-kC3CCmes=/0x0:5352x3880/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bBnR9N15sF74JNLvO34mrWyZX6A=/0x0:5352x3880/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vG4yATjMIuaHLzCutKCBWSbKBaU=/0x0:5352x3880/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KzO0ipM9OiBWlIPJ90dU7lgwcR8=/0x0:5352x3880/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5352x3880):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349614/1239558722.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span>
<figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” — which was not nominated for an Oscar, but is a very popular song from Best Animated Feature winner <em>Encanto</em> — is performed at the Oscars.</span></figcaption>
<span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Myung Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</cite></span></figure>
<p>To “save the Oscars,” then, has taken on a meaning so narrow it’s self-defeating, stuck in a decade when I was still too young to see a PG-13 movie. And that’s ludicrous in an era when fewer and fewer people watch <em>any</em> live TV events; when it’s the norm to skip the live show and just catch the highlights on YouTube or TikTok the next day.</p>
<p>And this year, it became blindingly clear that the show will never recover its prior viewership, at least not if it sticks to its current format. <a href="https://tvline.com/2022/03/28/oscar-ratings-rise-will-smith-slap-controversy-2022/#recipient_hashed=42456992bbbb08c302b90929463047b6776ffef89d5d8c5a03428a8bb7a0ee78">Around 14 million people</a> watched the chaotic show on Sunday night. And yes, that’s a sharp uptick from 2021’s all-time low of 9.23 million.</p>
<p>But compare that to <a href="https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/oscar-ratings-lowest-ever-1234960615/">the 29.6 million and 23.6 million who watched in 2019 and 2020</a>, respectively, and the spike seems a lot less impressive.</p>
<p>People <em>used</em> to watch the Oscars. As <a href="https://theankler.com/p/oscars-decline-and-fall-a-history?s=r">the Ankler recently detailed</a>, a mere 18 years ago, the average Oscar-nominated film had grossed $127 million, and 43.5 million people watched the show — 26 percent <em>more</em> than the previous year. But by 2020, only four of the nominated movies had made more than $100 million. In 2021, of course, box office numbers were meaningless, given most major-market theaters were closed because of the pandemic, and only 10.4 million people watched the ceremony — about half the audience for the 2020 ceremony.</p>
<p>Back in the early days, the Academy Awards weren’t initially planned as a TV show because they couldn’t have been; the first ceremony was held in 1929, a year after commercial TV sets went on the market. The 1929 ceremony was 15 minutes long and cost $5 to attend. By the next year, the Oscars were broadcast on the radio, and in 1953, the 25th edition of the awards, they first showed up on TV, simultaneously broadcasting from New York and Los Angeles.</p>
<p>Of course, if you put a bunch of showbiz people in the room and tell them all of America is listening or watching, then they want to put on a show. So they hire hosts, or a whole battery of presenters, and ask them to do a standup routine. They plan musical routines. They come up with goofy bits, like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzsl9hcTQkw">surprising a group of civilians in a movie theater</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-RovCOajc8">doing Da Butt dance</a> with Glenn Close.</p>
<p>None of it is working. And why would you watch? Compared to 2004, your options on Sunday night are endless — everything from your favorite old show to your favorite new one, or one of the animated movies, or, heck, a video game.</p>
<p>Your TV might not even get broadcast TV, especially if you are in the highly desirable “youth” demographic. Do you even have a TV? Who cares? If something funny happens, you’ll see it on Twitter or TikTok 10 minutes later. Technology has always changed how we watch movies and TV; the Oscars are hardly immune to those changes.</p>
<figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1648498793_5543_31559" data-cdata='{"asset_id":23349622,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/n5E2z3sVq4S7D_OOWOyz-rGDOpQ=/0x0:5000x3432/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FH_4klo59MYp8y6uJExAs40hYuY=/0x0:5000x3432/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yWFaApznI-hie8h0IrS1RCOGByc=/0x0:5000x3432/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5XtvGhjep7N3NZq9ugGOOHUlnVo=/0x0:5000x3432/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AaIcoLx3-jX5C3YMhMTy-YjM3X0=/0x0:5000x3432/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xVo3Uji3Xlh6OPA6FTzrKgHLksU=/0x0:5000x3432/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DQoSDWOwyWE0_UDWm4TAQSTTgfg=/0x0:5000x3432/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cy5UVDhjUIWyTL_f1Xqgm8LHkSg=/0x0:5000x3432/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/I3V3mxwxJNWUcf_ReGCCM4YK4C4=/0x0:5000x3432/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="94th Annual Academy Awards - Show" data-upload-width="5000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mA1tQl90T7ZMc6oS-ss3VCDhVu8=/0x0:5000x3432/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VYi-LOyyvGGWV3LaV8eLZ4peBHo=/0x0:5000x3432/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jxq6B-5uKb8VS3nxIjMwaOCAEpc=/0x0:5000x3432/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/g9mvT52ytXbpTiBWkqIexInW-Ak=/0x0:5000x3432/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6vIasjDPMItjffHTup9x9XGFzhs=/0x0:5000x3432/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_AcQKO8GgQGScU61B-usqOoVV-s=/0x0:5000x3432/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1OIDWzxdQJOlq__pYWpqCsHXbrI=/0x0:5000x3432/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0yAP8nuRb_jlMYz7XzIJpMSZzjA=/0x0:5000x3432/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bm0xu58Vm7-y_-Y78gBUR9cv1sY=/0x0:5000x3432/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/t-dLpggEIIffbX_iXDRO1mEGs9Y=/0x0:5000x3432/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5000x3432):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349622/1388073426.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span>
<figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Extreme athletes Tony Hawk, Kelly Slater, and Shaun White present a tribute to James Bond at the Oscars.</span></figcaption>
<span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Neilson Barnard/Getty Images</cite></span></figure>
<p>I’m no expert in making TV shows. But it seemed, watching the Academy and ABC make unforced error after unforced error in an attempt to “save” this year’s Oscars, that at least part of the problem stems from some fundamental misunderstanding of how the internet works — and what their ceremony is even for.</p>
<p>For instance, one week before the ceremony, Rachel Zegler — the leading lady of multi-nominated <em>West Side Story</em> — <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/23/movies/rachel-zegler-oscars.html">announced to her fans</a> on social media that she hadn’t been able to get an invite to the ceremony.</p>
<p>While plenty of people don’t get invited to the Oscars, the omission was especially silly for a ceremony visibly desperate to get younger viewers. Zegler, who landed the role of Maria by submitting videos of herself to an open casting call, has had a massive and passionate following on YouTube and social media since 2015; her attendance at the Oscars would certainly spark the interest of her fans. That ABC’s parent company Disney — which also owns <em>West Side Story</em> distributor 20th Century Studios <em>and</em> has cast Zegler as Snow White in its upcoming live-action remake — didn’t think to harness their star’s power for the audience it so desperately seeks seems unthinkable. After an outcry (of course), Zegler was invited to present an award at the ceremony.</p>
<p>The much-touted Fan Favorite category — an obvious attempt to harness the power of the web — is another misfire. Oscars naysayers usually posit that the problem is the movies themselves — not that they’re bad, necessarily, but that nobody watches them. If only they nominated more popular movies, then people would watch. (It’s also the argument for the short-lived Best Popular Movie category the Academy floated several years ago.)</p>
<p>So weeks before the ceremony, the Academy announced that fans on Twitter could use a hashtag to vote for their favorite movie, sort of an American Idol for the Oscars, and the winner would be announced during the ceremony. They conducted polls as well, for things like “most cheer-worthy moment.”</p>
<figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1648498793_2643_31560" data-cdata='{"asset_id":23349626,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LzwEnEmzZiKY4ktUxIyH1potMZY=/0x0:2500x1667/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4954iahpvC1r6wDlYEJk2hyHAHQ=/0x0:2500x1667/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/91KzNI1pqRfmatmGtn3Qp5aOXNY=/0x0:2500x1667/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qMyHUJ7BQYpV7UmtCUJn34BCdz4=/0x0:2500x1667/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2Ot9CuDrOH48W0Yztx7dusx0Lm0=/0x0:2500x1667/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EVukTLPrRjNoLcVFAvriKJpplso=/0x0:2500x1667/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gA-rv9jmMQTUU1CV1hTVfbp7AgA=/0x0:2500x1667/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AumoMT6kNfIq9zlyXNVrvuE4rm8=/0x0:2500x1667/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DBShfjafVuxs3Hi9u4UzOCcQPA0=/0x0:2500x1667/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="2500" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0bo76sBfTg6E1p0ZKBQuPdqzE_Y=/0x0:2500x1667/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZMXNL69knZlRS5EdrIGFH-vWDnE=/0x0:2500x1667/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/n09z8f6yVQqputpBV635tC5Z-7A=/0x0:2500x1667/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4d1I3cJGgmno-jp-ZEUgKloQLwM=/0x0:2500x1667/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/akkQI51TU9fKzu7Au2a83arYKC8=/0x0:2500x1667/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SRvbhE_0tz0xFVSRUSHS-q2fQRI=/0x0:2500x1667/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/kJoLezUEvtT7RAIHJh_qIv_VO3w=/0x0:2500x1667/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jiK_IjqtHFUXGdfRzGzsmJrx_AI=/0x0:2500x1667/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Qxoi1ObUf0vwy1W-S56fZ3KP0sM=/0x0:2500x1667/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XLMM67-Q3obKIl_osxoC9V1EkCE=/0x0:2500x1667/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23349626/210520_army_of_the_dead_netflix_jm_2017.jpeg 1920w" /></picture></span></span>
<figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Dave Bautista in <em>Army of the Dead</em>, which won the “Fan Favorite” poll conducted on Twitter.</span></figcaption>
<span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Clay Enos/Netflix</cite></span></figure>
<p>If you spend basically any time on Twitter, you instantly knew what would happen, and so it did. Fandoms on social media operate in a different way than just casual “fans” of movies. They’ve harnessed a combination of enthusiasm, obsession, and at times toxicity to divebomb films on Rotten Tomatoes before they’re even released, or to go after artists, critics, and other users who criticize, say, <em>Justice League</em> or the Marvel movies or <em>Alita: Battle Angel</em>.</p>
<p>So it was entirely predictable that <em>Army of the Dead</em> — Zach Snyder’s film, which <a href="https://www.metacritic.com/movie/army-of-the-dead">garnered middling reviews</a> but was <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/11/19/20970509/justice-league-release-snyder-cut">backed by his rabid fan army</a> — came out on top. The other four “nominees,” similarly backed by extremely enthusiastic groups of fans (and, in some cases, potentially also bots) were <em>Cinderella</em>, <em>Minamata</em>, <em>Spider-Man: No Way Home</em>, and <em>Tick Tick Boom.</em> While that’s mostly amusing in retrospect, what’s unclear is what the Academy thought would happen. Would hordes of breathless fans tune into the broadcast for three hours, waiting for the moment when the winner would be announced? Or would they just pick up the news from Twitter or TikTok or whatever other platform they happened to be scrolling that evening?</p>
<p>In the end, it’s not clear they even know what the goal of the telecast truly was. The much-criticized decision to exclude eight categories from the ceremony to tighten up the running time, with edited-down, previously recorded speeches aired throughout the event, <a href="https://variety.com/2022/film/news/oscar-category-cuts-nominees-react-1235187931/">implied some categories are simply more important than others</a>. People who love the Oscars, as well as some of the stars themselves, were <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2022/02/please-stop-trying-to-fix-the-oscars.html">angry to see the categories cut</a>. But it also seems faintly ludicrous to make this trade: the ill will of Oscar devotees and industry insiders, on the one hand, and theoretical viewers who might <em>now</em> watch the ceremony, with those eight categories trimmed down.</p>
<p>Plus, there was a strong chance that fan favorite <em>Dune</em> — a big box office hit — was most likely to win in those cut categories, including Best Sound, Best Score, and Best Editing. And of course, it did. (As did Riz Ahmed, for his live action short <em>The Long Goodbye</em>.)</p>
<p>Look, here’s the question: Why do people pay attention to who wins Oscars? Because they like the curatorial aspect of the Oscars, the sense that this is a list of some good movies that are probably worth seeing. But why do people watch the Oscars’ TV show? Because they are fascinated with Hollywood, with the glamour, with seeing stars in a few rare semi-unscripted moments. Because they’re invested in the history, or excited for the unpredictability of a live show. Because they love the whole thing that is Hollywood and the history of the Oscars.</p>
<p>So if the Oscars want to remain interesting to their core audience — people who actually love the movies and want to watch the awards show — then they need to adjust expectations and relearn why those people are there in the first place.</p>
<p>A live (or livestreamed) show is great. But does it need to have 40 million viewers to be a success? (The finale of <em>Game of Thrones</em> didn’t even get 20 million.) Could success be measured not by how many people tune into the live broadcast, but how many engage across platforms? Would it ever be possible for the Academy and its broadcast partner, whoever that is — Netflix, maybe? — to find additional revenue streams that keep ad sales from being their endgame?</p>
<p>And does the Academy even know why it really does the show anymore?</p>
<p>The pandemic may have forced the issue faster than Hollywood expected. But everything’s changing — the technology, the platforms, the variety available to audiences, the audience’s taste and preferences, the movies themselves. It’s well past time for the Academy to recognize that big changes are going to come, whether they want them or not.</p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" />
<p><strong>Update, March 28, 1:00pm:</strong> Viewership numbers for the 2022 Oscars now included.</p>
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source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/3/28/22999282/ads-academy-awards-tv-save-the-oscars-sponcon">https://www.vox.com/2022/3/28/22999282/ads-academy-awards-tv-save-the-oscars-sponcon</a>

vox You can’t save the Oscars by making them sponcon

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Welcome to the Drugs Issue of The Highlight

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<figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1648496728_5286_3812" data-cdata='{"asset_id":21899595,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/D-jPReB2aZWDRsw1ZyW1yTRIhks=/0x0:909x278/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PPOHuk1i6lKh0t24EJpN4d4MG6s=/0x0:909x278/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GHWG7IAvpNo4oIBaDHADGLYUiFs=/0x0:909x278/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/YIvdh3Lw8k42sBoyK5BaxFAwkkk=/0x0:909x278/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zJ8jXodR-2fMjB3q6xCpkKZj4dk=/0x0:909x278/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xeVoPRROa33_xQ7aG-z5hT2jZfU=/0x0:909x278/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/n2Tk9HJBj4LNop1iXGDRluWxwTM=/0x0:909x278/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BZUx8E-I2DkqyH58q_rh7JyaqOc=/0x0:909x278/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Zdfq63K4AK9LdTyDv3fQL0AO1bw=/0x0:909x278/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="909" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/diGo6w0rEymdaM13vLDktJ40X84=/0x0:909x278/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CfJJIPFi91BrQS2dHBl6-aTKSns=/0x0:909x278/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pAViUGXvr95DazUaYsrmfjboQMI=/0x0:909x278/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gUuFk5b3PJoqCBsfQTyispj8wRE=/0x0:909x278/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FQdJl4dKkrVPYcH6-nmkRrcWuJI=/0x0:909x278/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AaT-4n1TnJXoz7FtlMhw6FAiqgY=/0x0:909x278/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/q9rAKMVRmKGTadRv0jGdpAx0wW4=/0x0:909x278/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-xl3J1pIya3ayEcHs_D3UOi_CUI=/0x0:909x278/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/E-YT0E40jstYraQXlQP-nJomki0=/0x0:909x278/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/X_zdWCFMG8XtT598kuo4H9UfC_Y=/0x0:909x278/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:909x278):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21899595/VOX_The_Highlight_Box_Logo_Horizontal.png 1920w" /></picture></span></span></figure>
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<p>Last winter, within days of the Supreme Court’s decision to hear <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/dobbs-v-jackson-womens-health-organization/"><em>Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization</em></a>, an abortion case that could gut access to reproductive care, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it would allow abortion drugs to be available by mail, without an in-person doctors’ visit.</p>
<p>The move was heralded as a solution to the prospect of diminished access, though states are already gearing up to curtail these pills, too. The news, however, also illuminated just how drugs might take on a more important role in society, intersecting politics and personal health and choice in surprising new ways.</p>
<p>The March issue of the Highlight was inspired by exactly this idea. With each of its stories, it asks, “Are drugs the answer?”</p>
<p>We look at not only the telehealth startups aiming to provide pregnant people with abortion medication under increasingly draconian state laws, but also the relatively newly accessible Covid-19 antiviral drugs and the role they will have to play in the future of the pandemic, <em>if</em> the government can get them to the people who need them most. Paxlovid and molnupiravir, the two therapeutic antivirals have shown varying but promising levels of effectiveness in stunting Covid-19’s dangers. So, <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/22968986/covid-drugs-paxlovid-molnupiravir-health">what role could these therapeutics have in spelling the end of the pandemic</a>? Could they work in tandem with vaccines, or perhaps be an option for those who will not take the vaccine or do not have access to it?</p>
<p>We also examine the trend toward wider acceptance of once-illicit drugs such as psilocybin (a.k.a. mushrooms), LSD, and cannabis within the wellness sphere. They’re marketed in increasingly inoffensive ways, from gummies to chocolates to tiny mints, with just a few milligrams a dose, and some are touting their ability to address everything from alcohol dependence to depression.</p>
<p>Finally, our cover story looks at a question that has been bubbling for years among advocates, lawmakers, and activists: Why can’t the US figure out one federal policy to legalize marijuana? Several years into states’ grand experiment to legalize and regulate cannabis, we know this much: The tax windfall could be huge; it could swiftly reverse the criminalization of brown and Black Americans that has continued under the Drug War; and it would open doors to medical research, among many other benefits. Bipartisan support for federal legalization also suggests that drugs, in the case of cannabis in particular, could be the answer. Overseeing a previously unregulated industry under national cannabis policy, however, is laced with more inequity and tension than it might seem.</p>
<p>Keep reading for more:</p>
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<h3><a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/22968986/covid-drugs-paxlovid-molnupiravir-health"><strong>It’s not too late for new Covid-19 drugs to change the pandemic</strong></a></h3>
<p>The new, easy-to-take antivirals are now on pharmacy shelves. This is who they stand to help the most.</p>
<p>By Katherine Harmon Courage</p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" />
<figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1648496728_177_3814" data-cdata='{"asset_id":23333763,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4bXN7bwKTFUc4xMo2D4_pttPVsA=/0x0:2500x1875/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jUFBTGvv3P3tYoB3seJpCJMKP6k=/0x0:2500x1875/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NljP-mCdY-XQDNM4UBDH01AVv5k=/0x0:2500x1875/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jy01kKPJpSAK-lM4spZT4FchQSk=/0x0:2500x1875/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/73EL5tgImwF9VvQRuaUNnloII_0=/0x0:2500x1875/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bbxcZreurl5EJlI0mvq9IqKcZSU=/0x0:2500x1875/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/X80IyV6dBo1LmqRTzKQfijcFtIA=/0x0:2500x1875/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rnBdWUh9DHrb6KxC9Rf-FNN6PTw=/0x0:2500x1875/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_KYWwUIgnuzkZ6hImRxZBB5DGzs=/0x0:2500x1875/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="A USPS mail truck drives through a field of pills to make a delivery at a residence protected by barbed wire. A woman watches from a second floor balcony." data-upload-width="2500" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/in0nNgXmB-1sHtVTO2krtVxWVSA=/0x0:2500x1875/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/et_f7pqK5cZaGOuUB8qegevMr4E=/0x0:2500x1875/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Nb-QrCve9n6AUtFOWDAaTCDbjVc=/0x0:2500x1875/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zaPRP0zu7BfNWcU_GPeoysH6JYY=/0x0:2500x1875/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/m5ZsgQ7VRHLL0-r8VNrW7-dgwaU=/0x0:2500x1875/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Yecek2mFM9jXcAsq__AsYYv2RYc=/0x0:2500x1875/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7A3Fo4s63adJmtzuvMjGpVIjUN0=/0x0:2500x1875/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VOSKBXfpBvN_iTe8RiBb8TPM9IA=/0x0:2500x1875/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/K_sHNlOFPcp5j50G2nsOA_ZxC2o=/0x0:2500x1875/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UWnAaYbLbRjOsJnGdEhIA2pT5fw=/0x0:2500x1875/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2500x1875):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23333763/MAR9_Vox_Final_1.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Paige Vickers for Vox</cite></span></figure>
<h3><strong>The FDA made mail-order abortion pills legal. Access is still a nightmare.</strong> <em><strong>(Coming Tuesday)</strong></em></h3>
<p>Restrictive states have already set their sights on a new wave of telehealth companies that were supposed to be a panacea for a post-Roe world.</p>
<p>By Julia Craven</p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" />
<figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1648496728_4908_3815" data-cdata='{"asset_id":23301392,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/__c2uXP4BD2UcF7NTznJmph0tCw=/0x0:2400x1350/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/b5r1wCyXcr6Ix-SxjC4ptfyIjZ8=/0x0:2400x1350/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pKdmJlxcjBLS_h2x-Cnk5M4gTW8=/0x0:2400x1350/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TPm69ldttcXrkDs8azoVNe7qJew=/0x0:2400x1350/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Z4U-aY4ERXzVtPY8Gx4GnkCG_uY=/0x0:2400x1350/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3kn18EFRoSuFZSx3_Zt_gDTkW6E=/0x0:2400x1350/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8ZllpSyAa7Mj1jQZh2hNLPya-aY=/0x0:2400x1350/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/w5O8Ze72iOOhVpc-5vlxvgy_j2E=/0x0:2400x1350/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dHFDWR2WsfdK4zWuEbjSG3bJ4FM=/0x0:2400x1350/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="A person in a space suit on a mysterious planet covered in mushrooms while cannabis-mint stars twinkle in the background." data-upload-width="2400" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KtqMu4xlWktqBCQJ28j5xwBKV_w=/0x0:2400x1350/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gu5t6R-3parLAuXagqCz6mUkgDk=/0x0:2400x1350/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZG5qBPNbnbsUb71L2nvq806VKgE=/0x0:2400x1350/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OMMuNejKqmWu4AdGyyHEiISrmOY=/0x0:2400x1350/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yH-c5Vb4qTkr92wexMK-DC0kvWE=/0x0:2400x1350/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VSGUxLUxt2EYTt7mkDykc0wqDLc=/0x0:2400x1350/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LU_lbVSZqYcHSybJBrgatSx5XCY=/0x0:2400x1350/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gFMEQMdlb62UUqN8J67TVy5Jcj4=/0x0:2400x1350/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rrNEqasiFA9zVB2xkb6L_y7LPME=/0x0:2400x1350/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Z-ViVu8y4-jNcZ4iOANGPOxm9AQ=/0x0:2400x1350/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2400x1350):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23301392/Rebecca_Hendin_Vox_Drugs_Legal_Sober_Highs_Weed_Mushrooms_Moon_Astronaut_Space_Flag_Illustration_1_2400.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Rebecca Hendin for Vox</cite></span></figure>
<h3><strong>The new sober-ish</strong> <em><strong>(Coming Wednesday)</strong></em></h3>
<p>Tiny doses of magic mushrooms, LSD, and cannabis have hit wellness culture, while the stigma around the drugs recedes.</p>
<p>By Luke Winkie</p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" />
<figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1648496728_1787_3816" data-cdata='{"asset_id":23314950,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/n2XhxqEHRt2tdZa_70GtG28fUPE=/0x0:2794x1571/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ic8Qo9o8UhNxXTxQxZfTHQt7JYQ=/0x0:2794x1571/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dU7GsKsGvdhpZ4Hlbo3bSp-eMCQ=/0x0:2794x1571/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MBNgXDTmrM2YUDrXONTkeoeaEXI=/0x0:2794x1571/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ohW7gQLNlVz5yDzhk2i5l0FiMhk=/0x0:2794x1571/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FpoTVAa6EBYS9FlOkf-7e-G8tgc=/0x0:2794x1571/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tcUJagQr19Q4D22vEy7yQqTu0O4=/0x0:2794x1571/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_iFZKZA8m16hJgbbZW2XaMDcQw8=/0x0:2794x1571/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/O6zQ0Kou7FhuCKg-HrPvqVMJUFA=/0x0:2794x1571/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="Illustration showing a judge’s gavel coming down on a cannabis leaf." data-upload-width="2794" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/aEh4PgyjoDFtACoQ0u_AFDKUtus=/0x0:2794x1571/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WTNsB-nujc_rXUrnAxiYqEpMHks=/0x0:2794x1571/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-eNlNL_tACzVWVfflQDirtVxA2Q=/0x0:2794x1571/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vyNLOFSb1onvnXPa1L8luehDh44=/0x0:2794x1571/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5pijK5gALYhv-EFDyAI60qhNh8Q=/0x0:2794x1571/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GmTlDJLqiFwdxWfD2XowkYLDQm4=/0x0:2794x1571/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FtxrtyfCGzuFJq91xykahlLvSzU=/0x0:2794x1571/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ETM2vfn9KlGru9HgLbuSwaBNF_Y=/0x0:2794x1571/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2T8BIBsr8X6exRVeCLVbGih8o7w=/0x0:2794x1571/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/p-aD8Syy2Op_2Y0rt5u1O9Z1hls=/0x0:2794x1571/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2794x1571):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23314950/Deliverable_V2.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Pablo Delcan for Vox</cite></span></figure>
<h3><strong>Why can’t we figure out one federal policy to legalize marijuana? (</strong><em><strong>Coming Thursday)</strong></em></h3>
<p>Public opinion, lawmakers, and states are aligned that it might be time to legalize cannabis. So, how hard is it to finally get it done?</p>
<p>By Mary Jane Gibson</p>
<br />
<br />
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/features/22989349/drugs-issue">https://www.vox.com/features/22989349/drugs-issue</a>

vox Welcome to the Drugs Issue of The Highlight

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<p><em>Part of the</em> <a href="https://www.vox.com/features/22989349/drugs-issue"><em><strong>Drugs Issue</strong></em></a> <em>of</em> <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight"><em><strong>The Highlight</strong></em></a><em>, our home for ambitious stories that explain our world.</em></p>
<p>In January, New York City <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/30/nyregion/nyc-covid-antiviral-pills-delivery.html">launched a program</a> to provide Covid-19 treatments to residents at high risk of being hospitalized or killed by the virus — delivered free, to their door.</p>
<p>It was a potentially revolutionary moment in the pandemic’s trajectory, possible only because, at the close of 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization to the first two oral antiviral drugs people can take, at home upon Covid-19 diagnosis, <a href="https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/management/clinical-management/nonhospitalized-adults%E2%80%94therapeutic-management/">before they get sick enough to be hospitalized</a>.</p>
<p>Paxlovid and molnupiravir, two therapeutic antivirals shown in studies to have varying levels of effectiveness in stunting Covid-19’s dangers for those most at risk, represent a new weapon against a devastating virus that not only <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/1/26/22900907/omicrons-warning-pandemic-faster-vaccines-response">spreads with unnerving ease</a> (much more readily than even the 1918 pandemic flu strain) but also has proven so difficult to treat.</p>
<p>Doctors have gotten better at preventing deaths in the severely ill than they were at the beginning of the pandemic, but many people — hundreds every day in the United States alone — are <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailydeaths">still dying from the disease</a>. There is simply no surefire cure for someone who lands in the hospital.</p>
<p>Although <a href="https://combatcovid.hhs.gov/what-are-monoclonal-antibodies">monoclonal antibodies</a>, which help the body fight an infection, have been available for high-risk patients since November 2020, they require IV infusion at a specialized facility, as does the antiviral remdesivir, which demands infusions on three consecutive days, making them much harder for people, especially those who lack reliable transportation or paid time off from work, to access than pills they can take at home.</p>
<p>The new oral antivirals, which arrived with considerably less fanfare than vaccines in late 2020, have the potential to reshape the contours of the pandemic going forward — not just for those at high risk, but also in surprising ways for those who aren’t. Their arrival also marks a potential new era of renewed investment in broadly useful antivirals that could fight not just Covid-19, but also other deadly viruses that have yet to emerge. However, delivering them equitably and in a very short time frame, and the looming threat of resistance, suggest that they face a road pockmarked with challenges.</p>
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<figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1648498692_332_17542" data-cdata='{"asset_id":23315007,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/m3L2wPQkUsCjCBVmXB42hNUhw1Q=/0x0:3000x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4L5hzgcZcq8bb4C-PClBKEBBQ7g=/0x0:3000x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ufa0BAG83XiG7Kojwh5qV5HA7Fk=/0x0:3000x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nEqaldrKEu085mFe7oOdTM-YrHM=/0x0:3000x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Vxd7GKYIzqybgAb20QQX-SQRuXM=/0x0:3000x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3L3gMWw23-vzIaH2XywKtKbbW4o=/0x0:3000x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bSgHls3Z2Go5gYrpFhdjjZdaDHU=/0x0:3000x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gKSHogKbTDVVOWYgKS06YJuiWck=/0x0:3000x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mHCV5rzKwAZYRKU1wM7cPwQq3Ug=/0x0:3000x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="3000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PpUxmos0B_h6cEQsqxdlRLzA-4U=/0x0:3000x2000/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hyZS7udaHTR6g1l6JUZTJUymd-U=/0x0:3000x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mhIt_wGCSd1WjzE5JvXQpJ5wYV8=/0x0:3000x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OmgjPTCLMMCWkeREsa-7MOEd3Cs=/0x0:3000x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BHrWFETPwWIrqKp8l-YQc0xf6Iw=/0x0:3000x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Scg4GQDf7AvsqYVMzInjjLe3Bg8=/0x0:3000x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NORPcQcIbqwfNoWF3DmGdgvSYQA=/0x0:3000x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5aFWXxng2eaWjSOwWAPAmXvRhMM=/0x0:3000x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/imPWT6puC7WZXOB9AdCLV_DsVxU=/0x0:3000x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FdzSydP_rNI4GJMIwCev5DCQP5g=/0x0:3000x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315007/GettyImages_1238562686.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span>
<figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Pharmacy manager Oscar Uribe shows off a package of Pfizer’s Paxlovid pills in Chicago in January, not long after the antiviral medication received emergency authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration.</span></figcaption>
<span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images</cite></span></figure>
<p>It wasn’t until the 1960s, 30 years after the first commercially available antibiotics, that the first <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4978613/">virus-disarming medications</a> hit the market (the first was a <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaophthalmology/article-abstract/627495">topical drug</a> because it was <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/immunology-and-microbiology/idoxuridine#:~:text=Idoxuridine%20and%20Trifluridine&text=They%20have%20been%20used%20to,DNA%20synthesis%20are%20equally%20affected.">too toxic to ingest</a>).</p>
<p>Part of the <a href="https://knowablemagazine.org/article/health-disease/2021/challenges-antiviral-treatments">lag</a> was because of the slippery nature of viruses. Unlike bacteria, viruses aren’t, in themselves, alive. Rather, they persist and multiply by taking over a living organism’s cells.</p>
<p>“People think, ‘It’s a germ, why can’t you just eradicate it?’” said <a href="https://directory.sph.umn.edu/bio/sph-a-z/rebecca-wurtz">Rebecca Wurtz</a>, an infectious disease doctor and population health expert at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.</p>
<p>Disentangling a virus from the cell it has taken over, however, is extremely tricky: The microscopic needle to thread in developing safe, effective antivirals is to hobble the virus but not damage the host cells it is hijacking. To do it, antivirals can take aim at things like the very specific enzymes the virus uses to make copies of itself, which is how molnupiravir works. “When you’re trying to counteract their activity, it’s a very razor-thin edge,” Wurtz said.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, researchers have continued over the years to develop new <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/drugs/21531-antivirals">antivirals</a>. These drugs can help treat, with varying degrees of efficacy, a multitude of infections, including shingles, herpes, hepatitis, even Ebola.</p>
<p><a href="https://sph.unc.edu/adv_profile/timothy-sheahan-phd/">Timothy Sheahan</a>, a virologist with the department of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Public Health, had been working on applying remdesivir, which was originally developed to treat Ebola, to coronavirus infections since 2015 and on molnupiravir, which initially targeted influenza, since 2017.</p>
<p>“We never really thought that the stuff we were doing in the lab would lead to the approval of two antiviral drugs by the FDA,” he said. Till the advent of Covid-19, “nobody cared about coronaviruses, or even knew what they were.”</p>
<p>That early foundational research, however, meant that these drugs could come to market as quickly as they did. “Many other antiviral drug candidates didn’t have that body of information just sitting on the shelves,” Sheahan said.</p>
<p>Despite the years of research, molnupiravir (from Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics) and Paxlovid (a combo of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir, which Pfizer started developing at the beginning of the pandemic) still needed to go through clinical trials and testing in the Covid-19 landscape. And then companies needed to start making them. When the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/155053/download">emergency</a> <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/155049/download">authorizations</a> came through for their use in late December, although the federal government had placed orders for <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2021/11/18/biden-administration-secures-10-million-courses-pfizers-covid-19-oral-antiviral-medicine-as-additional-tool-reduce-hospitalizations-save-lives.html">millions</a> of courses of the drugs, there were just 300,000 courses of molnupiravir and <a href="https://www.phe.gov/emergency/events/COVID19/investigation-MCM/Paxlovid/Pages/default.aspx">65,000 of Paxlovid</a> to go around, just as the omicron variant was poised to sicken tens of millions across the country.</p>
<p>In addition to the initially limited supply, these drugs also have inherent shortcomings. In trials, molnupiravir was only about <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2116044">30 percent more successful</a> than a placebo in keeping infected study participants from being hospitalized or dying. (Subjects were unvaccinated adults with at least one risk factor for severe Covid-19, and experts expect the drugs to perform better among vaccinated people.) It is also not recommended for <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/155101/download">people who are pregnant</a> or might become pregnant in the near future.</p>
<p>Paxlovid, for its part, appears to be much more powerful. It is <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj.n2713">about 89 percent</a> effective in preventing hospitalization or death when high-risk participants took it within three days of having symptoms, according to a report published in the <em>BMJ</em>. But Paxlovid comes with a long laundry list of <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/155050/download">interactions with common drugs</a>, making it unusable for many of the high-risk people it could otherwise help, such as those on some heart or cancer medications.</p>
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang">
<aside><q>A potential new era of renewed investment in antivirals that could fight not just Covid-19, but also other deadly viruses that have yet to emerge</q></aside>
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<p>As the federal government distributed the limited supply of these medications across the nation earlier this year, many also <a href="https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2022-02-01/equity-becomes-an-issue-with-covid-19-medications">worried</a> that more vulnerable populations, such as high-risk individuals in under-served communities, would <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2022/01/19/pharmacies-shouldnt-be-only-place-to-get-paxlovid/">lack equal access</a> to the lifesaving drugs. A fraction of the courses — about 15 percent — was distributed to federally funded health centers that serve these groups. That left the bulk of the first shipments to be distributed through private pharmacies, to be doled out to those who were able to access them first, a sort of non-system that by default favors the well-resourced.</p>
<p>Even for those who have not had to try to avail themselves of these new drugs, they have already had another side effect: pandemic stress reduction. For those who, due to previous illnesses, age, a compromised immune system, or other factors, are less protected by vaccination, these pills offer an added level of security.</p>
<p>“It is reassuring,” said <a href="https://www.mayo.edu/research/faculty/razonable-raymund-r-m-d/bio-00086600">Raymund Razonable</a>, vice chair of infectious diseases at the Mayo Clinic. The clinic is still collecting data, but anecdotally, among the high-risk patients he and his colleagues have prescribed these new drugs to so far, they’ve tended to have a good outcome: silence. “They’re not going to call you again,” he said, “because they’re better.”</p>
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<p>On a population level, dramatically reducing the number of people who get sick enough to need hospitalization could help preserve the entire health care system during future waves of the virus. This would keep <a href="https://www.vox.com/coronavirus-covid19/22849829/covid-omicron-variant-cases-surge-us-hospitals">hospitals from being overwhelmed</a>, preserving care for more people, including those who have health needs other than Covid-19.</p>
<p>Whether these drugs will be deployed more widely, directly to people at lower risk, remains to be seen.</p>
<p>If future Covid-19 variants cause relatively “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/07/health/mild-covid-19-symptoms-wellness/index.html">mild</a>” breakthrough infections, like omicron has, antiviral drugs might not become standard for everyone who tests positive. A rougher illness outlook could send more people looking for prescriptions. Yet, because the new antivirals were studied in high-risk, unvaccinated individuals, we don’t know much about how effective they will be at improving symptoms for people who are at low risk for severe disease.</p>
<p>If they can help someone at low risk feel much better, much faster, however, “I would take the drug,” said <a href="https://publichealth.berkeley.edu/people/john-swartzberg/">John Swartzberg</a>, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health.</p>
<p>There’s a chance these sorts of easy-to-take antivirals could play another important role in the pandemic: keeping more people from getting sick in the first place.</p>
<p>Yet it’s still unclear whether the new oral antiviral drugs would make sense as a prophylactic for the more general low-risk population, experts told Vox. And it is unlikely to be prescribed as an ongoing regime, as <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/prep/index.html">PrEP is to prevent HIV</a>.</p>
<p>“HIV PrEP is very effective, but you have to remember to take a pill every day, and it has some side effects,” Wurtz said. “So the ideal prophylactic medication would be something that would be long-acting, inexpensive, highly effective, and non-toxic. None of the options that we have available to use meet those criteria yet.”</p>
<figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1648498692_6091_17543" data-cdata='{"asset_id":23315016,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Ej8Z-aIhivzFSOEGj3f-ETQuqGI=/0x0:4000x2667/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/j2wJFJh13XEJt_My_JR2oX1beSs=/0x0:4000x2667/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PPIiAvFou_wsqPH672QrmAuWJd8=/0x0:4000x2667/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1wCWwKDwxUCMeD0u7dZBySmcI88=/0x0:4000x2667/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ODgBM2FfnNVDr2BjujQMIP6izGY=/0x0:4000x2667/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/agfB8CxBEVLei2YwmnzsT3vZytc=/0x0:4000x2667/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KCTQZi_f-9GpJ1VxMS990H_wy58=/0x0:4000x2667/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jSspFPHcd9Y1rYi6O8hTkVH2z-0=/0x0:4000x2667/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Z_VV3c9b41steV6UcmaDRnAxEPw=/0x0:4000x2667/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="4000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8MnkZQ9sqCCIyByUc3_psNK6sxU=/0x0:4000x2667/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/34VLUtk-mT2GdnYQJlfSqZDCFjg=/0x0:4000x2667/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/47ifMpjIxPuH09O_kZmLJQWwwD0=/0x0:4000x2667/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PO_fjguJPQNrKMwpfnWZIy4PuEA=/0x0:4000x2667/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_dNYzhF1MRBRpawNMCda2FzjiUw=/0x0:4000x2667/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QRtziUU-mgY2UvYZaq3a4TDXHxQ=/0x0:4000x2667/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fZCL86JuwWpvl0UlIwrkG0809Xs=/0x0:4000x2667/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cCcqZmiei__7-TFRNOPGj4urqPU=/0x0:4000x2667/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lH04V_nOepG0xBgxerCO9wH1u0E=/0x0:4000x2667/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Qg4Lmmk3poG8uX1mIG9hz7-mQ9o=/0x0:4000x2667/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4000x2667):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23315016/GettyImages_1237806039.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span>
<figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Bottles of Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics’s antiviral medication molnupiravir, which received emergency authorization from the FDA in late 2021. The antivirals represent a new way to beat back Covid-19 in the most at-risk patients — and to manage the virus’s uncertain future.</span></figcaption>
<span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg via Getty Images</cite></span></figure>
<p>It’s also possible that these sorts of medications will decrease the odds that a patient will spread the infection to others, making it “so they’re not just another node in transmission,” Wurtz said.</p>
<p>Wurtz finds this a compelling line of questioning as we look at these drugs’ effect on the future of the pandemic. “We hope and expect that if someone is diagnosed with Covid, and we quickly put them on these antivirals, they’ll be less contagious to other people,” she said. She sees that as an important benefit, particularly for nursing homes and other places with lower community immunity to the virus.</p>
<p>Vaccines, experts say, remain the first and best line of defense. “The vaccine is the best tool because it clearly prevents severe illness, hospitalization, and death,” said <a href="https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-people/adalja/">Amesh Adalja</a>, an infectious disease, emergency medicine, and critical care doctor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Prevention is always better than treatment.”</p>
<p>For those who haven’t mounted as high of an immune response, even after vaccination, or haven’t been able or have chosen not to be vaccinated, the pills could someday be prescribed after a known exposure, even before a positive diagnosis.</p>
<p>The antiviral Tamiflu is already prescribed this way to prevent those at high risk from catching a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/index.html">potentially fatal case of influenza</a>. For example, if an outbreak of flu occurs in an assisted living facility, often everyone is given a course of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32538036/">Tamiflu to prevent additional infections</a>. For Covid-19, monoclonal antibodies have been authorized for this sort of <a href="https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-authorizes-regen-cov-monoclonal-antibody-therapy-post-exposure-prophylaxis-prevention-covid-19">post-exposure prevention</a> in high-risk people since July 2021.</p>
<p>Having courses of oral antivirals on hand for US nursing homes could potentially save thousands of lives during future Covid-19 waves. But the rest of the globe could see an even more dramatic benefit as we look ahead to many more years of living with the virus.</p>
<p>Easy-to-take antivirals could drastically reduce hospitalization and death among the billions of people who remain vulnerable to the disease, including those who have been unable to be vaccinated and those living with conditions that put them at higher risk, such as HIV.</p>
<p>“If we could get the drugs to them, we could prevent an awful lot of hospitalizations and deaths just with the oral medication,” Swartzberg noted. “But it’s a real steep climb to work out all the logistics.” The pills would need, for example, to be substantially cheaper than they are currently in the US: $530 for a course of Paxlovid and $700 for molnupiravir (costs that the US government is currently covering for its residents).</p>
<p>The drugs would still need to surmount many of the same distribution hurdles as other lifesaving medications that frequently <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0375">fail to become universally accessible</a>.</p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" />
<p>Whenever we deploy a new weapon against a virus on a broad scale, on the faces of the very scientists and medical workers we would expect to be most jubilant, there might pass a barely perceptible shadow of worry. The specter of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5499642/">resistance</a> always looms.</p>
<p>Similar to bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotic treatments, such as in <a href="https://nyulangone.org/conditions/antibiotic-resistant-infections/types">dreaded MRSA infections</a>, viruses can rapidly evolve to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5499642/">shrug off once-deadly attacks</a> by antiviral medications. In some ways, they’re even better at it. “They’re far less sophisticated than bacteria, therefore they need even less to carry on and survive,” Wurtz explained. “They’re literally just packages of patterns; they’re not even really alive. So they can test and cope with mutations, including mutations that make them resistant to antivirals.”</p>
<p>The Covid-19 virus replicates so quickly in a single person — and across so many people — it has almost countless chances to try out new mutations that will make it better at infecting people, evading vaccines, and surviving attempts to quash it with treatments. “So resistance is inevitable,” Wurtz said.</p>
<p>We’ve already seen the genetic gymnastics Covid-19 has performed to frequently get around vaccine-induced immunity (if with greatly reduced severity). The virus has done this by changing aspects of its external spike protein, which is what the vaccines had primed our immune systems to look out for. Fortunately, the new antiviral drugs work on a more intimate and integral part of the virus, its replication machinery, that it is more hard-pressed to alter.</p>
<p>Still, cautioned Mayo Clinic’s Razonable, “We’ve learned from before that there is always going to be some sort of fight between the virus and whatever drugs we have. So there’s always going to be the anticipation of resistance coming.” Some past strains of the flu, for example, have proven <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/antivirals/antiviral-drug-resistance.htm">resistant to Tamiflu</a> treatment.</p>
<p>One way to try to stave off resistance is to help people take the medication exactly as instructed. (The new antiviral courses require multiple pills to be taken twice a day for five consecutive days.)</p>
<p>The other essential tactic we have for combating resistance is to be ready with new and different pharmaceutical weapons. “If we know resistance is going to come, we should get ourselves ready and develop some other drugs, with different mechanisms of action, so that when the time comes, we’ll be ready,” Razonable said.</p>
<p>The lineup of potential new drugs to help prevent more Covid-19 deaths, experts say, is fair. But it could be better. Before 2020, much of the recent research had been in highly targeted antivirals that were less likely to work on a new virus.</p>
<p>The pandemic renewed interest in broad-spectrum antivirals of the sort Sheahan has worked on, which could be effective against a wide swath of viruses, including new mutations of the coronavirus and as-yet-unknown viruses. (They worked on assessing remdesivir and molnupiravir for such a broad band of coronaviruses by testing them not just against ones that had infected humans, such as SARS and MERS, but also on those circulating in a range of animals, such as mice, bats, and pigs, which could sow future pandemics.) As Sheahan noted, “it’s a process that takes time.”</p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" />
<p>For now, for the two oral antivirals to wield the greatest force in reshaping the hospitalization and death curves of the pandemic, people who can benefit from them most must get them — and quickly. That hasn’t been easy so far.</p>
<p>Both molnupiravir and Paxlovid need to be taken within five days of first symptoms. Why? “When you think about disease caused by Covid-19 and the severity, it’s an interaction of two things: the virus and your immune system,” Adalja explained. “Right after about five days or so, the virus is probably less of a player, and it’s your immune reaction to the virus,” he said. “If you let the virus rip for five days in someone, they may already be at the cusp of being hospitalized anyways. So the faster, the better.”</p>
<p>It’s easy to see how that process wouldn’t always go so smoothly. Testing is one weak link in the chain.</p>
<p>Swartzberg described a scenario where someone develops symptoms but first needs to acquire a rapid test. Once they do, if their first test is negative, they might wait a couple of days and test again. If their test is negative again but they still think they might be infected, they might seek out an appointment for a PCR test — and then have to wait 48 hours for results. “You can see where it’s beyond five days right there,” he said. And the person in this scenario hadn’t even gotten as far as contacting their doctor or nurse, let alone having their prescription in hand to start trying to track down the pills.</p>
<p>Adalja noted that the prescribing process itself will need to be quick and low-friction. “Doctors have to be comfortable saying a home test is a threshold to prescribe,” he said, and not insisting on confirmation from an official PCR test.</p>
<p>New York City’s home-delivery program addressed another logistical issue, which is simply getting the medication to Covid-infected people, whom no one wants turning up in the local pharmacy line in person.</p>
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang">
<aside><q>“There is always going to be some sort of fight between the virus and whatever drugs we have. There’s always going to be the anticipation of resistance coming.”</q></aside>
</div>
<p>And there’s been a telling surprise: In early February, there was actually <a href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2022/02/eagerly-awaited-covid-lifesavers-molnupiravir-paxlovid-now-wait-patients">an oversupply of these potentially lifesaving medications</a> at some US pharmacies. This suggests that the <a href="https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-03-years-pandemic-unequal-access-covid-.html">many</a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/03/08/1085078893/test-to-treat-gets-covid-pills-to-at-risk-patients-fast-but-its-reach-is-limited">hurdles</a> in obtaining these drugs, as well as their not-insignificant limitations, mean we’re not yet ready to extinguish the pandemic’s deadly blaze with billions of blister packs and some water.</p>
<p>Once these challenges are addressed, though, could these types of drugs meaningfully change the future of the pandemic for all of us?</p>
<p>“Cases are going to ebb and flow every year,” Adalja said. “As this transitions to endemic, there will likely be a role for this drug in keeping people out of the hospital.”</p>
<p>Yet, as much as these sorts of oral antivirals might mercifully lop off the spikes of hospitalization and death we have seen in the pandemic so far, they will not end it. “Oral antivirals will always have a role in people who are elderly and immunocompromised, but not as a pandemic-stopper,” Wurtz said. “Vaccination is the pandemic-stopper.”</p>
<p><em>Katherine Harmon Courage is a science writer and frequent contributor to Vox.</em></p>
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source <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/22968986/covid-drugs-paxlovid-molnupiravir-health">https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/22968986/covid-drugs-paxlovid-molnupiravir-health</a>

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