The Latest News from Our Field

Hospitals in some states, including New Mexico, Texas and Wyoming, have developed prescription painkiller tracking systems tailored to emergency rooms, NPR reports. The systems are designed to reduce prescription drug abuse.

The peak ages for starting to misuse prescription stimulants, such as drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, are between 16 and 19, a new study finds. The researchers say education programs should start in middle school to keep more young people from starting to misuse prescription stimulants.

Presidential candidates are discussing drug abuse in campaign events in Iowa and New Hampshire, NPR reports.

Taking certain prescription drugs, including opioids and anti-anxiety drugs known as benzodiazepines, appears to be linked with an increased risk of committing homicide, a new study suggests.

Australian researchers have released the first-ever report on worldwide addiction statistics. They found about 240 million people around the world are dependent on alcohol, more than a billion people smoke, and about 15 million people use injection drugs, such as heroin.

The creator of the Silk Road website, Ross Ulbricht, was sentenced Friday to life in prison, NBC News reports. Silk Road sold illegal drugs including heroin, cocaine and LSD.

Federal employees were told this week that marijuana continues to be illegal for them, even though medical and recreational use of the drug is now legal in a growing number of states.

Using marijuana and alcohol together greatly increases the amount of THC, marijuana’s active ingredient, in the blood, a new study concludes. Using the two substances together raises THC levels much more than using marijuana by itself.

Law enforcement officials are increasingly concerned that China, with a large and poorly regulated drug manufacturing sector, is becoming a major producer of synthetic drugs such as Spice.

Graphic photographs on cigarette warning labels appear to be more effective than text warnings in convincing smokers to try to quit, a new study suggests.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, May 22- Thursday, May 28, 2015.

This spring, while the San Francisco Giants geared up another season, their local government hit a home run of its own. The Mayor of San Francisco signed a unanimous Board of Supervisors action last week, to ban smokeless tobacco on playing fields throughout the city.

The U.S. Supreme Court this week denied a request by the pharmaceutical industry to review a lawsuit over a drug take-back program in Alameda County, California. The program, which requires drug companies to pay for drug disposal, can now move forward.

As more babies are born to mothers who are addicted to prescription painkillers, the costs related to diagnosis and treatment of these infants are rising, according to a new report.

A federal appeals court has ruled that American tobacco companies do not have to tell consumers they lied about the dangers of smoking. The companies must say cigarettes were designed to increase addiction, according to the Associated Press.

Federal prosecutors are asking for a long prison sentence for Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the website Silk Road, which sold illegal drugs including heroin, cocaine and LSD.

People seeking treatment for addiction face a number of obstacles, including problems getting insurance coverage, a shortage of trained health providers and low quality of care, experts tell USA Today.

Deaths due to a new synthetic drug called flakka have risen to 18 in just one South Florida county, The New York Times reports.

Both Republicans and Democrats are focusing more attention on opioid overdose deaths, including those caused by heroin and prescription painkillers, according to The Hill.

The rate of cigarette smoking declined significantly in about half of states between 2011 and 2013, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There was relatively little change in the rate of smokeless tobacco use, the report found.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has arrested 280 people in a four-state crackdown of illegal distribution of prescription pills, named “Operation Pilluted,” Reuters reports. The arrests took place in Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi.

Determining exactly how many people die of heroin overdoses is difficult to pinpoint because many states do not require reporting of specific details on drug overdoses, NPR reports. Information that is available is usually at least two years old.

A bill under consideration in Maine would require health insurance companies to cover abuse-deterrent opioid painkillers at the same level as other opioids. Massachusetts passed a similar law last year, NPR reports.

British scientists have developed a fingerprint test that detects cocaine use, according to Fox News. The researchers say the test has many benefits over traditional drug testing, including a quick turnaround time.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, May 15- Thursday, May 21, 2015.