The Latest News from Our Field

The Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning about powdered pure caffeine, following the deaths of at least two young men who used the product.

Marijuana use in all age groups in Colorado and Washington State, where recreational marijuana is legal, has exceeded the national average during the past year, according to a new report by the anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new non-opioid painkiller that is delivered by injection, Reuters reports. The painkiller, Dyloject, is designed to provide fast relief to patients suffering moderate to severe pain.

This year Medicare has started examining prescribing data to identify physicians who write large numbers of prescriptions for narcotic painkillers and stimulants. Next year Medicare will be able to kick doctors out of the program if they are found to be prescribing in abusive ways.

A group of senators working to reduce the toll of prescription drug abuse sent letters to government officials and health groups this week, urging them to continue fighting what they called a national epidemic.

The Colorado Board of Health announced it will fund grants totaling more than $8 million for studies examining the potential medical benefits of marijuana. The studies will examine marijuana’s effects on epilepsy, pain relief, brain tumors and post-traumatic stress disorder.

A survey of college students finds the most common reason for experimenting with synthetic marijuana is curiosity, HealthDay reports.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, December 12- Thursday, December 18, 2014.

Many college students participating in Collegiate Recovery Programs for drug and alcohol addictions also report being in recovery from or currently engaging in multiple behavioral addictions, a new survey finds. These addictions include eating disorders, and sex and love addiction.

The federal spending measure passed over the weekend includes a provision that will end the federal government’s prohibition on medical marijuana in states where it is legal, The Los Angeles Times reports.

Among teens who drink, 90 percent have blacked out after drinking at least once by the time they reached age 19, according to a new study of British adolescents. Teens who black out after drinking are more likely to be female.

States that have a greater number of random traffic stops and a higher number of DUI arrests have a lower rate of drunk driving, a new study concludes.

A new study finds people who use methamphetamine are three times more likely than those who do not use illicit drugs to develop Parkinson’s disease.

A new survey of teens finds they are using less marijuana, alcohol and cigarettes. The Monitoring the Future study found marijuana use among teens declined from 26 percent last year to 24 percent this year, USA Today reports.

Lawmakers in a growing number of states are considering banning powdered alcohol, a product that has not yet arrived in stores, according to the Associated Press.

A new study finds that when teens host parties where alcohol is available, their parents are often aware of the underage drinking.

Faces & Voices of Recovery announced the organization’s new Executive Director is Patty McCarthy Metcalf, MS, a longtime board member.

An anti-smoking campaign called “Tips From Former Smokers” cost just $480 per smoker who quit and $393 per year of life saved, according to a new report. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which ran the campaign, called it successful and highly cost-effective.

Young adults who do not attend college are more likely than their peers who are enrolled in school to abuse prescription painkillers, according to new research.

Reducing the number of bars, restaurants, liquor stores and other locations where alcohol is sold in a community may help reduce domestic violence, a new study suggests.

A new report that ranks mental illness and mental health services at the state level reveals some surprises, The Washington Post reports. Some states with the lowest rates of mental illness and substance abuse are in the South, even though southern states also score low on measures of physical health.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, December 5- Thursday, December 11, 2014.

Despite predictions that healthcare reform would greatly increase the number of people seeking drug and alcohol treatment, a new study conducted in Oregon suggests so far, no big changes are occurring in that state.

Cigarette smoking causes about three in 10 cancer deaths in the United States, according to a new study by researchers at the American Cancer Society. The estimate does not include deaths from secondhand smoke.