The Latest News from Our Field

The online tool Google Trends may be able to help track the public’s use of marijuana, a new study suggests. The researchers say the tool can also be used to gauge growing interest in other drugs.

Use of narcotic painkillers and anti-anxiety medications among elderly patients is rising sharply, according to an examination of Medicare data by USA Today. The newspaper found older patients are using the medications for longer periods than in the past.

Treatment options are lacking for teens with substance use disorders, experts say. Addiction treatment resources are expensive, hard to find, and often not effective, they tell U.S. News & World Report.

Colleges are increasing the number of disciplinary actions against students for alcohol and drug offenses, according to The New York Times. The change reflects an increase in enforcement, not a rise in the number of offenses, experts say.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission held a hearing Tuesday on whether to make new guidelines on reducing prison sentences for low-level drug offenders retroactive for current inmates. The guidelines would shorten sentences for some nonviolent, low-level drug offenders.

As marijuana becomes more readily available, a growing number of researchers are studying the possible link between marijuana and fatal car crashes, USA Today reports.

CVS Caremark Corp., which announced earlier this year it will remove all tobacco products from store shelves by October 1, said it is on track to be tobacco-free by that date.

The use of smokeless tobacco among American workers has held steady since 2005, as cigarette smoking has declined, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some Massachusetts physicians have resigned from marijuana companies after being told by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigators they must do so or be faced with relinquishing federal licenses to prescribe certain medications, The Boston Globe reports.

Federal officials want to ease restrictions on sharing substance abuse treatment records among healthcare providers, The Wall Street Journal reports. The move concerns some privacy advocates.

Marijuana is linked to several significant adverse health effects, and can be addictive, National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Dr. Nora Volkow writes in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine.

Federal officials announced this week that Georgia cannot implement a new law that would require some food stamp applicants and recipients to undergo drug testing.

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam this week announced a plan designed to stop prescription drug abuse in the state.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, May 30- Thursday, June 5, 2014.

Substance use remains highly prevalent on college campuses, which may lead young people in recovery to either defer or postpone college, or increase the risk of relapse if they do attend. But as substance use on college campuses became increasingly recognized as a public health issue, experts have called for campus-based services for recovering students.

A lawsuit filed by the city of Chicago against five drug companies alleges they contributed to the nation’s prescription drug abuse epidemic through deceptive marketing of their opioid painkillers.

Federal authorities are debating whether health insurance companies can charge e-cigarette users more under the Affordable Care Act, as they are allowed to do for smokers of traditional cigarettes, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Teens ages 12 to 17 were exposed to many new e-cigarette television ads between 2011 and 2013, a new study finds. Young people in this age group experienced a 256 percent jump in exposure to the ads during those years, according to NBC News.

A measure passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last week would end federal interference in state medical marijuana laws.

Diversion of the opioid addiction treatment Suboxone concerns some experts, who say in some cases it may be a gateway drug to heroin or opioid use, The Christian Science Monitor reports.

Devices called vaporizers, which resemble large fountain pens, are quickly becoming a popular item among people using e-cigarettes, according to The Wall Street Journal.

A new program at the Betty Ford Center will provide addiction treatment designed for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and questioning people.

Law enforcement and health officials in Colorado are seeing a variety of problems stemming from the legalization of recreational marijuana. They range from poisonings from edible marijuana to drugged driving.

Heroin users are much more likely to be older, whiter and suburban compared with 50 years ago, a new study concludes. They are almost evenly split between men and women, The Washington Post reports.

An international group of scientists is asking the World Health Organization not to classify e-cigarettes as tobacco products, according to Reuters. The 53 scientists say the devices can help reduce smoking.