The Latest News from Our Field

As heroin and prescription drug abuse rises in New Hampshire, doctors are seeing more babies born addicted to opioids, a condition known as Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, reports the New Hampshire Union Leader.

Members of The La Crosse County Heroin Task Force in Wisconsin have run into roadblocks while developing a plan to dispose of prescription medicines in drop boxes, reports the Associated Press.

One of the most compelling ways to prevent youth tobacco use may be through their teeth.

Generic drug makers are fighting proposed FDA regulation that would require them to warn patients of each drug’s health risks.

As heroin use escalates across the U.S., addicts and their loved ones who are seeking treatment face a lack of services and strict constraints placed by insurance companies, according to health care and addiction professionals.

The Obama administration has provided banks with federal guidelines for conducting banking transactions with legal marijuana sellers, enabling a legalized marijuana industry to operate in states that approve it.

Homeowners associations in states where medical marijuana is legal are wrestling with the issue of whether to prohibit use of the drug, The Christian Science Monitor reports.

An Internet drinking game called “Neknomination” reportedly led to the death of two young men in Britain this week, according to ABC News. In the game, a person quickly drinks a concoction of alcohol, sometimes mixed with other ingredients, then nominates two other people to do something even more outrageous. The results are posted online.

A new study suggests teens who consume high-caffeine energy drinks such as Monster or Red Bull may be more likely to use alcohol, drugs or cigarettes.

People whose view of religion changes over time are at increased risk of using drugs, alcohol or tobacco, a new study suggests.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, February 7- Thursday, February 13, 2014.

Philip Seymour Hoffman’s tragic death has focused attention on heroin addiction. Unfortunately, heroin addiction is on the rise from teens to older adults, says Dr. Barbara Krantz of the Hanley Center.

Government officials Tuesday urged first responders to increase their use of the drug naloxone to reverse overdoses of heroin and prescription opioids.

Large drug companies are helping officials at the Winter Olympics with anti-doping efforts, the Associated Press reports.

People are buying more alcohol for use at home, according to new figures from a market research firm. Spending on alcohol grew during every quarter over the last four years, indicating increased alcohol sales are not a weather-related trend.

Marijuana delivery services are springing up in Washington state, where recreational marijuana for adults is now legal, but state-run stores won’t start selling the drug for non-medical purposes until later this year.

A growing number of people switch back and forth between prescription painkillers and heroin, experts tell The New York Times. They call prescription opiates “heroin lite.”

Eight U.S. senators are urging other major drug store chains to follow the example of CVS, which announced last week it will no longer sell tobacco products by October.

A number of trends could combine to lower U.S. smoking rates from the current 18 percent, to 10 percent or less, health officials predict. Cigarette taxes, bans on smoking in public places and regulations on cigarette advertising could influence people’s perceptions of smoking, according to the Associated Press.

California has approved the merger of the Hazelden Foundation and the Betty Ford Center, the Star Tribune reports. The new organization will be called the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. It will be the nation’s largest nonprofit treatment organization.

The heroin overdose antidote naloxone is becoming more widely available nationwide, the Los Angeles Times reports. California greatly expanded availability of the treatment as of January 1.

Heroin laced with the synthetic opiate fentanyl is suspected in at least 50 recent fatal overdoses in three states, according to law enforcement officials. In Pennsylvania, the drug combination is suspected in at least 17 deaths. Officials in Maryland and Michigan are also investigating deaths linked to the drug mix.

Maine Governor Paul R. LePage this week said the births of 927 babies born to mothers addicted to drugs last year in the state is a “troubling epidemic.” The babies represented more than 7 percent of all births in the state, The New York Times reports.

A Florida congressman this week called the Obama Administration’s policy on marijuana “schizophrenic,” according to CBS News.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, January 31- Thursday, February 6, 2014.