The Latest News from Our Field

A marijuana advocacy group has posted a billboard ad across from Denver’s football stadium, USA Today reports. The Marijuana Policy Project’s ad urges the National Football League to “Stop Driving Players to Drink.” Referring to Colorado’s new marijuana legalization law, the ad notes, “A safer choice is now legal (here).”

Drug abuse prevention groups this week urged the Department of Justice to reconsider its announcement that it will allow Colorado and Washington to carry out their new recreational marijuana laws.

Law enforcement officials working in a government counternarcotics program have access to a huge AT&T database containing records of decades of phone calls, according to The New York Times.

CVS has announced it has revoked dispensing privileges for more than 36 physicians and other healthcare providers who wrote large numbers of prescriptions for painkillers, NBC News reports.

The U.S. Justice Department announced it will allow Colorado and Washington to carry out their new recreational marijuana laws, according to Reuters. The department will focus enforcement on criminal charges in specific areas, such as distribution to minors.

Laboratories in China are becoming a significant source of synthetic drug production, according to Time.com.

Almost one-fourth of Billboard Magazine’s most popular songs from 2009 to 2011 mentioned alcohol, a new study finds. Of the 167 songs, 46 referenced a specific brand, such as Patron, Hennessy, Grey Goose and Jack Daniel’s.

A national survey released Wednesday finds 5.3 percent of young adults used prescription drugs for nonmedical purposes in the past month, similar to rates in the previous two years. The survey found rates of teen drinking, including binge drinking, in the past month were lower last year compared with 2002 and 2009.

A new government report finds a link between prescription drug abuse and an increased risk of heroin use. Americans ages 12 to 49 who illegally use prescription drugs are 19 times more likely than others in their age group to begin using heroin, the report found.

“Molly,” the club drug suspected of causing two deaths this weekend at a New York City music festival, can be dangerous for casual users, experts say. They note it is hard for a person using the drug to detect when they are about to overdose.

A new study finds Hispanic teenagers are more likely than African-American or Caucasian teens to use drugs. The study by The Partnership at Drugfree.org found 54 percent of Hispanic adolescents said they had used an illegal drug, compared with 45 percent of African-American teens and 43 percent of Caucasian teens.

Watching the Country Music Awards Music Festival broadcast this week from Nashville reminded me that no matter how far we’ve come in changing social norms around tobacco – it remains a marathon, not a sprint, explains Julia Cartwright of Legacy.

Smoking cessation programs can be successful in patients hospitalized for mental illness, a new study concludes. Researchers at Stanford University found psychiatric patients in a quit-smoking program were more likely to stop using cigarettes, and were less likely to be re-hospitalized for mental illness, compared with patients not in the program.

A study of risk factors for early-onset dementia finds alcohol abuse tops the list, HealthDay reports.

“Hempfest,” Washington state’s annual marijuana festival, will be making some changes this year, now that recreational use of the drug is legal there, according to the Associated Press.

As the federal government takes steps to reduce mandatory minimum sentences for minor drug offenses, California legislators are considering making similar changes.

Law enforcement officials and prosecutors are finding it difficult to win convictions against makers of synthetic drugs, who are constantly changing the chemistry of the products to stay one step ahead of the law.

A new poll finds 10 percent of Americans admit they have taken someone else’s prescription drugs. One-quarter of those people used the drugs to get high.

Higher cigarette taxes are associated with reduced drinking in men and young adult smokers, a new study suggests.

Having half-siblings increases the chance that a teenager will use drugs and have sex by age 15, according to a study presented at the American Sociological Association annual meeting.

Excessive alcohol use costs the United States $223.5 billion annually, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Binge drinking accounts for more than 70 percent of these costs.

Women do not experience alcohol problems or alcoholism earlier than men, but seek treatment four to five years sooner, a new study concludes. Women with alcohol problems request help after an average of 10 years, compared with 15 years for men.

New drugs being tested as treatments for muscle-wasting diseases such as muscular dystrophy could be abused by athletes if they reach the market, experts tell NPR.

After hearing comments from hundreds of people about proposed new rules for marijuana sales, officials in Washington state said they want to delay implementing the regulations for a few months.

In response to the recent CNN expose, The California Association of Alcohol & Drug Abuse Counselors (CAADAC) is supporting actions to investigate and hold accountable businesses and individuals involved in fraud in the drug Medi-Cal program, explains Andrew D. Kessler of IC&RC.