The Latest News from Our Field

There is disagreement among doctors about the best way to prevent prescription painkiller abuse, sometimes even among physicians in the same hospital, according to The Plain Dealer. The Cleveland Clinic is among the institutions where colleagues disagree on the best approach to the problem.

A Massachusetts woman is suing FedEx, claiming the company accidentally shipped a seven-pound box of marijuana to her, then gave her address to drug dealers looking for the package.

New formulations of Suboxone, and crystal meth’s impact on the gay community were two of the topics discussed at the recent annual meeting of the New York Society of Addiction Medicine. This is the first of a two-part report on the meeting, “Addiction Medicine 2013: Emerging Problems, Current Treatment.”

One-fifth of U.S. adult smokers have tried e-cigarettes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week.

Women who start smoking early in life are at increased risk of breast cancer, a new study concludes. Previous studies on smoking and breast cancer have produced conflicting results, HealthDay reports.

A California state senator has proposed legislation that would allow misdemeanor charges to be filed in cases of simple possession of heroin and cocaine, instead of felony charges.

The Iowa Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy is trying to find ways to stay one step ahead of synthetic marijuana manufacturers.

Youth who become active in Alcoholics Anonymous-related helping while they are in treatment are less likely to test positive for alcohol and drugs during treatment, a new study finds.

A study by the American Cancer Society estimates 12,000 deaths annually could be avoided in the United States among the highest risk smokers and former smokers through a national lung cancer screening program.

Male heavy drinkers arrested for domestic violence, who participate in a therapy session devoted to alcohol, were less aggressive toward their partners in the months after the counseling, according to a new study.

Two proposed constitutional amendments that would legalize medical marijuana are being debated in Ohio, The Columbus Dispatch reports.

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which makes it easier to gain access to substance abuse and mental health treatment, has increased care, but at an added cost, a new study concludes.

Children whose mothers are diagnosed with an alcohol disorder in pregnancy, or within a year after giving birth, are three times more likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, compared with infants whose mothers do not have an alcohol disorder, a new study finds.

A new study links substance abuse, early exposure to violence and chaotic family life, to teenage violence in one Denver neighborhood. The study, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is part of a five-year effort to classify risk factors that promote teen violence.

A Colorado task force making recommendations on how to regulate marijuana has called for the drug to be sold in child-proof packaging, according to The Denver Post.

The Affordable Care Act will revolutionize the field of substance abuse treatment, according to A. Thomas McLellan, PhD, CEO and co-founder of the Treatment Research Institute.

A bipartisan group of 13 House members has introduced a federal bill that would allow medical marijuana patients and businesses that are complying with state law to access and distribute marijuana without federal interference.

Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, who fought the tobacco industry, died at the age of 96. He issued the first government warning about secondhand tobacco smoke, Bloomberg reports.

A new study links the number of sex partners young adults have with their subsequent risk of developing alcohol or marijuana dependence disorders. The study found young women who had more than two or three sex partners when they were 18 to 20 years old were nearly 10 times more likely than those with one or no sexual partner to develop a substance dependence problem at age 21.

The Chinese movement exercise known as qigong may help control cocaine craving early in recovery, a new study suggests.

A new study finds 8 percent of men and 3 percent of women are heavy drinkers, according to government guidelines. On any given day, 18 percent of men and 11 percent of women drink more alcohol than advised by federal dietary guidelines, Reuters reports.

Entrepreneurs in the medical marijuana industry can be hit with a federal income tax rate as high as 75 percent, CNN reports. The high tax rate is due to a 1982 tax code provision aimed at drug runners.

The Food and Drug Administration informed the maker of the opioid addiction treatment Suboxone that it has approved two generic versions of the drug, according to Reuters. The company, Reckitt Benckiser, had asked the agency to block the generic products because of concerns over pediatric poisonings.

The new head of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products is a longtime critic of the tobacco industry, The Wall Street Journal reports. Mitch Zeller’s appointment may signal stricter oversight of cigarette manufacturers, according to the newspaper.

CADCA's Mary Elizabeth Elliott gives her perspective on their recent National Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C., where 2,600 community and state leaders formed new partnerships and learned current strategies in the art and science of effective coalition building.