The Latest News from Our Field

Treatment slots for methamphetamine addiction in Oklahoma are in short supply, according to Terri White, the state’s Mental Health and Substance Abuse Commissioner.

Legislation that would ban the sale of “bath salts” and “Spice,” which was approved by the U.S. House in December, has stalled in the Senate.

New York Senator Charles Schumer is warning the Food and Drug Administration against approving new “super painkillers.” Four of these new drugs, which are currently being tested by pharmaceutical companies, contain a more powerful version of hydrocodone, one of the country’s most abused painkillers, the Associated Press reports.

An estimated 10 percent of smokers don’t tell their doctor they are lighting up, a new survey reveals.

Teens are likely being exposed to a lot of alcohol advertising online, says the Director of the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. David Jernigan says alcohol companies’ voluntary limits on print, television and radio ads are often ignored on social media websites.

Advances in the addiction and treatment field have heightened concerns that the practice of treating addiction will be limited by education level, particularly to master’s degrees. In a movement to further legitimize our profession, we risk leaving many dedicated professionals behind, says Phillis A. Gardner, PhD of IC&RC.

An estimated 200 million people worldwide use illegal drugs, according to a new study. The health consequences of this use are wide-ranging.

A growing number of employers are not hiring smokers, USA Today reports. Hospitals are in the forefront of this trend, which aims to promote employees’ health and reduce insurance premiums.

Connecticut has become the 15th state to require ignition interlock devices for people convicted of drunk driving. The devices are required even for first-time offenders, according to MSNBC.

Middle- and high-school students are invited to participate in an informal national survey to help measure the impact of alcohol advertising that runs during the Super Bowl.

Hookahs, which many people perceive as a less dangerous way of using tobacco than smoking cigarettes, can cause carbon monoxide poisoning, health experts say.

Increasing the minimum price of alcohol may reduce drinking, a new Canadian study suggests.

Researchers at Cornell University are attempting to create a less harmful cigarette by using natural antioxidant extracts in cigarette filters.

The U.S. Supreme Court could decide this month whether to take up a case that would decide whether police officers can obtain a search warrant for illegal drugs based on a drug-sniffing dog that picks up a scent outside of a house.

A prenatal intervention program, for stopping substance use in pregnancy, could save almost $2 billion annually if it were implemented nationwide, a new study suggests.

Manufacturers of the synthetic version of marijuana known as “spice” are changing the recipe just enough to skirt state laws banning the substance, The Washington Post reports.

Programs that target multiple areas of young people’s lives, including family, peers, community and school, may help prevent drug use and risky sexual behavior, according to a new study.

The smoking cessation medication Chantix is being tested as a possible treatment for addiction to alcohol, cocaine and methamphetamine.

Clergy can, should, and must make a difference in the pain and confusion felt by so many of their congregants, but they must first understand the role that alcoholism and drug addiction play in the insidious social and spiritual erosion plaguing so many of their congregation’s families, says Sis Wegner of NACoA.

Four drug companies are developing a more powerful version of the painkiller hydrocodone. One group dedicated to fighting prescription drug abuse is concerned this new drug has a large potential for abuse.

Parents who allow their teens to have friends over to drink, thinking it’s a safe way to keep them off the roads, may be surprised to find they are subject to liability laws that make them vulnerable to lawsuits, fines and jail time.

People who inject methamphetamine are 80 percent more likely to attempt suicide compared with those who inject other drugs, a new study has found.

Men who are on methadone treatment are twice as likely as the general population to be involved in motor vehicle accidents, according to a new study from Norway.

Before voters cast their ballots to legalize marijuana, or their elected officials decide, think about what will happen to children if marijuana becomes accessible to adults, much like alcohol, advises National Families in Action's Sue Ruche.

A new study links smoking with a type of skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma in women. The more a woman smokes, the greater her risk of developing the cancer.