The Latest News from Our Field

The two biggest tobacco companies in the United States have agreed to pay $6.25 million to support the country’s largest online collection of tobacco industry documents.

Young adults who sent and received weekly text messages that tracked their alcohol consumption drank less after 12 weeks, according to a new study.

Substance abuse often plays a role in cases of child abuse or neglect in Kentucky, according to an investigation by the Lexington Herald-Leader.

A new report concludes the Food and Drug Administration needs more information about the health effects of “modified risk” tobacco products such as e-cigarettes or tobacco lozenges, before it allows tobacco companies to sell or advertise these products as being able to reduce the health risks of tobacco use.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced it will tell Medicare prescription drug plans to withhold payment when they detect signs of suspicious activity related to narcotics and painkillers. The move is aimed at reducing Medicare fraud, Reuters reports.

Government experts are urging people to learn the facts about drinking and driving, to prevent the surge of alcohol-related car accidents that occur every holiday season.

Ecstasy may produce long-lasting changes in brain chemistry, a new study suggests. The drug can cause a drop in the levels of the brain chemical serotonin for up to two years.

Marijuana use is gaining in popularity among teens, according to Monitoring the Future, an annual survey of eighth, 10th, and 12th-graders, The New York Times reports. The survey found one of every 15 high school seniors smokes marijuana on an almost daily basis.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced a nationwide crackdown on drunk driving this holiday season.

A new government program aims to protect young children from accidental drug overdoses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the “Up and Away and Out of Sight” program, to teach parents how to keep medications out of the hands of young children.

People who quit smoking report higher levels of health-related quality of life compared with people who continue to smoke, a new study shows. They also report fewer stressful situations, and more support by spouses or partners.

Frank Vocci, PhD, President of Friends Research Institute, describes advances in research for new medicines to treat cocaine dependence.

A growing number of parents are using at-home drug tests for their teens, even though some experts in adolescent drug use do not recommend them.

A family-centered prevention program can help deter substance use, conduct problems and depressive symptoms among rural African-American teens, a new study finds.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is launching a task force to fight the growing prescription drug abuse epidemic in the city, after officials identified 21 pharmacies that account for about one-fourth of the city’s oxycodone Medicaid reimbursements.

CADCA’s National Leadership Forum will be held February 6-9 at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. This four-day conference will focus on the latest strategies to fight substance abuse, and will feature nationally known experts and policymakers.

Treatment admissions for prescription drug abuse rose 430 percent from 1999 to 2009, according to a new government report.

France, with a culture that embraces wine, is facing serious concerns about teenage binge drinking, NPR reports.

Texans arrested for drunk driving this holiday season who refuse to take a breathalyzer test may have to submit to a blood test.

The NFL is trying to recruit physician Congressmen to urge the football players union to allow human growth hormone testing. The union has resisted the testing, insisting they need more information.

In searching for solutions to the devastating impact of the tobacco epidemic, it’s easy to understand why some employers are turning to “smoker free” workplaces. But upon sober second thought, “smoker free” workplace policies emerge as a deeply flawed strategy, explains Ellen Vargyas of Legacy.

The U.S. House voted Thursday to ban more than 30 synthetic drugs, including “bath salts” and “spice.” The Synthetic Drug Control Act would make it illegal to manufacture or dispense the drugs.

An estimated 31 percent of driving deaths were linked to alcohol in 2010, compared with nine percent of deaths caused by distracted driving, according to a new government report.

The Appalachian Regional Commission, a regional economic development agency, is taking a key role in the National Rx Drug Abuse Summit in April. The summit will take place in Florida, which has been called the center of the nation’s prescription drug abuse epidemic.

A prison warden in the Central Michigan Correctional Facility says prisoners are making homemade alcohol, mostly from oranges.