The Latest News from Our Field

A new alcohol screening tool that focuses on two key questions is designed to help pediatricians spot children and adolescents at risk for alcohol-related problems. The doctor asks about the patient’s own drinking, as well as his or her friends’ alcohol use.

The New Jersey Assembly has approved a bill that would allow intravenous drug users to purchase needles without a prescription. The goal of the bill is to halt the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C, according to NJ.com.

Florida’s Department of Health is recommending that the state share information from its new database that tracks prescription pain medicine with other states.

Alcoholic popsicles will be sold in Arizona starting this week, myfoxphoenix.com reports. The new product, Snobar, has an alcohol content of up to 14 percent.

Some experts in the field of substance abuse say there are significant problems with a recent study that concluded medical marijuana laws are associated with a reduction in traffic deaths. The critics point out the study was published as a working paper, and was not a peer-reviewed study in a scientific journal.

Critics of drug and alcohol “zero-tolerance” policies imposed by school districts say principals need more flexibility in dealing with students who break the rules. They argue students’ intent or history should be taken into account.

Foster children who are on Medicaid receive psychotropic drugs, including antidepressants and antipsychotics, at higher rates than children not in foster care who receive their health care through Medicaid, a new government study finds.

Authorities in Iowa say heroin is making a comeback in the state. The Associated Press reports people have switched to heroin from OxyContin, which is now difficult to obtain.

As “pill mills” close in Florida due to increased law enforcement, the sale of opioids is booming online, according to the Palm Beach Post.

Following the success of a coalition of public health organizations, government agencies and health experts in forcing the alcohol industry to remove caffeine from alcoholic beverages, a new public health threat is emerging: supersized alcopops.

The number of emergency room visits related to energy drinks jumped from 2005 to 2009, according to a new government report.

Local and national authorities are playing catch-up with synthetic drug makers, who are constantly changing the chemical makeup of their products to avoid breaking the law.

The health insurance company Wellpoint announced it will cover lung CT scans for certain current and former heavy smokers, after a government-funded study found that the screening test was associated with a 20 percent decrease in lung cancer deaths.

The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency criticized the NFL Players Association for opposing testing of its players for human growth hormone.

A new study finds medical marijuana laws are associated with a reduction in traffic deaths. The most likely reason for the decrease is that some people in states with the laws use marijuana instead of alcohol, the researchers say.

The governors of Rhode Island and Washington have asked the federal government to reclassify marijuana as a drug with accepted medical uses.

The New Jersey Legislature is considering a bill that would allow syringes to be sold without a prescription. Currently only New Jersey and Delaware require a prescription for syringes.

CVS has sent letters to some physicians in Florida informing them the pharmacy chain will not fill prescriptions they write for oxycodone and other Schedule II narcotic drugs, Reuters reports.

The Obama Administration has appealed a ruling by a U.S. judge that tobacco companies do not have to put graphic warning labels on cigarette packages to show the dangers of smoking.

Researchers are studying hallucinogens and other illicit drugs as possible treatments for conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, addiction and depression, the Los Angeles Times reports.

States have reduced funding for tobacco prevention programs this year to the lowest levels since 1999, a new report by public health groups finds.

A growing number of young people being booked into jail in Hennepin County, Minnesota, which includes Minneapolis, are using painkillers, according to KARE11.

As addiction treatment providers become integrated into the larger health care system as part of health care reform, it will become especially important for addiction professionals to understand issues of patient confidentiality in this new environment, says Cynthia Tuohy of NAADAC, the Association of Addiction Professionals.

A new study finds a majority of doctors who are treated for addiction return to work within a few years of treatment. Surgeons have similar success rates compared with other types of physicians.

Treating smoking like a chronic disease helps smokers quit, a new study suggests. Providing long-term assistance to smokers, similar to the approach used in treating high blood pressure and diabetes, increases smoking cessation rates, the study found.