The Latest News from Our Field

People with a family history of alcoholism are more likely to drink when they feel under stress, a new study suggests.

The nasal-inhaled drug naloxone (Narcan) has been used to reverse more than 1,000 opiate overdoses in Massachusetts in the past four years, according to the Boston Globe.

One out of 10 Florida inmates is incarcerated for using drugs, and only a small percentage of these prisoners are receiving help for their addiction, advocates for increased treatment told members of the state’s Senate Criminal Justice Committee.

A low-cost drug not available in the United States is effective in helping smokers quit, a new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine has found.

Men who use cocaine are 45 percent more likely to develop glaucoma, and to develop the eye disease almost 20 years sooner, than men who do not use illegal drugs, according to a new study.

Rates of alcohol-impaired driving have dropped 30 percent since 2006, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drunk driving rates remain high among young men, binge drinkers and people who don’t always wear a seatbelt.

Many young adults entering treatment for an addiction want to change, but don’t have the skills, confidence or commitment to do so without help, a new study suggests.

Alcohol consumption and obesity are among the top causes of sudden cardiac death that is not caused by coronary artery disease, according to new research.

California physician Dr. Nazar Al Bussam is expected to be sentenced on Wednesday for writing tens of thousands of prescriptions for narcotic drugs and other painkillers without a legitimate medical purpose.

While the toll that a parent’s addiction takes on children is well documented, much is still not known about how loved ones’ recovery affects children, according to the National Director of Children’s Programs at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, CA.

Medicare has been slow to react to the prescription drug abuse problem sweeping the nation, according to a new report.

College students who post photos to Facebook showing themselves getting drunk are at higher risk of alcohol dependence and abuse, compared with their classmates with no references to drinking on their pages.

Dr. Kim Janda, who is working on creating vaccines to treat addiction, finds a growing number of people in the scientific community are interested in his work. He attributes the attention to a change in the way people view addiction.

Smokers are twice as likely as nonsmokers to suffer a stroke, a new study finds. Smokers are also likely to have a stroke almost 10 years earlier than nonsmokers.

The manufacturer of the sweet-flavored “alcopop” Four Loko has agreed to change the labels of the cans so that they state the drinks contain as much alcohol as four to five cans of beer.

The arrest of 37 people on drug charges at a Boeing aircraft plant last week puts the spotlight on the increasing problem of prescription drug abuse in the workplace, according to experts.

A drug that helps prevent intoxication has shown promise in a study of mice. When the animals took the drug and then were given a large amount of alcohol, they didn’t show signs of being drunk, the New York Daily News reports.

Maine is considering composting unused prescription and over-the-counter drugs. The Morning Sentinel reports the state hopes composting will be an inexpensive solution to disposing of medications.

Substance abuse treatment providers must start making changes now so they are ready when the Affordable Care Act is implemented in 2014, says Dr. Thomas Freese.

Almost one-third of workers in mining, construction, and the accommodation and food service industries smoke, compared with about 20 percent of the general U.S. adult population, according to a new survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

How much the friends of a teenager’s boyfriend or girlfriend drink can have more influence on the teen’s drinking habits than their own friends or romantic partner, a new study suggests.

Tobacco companies were aware of the dangers of a radioactive substance in cigarettes as early as 1959, but hid this knowledge from the public, according to a new study.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has told all federally licensed firearms dealers that anyone who uses marijuana, including medical marijuana, is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.

Local governments in southern states are starting to look to alcohol sales as a way to boost revenues.

Welfare applicants in Florida are less likely than Americans in general to use drugs. The state compiled the figures as part of a new state law that requires drug tests for welfare applicants.