The Latest News from Our Field

Deaths caused by drugs have topped traffic-related deaths, an analysis by the Los Angeles Times concludes.

“Bath salts” are exploding in popularity around the country, and alarming health and law enforcement officials, the Star Tribune reports.

Adding exercise to a smoking cessation program can help teenage boys quit smoking, a new study suggests.

Taxes on tobacco and alcohol, as well as smoke-free laws, are among the recommendations made by the World Health Organization this week to reduce deaths from noninfectious diseases.

With great unmet demand for substance abuse treatment, addiction experts are looking for ways to expand treatment options. Dr. McCance-Katz, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco and former president of the AAAP, discusses the need to increase the number of patients treated with Suboxone and ways to increase use of the drug as treatment.

Researchers are studying whether the opioid antagonist naltrexone can help parolees recently released from prison who have a history of opiate addiction and relapse. Initial data indicates these parolees are less likely to be reincarcerated and to relapse.

A growing number of children in the United States are being accidentally poisoned when they swallow prescription drugs, a new study finds.

Lung cancer rates are dropping, and the decrease is most noticeable in western states, where smoking rates are lower, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A group of medical organizations from around the world this week issued a statement calling on doctors to take the lead in demanding action to reduce alcohol misuse.

As the number of fatal overdoses from prescription painkillers grows, so does the number of doctors who are facing criminal charges for overprescribing painkillers and other controlled medications.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed a rule that would ban smoking electronic cigarettes on all domestic and international commercial flights.

Policies that ban smoking on college campuses can reduce students’ smoking and change their attitudes toward smoking regulations, a new study suggests.

Cocaine, long thought of as the drug of choice in South Florida, is waning in popularity, the Miami Herald reports.

A mental health clinic in Louisville, KY, has stopped writing prescriptions for the anti-anxiety drug Xanax because of concerns about abuse and overdoses. Experts say benzodiazepines, including Xanax, are often overlooked as a source of prescription drug abuse.

Amphetamine-type stimulants such as Ecstasy and methamphetamines are second only to marijuana as the top drugs of abuse worldwide, according to a United Nations report.

Counseling alone is not enough to help most pregnant women quit smoking, a review of eight studies concludes.

The Wisconsin State Council on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse has said it supports a ban on 190-proof grain alcohol in the state, following the death of a 22-year-old resident who drowned in his family’s swimming pool after drinking punch that included 190-proof grain alcohol.

Synthetic drugs such as “K2,” “Spice” and “Vanilla Sky” are part of an emerging class of abused drugs causing concern among health professionals, researchers and legislators, according to a doctor studying these drugs.

A new study examining how Alcoholics Anonymous helps its members stay sober finds two crucial factors are needed: spending more time with people who support abstinence, and having greater confidence in one’s ability to maintain sobriety in social situations.

A new national poll finds few parents believe their own teenagers have used alcohol or marijuana in the past year. The findings stand in stark contrast to another national poll that found a much higher percentage of self-reported substance use among teens.

Alcohol has become an important cause of death in people with Type I diabetes, according to a new study.

A technical college in Missouri is requiring all its students to undergo drug testing. KSPR reports the school is the only public college, and perhaps the only college in the nation, with a drug-testing requirement.

Elderly patients, who tend to take many medications prescribed by more than one doctor, are at risk for prescription drug abuse, the Miami Herald reports. Health experts are concerned about the increase in the number of patients over age 50 who require intervention and treatment for addiction to medication and other substances.

Teens whose parents drink are more likely to drive under the influence (DUI) when they are adults compared with children with non-drinking parents, a new study suggests. The study found the risk of DUI was increased even if parents’ drinking was moderate.

An underground website called Silk Road is selling synthetic drugs, thwarting authorities’ attempts to stop the illegal trafficking of these substances.