The Latest News from Our Field

A year-and-a-half after New Jersey legalized medical marijuana, patients authorized to receive the drug have not yet been able to get it.

Dr. Carol Boyd, nationally recognized scholar on prescription drug abuse and adolescents, speaks with Join Together about why prescription drug abuse has become such a major problem among teens, why it is different from other adolescent substance abuse issues, and what parents and others can do to help prevent it.

Injection drug users have higher rates of abuse and dependence and have a greater need for substance abuse treatment compared with non-injecting drug users, a new study suggests.

Using the club drug ketamine three times a week for two years can impair bladder function, Hong Kong researchers report.

A growing number of smokers are rolling their own cigarettes using pipe tobacco in order to avoid paying high excise taxes.

Children and young teens are being exposed to less smoking in movies than they were five years ago, an analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows. The CDC has found that the number of youth-targeted films that include smoking has decreased for the fifth consecutive year.

A bill co-sponsored by Senator Chuck Schumer (NY) and Jay Rockefeller (WV) would require doctors to receive training for prescribing opiate-based narcotics. The training would include information about guidelines for safe pain management, and the early warning signs of addiction.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has signed into law a bill that requires drug screening for people applying for or receiving welfare benefits.

The rate of smoking among adults in California has dropped to 11.9 percent, a record low. Smoking rates have decreased among all age groups and ethnic groups, and among both men and women.

The use, manufacture and sale of “bath salts,” synthetic drugs that mimic the effects of cocaine, have been outlawed under a bill signed by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. A number of other states have recently banned bath salts, including New York and North Carolina.

Current guidelines for sensible drinking are not adequate for preventing cancer, according to a new report. The authors say many countries’ recommendations for moderate drinking don’t take into account the long-term risks of alcohol use.

Children who breathe in secondhand smoke at home are more likely to develop attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disorders and other behavior problems, compared with children who grow up in smoke-free homes, a new study suggests.

The California Assembly this week voted to ban the production and sale of beer with added caffeine.

A review of 101 studies concludes that smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of certain types of severe birth defects, including defects of the heart, face, limbs, feet and eyes.

Each September, as part of National Recovery Month, Faces & Voices of Recovery works with local recovery community organizations and national planning partners to host Rally for Recovery! events that combine the celebration and honor of recovery with advocacy and education.

The Drug Enforcement Administration said Friday that medical marijuana has no accepted medical use, and should still be classified as a highly dangerous drug.

Indiana is the first state to require drug tests for unemployed people enrolled in job training in a state-funded program, the Associated Press reports. At least 30 states have considered making drug tests mandatory for people on government assistance.

An animal study suggests what may happen in the brain when a person drinks so much alcohol that he or she blacks out.

Drinking and engaging in water sports can be a deadly mix, warns the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Half of all water recreation-related deaths of teens and adults involve alcohol, the NIAAA says.

Prescription drug abuse will be a major focus of the 2011 National Drug Control Strategy, according to the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The Obama Administration will center its attention on high-risk groups including active duty military and veterans, college students, women and their families, and those in the criminal justice system.

The introduction of the first nationally accredited residency programs in addition medicine, which began on July 1, demonstrates a change in thinking about the roots of addiction, experts tell The New York Times.

Former First Lady Betty Ford, who died Friday at the age of 93, had a profound effect on the treatment of alcoholism and other addictions by courageously admitting her own struggles with addiction, says a past medical director of the Betty Ford Center.

As a new Florida law to shut down “pill mills” takes effect, drug treatment centers in the state are bracing for an influx of new patients who are addicted to prescription opioids. The Sun-Sentinel reports that the new law is expected to greatly increase the number of people who will need treatment for prescription drug abuse.

A monthly injection to treat opioid dependence, approved in October 2010 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has gotten off to a slow start but is proving useful in helping certain patients, say doctors familiar with the drug, extended-release naltrexone (Vivitrol).

A study of drug overdose deaths in Florida between 2003 and 2009 has found that prescription medications were involved in 76 percent of cases. During that same period, 34 percent of overdose deaths involved illegal drugs.