The Latest News from Our Field

Five years after it was launched, Oklahoma’s Prescription Monitoring Program is now being used by three-fourths of the state’s doctors. However, an estimated 100,000 state residents are still addicted to prescription drugs, according to The Oklahoman.

Preventing drug use and treating drug abuse will play a key role in the United States’ Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy along the U.S./Mexico border, federal officials announced on Thursday.

The majority of countries are doing nothing or are not doing enough to reduce smoking rates, the World Health Organization said this week.

The U.S. Justice Department has announced that medical marijuana dispensaries and licensed growers located in states with medical marijuana laws are not immune from prosecution for violation of federal drug and money-laundering laws.

New recommendations published in the Journal of the American Dental Association aim to help dentists reduce prescription drug abuse. Dentists, who prescribe 12 percent of opioids in the United States, can play an important role in minimizing the potential for misuse or abuse, Science Daily reports.

State agents in South Florida began to enforce the state’s new ban on doctors and clinics selling painkillers this week. They seized more than 40,000 pills from pain clinics, the Sun-Sentinel reports.

A bill sent to Ohio Governor John Kasich would ban both current and future synthetic drugs, the Columbus Dispatch reports.

In an era when prescription drug abuse is on the rise, doctors still don’t have a good way to measure pain objectively, The Wall Street Journal reports.

A growing number of businesses are using sticks instead of carrots to encourage employees to stop smoking, in an effort to cut health insurance costs, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.

Some college students continue to drink heavily even when they experience harmful effects such as hangovers, fights and unwanted sexual situations, because they perceive the benefits of drinking to outweigh the negative, a new study suggests.

A legal, natural and addictive substance called kratom is becoming increasingly popular in South Florida, according to a news report.

Drivers high on marijuana represent an unrecognized crisis, experts tell the Los Angeles Times.

A new study finds that the smoking cessation drug varenicline (Chantix) increases the risk of a heart attack or stroke for smokers without a history of heart disease, compared with smokers who do not use the drug.

After new cigarette labels mandated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that carry graphic images were unveiled recently, calls to a national smokers’ quit line jumped.

Burger King, Sonic and Starbucks are among the fast food chains experimenting with selling alcohol, according to USA Today.

A new study suggests that the more alcohol-related memory blackouts a college student has, the greater the risk he or she has of future accidental injuries related to drinking.

Text messages that urge smokers to quit can double smoking cessation rates, a new study suggests.

Fort Campbell is getting ready for new prescribing rules to take effect July 5 that are a result of Army-wide changes designed to cut down on prescription drug abuse.

The Oregon House passed a bill banning new hookah lounges this week. The measure now awaits Governor John Kitzhaber’s signature.

Health care professionals are not screening enough for teen substance abuse, according to a new report that finds nine out of 10 Americans who meet the medical criteria for addiction start using addictive substances before age 18.

A study that scanned the brains of binge drinkers ages 18 to 25 shows that regularly having many drinks in one sitting can affect an area of the brain related to paying attention, making decisions and controlling impulses.

Two brief talks with an adult about marijuana can reduce use of the drug by up to 20 percent in teens who are regular users, a new study suggests.

Police in Charlotte, NC report a rise in the use of “black tar” heroin, a highly addictive drug that appears to be especially popular among young users in affluent neighborhoods.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products has announced it will review research on the impact of the use of menthol in cigarettes on the public health. The independent review will evaluate the impact of the cigarettes overall, as well as on children, African Americans, Hispanics, and other racial/ethnic minorities.

A Nike store in Boston has taken down a window display of T-shirts that said “Dope” and “Get High” after initially refusing a request to remove them by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino.