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Helpline
Call 1.855.378.4373 to schedule a call time with a specialist

The Latest News from Our Field

We curate a digest of the latest news in our field for advocates, policymakers, community coalitions and all who work toward shaping policies and practices to effectively prevent substance use and treat addiction.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and state and local law enforcement officials are organizing collection sites nationwide to take-back ?unused, unwanted or expired? over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription drugs on Sept. 25.

Bob Curley Since before our online operations were even on the Internet, Bob Curley has been the news editor and principal writer behind Join Together’s daily coverage of alcohol, tobacco and drug issues. After seventeen years and over 30,000 stories, Bob is hanging up his hat at Join Together to focus on other work in the health sector and elsewhere.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reviewing options to restrict access to cough medicine to reduce abuse.
Smokers on Medicare who want to quit can now get up to eight sessions of counseling. Sessions will be free beginning in January under the new health care reform law.
Violent crimes rates are no higher for mentally ill people with substance abuse than for others who abuse drugs and alcohol, according to research from Sweden and the U.K.

California should outlaw the sale of alcohol through self-checkout machines by passing a new bill, Marin Institute said in an action alert sent out Sept. 7. Marin Institute said the machines make it too easy for minors to get alcohol.

Faces & Voices of Recovery launched a new web-based resource, Rally for Recovery! Online, where people can register the number of years they have been in recovery from addiction and find out about National Recovery Month events and rallies nationwide.
Researchers found that moderate drinkers live longer than both non-drinkers and heavy drinkers, even when other health and demographic factors are considered.
Nearly 21 percent of adult Americans still smoke, a rate that hasn’t changed significantly since 2004, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Tobacco signs are more common in less affluent communities -- and Latino and African-American populations are particularly affected -- the Boston Globe reported August 30.

But all that could change, now that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can regulate tobacco companies.

Teenagers who smoke tobacco to 'feel better' may actually be at increased risk for depression.
Referring to problem drug users as 'junkies' or 'addicts' can interfere with their recovery, according to a British review of research on stigma and drug use.
Researchers have found four common risk factors among study participants addicted to opioid painkillers, and found evidence that genes could play a part in the addiction
Youth tobacco use rates dropped between 2000 and 2006, but have leveled off since then, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Alcoholics overestimate their ability to remember things, according to a new French study.
New research from New York Presbyterian Hospital shows that even low exposure to tobacco smoke can cause permanent damage to lung tissue.
New research from the United Kingdom shows that personality-based interventions -- delivered by mental-health specialists or teachers given brief training -- can substantially reduce drug and alcohol use in teens.
In the high-flying '80s and '90s Wall Street employees were known as big cocaine users, but in these more sedate times investment professionals are turning to marijuana and prescription drugs to ease their stress.
California passed new legislation that holds adults legally accountable if they permit minors to drink in their homes.
Depictions of smoking in U.S. films decreased by half between 2005 and 2009, but more than 50 percent of PG-13 movies still show characters lighting up, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report.
An herb-and-chemical compound sold legally in the U.S. as incense is sending many of those who smoke it for its marijuana-like high to the hospital.
American students are essentially split over the question of whether their school is 'drug free,' but students still cite drugs as a major problem facing people their age, according to a new survey of 12- to 17-year-olds from the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.

NIATx websiteNIATx, the folks who have helped over 1,000 treatment providers remove barriers to treatment and recovery, revamped their online tools to make their quality information even easier to find and use.


The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) announced it is launching National Drug Facts Week, a new national awareness week designed to bring together teens and scientific experts to discuss the facts about drug abuse.
Women who drink five or more regular beers a week could nearly double their risk for psoriasis, a new study finds.