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.
Emergency rooms are seeing more overdoses from prescription pain medications than illicit drugs, the CDC reports ... North Carolina officials have canned a plan to name a new arena for Bud Light ... The FDA has the power to regulate nicotine -- and should use it -- a former head of the agency says ... Another addition to the regulatory plate: FDA should classify e-cigarettes as drug-delivery devices, according to the American Medical Association ...
This month’s "Cannabis Cup" in San Francisco featured the unveiling of a product sure to take the debate over e-cigarettes to a new level. Vapor Rush delivers a dose of THC from vaporized marijuana "kief," or powdered resin. Three varieties are offered by the company, based in southern California. "Smoke your green without a lighter, smell, even weed!" the Vapor Rush website boasts.
Golden age vs. the Age of Aquarius: Baby Boomers are increasingly showing up in addiction treatment programs ... Costco is funding a campaign to rewrite the liquor-control laws in the state of Washington ... New FDA rules going into effect this week ban "light" and "mild" branding, impose new warning-label requirements ... Wink, wink, nudge, nudge: Philip Morris tells customers that Marlboro Gold is the same as Marlboro Lights; FDA not amused ...
Pain doctors have long clashed with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) over opiate-based pain medications, and now Angela Gardner, the head of the American College of Emergency Physicians is warning against making doctors "pain police."
Gardner objected to proposals that would require physicans -- including ER docs -- to search a database for patients’ drug-use history before prescribing drugs. Requiring that prescription information be recorded to the database also could discourage some patients from getting proper care, Gardner said.
"As an emergency physician, I can assure you that the drug abusers who use the emergency room simply to get a prescription-drug fix represent a micropopulation of the 120-million patients who seek emergency care every year in the USA" ...
Smirnoff has put an unflattering but popular viral marketing game on ice ... The U.S. Supreme Court says multiple drug misdemeanors don’t jusify deportation ... Marijuana use is a relatively minor problem in the U.S., Sarah Palin says ... Mexico’s president says living next to U.S. is like having a drug addict for a neighbor ...
Right after the skeletal Keith Richards, Ozzy Osbourne is the most frequent subject of the question: "How is he still alive?"
Addiction and mental-health advocates have joined forces to press for implementation of national healthcare reform ... Midwest casinos have cut out one of gamblers’ favorite perks: free drinks ... Nearly 400 U.S. colleges have implemented tobacco bans on campuses ... An oral nicotine spray seems to blunt craving quicker than gums or lozenges, a study finds ...
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