The Latest News from Our Field

Tomorrow (June 10) is the effective date of a new law in Washington state that supporters hope will save the lives of overdose victims. The state’s new "911 Good Samaritan Law" provides witnesses to drug overdoses with limited immunity from prosecution if they call for help ?- a policy change that public-health experts say can make drug users more willing to seek aid for overdose victims.

Offering both counseling and medication to alcoholics saves big bucks for society, a new study says ... Seniors, prepare to be flattered: a new Indiana law requires retailers to check IDs of anyone buying alcohol, regardless of age ... a Montana proposal to direct alcohol tax revenues to addiction treatment and prevention has fallen victim to the state’s budget crisis ... Colorful cancer sticks: The tobacco industry is replacing terms like "light" and "mild" with new color schemes on cigarette packs ...

The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) will have a new chief executive starting July 1: Penny S. Mills will replace the retiring Eileen McGrath as ASAM’s executive vice president, the addiction specialty group announced June 4.

The White House says that teens "understand and embrace" the Above the Influence (ATI) brand -- the peer-oriented ads promulgated by the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. But the campaign’s supporters want to focus the ads more tightly to local needs, and is calling on communities to engage teens in the "Influence Project" to "share their insights about the positive and negative influences they see around them and their approach to ’staying above it.’"

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Reclaiming Futures project is beginning to transition from the relatively secure world of foundation funding to the more arduous task of seeking multiple sources of support, but will have to find its way without the stewardship of longtime national program director Laura Nissen.

Nissen announced on June 7 that she plans to step down in May 2011 once a successor is in place, citing a desire to "concentrate on teaching and research in my role as a faculty member at the School of Social Work at Portland State University."

The ’pharming party’ may or may not be a myth, but it’s certain that high-school students are taking a lot of prescription drugs -- often without a prescription ... Drug courts are a ’top priority’ for the Justice Department, AG Holder says ... People with addictions and mental illness are big smokers, but a new study sees tax hikes as a way to get them to quit ... Big Tobacco and friends want the courts to block NYC from posting graphic antismoking warnings in stores, saying that consumers could be turned off. Isn’t that sort of the idea?

One more reason to love Philip Morris: A new study finds that U.S. made cigarettes have more toxic chemicals than those made overseas ... Arizona residents will vote in November on whether to make medical marijuana legal ... The Ohio Senate has passed a bill to allow gun-owners to bring their weapons into bars ... Moderate drinking can reduce risk of Type 2 diabetes, Dutch researchers report.

A new report from the Justice Policy Institute urges states to use "innovative and evidence-based strategies" to safely and cost-effectively reduce their prison populations. JPI "found that increasing opportunities for parole and improving parole release decisions, improving parole supervision and ensuring access to support and treatment services are cost-effective means of cutting extraneous spending while maintaining public safety."

The report is For Immediate Release: How to Safely Reduce Prison Populations and Support People Returning to Their Communities.

A new "day in the life" report from SAMHSA says that every day 508,000 adolescents aged 12-17 in the United States drink alcohol; 641,000 use illicit drugs; and more than 1 million smoke cigarettes.

Also, 563,000 adolescents used marijuana, nearly 37,000 used inhalants, 24,000 used hallucinogens, 16,000 used cocaine and 2,800 used heroin, according to A Day in the Life of American Adolescents: Substance Use Facts Update, which is based on 2008 data.

SAMHSA administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D. calls the findings "a wake up call about the extent to which our nation’s youth engage in risky behavior by using illegal and potentially dangerous substances everyday."

I don’t know about that...