The Latest News from Our Field

A growing number of states are investing in peer recovery coaches to help fight drug addiction, CNN reports. These coaches, who have struggled with addiction themselves, meet with patients regularly to help them navigate recovery, and to tackle issues including housing and employment.

The health insurance company Cigna will no longer require doctors to get preauthorization before prescribing opioid addiction medications, USA Today reports. Until now, Cigna has required doctors to submit a preauthorization form when requesting medication-assisted treatment with buprenorphine.

Thirteen drug distribution companies knew or should have known that hundreds of millions of prescription narcotic pills were ending up on the black market, according to an investigation by The Washington Post.

A new survey finds 73 percent of U.S. teens think e-cigarettes are less harmful than regular cigarettes. The researchers say teens who use e-cigarettes are more likely, than those who do not, to go on to use traditional cigarettes.

Five states will vote next month whether to legalize recreational marijuana. If the states vote to legalize the drug, the federal government’s ban on marijuana will face a stronger challenge, The New York Times reports.

We lose nearly 130 people a day to drug overdoses. It is the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, and the loss is felt most acutely by the families left behind. By doing a better job of helping families and their addicted children, we can most effectively reduce these deaths and the accompanying pain and suffering, explains Tom Hedrick, founding member of the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids.

The United States has asked the United Nations to classify two chemicals used to make fentanyl as controlled substances, The Wall Street Journal reports.

An increasingly popular synthetic opioid known as Pink is being sold online, according to NBC News. Only four states—Florida, Ohio, Wyoming and Georgia—have banned the drug, also known as U-47700.

A new study suggests opioids may blunt natural parenting instincts. The findings may help explain why some parents who are addicted to opioids put their children at risk, The New York Times reports.

Some high schools are teaching teens about the dangers of heroin and prescription opioids. One school in West Virginia has a drug-free club, which meets to learn about drug use and addiction.

A new Gallup poll finds 60 percent of American adults believe marijuana should be legal. Last week a study released by the Pew Research Center found 57 percent of U.S. adults say they support legalizing marijuana.

Researchers looking at the relationship between bullying and substance use in teens are coming up with some surprising findings. This is especially true in the area of bullying victimization and substance use, according to Amanda Nickerson, PhD, Professor and Director of the Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention, Graduate School of Education at the University of Buffalo in New York.

The Drug Enforcement Administration said this week it will reverse its decision to temporarily make kratom a Schedule I drug, NPR reports. The reversal comes in the wake of protests by advocates, scientists and kratom vendors.

Drug cartels are selling lethal doses of fentanyl disguised as street heroin and counterfeit OxyContin pills, two U.S. government agencies are warning.

A new study by the Pew Research Center finds 57 percent of U.S. adults say they support legalizing marijuana. A decade ago, only 32 percent of adults said they favored legalization.

Two human rights groups are calling for decriminalizing the possession and personal use of all illicit drugs, according to the Associated Press.

Scientists are working with three compounds that show promise in treating pain, without the side effects of opioids, CNBC reports.

The Drug Enforcement Administration this week announced it is requiring significant cuts in the production of prescription opioids, HealthDay reports. By 2017 the amount of prescription opioids permitted to be manufactured in the U.S. will decrease by at least 25 percent.

A new study finds the risk of prescription opioid addiction rose 37 percent among young adults between 2002 and 2014. Past-year heroin use also rose among 18- to 25-year-olds, from 2 percent to 7 percent.

The Food and Drug Administration will determine whether naloxone devices distributed in communities should contain a standard dose of the opioid overdose antidote, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The increasing number of drug overdose deaths has led to a rise in the number of organ donations, according to The New York Times.

Doctors at the University of Washington Region Burn Center in Seattle report a growing number of patients who are being harmed by exploding e-cigarettes. The center has treated 22 people for burns and other injuries caused by exploding e-cigarettes since October 2015.

A bill introduced in the U.S. House this week would allow federal prosecutors to seek capital punishment or life imprisonment for dealers of fentanyl-laced heroin, The Huffington Post reports.

Some health professionals say telemedicine could help fight the opioid epidemic, according to The Washington Post. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has directed $1.4 million to five pilot projects that will use video chat to connect patients with physicians who are trained in treating addiction.

Attorneys general from 35 states and the District of Columbia are suing a British drug company, alleging it tried to keep less expensive generic versions of the opioid addiction treatment Suboxone off the market.