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 opioid epidemic has been a featured issue at both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, an indication of the issue’s increasing significance in both parties, The Washington Post reports.
Critics of the opioid overdose antidote naloxone say the treatment encourages repeated drug use, according to The New York Times. Many people overdose more than once, sometimes many times, and naloxone brings them back each time.
While most medical schools devote little time to teaching addiction medicine, Stanford is leading the way in taking a new approach, NPR reports.
A new study finds people with moderate to severe pain have a 41 percent higher risk of opioid addiction, compared to those without pain.
President Obama on Friday signed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which aims to combat opioid addiction. He said the measure does not provide adequate funding, The Hill reports.
A new study finds that 54 percent of adults and 44 percent of children who were drug-tested by the clinical laboratory company Quest Diagnostics misused their prescription medications in 2015.
Emergency rooms treating patients who have taken the synthetic drug K2 are dealing with multiple challenges, according to The Wall Street Journal.
New York City’s immigrant neighborhoods are seeing an increase in heroin and pill overdoses, according to The New York Times.
A new study finds few family practice physicians are prescribing the opioid addiction treatment Suboxone for their Medicare patients.
Needle-sharing among people injecting the extended-release opioid Opana led to the spread of HIV in Indiana last year, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Children whose parents use alcohol or drugs are at increased risk of medical and behavioral problems, according to a new report.
Many teens who report using e-cigarettes say they tried them because it was cool, fun and new, according to a survey. Few teens said they used e-cigarettes to try to quit smoking regular cigarettes.
Top headlines of the week from Friday, July 15- Thursday, July 21, 2016.
As more states consider legalizing marijuana, legislators are grappling with how to deal with drugged driving. State laws on the issue vary widely, according to Jon Woodruff, Legislative Attorney with the National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws.
A new study finds people addicted to opioids who are treated with the newly approved implanted form of buprenorphine are more likely to maintain abstinence after six months, compared with those taking the pill form of the treatment.
Medications to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder do not increase children’s risk of substance abuse later in life if they start taking them early and for a long period, a new study suggests.
Cocaine and methamphetamine may impair a person’s moral judgment, suggests new research conducted on prison inmates.
Mixing alcohol with high-caffeine energy beverages may increase a person’s desire to continue drinking alcohol, according to a new study published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
Following reports of 130 suspected overdoses linked to synthetic drugs in New York last week, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer introduced a bill that would ban 22 synthetic drugs.
A mental health reform bill passed earlier this month by the U.S. House would provide more hospital beds for people dealing with a mental illness who need short-term hospitalization. NBC News calls it one of the most significant mental health reform measures since 1963.
Rural health officials in Oklahoma, Colorado and Pennsylvania will receive $9 million to test a telemedicine program to train doctors in complex health issues such as opioid addiction.
Maine health officials are looking for more foster families to care for children whose parents are addicted to opioids, Maine Public Broadcasting reports.
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a bill aimed at combating opioid addiction. The White House said President Obama will sign the legislation, Reuters reports.
Two new studies suggest parents can play an important role in preventing teens from drinking, NPR reports.
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles will study whether social media can help reduce opioid abuse in patients with chronic pain, according to Science.
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