The Latest News from Our Field

Top headlines of the week from Friday, April 15- Thursday, April 21, 2016.

Join Together spoke with Kelly J. Clark, MD, MBA, FASAM, DFAPA, President-elect, American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), about the opioid addiction medication buprenorphine.

Opioid abuse could be costing U.S. employers up to $8 billion annually, according to a report by the benefits firm Castlight Health. Employees who abuse opioids cost employers almost twice as much in healthcare expenses on average, compared with workers who don’t abuse opioids, the report found.

Efforts to legalize marijuana in New England are stalling in the face of the region’s opioid epidemic, The New York Times reports.

A new government report finds there was a slight decline in the life expectancy of white Americans in 2014. Drug overdoses, liver disease and suicide were the main factors in the decrease, according to the lead researcher from the National Center for Health Statistics.

The synthetic drug flakka, which caused numerous hospitalizations in South Florida in 2014 and 2015, appears to have disappeared, CNN reports.

E-cigarettes are now the most widely used tobacco product among teens, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. E-cigarette use rose among middle school and high school students from 2011 to 2015, the report found.

The United Nations starts a three-day special session Tuesday to address global drug policy, the Associated Press reports. It is the first special session to address the topic in almost 20 years.

More than 50 doctors, including a former U.S. Surgeon General, have formed a group promoting the legalization and regulation of marijuana, The Washington Post reports. Doctors for Cannabis Regulation endorses the legalization of marijuana for adult recreational use.

The definition of a standard alcoholic drink varies greatly from country to country, according to a new study. The definition of unhealthy drinking also differs, CNN reports.

A group of state health officials, doctors and consumer advocates is asking the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services for changes to pain treatment guidelines to reduce the use of opioid painkillers.

A new study finds people who become addicted to drugs later in life are more likely to relapse during treatment, compared with those whose addictions started earlier.

College students’ drinking drops during the summer, but spikes during the return to school in the fall semester, and during spring break, a new study shows.

Thirty health groups are urging President Obama to issue a final rule that would let the Food and Drug Administration regulate all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, The Hill reports.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, April 8- Thursday, April 14, 2016.

The growing population of older adults who are taking many medications prescribed by different doctors, combined with the growing opioid epidemic, is contributing to the increasing problem of drug misuse among the elderly, according to Harry Hanoutunian, MD, Director of the Professional Program at the Betty Ford Center.

A new study finds teenage girls start drinking before their male peers, even though most strategies to reduce underage drinking are aimed at boys.

Even light hookah smoking can cause changes in airway cells, a new study suggests.

An analysis of sports supplements that claim to burn fat or improve your workout may contain a stimulant drug banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Researchers from Harvard Medical School say the stimulant may pose health risks.

In Missouri, the only state without a prescription drug monitoring program, the state senator blocking approval of the program argues it represents an invasion of privacy, NPR reports.

The U.S. Surgeon General will release a report this fall on substance use, addiction and health, according to Medscape. It will be the first such report since U.S. surgeons began issuing them in 1964.

The business of addiction treatment is attracting a growing number of private equity investors, NPR reports. The treatment business is estimated to be worth $35 billion.

Some cities are using Medicaid funds to provide addiction treatment for repeat low-level drug offenders, the Associated Press reports. Many are mentally ill or homeless and have never had coverage for addiction treatment before.

A new study suggests smokers remain unemployed longer than nonsmokers. Researchers at Stanford University found when smokers do find jobs, they earn much less than nonsmokers, according to CBS News.

The opioid epidemic is leading to an increase in the number of “sober homes,” a form of housing where people in recovery live together in a supervised, substance-free setting. Most of these homes have little or no government oversight, the Associated Press reports.