The Latest News from Our Field

The new head of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Robert Califf, told a panel of advisers this week that the agency will support the development of abuse-deterrent opioids, the Associated Press reports.

The Obama Administration on Tuesday voiced concern over the lack of funding in the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, The Hill reports. The U.S. Senate voted 89-0 on Monday to begin considering the measure, which would increase addiction treatment and prevention.

A new study concludes economic downturns lead to an increase in substance use disorders involving prescription pain relievers and hallucinogens. The connection is strongest among middle-aged white males with low levels of education.

The University of Vermont is pioneering a program that integrates residential and curricular elements to address substance abuse, according to NBC News.

Law enforcement officials say they are seeing increasing cases of the potent opioid fentanyl being sold as other painkillers, such as oxycodone or Percocet.

The U.S. Senate voted 89-0 on Monday to begin considering the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which would increase addiction treatment and prevention.

Researchers at the University of Houston are testing whether virtual reality can be used to treat people addicted to heroin. They will navigate a simulated house party with stimuli that evoke drug cravings, according to Reuters.

A nonprofit group in Boston plans to open a space this month for people using heroin to ride out their high under the supervision of a nurse and an outreach worker, NPR reports.

A growing number of “marijuana tourists” in Colorado are ending up in the emergency room, a new study finds.

A new study of Indiana health professionals suggests some are beginning to change their prescribing and dispensing practices in response to prescription drug abuse in their communities, Forbes reports. Researchers found dentists are much less likely than other health professionals to be concerned about prescription drug abuse.

A survey of smokers who used to purchase cigarettes at CVS finds more than half say it is harder to buy cigarettes now that the pharmacy chain has stopped selling tobacco products.

Baltimore Health Commissioner Leana Wen is struggling to provide addiction treatment on demand, NPR reports. An estimated 20,000 people in the city use heroin, and 65,000 have some kind of addiction to drug or alcohol or both.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, February 19- Thursday, February 25, 2016.

U.S. Representative Hal Rogers, writes, "It’s incomprehensible that one in five students are living homeless in some of our communities. While there are a number of factors to consider when trying muster up a reason as to how this could happen, one that routinely stands out, is the high rate of addiction."

More addiction counselors are leaving the field at a time when demand for their services is increasing, NPR reports.

Two senators on the Senate Finance Committee said Tuesday they are drafting legislation that would let states use federal foster care funds to help parents who are addicted to opioids raise their babies, Reuters reports.

Vermont, which has been battling a heroin epidemic in recent years, has become a model for other states in emphasizing treatment over jail, according to The Christian Science Monitor.

The mayor of Ithaca, New York says he wants his city to be the first in the United States to host a supervised injection facility for people who use heroin, the Associated Press reports.

Fatal overdoses from benzodiazepines—sedatives sold under brand names such as Xanax, Valium and Ativan—are on the rise, a new study finds.

Officials from state and local health departments around the country are urging the Food and Drug Administration to add “black box” warnings to opioid painkillers and sedatives known as benzodiazepines, to alert people that taking them together increases the risk of fatal overdoses.

The National Governors Associations this weekend announced treatment guidelines are needed to address the nation’s opioid epidemic, according to The New York Times. The group said it will devise protocols aimed at reducing the use of the painkillers.

Americans are increasingly conducting online searches related to electronic nicotine delivery systems, a new study finds. Most of the searches are about how and where to get vaping products, not their health effects.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has created a documentary that illustrates the toll of opiate addiction, The Kansas City Star reports. The film, called “Chasing the Dragon,” will be distributed to school districts nationwide and can be downloaded for free. High school students are a principal target audience of the film.

Researchers have developed a vaccine that blocks the high produced by the drug fentanyl in mice, according to Popular Science.

A new study suggests marijuana smokers may be significantly more likely to develop an addiction to other drugs and alcohol than people who don’t use marijuana.