The Latest News from Our Field

After the Police Chief of Gloucester, Massachusetts announced the town will connect people with treatment when they come to the police station with illegal drugs and paraphernalia, instead of arresting them, 56 police departments in 17 states have started similar programs.

One billion fewer hydrocodone combination tablets were dispensed and 26.3 million fewer prescriptions were written after the Drug Enforcement Administration enacted tighter controls on prescribing these products, a new study finds.

Several Massachusetts health insurance companies are taking aggressive steps to combat opioid addiction, NPR reports. These steps include assigning social workers to some patients.

Many presidential candidates are talking about addiction, but few are offering concrete proposals to combat it, The Boston Globe reports.

A new study finds e-cigarettes are associated with significantly less quitting among smokers, CBS News reports. Adult smokers who used e-cigarettes were 28 percent less likely to stop smoking regular cigarettes, researchers found.

College students who study abroad drink more alcohol while they are away, according to a new survey by a firm that provides risk management services to Americans traveling abroad.

Vermont is starting a pilot program this month that will offer the opioid addiction treatment Vivitrol to departing inmates at one correctional facility. If it is successful, the state plans to expand it to all seven of the state’s prisons, CBS News reports.

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

A U.S. House committee is launching an inquiry into the federal government’s enforcement of a law designed to protect drug-dependent newborns.

Hookah smoking is growing increasingly popular among teens and young adults, but there are many questions still unanswered about its safety, according to an expert who is studying the issue.

Drug overdose deaths have increased in almost every U.S. county, The New York Times reports. Some of the biggest concentrations of overdose are in Appalachia and the Southwest.

Employers face a number of challenges in dealing with workers’ prescription drug abuse. Studies show people with addictions are much more likely to be sick, absent or use workers’ compensation benefits, according to NPR.

The Centers for Disease Control’s newest anti-smoking ads target current and former members of the military and people with mental health conditions, Bloomberg News reports. The ads will run in areas with the highest smoking rates.

The rising death rate of young white adults in the United States is being driven by drug overdoses, The New York Times reports.

Despite the rising rate of addiction to opioids, a relatively small number of doctors are authorized and willing to prescribe buprenorphine to treat opioid addiction, according to Stateline.

Two U.S. senators are calling on Congress to pass an emergency spending bill to combat the growing opioid epidemic, according to The Hill. Senators Angus King of Maine and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire are asking for $600 million in funding.

President Obama has named Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to lead a new effort to address the problem of heroin and prescription drug abuse in rural America.

A study of more than 100 video games finds 42 percent feature characters smoking cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars and other products, or make references to those products. Experts tell CNN they are concerned young people who play the games may be influenced to start smoking.

Young infants are just as likely as older children to be accidentally poisoned, a new study finds. Babies younger than six months old are most likely to be accidentally poisoned by acetaminophen, according to HealthDay.

Some types of e-cigarettes contain enough alcohol to affect motor skills, a new study concludes. E-cigarettes deliver nicotine by vaporizing liquids, which may contain alcohol and other chemicals.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy will host a webinar, “Community Benefit and Local Substance Use Prevention,” on January 21.

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

Do school nurses REALLY need naloxone? The answer is YES. The data about drug overdose is alarming. Our youth are at risk and school nurses recognize the danger.

High prescribing rates of opioid painkillers are likely a factor in the increase in neonatal abstinence syndrome, according to the head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

More children are being sent into foster care as a result of the abuse of heroin and opioid painkillers, The Wall Street Journal reports. Officials say opioid abuse is straining child welfare agencies.