The Latest News from Our Field

The National Institute on Drug Abuse this week awarded the University of Mississippi $68.8 million to grow and analyze marijuana, Time reports. The university’s marijuana research lab has been the sole producer of federally legal marijuana since 1968.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s chief medical officer is trying to implement new drug policies that would bring increased oversight and consistency. Currently there is a wide variety of approaches among schools in how they deal with drug policy infractions.

Marijuana being grown today is much more potent than marijuana grown 20 or 30 years ago, according to a study by a Colorado-based lab.

Initial results on studies evaluating the effectiveness of the marijuana extract cannabidiol for treating severe epilepsy in children are mixed, according to The Wall Street Journal.

If all new cars had devices that prevent drunk drivers from starting the engine, an estimated 85 percent of alcohol-related deaths could be prevented in the United States, a new study concludes.

A new study finds students who attend schools with suspension policies for illicit drug use are more likely than students at schools without such policies to use marijuana in the following year.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has issued a nationwide alert in response to a surge in overdose deaths from heroin laced with the narcotic drug fentanyl, the most potent opioid available for medical use.

President Barack Obama this week said if enough states decriminalize marijuana, Congress might reschedule the drug. Marijuana is a Schedule I drug, which is defined as a drug with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer of California is a co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill to end the federal prohibition on medical marijuana, federal records show. The Washington Post reports that Boxer’s office did not announce her support of the bill when it was introduced last week.

A new fund to help low- and middle-income countries fight legal challenges to their smoking laws by the tobacco industry has been created by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, March 13 - Thursday, March 19, 2015.

In recent years and up until his last few months, while suffering the debilitating effects of a respiratory illness, Leonard Nimoy took steps to ensure that others would indeed “live long and prosper” by speaking clearly about the role that smoking played in the illness that caused his death.

A number of drug companies are trying to develop strong painkillers that don’t make people high, according to The Wall Street Journal. Such drugs would be less likely to be abused.

A marijuana legalization measure will be on the ballot in Nevada in 2016, Time.com reports. California, Massachusetts, Maine and Arizona are the states most likely to join Nevada in putting legalization measures before voters next year, advocates say.

A person’s income level may influence how much they drink, a new study suggests.

Medical marijuana would be permitted for pets under a measure introduced this week in the Nevada legislature.

A growing number of older adults are abusing drugs and dying from overdoses, The Wall Street Journal reports. Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, are turning to drugs as they face the challenges of aging, health officials say.

If every state were to immediately ban tobacco sales to those under 21, the smoking rate would fall 12 percent, according to a new report by the Institute of Medicine. The decrease would prevent 249,000 premature deaths among the generation born between 2000 and 2019, the report concludes.

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer of New York has introduced a measure to ban the production, sale and possession of powdered alcohol, NPR reports. Schumer’s announcement came two days after a federal agency announced it had approved sale of the product, called “Palcohol.”

A measure introduced by two U.S. senators would impose harsher penalties for drug dealers who provide candy-coated or flavored drugs to minors.

Powdered alcohol was approved by a government agency on Tuesday, The Washington Post reports. The product, called “Palcohol,” could arrive in stores this summer.

Up to one-fourth of people entering drug rehabilitation programs say they have abused the newer version of OxyContin, which has been reformulated to make it harder to abuse, a new study finds.

A new Government Accountability Office report concludes the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has contributed to a shortage of prescription narcotics and stimulants. Controlled substances such as narcotics and stimulants are regulated by the DEA because of the potential for abuse and addiction.

Thousands of soldiers are turned away by Army substance abuse clinics each year, according to an investigation by USA Today.