The Latest News from Our Field

A new government anti-smoking campaign will include radio and print ads that question e-cigarettes’ value in helping smokers quit.

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors has approved an ordinance requiring drug manufacturers to fund and administer a take-back program for unused and unexpired medications, The Wall Street Journal reports. The measure awaits the mayor’s signature.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy will host a series of webinars to outline the dangers of synthetic cannabinoids (Spice), cathinones (bath salts) and other new synthetic drugs.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, March 20 - Thursday, March 26, 2015.

As more states legalize the recreational use of marijuana, parents are finding it more challenging to talk to their teens about drug use. A new resource for parents, called the “Marijuana Talk Kit” takes this new landscape into account.

As more states expand access to the opioid overdose antidote naloxone, some experts say more is needed to address the opioid addiction crisis, USA Today reports.

A bill introduced by three U.S. senators that would end the federal prohibition on medical marijuana faces opposition by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to Politico. The committee includes some of the most senior legislators in Congress.

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.