The Latest News from Our Field

British researchers are developing a new method to detect synthetic drugs known as “bath salts,” PBS NewsHour reports. The researchers say the method is low-cost, disposable and quick. It could someday be used in a handheld sensor to detect bath salts, the researchers explain in the journal Analytical Chemistry.

For the first time in more than 10 years, the percentage of positive drug tests among American workers has increased, according to a company that conducts the tests. The increase is fueled by a rise in use of marijuana and amphetamines, Quest Diagnostics found.

Sales of recreational marijuana have surpassed sales of medical marijuana for the first time in Colorado, according to an analysis of state tax revenues. Whether recreational marijuana will become a profit center for the state remains in question, Time reports.

A study that followed the children of women who admitted to binge drinking in pregnancy found the children had an increased risk hyperactivity and inattention when they reached age 11. These children also were more likely to get lower marks on school exams.

Females may build up a tolerance to marijuana faster than males do, a new study of rodents suggests. People with an increased tolerance to drugs may be more likely to become addicted, The Huffington Post reports.

People over 65 who are current or former heavy smokers may benefit from low-dose CT scans of the lungs to detect cancer, according to researchers from the National Cancer Institute.

Grandparents have a unique opportunity to approach the topic of drugs and alcohol with their grandchildren, in a way that is unlike parents who are the enforcers of discipline, says parenting expert Dr. Susan Bartell.

A new study by the National Transportation Safety Board finds more pilots are using both potentially impairing medications and illicit drugs. The study looked at pilots who died in crashes. Most of them were private pilots.

Teens under age 17 who use marijuana every day are 60 percent less likely to graduate from high school, compared with their peers who have never used the drug, a new study finds.

Women who drink alcohol may have an increased risk of persistent infection with the human papillomavirus, according to researchers in Korea. Some varieties of the virus have the potential to cause cervical abnormalities that can lead to cancer.

The number of smoke-free homes in the United States has nearly doubled in the past 20 years, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Drug Enforcement Administration announced Monday it will allow unused narcotic painkillers such as OxyContin to be returned to pharmacies. Until now, pharmacies were not allowed to accept unused opioid painkillers.

A new government report finds 9.4 percent of Americans ages 12 and older said they used illicit drugs in 2013. Almost 20 million said they used marijuana, according to HealthDay.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy, largely composed of former world leaders, is calling on governments to decriminalize most illegal drugs, including heroin and cocaine.

The governors of five New England states have asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to rescind approval of Zohydro ER, a pure form of the opioid hydrocodone.

E-cigarettes may increase the risk of addiction to cocaine and other drugs, nicotine researchers suggest in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine.

One-fifth of patients who undergo surgery for orthopedic trauma, including broken bones, visit multiple doctors for painkiller prescriptions, according to a new study.

A new study of teens treated at an outpatient substance abuse clinic found many showed symptoms of marijuana withdrawal.

Alcohol ads that tell people to ‘drink responsibly’ don’t explain how to do so, a new study concludes. Instead, the ads tend to glamorize the products they are selling, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

After the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided last year not to approve implantable buprenorphine to treat opioid abuse, researchers have begun a new study to address the agency’s concerns about the product, called Probuphine.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has announced it will reclassify hydrocodone combination products such as Vicodin. Under the new rules, patients will be able to receive the drugs for only up to 90 days without receiving a new prescription, The Wall Street Journal reports.

In the past two years, 17 states have passed laws increasing access to the overdose antidote naloxone, bringing the total to 24. Most of the laws allow doctors to prescribe naloxone to friends and family members of a person who abuses opioids.

CVS Caremark will make good on its pledge to stop selling tobacco by October 1, according to USA Today. The pharmacy chain will stop selling tobacco today in all of its stores.