The Latest News from Our Field

A new study finds mixing energy drinks with alcohol increases the urge to drink. People who consume the mixture may drink more alcohol than they planned, according to the researchers.

Missouri is the only state that does not have a prescription drug monitoring database, The New York Times reports. The state’s decision not to use such a drug-tracking tool has hampered efforts to fight prescription drug abuse.

More than 46,000 drug offenders will be eligible for early release from prison, after the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to reduce terms for low-level drug traffickers who are already incarcerated. The vote was unanimous, NPR reports.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco has indicted FedEx for drug trafficking, USA Today reports. The company is accused of conspiring to deliver prescription drugs for illegal online pharmacies.

A widow of a chain smoker who died of lung cancer has been awarded more than $23 billion in punitive damages by a Florida jury. The woman sued R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, claiming the company conspired to conceal cigarettes’ health dangers and addictive nature.

A new study finds U.S. college students involved in alcohol-related offenses and incidents often receive light penalties.

A growing number of parents are hiring private dog-sniffing businesses to find out if their teens are using illegal substances, NPR reports. The dogs are also being requested by schools, businesses, landlords and halfway houses.

Some veterans who are suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, pain from injuries and other conditions have decided to stop taking the large amount of prescription drugs prescribed for them, without consulting their doctors.

The U.S. House on Wednesday rejected a measure that would have blocked the Treasury Department from implementing guidelines to make it easier for legal marijuana businesses to conduct banking.

A new study finds smokers are two to four times more likely than nonsmokers to commit suicide. State public health interventions such as indoor smoking bans and cigarette taxes could reduce suicide rates by as much as 15 percent, the researchers say.

Recent legislative changes in the healthcare organization and financing through the Affordable Care Act and the Parity Act will end the past 40 years of separate and unequal resources for the treatment of substance use disorders. These changes are much needed, according to Mady Chalk and Abigail Woodworth of the Treatment Research Institute.

A new study finds people with chronic pain who received counseling from a nurse over the phone were able to reduce their dose of pain medication. The researchers say the findings suggest “telecare” could reduce the risk of prescription drug abuse and accidental overdoses.

E-cigarette makers are quickly producing new flavors to attract customers, The New York Times reports. More than 7,000 flavors are now available, with an estimated 250 new varieties being introduced each month.

Receiving text messages about binge drinking after visiting the emergency room can help young adults reduce their hazardous alcohol consumption by more than 50 percent, a new study suggests.

Almost 90,000 emergency room visits each year in the United States are due to adverse reactions to psychiatric medications, according to the Associated Press. The findings come from a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A federal law requires residential addiction treatment centers to have 16 or fewer beds in order to qualify for Medicaid coverage, The New York Times reports. The law is impeding efforts to expand addiction treatment coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

A 26-year-old woman in Tennessee has been charged under a new state law that bans taking drugs during pregnancy, according to ABC News. The woman, Mallory Loyola, is the first woman to be charged under the law.

A group of leading lung health organizations is urging governments to ban or limit the use of e-cigarettes until more is known about the devices’ health effects.

Marijuana use in Colorado has been much higher than expected, according to a new study by the state. While only about 9 percent of state residents use the drug, they are likely to use 121.4 metric tons of marijuana annually, The Washington Times reports.

The White House 2014 National Drug Control Strategy, released Wednesday, emphasizes the nation’s growing problem of opioid addiction, according to The Christian Science Monitor.

Studies used to approve drugs to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) did not address long-term safety, according to new research.

Pro-marijuana tweets are reaching hundreds of thousands of American teens and young adults several times a day, a new study concludes. The researchers say they are concerned about their findings because young people can be especially influenced by social media.

Massachusetts General Hospital, affiliated with Harvard Medical School in Boston, has announced it will screen all patients for alcohol and illegal drug use starting this fall.