The Latest News from Our Field

The number of injury complaints associated with the use of e-cigarettes has risen in the past year, Reuters reports. E-cigarette users have filed complaints with the Food and Drug Administration about injuries including burns, nicotine toxicity, heart problems and breathing difficulties.

Introverts who tend to have fewer positive feelings, or to not be attracted to rewards in life, are more likely to abuse drugs than more extroverted people with positive emotions, a new study suggests.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission, which advises federal judges, is recommending shorter prison sentences for most federal drug trafficking offenders, according to Reuters.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, April 11- Thursday, April 17, 2014.

By now, almost everyone has heard the big announcement from CVS/pharmacy that their stores will become tobacco-free by October 1. This is a significant milestone, and yet it’s just the latest chapter of a long story explains Bob Gordon, winner of Legacy’s 2013 Community Activist Award.

Occasional marijuana use may change the brain structure in young adults, a new study suggests. Marijuana may cause changes related to motivation, emotion and reward.

The private equity firm Bain Capital recently took over the largest chain of substance treatment facilities in Massachusetts, The Boston Globe reports. Bain, which usually makes investments in brand-name companies such as Dunkin’ Donuts, sees treating addiction as big business.

Massachusetts cannot ban the new pure hydrocodone drug Zohydro ER (extended release), a federal judge said Monday. The company that makes the drug, Zogenix, argued in a lawsuit that the ban is unconstitutional, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Almost one-quarter of pregnant women enrolled in Medicaid in 2007 filled a prescription for opioids, a new study finds. The risks of opioids to a developing fetus are largely unknown, The New York Times reports.

A bipartisan group of senators has formed to fight prescription drug abuse, according to The Hill. The group will look for innovative solutions to opioid abuse.

E-cigarette makers are targeting young people with free samples distributed at music and sporting events, according to an investigation by 11 Democratic members of the U.S. House and Senate. The companies are also running radio and television ads during programs aimed at young people, the lawmakers said.

A vending machine that dispenses marijuana will soon be open for business in Colorado, NPR reports. The machine is able to verify a customer’s age, according to its creators.

Following the decision by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to order a ban on prescribing and dispensing the pure hydrocodone painkiller Zohydro, Vermont’s governor announced an emergency order to make it more difficult for doctors to prescribe the drug.

A new government report finds twice as many adult men as women entered substance abuse treatment facilities in 2011. The report found 1.2 million men, and 609,000 females, entered such facilities that year.

No other major retailers have joined CVS in pledging to pull tobacco from store shelves, the Associated Press reports. CVS, the nation’s second largest drugstore chain, announced earlier this year it will stop selling tobacco products by October 1.

Advocates of medical marijuana came to Capitol Hill this week to urge legislators to pass a measure that would ban the federal government from restricting state medical marijuana laws.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, April 4- Thursday, April 10, 2014.

The recent spike in heroin deaths—which is real-- is being attributed to heroin mixed with fentanyl. We wring our hands about overdoses, but do little to make effective treatment widely available. Policy changes must be made to end this scandal explains David L. Rosenbloom, PhD, Professor at Boston University School of Public Health.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the state’s largest health insurer, announced it has reduced prescriptions of narcotic painkillers by about 6.6 million pills in the past 18 months.

People seeking treatment for heroin addiction face a number of obstacles, including a lack of treatment beds, expensive care, and insurance companies that refuse to pay for inpatient rehab, according to ABC News.

About 3.7 million Americans, who live in states that have not expanded their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act, suffer from mental illness, psychological distress or a substance use disorder and don’t have health insurance, according to a recent report.

Employers in states where marijuana is legal for medicinal or recreational use must decide how to handle employees who use the drug when they are not on duty, USA Today reports.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a handheld device that delivers a single dose of the opioid overdose antidote naloxone, The New York Times reports.

Major obstacles remain to expanded treatment for addiction through the Medicaid program, according to USA Today. Although the Affordable Care Act requires treatment be offered to people who are newly insured through insurance exchanges or Medicaid, experts say a federal law is limiting available beds nationwide.

Democratic governors around the country are reluctant to support the legalization of marijuana, despite enthusiasm for the idea among voters in their party. The New York Times reports the governors are concerned about managing legalization, as well as being perceived as being soft on crime by Republicans.