The Latest News from Our Field

President Obama told The New Yorker magazine he does not think marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol. He added smoking marijuana is “not something I encourage.”

A new report by the U.S. Surgeon General warns smoking is a causal factor in 10 diseases and conditions that were not previously definitively linked to cigarettes, including diabetes, arthritis, colorectal cancer and erectile dysfunction.

Thoughts of suicide are more common among adults who use illicit drugs, compared with the general population, according to a new government survey.

During National Drug Facts Week, January 27 to February 2, communities and schools around the country will host events to allow teens to learn how drugs affect the brain, body and behavior.

Policymakers in Colorado are imposing a 15 percent wholesale and 10 percent retail tax on marijuana transactions. The impact of the tax rate is unclear, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.

A new study finds some brands of cigarettes have increased the amount of nicotine they deliver. This is likely to make them more addictive, according to the researchers.

Companies are struggling with the question of whether to allow employees to use e-cigarettes in the workplace, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Men who drink heavily in middle age experience a faster, steeper decrease in memory and thinking skills 10 years later, compared with men who drink less or don’t drink, a new study concludes.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, January 10- Thursday, January 16, 2014.

With nearly half of state prescription monitoring programs (PMPs) sharing data via the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy® PMP InterConnect® program, the system is successfully helping states in their efforts to protect patient health and lower rates of prescription drug abuse and diversion.

Entrepreneurs are moving forward with new business strategies as legal sales of recreational marijuana get underway in Colorado, CNBC reports. Washington state will begin selling marijuana later this year.

The Treasury Department is compiling a list of all alcoholic beverages sold in stores and online, to determine which ones it needs to test. The department wants to ensure the products’ labels do not mislead consumers, according to The New York Times.

Deaths from heroin and prescription drugs more than doubled last year at the Jersey Shore, a locale well known as a vacation destination. Three people in Ocean County, New Jersey have already died in 2014 from drug overdoses, according to NBC News.

A new campaign in Colorado, to be unveiled Wednesday, aims to reduce prescription drug abuse among teens, The Denver Post reports.

Primary care doctors can discover whether patients are abusing drugs or alcohol by asking a single question, a new study finds.

Tobacco companies and the federal government reached an agreement on publishing statements about the dangers of smoking, the Associated Press reports. The “corrective statements” will say the companies lied about the health effects of cigarettes.

A new study suggests a connection between misuse of prescription drugs and incidents of dating violence.

An arbitration panel has ruled that Major League Baseball can ban New York Yankees player Alex Rodriguez for the entire 2014 season, Bloomberg reports. Rodriguez was suspended for violating the league’s antidoping rules.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, January 3- Thursday, January 9, 2014.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday he will allow some patients with serious illnesses to have access to medical marijuana.

Smokers who try to quit using the drugs varenicline (Chantix) and bupropion (Wellbutrin) together are more successful in the short term than those who use Chantix alone, a new study finds.

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin on Wednesday said the state is suffering from a “full-blown heroin crisis,” The New York Times reports. In his State of the State Message, Governor Shumlin said he wants officials to respond to addiction as a chronic disease.

Ohio is launching a new initiative to encourage parents to speak with their children about the dangers of drug abuse. The increased use of prescription painkillers and heroin has led to a surge in drug overdoses in the state, the Associated Press reports.

Helping patients with substance use disorders manage their other health problems can assist them in their recovery, says Sharone Abramowitz, MD, co-chair of the recent California Society of Addiction Medicine conference. She notes addiction medicine professionals often ignore patients’ other chronic health conditions.

Only one in six American adults say their doctor or other health professional has ever asked them about their alcohol use, according to a new survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.