The Latest News from Our Field

A growing number of people are smoking marijuana out of e-cigarettes, NBC New York reports.

Marijuana legalization advocates are seeking signatures of registered voters in California, Arizona, Oregon and Alaska, Bloomberg reports. The advocates are hoping to put legalization measures on the ballot in those states in 2014.

Deaths due to heroin increased in Maryland and Virginia between 2011 and 2012, according to NBC Washington. Health officials in those states also report an increase in the use of LSD and methadone, including among high school students.

Doctors at a suburban Chicago hospital report they are treating three people who used a caustic, homemade heroin-like drug called “krokodil” that can rot flesh and bone, CBS Chicago reports. Last month, Arizona health officials reported two cases of people who used the drug.

A new survey of teens finds those who start puberty early are more likely to try cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana, compared with those who begin on time or late.

Four new synthetic drugs, including one called “Crazy Clown,” were outlawed in Florida this week under an emergency rule filed by state Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Several colleges in Vermont are engaging parents in their effort to reduce binge drinking, according to the Associated Press. Students tend to drink less when their parents are aware of what they are doing, says Vermont Health Commissioner Dr. Harry Chen.

An analysis of drug prices on the recently shuttered website Silk Road reveals cocaine and marijuana sell for less in the United States than in many other countries, CNN Money reports.

Members of the European Parliament on Tuesday voted against tight regulations for e-cigarettes, according to The New York Times. The vote comes as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration prepares to issue regulations for the devices.

The United States Supreme Court this week rejected the tobacco industry’s appeal of a Florida court ruling. The decision could make it easier for ill smokers or their survivors to sue cigarette makers, Bloomberg reports.

New York State’s highest court this week heard arguments from lawyers of three drivers who claimed they were too drunk to understand what they were doing or the threat they posed to others. The judges will decide whether drivers can be considered too drunk to be found guilty.

The legacy of substance abuse is a combination of BOTH nature AND nurture. No one can change their DNA, so that leaves us examining the environment provided by parents in recovery to their children, says Phyllis Gardner of IC&RC.

A new report finds many states do not have effective strategies in place to fight prescription drug abuse, CNN reports. The report found 28 states and Washington, D.C. scored six or less out of 10 possible indicators of promising strategies.

Transportation Safety Administration security officers are not searching airline passengers’ luggage for marijuana, the Daily News reports.

A new study of mice helps explain why binge drinking may interfere with bone healing. The study shows how alcohol slows healing on the cellular and molecular levels.

Ohio Governor John Kasich on Monday announced the state is adopting new opioid prescribing guidelines for treating patients with chronic non-terminal pain. The guidelines are designed to curb prescription drug abuse, the Associated Press reports.

Makes of e-cigarettes are lobbying the Food and Drug Administration to regulate their products less strictly than traditional cigarettes, The Washington Post reports. The agency has said it will start regulating the e-cigarette industry later this month.

Doctors who self-medicate with prescription drugs often do so to relieve physical or emotional pain, or to relieve stress, according to a survey of doctors in recovery.

College freshmen’s drinking habits are often formed during the first six weeks of school, according to an expert from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

A newly released survey indicates far fewer Kentucky teens abused prescription drugs last year, compared with four years ago.

According to a recent report, Hispanic teens are more likely to abuse illegal and legal drugs than their black or white peers. ¡Celebrando Familias! was developed specifically for Spanish-speaking families affected by substance use disorders, say experts from the National Association for Children of Alcoholics.

Other illegal websites remain in business, after the Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier this week shut down Silk Road, an online marketplace that sold illegal drugs including heroin, cocaine, opioid pills, Ecstasy and LSD.

The death rate from opiate overdoses among Veterans Affairs patients is almost double the national average, according to a report by the Center for Investigative Reporting. Prescriptions for hydrocodone, oxycodone, methadone and morphine have jumped 270 percent in the past 12 years among VA patients, the report found.

People who use cocaine may be more vulnerable to HIV, a new study suggests. Cocaine may inactivate immune cells called CD4 T-cells, which normally fight off HIV, according to CBS News.

More cocaine is being smuggled through the Caribbean in 2013 compared with last year, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.