The Latest News from Our Field

Recent media reports paint emergency physicians as the source behind the recent dramatic rise in prescription drug abuse. We aren't. Despite certain perceptions to the contrary, we actually account for a very low percentage of all narcotics prescribed, explains a physician from the American College of Emergency Physicians.

The United States Navy announced it is cutting back the sale hours for alcohol at base stores, in an effort to reduce sexual assaults, The Washington Times reports.

Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun has been suspended for the rest of the season by Major League Baseball, for violating the league’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, MLB.com reports.

The police department of Quincy, Massachusetts, the first in the nation to require every officer on patrol to carry the opioid overdose antidote Narcan, reports a 95 percent success rate with the treatment, CBS News reports.

Heroin use, which already has been a problem in northern and central Kentucky, has been spreading to the southern and eastern parts of the state, The Lexington Herald-Leader reports.

An increasing number of doctors who treat chronic pain are requiring their patients who take opioids to submit to urine drug tests. The doctors are trying to avoid being held responsible if patients die from painkiller overdoses, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Former smokers earn more on average than current smokers or those who never smoked, a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta concludes.

A case to be argued in Hawaii federal court mixes religion and marijuana, according to The New York Times. The founder of the Hawai’i Cannabis THC Ministry was among several people to be indicted on charges that include conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana.

The California Department of Health Care Services announced an investigation of 16 substance abuse treatment centers for patients on Medi-Cal, the state’s insurance plan for people on welfare and other low-income residents. The centers are suspected of fraud and hiring providers who have felonies on their records.

How can we get past the stigma and ensure that our children, our loved ones and everyone affected by addiction receives the appropriate care, asks Dr. Thomas McLellan of the Treatment Research Institute.

A drug prescribed for both epilepsy and weight loss may help reduce cocaine use in people addicted to cocaine and alcohol, a new study suggests.

Addiction should be treated as a public health issue, National Drug Control Policy Director R. Gil Kerlikowske told participants of a conference on prescription drug abuse Thursday.

Drug users who have been victims of severe childhood abuse are at increased risk for suicide attempts, a new study concludes. Less severe abuse, or physical or emotional neglect, does not appear to increase the risk.

Smaller cities and towns throughout New England are seeing an alarming rise in heroin use and deaths, The New York Times reports.

People who “doctor shop” bought an estimated 4.3 million prescriptions for opioids such as Vicodin and OxyContin in 2008, a new study finds.

Most women who drink before becoming pregnant continue consuming alcohol throughout their pregnancy, Australian researchers have found.

College students who hear warnings about binge drinking from family or friends are more likely to be concerned about their own alcohol use, compared with their classmates who don’t hear such advice, a new study suggests.

Three-quarters of homeless people smoke, a rate that is four times higher than the general population, according to Harvard University researchers. This population of smokers needs better access to smoking cessation help, they write in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine.

A new survey finds many parents favor either legalizing marijuana for recreational use, or decriminalizing the drug, while 70 percent support legalizing medical marijuana. Most parents say the legal age for marijuana use should be 21, USA Today reports.

The “Above the Influence” drug and alcohol prevention campaign, formerly funded through federal money, will shift from expensive television ads to lower-cost digital and social media campaigns, The New York Times reports. The campaign will concentrate on reaching teens where they spend time, such as Tumblr, Instagram and Facebook.

The Obama Administration has embraced the concept of drug courts, which provide nonviolent drug offenders with treatment instead of incarceration. But critics of the system say the courts could end up costing more money and lead to longer sentences for some offenders, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Under the Affordable Care Act, smokers can be charged a higher premium than nonsmokers. Smokers who obtain their insurance through an individual plan will not benefit from a provision in the law that allows smokers in small group plans to avoid the higher premiums if they participate in a smoking cessation program, NPR reports.

Majorities of voters in both Colorado and Washington State passed ballot initiatives approving marijuana for recreational use this past November, and in each state, lawmakers have struggled to implement a post-legalization regulatory framework that makes sense, and that protects children and teens.

Boys who are exposed to family violence become more aggressive toward their classmates, and this behavior is linked with greater levels of substance abuse over time, according to a new study.

People who cut back on the number of cigarettes they smoke, instead of quitting entirely, won’t lengthen their life, a new study finds.