The Latest News from Our Field

A report by Wisconsin’s State Council on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse urges lawmakers to pass a Good Samaritan Law to reduce opioid overdose deaths. The law would allow a person with a prescription for the opioid overdose antidote naloxone to use it on a friend.

Addiction treatment providers in northern California are finding it difficult to treat the many meth users seeking help, at a time when their resources are shrinking, The Fresno Bee reports.

A child’s personality traits before age 5 may help predict whether they will use alcohol in adolescence, a new study suggests.

Substance abuse experts are concerned that the new recreational marijuana law in Washington state will allow the sale of hash, a strong and potentially dangerous marijuana extract, the Associated Press reports.

The U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy announced there has been a 41 percent decrease in worldwide cocaine production since 2001, and a 10 percent drop from the previous year.

A four-week stress-reduction program that includes yoga-based breathing techniques can help teens gain better control of their impulsive behavior, a new study suggests. The researchers say lack of impulsivity control in teens is associated with substance abuse and other risky behaviors.

The Affordable Care Act will provide many new opportunities for peer recovery support services, according to Faces & Voices of Recovery, which advocates for people in recovery from addiction.

The Justice Department is asking for changes to sentencing guidelines that would provide reduced or alternative sentences for less serious drug crimes, USA Today reports.

People who are both smokers and heavy drinkers have a faster decline in brain function, compared with those who don’t smoke and who drink moderately, a new study suggests. Smoking and heavy drinking is associated with a 36 percent quicker decline in cognitive function.

Smoking rates among teens are the lowest they have been since the U.S. government began keeping track, according to a new report. Just 5 percent of high school sophomores said they smoked cigarettes every day in the previous month, compared with 18 percent at one point in the 1990s.

A New Jersey congressman announced this week he will introduce legislation aimed at reducing prescription drug abuse among Medicare participants. Frank Pallone, Jr., is proposing to increase the requirements for verifying the validity of prescriptions before Medicare pays for the drugs.

The active ingredient in the synthetic drug known as bath salts could be more addictive than methamphetamine, a new study in rats suggests.

Women are more likely to describe intoxication with moderate words such as “tipsy” or “buzzed,” while men tend to use harsher words such as “hammered” or “wasted,” according to a new study.

School anti-alcohol policies are more effective when students think they are being enforced, researchers at the University of Washington have found. Students’ perceptions of the policies’ enforcement are more important than the details of the policies.

Drug abuse prevention advocates are calling on Washington state officials to tighten regulations to make marijuana-laced treats less attractive to children, according to Reuters. Cookies, candy and beverages containing the drug will be sold in the state starting next year.

A system of largely unregulated group homes provides poor living conditions to people throughout the country who are grappling with substance abuse, homelessness and a return to life after prison, according to Salon.com.

Experts are debating the safety of medical marijuana for children, NBC News reports. A number of states allow doctors to recommend a type of cannabis that doesn’t produce a high for children with conditions including cancer, seizures and autism.

Teens and young adults who are treated in the emergency room for injury from an assault, who own or carry a gun, are more likely to have problems with substance abuse and aggressive behavior than those without guns, a new study finds.

A former Marine claims synthetic drugs are popular in the U.S. military, according to a segment of National Geographic’s “Inside: Secret America,” which airs tonight. The program follows him and a current Marine as they purchase bath salts in smoke shops in San Diego, according to ABC News.

California lags behind the rest of the country by having a variety of certifications for substance use disorder treatment. Confusion like this is detrimental to the health and safety of the public, as well as to the clinicians themselves. All who support the integrity of our field must call for change, explains Phyllis Gardner, PhD, President of IC&RC.

Students taking attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder medication don’t perform better in school than their peers who do not use the drugs, a new study concludes.

A growing number of clinics around the country are treating pregnant women who are addicted to prescription painkillers, according to The Wall Street Journal. They are often associated with university medical centers, and are free for patients.

Patients in pain who are poor, black, or Hispanic are less likely to be given opioids in the emergency room, compared with wealthier white patients, a new study finds.

Tobacco control measures such as high tobacco taxes, bans on advertising, and laws prohibiting smoking in public places could prevent tens of millions of premature deaths around the globe, according to a study by the World Health Organization.

Deaths from prescription painkillers are rising more quickly among women than men, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Women’s deaths from the drugs have risen five-fold since 1999.