The Latest News from Our Field

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York is asking colleges in his state to tighten restrictions on attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder drugs used by students to increase their focus, known as “study drugs.”

A new study finds people who inject drugs can cut their risk of developing HIV in half by taking a daily antiretroviral medication, The New York Times reports.

Outlawing psychoactive drugs such as marijuana and “magic mushrooms” impedes research and amounts to scientific censorship, according to three researchers.

Heroin use is on the rise in Washington state, particularly among young people, according to a new report. The increase can be traced to laws that have made it more difficult to obtain prescriptions for opioids such as oxycodone, the researchers say.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida this week criticized state and local officials for releasing thousands of prescription drug records. The group asked to see documents related to the data release.

Walgreens on Tuesday agreed to pay $80 million in civil penalties, in order to resolve allegations by the Drug Enforcement Administration that the company violated federal rules regarding the distribution of prescription painkillers such as oxycodone.

The American Academy of Family Physicians, in cooperation with the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is offering its members online tools to help them care for patients and families struggling with addiction.

The three largest tobacco manufacturers announced they are increasing cigarette prices, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, along with substance abuse prevention and treatment professionals, are calling for rules that would limit youth access to marijuana in Washington state, now that the drug is legal there for adults.

A researcher at Harvard Medical School is studying which substance use disorders are more common among people with different types of mental illness, and when they tend to develop.

A team of scientists at the University of Michigan say they have identified a new approach to pain therapy that could lead to lower-dose painkillers, which may reduce the risk of dependence.

Tobacco companies are expected to spend millions of dollars on e-cigarette advertising this year, Ad Age reports. The U.S. market for e-cigarettes is projected to double this year, to about $1 billion.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will promote a broad approach to fighting drug-related violence in Central America at a meeting of the Organization of the American States this week, according to Reuters.

A new law that sets legal limits on marijuana levels in the bloodstream took effect in Colorado on May 28. Under the new law, drivers are assumed to be impaired if their blood test shows a level of THC—the active ingredient in marijuana—of five or more nanograms per milliliter.

A new study of designated drivers finds 35 percent of them drink. Many imbibing designated drivers have blood-alcohol levels high enough to impair their driving, researchers from the University of Florida report.

A smartphone app designed by the National Cancer Institute texts teens to help them quit smoking, Politico reports.

Law enforcement officials in charge of K-9 units in Washington state and Colorado, where recreational marijuana is now legal, are no longer training drug-sniffing dogs to detect the drug, according to Fox News. Dogs already trained to detect marijuana are being forced into early retirement.

Dr. Stuart Gitlow, President of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, argues DSM-5 changes the terminology of addiction, but the disease remains unchanged.

New research suggests playing with dogs can improve the mood of teens being treated for drug or alcohol abuse in a residential treatment center. Dog therapy may help stimulate the release of the feel-good chemical dopamine in the brain, the researchers say.

Low doses of the active ingredient in marijuana appear to stop some forms of brain damage in mice, an Israeli researcher has found.

The new head of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products said he will soon start ruling on whether the agency will approve 4,000 new and existing products.

Teens who are cyberbullied are more likely than their peers who are not harassed online or through cell phone messages to develop symptoms of substance abuse, depression and Internet addiction, a new study concludes.

Sales of Monster Energy rose 9 percent in April and May compared with a year ago, despite recent headlines questioning the drink’s safety, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Two-thirds of pharmacists and 90 percent of doctors in Florida are not using the state’s prescription drug database, according to federal officials. A bill that would have required both professions to use the database failed to pass during this year’s session.

Massachusetts is likely to become the first state to require retailers to display graphic cigarette warnings at tobacco sales racks and next to cash registers, The Boston Globe reports.