The Latest News from Our Field

Teenage girls may have a more difficult time than boys in quitting methamphetamine, a new study suggests.

Monster Beverage Corp. has filed a lawsuit to stop the San Francisco City Attorney’s office from trying to force the company to limit serving sizes of its energy drinks, as well as its marketing.

Urban Outfitters, the national retail store popular with teens, is currently selling pint and shot glasses and flasks made to look like prescription pill bottles. These products make light of prescription drug misuse and abuse, a dangerous behavior that is responsible for more deaths in the U.S. each year than heroin and cocaine combined. Join us and ask Urban Outfitters to remove these products from their stores and website immediately!

Synthetic marijuana was the third-most abused substance by U.S. high school students last year, behind alcohol and marijuana, according to the Center for Substance Abuse Research at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Dozens of colleges are instituting stricter rules for diagnosing and medicating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, The New York Times reports.

Certain genetic variants in babies who were exposed to opioids in the womb may protect them, leading to shorter hospital stays and less treatment, according to a new study.

Clinicians who treat patients dealing with alcohol abuse often refer them to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), but many have never gone to a meeting and are not familiar with what goes on there, according to an expert on Twelve-Step programs.

Financial institutions are avoiding dealing with marijuana businesses, even in states where the drug is legal. As a result, owners of these businesses are forced to institute cash-only policies, CNN reports.

Smoking prevention programs delivered in schools can be effective in reducing the number of future smokers, a review of studies suggests.

The Medical Board of California has voted to support measures designed to fight prescription drug abuse, the Los Angeles Times reports. The board refused to transfer its investigators looking into physician misconduct in prescription drug abuse cases to the state Attorney General’s office.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Democratic senators agreed on changes to a “Good Samaritan” bill that allows people to call 911 to report a drug overdose, without the fear of getting arrested for drug possession themselves.

The Government Accountability Office found the federal government has not made progress on most goals for reducing drug use, which were outlined in the 2010 National Drug Control Strategy, UPI reports.

Some states are considering legislation that would ease restrictions on alcohol sales, in an effort to increase tax revenue, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Parents’ smoking behavior influences their teens’ decisions about cigarette use throughout high school, a new study suggests. Peer pressure to smoke is greater during middle school than high school, according to researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

Officials in Colorado and Washington state, which recently legalized the recreational use of marijuana, are struggling to devise health and safety rules for the drug.

Kathleen Tavenner Mitchell, Vice President and National Spokesperson for the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, explains why she founded The Circle of Hope, a mentoring program for birth mothers of children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorders.

Swedish researchers have found a commercially available breathing test device can be used to detect 12 controlled substances, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, US News reports.

Young adults who had participated in a community-based prevention program in middle school reduced their prescription drug misuse up to 65 percent, a new study finds.

The U.S. Navy has introduced a new campaign to remind junior sailors to drink responsibly, according to the Navy Times.

An appellate court in Colorado ruled Thursday employees can be fired for testing positive for marijuana. Recreational use of the drug is now legal in the state.

A new survey of teens finds 23 percent admit they have driven under the influence of alcohol, prescription drugs or marijuana. Almost 20 percent of teens who drink and drive say alcohol improves their driving, while 34 percent say the same about marijuana.

The new head of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products, Mitch Zeller, has begun to review the risks of menthol in cigarettes, according to Bloomberg. He is also considering whether to increase the FDA’s authority over e-cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products.

This week Colorado officials will consider a proposal to require marijuana excise and sales taxes of up to 30 percent combined, The New York Times reports.

An amendment to be introduced this week in Minnesota would require the state’s legislators to undergo drug tests. Originally meant to shame lawmakers who want drug testing for welfare recipients, the bill has caught on with both Democrats and Republicans.

The White House will focus on using public health tools to fight addiction, and on criminal justice reforms, in its drug control policy this year, the Associated Press reports.