The Latest News from Our Field

Plastic and paper filters that have captured a lot of toxins and additives from a smoked cigarette leach into our environment once littered, explains Julia Cartwright of Legacy. Help us start a debate about this hazardous, expensive and nasty litter so we can change social norms and clean up our planet – one cigarette butt at a time.

As prescription painkillers become more difficult to obtain and abuse, a growing number of people addicted to these drugs are switching to heroin, USA Today reports. The trend is increasingly being seen in the suburbs.

The taste of beer may trigger the brain’s reward system and cause a craving for more alcohol, researchers from Indiana University report.

A panel of the Food and Drug Administration this week will meet to decide whether to recommend approval of a new drug for smoking-related lung damage, Fox News reports.

A California congressman has introduced a bill that would protect marijuana users from federal prosecution in states where the drug is legal. The Respect State Marijuana Laws Act of 2013 would legalize marijuana at the federal level to the extent it is legal at the state level.

Generic drug makers are waiting for the Food and Drug Administration to decide whether they must make tamper-resistant forms of OxyContin, or if they can produce the original version, The Wall Street Journal reports. OxyContin’s first patent expires Tuesday.

The federal government has been reducing funding for research on marijuana’s potential medical benefits, Bloomberg reports. Medical research funding for marijuana reached a peak of $131 million in 2007; it dropped to $91 million last year.

A new study suggests planting false memories of getting sick from alcohol may influence a person to drink less of that type of alcohol in the future.

The National Football League has a complex and potentially dangerous system of managing pain, The Washington Post reports. One in four players surveyed by the newspaper said they felt pressure from team doctors to take medications they were uncomfortable with.

As a growing number of states have either passed new legislation or are considering legislation limiting payment for opioid treatment, the American Society of Addiction Medicine has launched a task force focused on FDA-approved medications for opioid dependence, says their Acting President Dr. Stuart Gitlow.

A growing number of companies are using data analysis to fight prescription drug abuse, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Young adults who receive health insurance through their parents’ plans because of the Affordable Care Act are more likely to use the coverage to treat substance abuse, mental illness or pregnancy, compared with their peers who already had coverage, a new report finds.

In an effort to further crack down on synthetic drugs, the federal government announced this week it is outlawing three more synthetic marijuana substances.

An international effort is underway to identify and ban new synthetic drugs earlier, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.

Thank you for being part of the Join Together community as we celebrate our second anniversary.

North America’s only government-sanctioned facility that medically supervises the injection of illegal drugs, located in Vancouver, British Columbia, continues to stir controversy, according to CNN.

People consume more calories and fat on the days they drink alcohol, according to a new study.

An online toolkit called “Generation Rx University” aims to reduce prescription drug abuse among college students. The Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy and the Cardinal Health Foundation have teamed up to introduce the program to help college and university students, faculty and staff on campuses across the country educate others about the misconceptions, realities and dangers of prescription drug abuse among 18-to 25-year olds.

A person who answers the door while smoking marijuana can be arrested without a warrant, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled this week.

A new poll finds 52 percent of Americans say doctors should have limits on the amount and dosage of pain medication they are allowed to prescribe. Almost half of those surveyed said prescription drug addiction is a major U.S. health problem.

More than 100 entertainers, civil rights leaders and other notable citizens have signed a letter to President Obama, asking him to change the nation’s drug laws. The group is urging him to replace jail sentences with intervention and rehabilitation for non-violent drug offenders, the Associated Press reports.

The number of smoking scenes in youth-rated movies doubled between 2010 and 2012, HealthDay reports. Smoking scenes have returned to the level of a decade ago, according to a study funded by the anti-smoking group Legacy.

New York state is introducing new driver licenses engraved with a “ghost image” that floats in a transparent window, in an effort to crack down on fake IDs used for underage drinking. Other states may follow suit, BBC News reports.

Each April since 1987, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD) has sponsored NCADD Alcohol Awareness Month to increase public awareness and understanding, reduce stigma, encourage individuals and families to seek help and to engage local communities in bringing attention to alcoholism and alcohol-related problems, says its president, Robert J. Lindsey.

A party drug known as “Benzo Fury” can have dangerous consequences, a new study of rodents suggests. It has both stimulant and hallucinogenic effects, Reuters reports.