We curate a digest of the latest news in our field for advocates, policymakers, community coalitions and all who work toward shaping policies and practices to effectively prevent substance use and treat addiction. Sign up here to receive weekly updates straight to your inbox.
The National Association of Drug Court Professionals announces that they are once again hitting the road this year in May to celebrate National Drug Court Month with an epic cross-country RV tour of Drug Courts, Veterans Treatment Courts and DWI Courts.
An analysis of college students’ Twitter use finds mentions of the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder drug Adderall spikes during finals. Tweets about the drug are most common among students in the northeast and south.
People who drink to improve their mood are three times more likely to become dependent on alcohol, compared with those who don’t use alcohol to feel better or stay calm, new research suggests.
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has signed a law that requires pain clinics to be licensed by the state medical board, and new clinics to be owned by physicians. The measure is designed to reduce prescription drug abuse, according to The Wall Street Journal.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Thursday signed into law a measure that encourages people to report drug overdoses. The law allows people to call 911 to report a drug overdose, without the fear of getting arrested for drug possession themselves.
The key ingredient in sleep medications such as Ambien has been linked to a 220 percent jump in emergency room visits between 2005 and 2010, according to a new government report.
The Food and Drug Administration this week asked for more information on an implant designed to treat opioid addiction, before making a decision on whether to approve the drug, according to Bloomberg News.
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.
Get Support
