The Latest News from Our Field

Local governments can reduce excessive drinking by regulating the density of stores that sell alcohol, according to a new report.

Legalizing marijuana will not solve the country’s drug problem, the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske, said Wednesday.

Banning smoking in public housing and units covered by rental assistance programs could save $521 million annually, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday it will not approve any generic versions of the original form of OxyContin. The move is aimed at preventing prescription drug abuse, Reuters reports.

Between 3 million and 5 million new patients could soon receive addiction treatment under the Affordable Care Act, according to the Associated Press. The change will have a major impact on treatment for drug and alcohol addiction.

Eight new addiction medicine fellowship programs have been accredited by the American Board of Addiction Medicine Foundation, bringing the total number of programs to 18, Newswise reports.

Exercise may help protect the brains of people who drink heavily, a new study suggests.

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.