The Latest News from Our Field

Illegal street sales of take-home doses of liquid methadone, prescribed to treat opioid addiction, are on the rise, according to law enforcement officials in Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.

Relatives of patients who overdosed on painkillers told federal regulators Thursday they want changes on the labels of narcotic painkillers, The Wall Street Journal reports. Pain patients concerned such action could limit their access to the medications spoke against the proposed changes.

The percentage of teenagers who received substance abuse prevention messages from the media in the past year dropped from 83.2 percent in 2002, to 75.1 percent in 2011, according to a new government report.

Deaths caused by alcohol drop when minimum alcohol prices increase, a new study finds. Researchers in British Columbia found boosting the price of the cheapest alcohol by 10 percent led to a 32 percent drop in the drinking-related death rate, Reuters reports.

The ability to legally buy alcohol before age 21 is associated with an increased risk of binge drinking later in life, a new study suggests. The study included more than 39,000 people who started drinking in the 1970s, when some states allowed people as young as 18 to purchase alcohol.

For decades, patients in most psychiatric hospitals were allowed—even encouraged—to smoke. Now state and federal health officials are changing course, and banning smoking in a growing number of these facilities, according to The New York Times.

About 10 percent of young teens with mental illness frequently use alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana, a new Australian study suggests. This substance abuse pattern becomes more common as teenagers grow older.

A bond is growing between the fledging medical marijuana industry and labor unions, Reuters reports.

The rate of smoking for adults with some form of mental illness is 70 percent higher, compared with those without a mental health issue, according to a new government report.

Congressmen from Colorado and Oregon have proposed legislation that would weaken federal restrictions on marijuana, The Wall Street Journal reports. The proposals, which are likely to face stiff opposition, would begin to address the disparity between federal and state marijuana laws.

Marriages in which one spouse drinks more than the other are more likely to end in divorce than unions in which both spouses drink a similar amount, Norwegian researchers have found.

People who mix diet soda with alcohol get more intoxicated, and more quickly, compared with those who use regular soda in their alcoholic drinks, a small study suggests.

Stereotypes about addiction, perpetuated by the media, can be unintentionally reinforced by addiction professionals, according to a New York addiction expert.

Many doctors don’t ask their teenage patients about their drinking, a new study finds. A survey of 10th graders found that while more than 80 percent had seen a doctor in the past year, only 54 percent of them were asked about drinking, and 40 percent were advised about the dangers of alcohol.

The shape of cocaine users’ brains may influence whether they become addicted to the drug, British researchers have found. A smaller frontal lobe is associated with a greater risk of cocaine addiction.

Recovering alcoholics who feel shame about past alcohol abuse may have an increased risk of a relapse, a new study suggests.

Prescription opioid overdoses rose seven-fold in New York City from 1990 to 2006, according to researchers at Columbia University. They found the increase in drug overdoses was due to painkillers. Methadone overdoses remained stable, and heroin overdoses decreased during the same period.

A program that teaches people to recognize and respond to overdoses of opioids can significantly decrease the number of overdose deaths, researchers at Boston Medical Center have found.

Energy drinks can be dangerous for teenagers, according to a new report published in a pediatrics journal. The drinks are particularly dangerous when they are combined with alcohol, CBS News reports.

A new study in rats explains the link between binge drinking and the increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Expert marijuana growers are in demand in states that have legalized the drug for medical use, The Arizona Republic reports. These consultants work for dispensaries or “grow centers,” giving tips on how to manipulate the plants with lights, nutrients and air to grow high-grade marijuana.

Addiction treatment professionals can play a vital role in preventing the leading known cause of intellectual disabilities, birth defects and neurobehavioral disorders in the world, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), according to Kathleen T. Mitchell, Vice President and International Spokesperson for the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Prescription drug thieves are stealing from medicine cabinets during open houses, ABC News reports.

People who inject drugs and have hepatitis C are “super-spreaders” of the virus, who are likely to infect 20 other people, a new study finds.

Almost any kind of illegal drug can be purchased online and delivered by mail, without the buyer making direct contact with drug dealers, according to a new report by the European Union. The report states such purchases make it more difficult to track drug routes.