The Latest News from Our Field

Adults living in low-income neighborhoods are generally more likely to be non-drinkers, compared with people living in higher income areas—except for black and Hispanic men, a new study concludes.

The presence of medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles, estimated to number between 500 and 1,000, makes it simple to obtain the drug for recreational use, according to critics of the storefronts. The City Council last week repealed a ban on the dispensaries that it had recently passed.

Tennessee state officials are studying drug-testing programs for welfare recipients in six other states, as they shape their own program, The Tennessean reports.

Six young men—five of them teenagers--developed kidney failure after using synthetic marijuana in recent months, health officials in Oregon and Washington report.

The U.S. Justice Department has asked a federal appeals court to rehear a case about the Food and Drug Administration’s requirement that tobacco companies place graphic labels on cigarette packages to warn about smoking’s health dangers. In August, a three-judge appeals court panel affirmed a lower court ruling that blocked the mandate.

The 27th annual “Red Ribbon Week,” October 23-31, will raise awareness about drug prevention around the country. Families can get involved this year by entering a contest to promote awareness in their neighborhoods, and win a drug prevention grant for their children’s school.

The scientific nonprofit group that sets standards for medicine safety is proposing reworking and standardizing medication labels, in an effort to reduce potentially dangerous medication mix-ups.

Marines cited for drunk driving and other drinking-related incidents will be required to participate in a new program that focuses on early intervention, according to the Marine Corps Times.

Substance abuse treatment providers must take steps now to get ready for the influx of new patients they will begin to see in January 2014 as a result of the Affordable Care Act, according to an expert speaking at the National Conference on Addiction Disorders.

President Obama signed into law a measure that doubles sentences for pharmacy robberies, to 20 years, the Daily News reports.

More doctors are prescribing stimulants for students who are struggling in low-income schools, The New York Times reports. Many of these children, who do not have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, receive the drugs to increase their academic performance.

Mothers with an authoritative parenting style can influence the friends of their teenagers, making it less likely they will get drunk, or smoke cigarettes or marijuana, suggests a new study.

A new study finds that enrollment in smoking cessation programs jumped 10-fold in the Netherlands during one year when the government paid for them.

One of the biggest points of contention about marijuana is whether or not it can be considered medicine, according to Kevin Sabet, PhD, Policy Consultant and Assistant Professor, University of Florida. He says that while smoked crude marijuana is not medicine, marijuana does have medicinal properties – found in its individual components.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has collected a total of two million pounds of unused prescription medications during its five National Prescription Drug Take-Back Days, the agency announced Thursday.

A new study links smoking in adolescence with an increased risk of early death due to smoking-related cancer or heart disease. Teen smokers have a higher risk of early death even if they stop smoking by middle age.

The national chain Family Dollar is getting into tobacco in a big way, CSPnet.com reports. The chain, with 7,200 stores nationwide, is introducing a four-foot tobacco display to 6,000 of its stores by the end of the year.

In the wake of a recent scandal involving alcohol and prostitutes, the Secret Service has announced a new policy that bans agents from drinking alcohol in the hotel where the president or other protected persons are staying.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy has launched a new online training program to help doctors prescribe opioids more safely and effectively. The program’s goal is to reduce prescription drug abuse, The Boston Globe reports.

Nurses can significantly reduce substance abuse in homeless youth, a new study finds.

More than 195,000 people have signed an online petition demanding the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, known as Freddie Mac, test the homes it sells for methamphetamine contamination.

A new study links heavy smoking and drinking with an earlier onset of pancreatic cancer. While the disease is generally diagnosed at an average age of 72, heavy smokers with pancreatic cancer were diagnosed at age 62, and heavy drinkers at age 61, the study found.

The number of U.S. teens who drink and drive has decreased 54 percent since 1991, according to a new government report. Last year, 90 percent of high school students 16 and older said they don’t drink and drive.

The federal government will decide within the next month whether nurse anesthetists can be reimbursed by Medicare for treating chronic pain, The Wall Street Journal reports. Some doctors say such a move could complicate the fight against prescription drug abuse.

Almost one in 12 injured workers prescribed opioids are still taking the drugs three to six months later, a new study finds. Drug testing and psychological evaluation aimed at reducing drug abuse are not conducted in these workers most of the time.