The Latest News from Our Field

A counter-terrorism lab in Little Rock, Arkansas, is helping law enforcement officials identify the synthetic drug “Spice.”

The Food and Drug Administration is preparing to make its final report on menthol cigarettes available for public comment.

Two senators are calling on the federal government to increase funding to help police departments tackle drugged driving.

Today’s media may accurately depict addiction. But it fails to tell the whole story, shares Kelly O'Rourke Johns, former editorial director of Renew magazine.

Backers of a ballot proposal in Colorado to legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana are urging voters to “regulate marijuana like alcohol,” The New York Times reports.

An Internet piracy bill that has stalled in Congress could help authorities shut down illegal online pharmacies, according to ABC News.

A federal judge said this week she will not delay an order in a longstanding lawsuit against tobacco manufacturers while other courts decide newer cases that challenge graphic cigarette warning labels and restrictions on tobacco marketing.

A mother’s smoking during pregnancy does not appear to increase the risk that her child will develop autism, a new study concludes. Previous studies on the possible connection have produced mixed results.

Google’s $500 million settlement with the U.S. government over allegations the company aided illegal online drug sales involved evidence the government obtained during a sting operation, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Hosts of off-campus college parties drink more and engage in more alcohol-related problem behaviors than their guests, a new study suggests. The researchers found that hosts of on-campus parties tend to drink less than their guests.

New York and Tennessee are considering bills that would require doctors to access drug monitoring databases every time they write a prescription for a controlled substance, according to American Medical News.

Three new studies show active-duty military personnel and veterans are prone to substance abuse, depression and suicide.

A report by the Government Accountability Office calls on federal agencies to do a better job of coordinating and assessing the effectiveness of programs to educate prescribers and the public about prescription drug abuse.

Smokers who see ultrasound images of plaque built up in their carotid artery in their neck are no more likely to quit than those who don’t see the pictures, a new study has found.

People who smoke both cigarettes and cigars are more likely to be young, African American, male, unemployed and have less education compared with cigarette-only smokers, according to a new study.

Boston mass transit will ban alcohol ads starting July 1. The ban will include subway cars, trains and buses, Boston.com reports.

At a time when financial resources for tobacco control are scarce, a new federal law expands insurance coverage to cover tobacco cessation services. However, the gap in mandatory tobacco cessation services for most Medicaid enrollees is shortsighted, comments David Dobbins of Legacy.

A new method of producing methamphetamine called “shake and bake” is leading to an influx of burn victims in the nation’s hospitals, the Associated Press reports.

A British company is conducting advanced clinical trials of the first drug developed from raw marijuana. The drug is a mouth spray designed to treat cancer-related pain. The company hopes to obtain approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by the end of 2013.

New research helps explain how the active ingredient in the psychedelic drug “magic mushrooms,” psilocybin, affects the brain. The findings may help scientists develop treatments for depression, the researchers say.

Alcohol abuse related to domestic violence is an increasing problem in the U.S. Army, according to a new study that also found the suicide rate among active-duty soldiers reached an all-time high last year.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has published a free guide to choosing a drug abuse treatment program.

Methamphetamine use, which was on the decline until recently, appears to be increasing due to Mexican drug cartels and small U.S. drug producers, the Evansville Courier and Press reports.

A Florida doctor has sued CVS for not filling his prescriptions, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Late last year, the company sent letters to a small number of doctors in Florida telling them it would no longer fill prescriptions they wrote for oxycodone and other Schedule II narcotic drugs.

A substantial minority of patients with lung or colon cancer continue to smoke after they have received their diagnosis, a new study finds.