The Latest News from Our Field

Teenagers in Rhode Island did not use more marijuana after the state implemented its medical marijuana law in 2006, according to a new study.

Two congressmen have asked Major League Baseball and the players union to test for human growth hormone and to ban chewing tobacco. They made their requests a month before the players union contract is set to expire.

The number of Americans who died from overdoses of prescription painkillers more than tripled in the past decade, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More people now die from painkillers than from heroin and cocaine combined.

Methamphetamine is increasingly being made in the United States in small labs that are easy to move and hide, The Wall Street Journal reports.

More than 1,800 prisoners are eligible for immediate release under new sentencing rules for drug crimes. The rules aim to reduce the disparity between sentences for crimes involving crack cocaine and those involving the drug in powdered form.

A Kentucky cancer center is advising smokers to switch to smokeless tobacco. Its “Switch and Quit” campaign is creating controversy in the state and beyond.

Images can be especially effective tools when they are harnessed to change social norms and prevent youth from never starting to smoke, explains Eric Asche, Chief Marketing Officer of Legacy®.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says doctors should routinely screen their teenage patients for drug and alcohol use at every visit, and look for signs of dependence or addiction.

A growing body of research indicates even moderate drinking can increase a person’s risk of cancer, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The White House turned down a petition with 75,000 signatures that asked for marijuana to be legalized and regulated in a manner similar to alcohol.

Ohio officials say they are making progress in the fight against prescription drug abuse. The Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services says about one million fewer prescription pain pills will be dispensed in two Ohio counties this year compared with 2010.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has purchased nine million cigarettes made of tobacco that are genetically altered to reduce the nicotine content by 97 percent, The New York Times reports. The NIH is looking for ways to regulate cigarettes so they are not addictive.

More companies are raising health insurance rates for smokers, according to Reuters. Companies are taking a more punitive approach after finding not enough employees signed up for classes to quit smoking, and those who did weren’t showing enough improvement.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder came to Tampa, Florida to announce the arrest of 22 people in Central Florida on charges of illegal prescription drug distribution.

The Foundation for Recovery’s Conference on Addiction, Research, Recovery and Education (CARRE) will take place at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas on December 1-2, 2011.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse interacts with a variety of audiences, including scientists, prevention and treatment specialists and the general public. But one particularly important audience (and often the most difficult to reach) is the American teenager, explains Dr. Nora Volkow of NIDA.

The National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse has given the University of Buffalo a $900,000 grant to develop graduate medical education programs in addiction medicine.

A proposed Massachusetts bill would require doctors to participate in a prescription drug monitoring program. Currently participation in the program is voluntary.

A new study estimates 2.5 million children under age 12 in California are at risk of exposure to secondhand smoke.

Smoking cigarettes produces changes in the lungs that are similar to those seen in cystic fibrosis patients, according to a new study.

Yearly chest X-rays to screen for lung cancer do not reduce the death rate for the disease, a new study concludes.

A federal judge has extended a temporary ban on a Missouri college’s mandatory drug testing program.

Vermont police do not have access to the state’s prescription monitoring database, although the program receives funds from the federal Department of Justice.

The demand for cheap cigarettes in New York has fueled a large underground market, law enforcement officials say.

Florida’s prescription drug trafficking law requires mandatory minimum sentences to be based on the total weight of the drugs found in someone’s possession, not the amount of controlled substance in the pills.