The Latest News from Our Field

States that use prescription drug monitoring programs have seen a 30 percent decrease in the rate of prescriptions written for opioid painkillers, a new study finds.

The news that toxicology tests concluded Prince died from an accidental fentanyl overdose could spur Congress to reach a deal on legislation to combat the opioid crisis, The New York Times reports.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified 220 counties across the United States that are at risk of outbreaks of HIV and hepatitis C from injection drug use.

One year after it began, a program in Gloucester, Massachusetts that provides treatment instead of jail for those surrendering drugs is showing promise, according to WBUR.

A group of senators is urging the Department of Health and Human Services to raise the number of patients a doctor can treat with the opioid addiction medication buprenorphine to 500, The Huffington Post reports.

A new national survey finds a majority of Americans favor raising the legal age for purchasing tobacco. The survey found more support for increasing the age to 21, rather than 19 or 20.

Many patients who have undergone knee or hip replacement surgery are still taking prescription opioid painkillers up to six months after the operation, a new study finds. Some patients continue to use potentially addictive pain medications even though their hip or knee pain has improved, the findings suggest.

Two anti-cocaine efforts in Colombia, funded by American taxpayers, were not cost-effective, according to an analysis by two economists. The interventions “are inefficient and socially costly ways of reducing drug consumption,” they conclude.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, May 27- Thursday, June 2, 2016.

A new federally funded program is partnering with police departments and health departments in 17 states in the northeast and beyond to share information quickly to respond to the heroin crisis.

A rise in drug overdoses contributed to the increasing U.S. death rate last year, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The death rate increased for the first time in a decade, The New York Times reports.

U.S. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio is focusing on the heroin epidemic in his re-election campaign, USA Today reports. His campaign is releasing three ads on Wednesday that highlight the Republican senator’s work on the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act.

The Food and Drug Administration’s new regulations on tobacco originally included language that would have removed flavored e-cigarettes from the market until the agency authorized them, according to Reuters. The final rule deleted that wording.

A new study concludes many smokers who try e-cigarettes find them less satisfying than regular cigarettes. The researchers say this suggests e-cigarettes may not be a useful tool to help a significant number of smokers quit.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved Probuphine, an implant that contains the opioid addiction treatment buprenorphine. The drug has been available in oral form for 14 years, CNBC reports.

A new study that finds opioid use increases chronic pain in rats may have important implications for humans, according to researchers from the University of Colorado-Boulder.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, MD, met with Native Americans in Oklahoma to discuss prescription drug abuse and opioid addiction, the Associated Press reports.

Rejection by family members may increase the risk of substance abuse and suicide attempts in transgender and gender non-conforming individuals, a new study suggests.

A new report finds 1.2 million full-time college students drank alcohol on an average day last year, while more than 700,000 students smoked marijuana, according to USA Today.

West Virginia is suing McKesson Corporation, the country’s biggest drug supplier, alleging the company distributes painkillers irresponsibly and incentivizes sales of the drugs.

Doctors in Philadelphia are reporting cases of heroin overdoses they suspect involve the synthetic opioid W-18. The drug, which can be added to heroin without the user’s knowledge, may be too strong for the overdose antidote naloxone to reverse, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

As Vermont focuses its law enforcement efforts on heroin, use of crack cocaine is surging, Vermont Public Radio reports.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, May 20- Thursday, May 26, 2016.

While it’s true that smoking has dropped overall in the United States, smoking rates are significantly higher among people with mental illness than in the general population. Because so many people with mental illness smoke, many of them will get sick from tobacco-related diseases, explains Amy Taylor of Truth Initiative.

A survey of college students finds almost 8 percent say they have had drugs put into their drinks, known as “drink spiking.”