The Latest News from Our Field

The heroin epidemic is becoming increasingly visible as more people who use the drug are overdosing in public spaces, The New York Times reports.

Doctors who write many more prescriptions than their peers for potentially addictive drugs, such as opioids or stimulants, are not likely to reduce the number they write after they receive a warning from the government, a new study finds.

Almost six million American adults experienced marijuana use disorder in the past year, according to a study by scientists at the National Institutes of Health.

Members of the Senate Special Committee on Aging are seeking help for a retired pastor from Maine who is imprisoned in Spain for smuggling drugs. The New York Times reports the pastor was tricked into carrying contraband.

E-cigarettes have been banned on commercial flights to and from the United States, the Department of Transportation announced Wednesday.

The Senate on Wednesday voted against an amendment to the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act that would have added $600 million in funding. The bill would increase addiction treatment and prevention.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Houston are seeing an increasing amount of a type of high-potency marijuana known as “shatter,” ABC7NY reports.

A study that looks at why parents allow their teens to sip alcohol concludes they are more likely to permit drinking if they think their child’s friends drink, too.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, February 26- Thursday, March 3, 2016.

Use of flakka has declined in South Florida since last year, but other chemical compounds continue to be sold under the same name, according to a drug prevention specialist in Broward County, Florida.

The new head of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Robert Califf, told a panel of advisers this week that the agency will support the development of abuse-deterrent opioids, the Associated Press reports.

The Obama Administration on Tuesday voiced concern over the lack of funding in the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, The Hill reports. The U.S. Senate voted 89-0 on Monday to begin considering the measure, which would increase addiction treatment and prevention.

A new study concludes economic downturns lead to an increase in substance use disorders involving prescription pain relievers and hallucinogens. The connection is strongest among middle-aged white males with low levels of education.

The University of Vermont is pioneering a program that integrates residential and curricular elements to address substance abuse, according to NBC News.

Law enforcement officials say they are seeing increasing cases of the potent opioid fentanyl being sold as other painkillers, such as oxycodone or Percocet.

The U.S. Senate voted 89-0 on Monday to begin considering the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which would increase addiction treatment and prevention.

Researchers at the University of Houston are testing whether virtual reality can be used to treat people addicted to heroin. They will navigate a simulated house party with stimuli that evoke drug cravings, according to Reuters.

A nonprofit group in Boston plans to open a space this month for people using heroin to ride out their high under the supervision of a nurse and an outreach worker, NPR reports.

A growing number of “marijuana tourists” in Colorado are ending up in the emergency room, a new study finds.

A new study of Indiana health professionals suggests some are beginning to change their prescribing and dispensing practices in response to prescription drug abuse in their communities, Forbes reports. Researchers found dentists are much less likely than other health professionals to be concerned about prescription drug abuse.

A survey of smokers who used to purchase cigarettes at CVS finds more than half say it is harder to buy cigarettes now that the pharmacy chain has stopped selling tobacco products.

Baltimore Health Commissioner Leana Wen is struggling to provide addiction treatment on demand, NPR reports. An estimated 20,000 people in the city use heroin, and 65,000 have some kind of addiction to drug or alcohol or both.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, February 19- Thursday, February 25, 2016.

U.S. Representative Hal Rogers, writes, "It’s incomprehensible that one in five students are living homeless in some of our communities. While there are a number of factors to consider when trying muster up a reason as to how this could happen, one that routinely stands out, is the high rate of addiction."

More addiction counselors are leaving the field at a time when demand for their services is increasing, NPR reports.