The Latest News from Our Field

A teen’s family structure influences whether allowing them to drink at home leads to alcohol problems later on, a new study suggests.

The Michigan House of Representatives approved a bill to ban the sale, distribution and possession of powdered alcohol. If the bill is signed by Governor Rick Snyder, Michigan would become the 27th state to ban powdered alcohol, Reuters reports.

A new survey finds 58 percent of Americans say opioid painkiller abuse is either a very serious or extremely serious health issue, on par with public health problems such as gun violence or tobacco use.

Few pharmacies have set up programs to accept and destroy unwanted prescription drugs, despite a push by the Drug Enforcement Administration to encourage drug disposal programs, The New York Times reports.

Critics of the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to approve use of OxyContin in certain children as young as 11 say the move could increase painkiller abuse, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Officials in states hit hard by heroin use, such as Ohio, say the drug is a major reason for the increasing number of children being placed in foster care.

A growing number of colleges are starting to allow alcohol sales at football games, The New York Times reports. West Virginia, Texas, Maryland, Minnesota, Colorado, Wake Forest, Miami, Syracuse and Louisville now sell beer at games.

A new study suggests quitting smoking may help people with a history of alcohol problems to stay sober, HealthDay reports. The study of recovering alcoholics found smokers were two times more likely than nonsmokers to start drinking again three years later.

A syringe-exchange program started in Indiana in response to an HIV outbreak has led to a significant drop in needle sharing among intravenous drug users, a new government study has found.

A year after Tennessee began its welfare drug-testing program, only 55 recipients tested positive for drugs, according to the state’s Department of Human Services. The results are similar to those of other states that have implemented drug-testing programs for people receiving government benefits, according to The Huffington Post.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, October 2- Thursday, October 8, 2015.

Many teens who use abuse prescription drugs are not trying to get high, but are using them to help them deal with an underlying problem such as anxiety, a newly published survey suggests.

The Justice Department has announced it will release about 6,000 nonviolent drug offenders from federal prisons starting at the end of October. The government hopes to ease prison overcrowding and roll back stiff penalties given to nonviolent drug offenders in the 1980s and 1990s, The New York Times reports.

Hundreds of people in Massachusetts who are addicted to opioids are being treated with medical marijuana, according to the Boston Herald.

Babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome are more than twice as likely to be readmitted to the hospital within a month after birth, compared with full-term infants born with no complications, a new study concludes.

Naloxone saved dozens of lives in Chicago last week, after more than 80 people overdosed on heroin suspected of being laced with the painkiller fentanyl, according to the Chicago Tribune.

A rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to draw attention to the problem of addiction drew thousands of people Sunday, The Washington Post reports. The event, called UNITE to Face Addiction, included government officials and celebrities.

Buying illegal drugs online remains easy two years after the illegal online marketplace Silk Road was shut down by the federal government, experts say.

Ten U.S. senators are proposing to raise the nationwide smoking age to 21. The bill is unlikely to pass, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Doctors and pharmacists are critical partners with law enforcement in the fight against addiction, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Friday.

The percentage of drivers testing positive for marijuana or other illegal drugs is increasing, according to a new report. In 2013 and 2014, 15.1 percent of drivers tested positive for drugs, up from 12.4 percent in 2007.

Among middle and high school students who have used tobacco products in the last month, 70 percent have used at least one flavored product during that time, a new government study finds.

Some states have implemented alcohol monitoring programs aimed at reducing drunk driving and domestic violence, according to the Associated Press. Offenders must prove twice daily that they have not been drinking.

Oregon began sales of recreational marijuana Thursday. Some dispensaries that already sell medical marijuana started selling recreational marijuana shortly after midnight.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, September 25- Thursday, October 1, 2015.