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10 Mar 2010 Middle-Aged Women Who Drink Moderately Gain Less Weight
A new study associates moderate drinking with less weight gain among middle-aged women.

09 Mar 2010 U.N. Paints Bleak Picture of Indigent Addicts' Life
Poor drug addicts around the world face a host of problems from stigma and imprisonment to lack of treatment, according to the head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

09 Mar 2010 Colleges Confront Misuse of Prescription Drugs
Misuse of prescription drugs is a growing problem on college campuses, where the drugs are used recreationally as well as to aid in studying.

09 Mar 2010 Charlie Sheen's Latest Treatment Stay Termed 'Prehab'
Many people with addictions can't access rehabilitation services, but if you're a celebrity like Charlie Sheen you can get treatment even if you don't currently have a drinking or drug problem.

08 Mar 2010 Traumatic Flashbacks More Likely Among Moderate Drinkers
Moderate alcohol consumption prior to a traumatic event like a car crash or sexual assault has been linked to higher rates of flashbacks among victims.

08 Mar 2010 Lawsuit Filed Over L.A. Medical Marijuana Ordinance
A new law regulating medical-marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles is being challenged by activists who say the rules are too onerous.

08 Mar 2010 Washington Bill Makes Medical Marijuana More Available
Physicians' assistants, nurse practitioners and naturopathic physicians would join doctors in being able to prescribe marijuana for medical use under a bill that's close to becoming law in Washington state.

05 Mar 2010 Impairment in 'Cocaine Babies' More Likely Driven by Environment, Study Says
Children exposed in-utero to cocaine often have lower IQs and do poorly in school and with language, but a new research review concludes that these impairments can usually be traced to the troubled environment the children of cocaine users live in and not directly to the effects of the drug itself.

05 Mar 2010 Poll: Maryland Residents Support Alcohol Tax Increase to Support Treatment
A poll commissioned by the Maryland chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence found that 72 percent of state residents back a proposed 10-cent-per-drink tax if the revenues were used to pay for addiction treatment, services for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled, and healthcare for uninsured residents.

04 Mar 2010 Few Drug Users Get AIDS Prevention Help, Global Report Says
Only a fraction of the world's injection-drug users receive education or other assistance in preventing contraction or spreading of the AIDS virus, according to a new study that says government health officials often overlook a key vector for the disease.

04 Mar 2010 Marijuana Cases Continue in Denver Despite Voter Directive
Marijuana arrests and prosecutions continued virtually unabated in Denver despite passage of a voter initiative calling for police to make such cases their lowest priority.

03 Mar 2010 Psychosis More Common Among Teen Marijuana Users: Study
Smoking marijuana as a teenager could raise the risk of developing schizophrenia and psychotic symptoms as a young adult, according to a new study that compared the prevalence of mental illness among marijuana users and non-users.

03 Mar 2010 Walgreens Drug Store Wants to Sell Alcohol in Indiana
Liquor stores are suing and neighbors are complaining as the Walgreens pharmacy chain seeks permits to sell alcohol at its stores in Indiana.

03 Mar 2010 New Survey Again Raises Alarm About Teen Drug Use, Attitudes
A new report finds that more kids say they are using alcohol and other drugs, but many parents are unable or unwilling to deal with the issue -- a bad combination when declining support for prevention and cultural apathy about the issue leave parents as the last and sometimes only line of defense against adolescent drug use.

02 Mar 2010 U.S. and Mexico Pledge to Cut Drug Demand
The governments of Mexico and the United States have signed a pledge to cut demand for illicit drugs by stepped up treatment and prevention efforts.

02 Mar 2010 Docs: Obama Should Quit Smoking, Moderate Drinking OK
President Obama should continue to use alcohol in moderation but should keep trying to quit smoking, according to doctors who conducted his routine medical exam.

01 Mar 2010 W. Va. Alcohol Tax Bill Dies in Legislature
A measure that would have raised the alcohol tax in West Virginia and used the revenues to pay for addiction treatment and prevention programs has been killed.

01 Mar 2010 Guilt-Based Anti-Alcohol Ads Can Backfire, Study Finds
Using shame or guilt to try to prevent overconsumption of alcohol can actually cause people to drink more, researchers say.

01 Mar 2010 Moral Judgment Still Plays a Role in Prescribing Pain Meds
Few doctors still believe that pain is God's will and that treating it could be a sin, but morality and legality still play a major role in prescribing pain medication.

26 Feb 2010 U.N. Report Slams Drug Decriminalization in Latin America
Recent moves to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana and other drugs in Latin American nations could "undermine national and international efforts to combat the abuse of and illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs," according to the annual report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).

26 Feb 2010 Colleges Step Up Parental Notification of Alcohol Incidents
A growing number of colleges are alerting parents whenever their children under age 21 are involved in alcohol-related incidents at school.

25 Feb 2010 Study: Friends, Relatives Biggest Source of Opiate Painkillers
A startling 97 percent of individuals who misused painkillers like Vicodin and OxyContin said that they got the drug from a friend or relative with a prescription.

25 Feb 2010 Study: Blacks Drink Less, But More Likely to Use Illicit Drugs
African-Americans are less likely to drink alcohol than other adults -- and have lower rates of binge drinking -- but their rate of illicit-drug use is higher, according to a new report.

25 Feb 2010 Drug Reformers Look to Baby Boomers for Support
Growing numbers of older Americans are using illicit drugs, and groups seeking to reform U.S. drug policies see aging Baby Boomers as potent allies.

25 Feb 2010 N.M. House Votes to Allow Judges to Send Offenders to Treatment, Not Jail
A sentencing-reform bill aimed at drug offenders has passed the New Mexico House of Representatives after initially being rejected.

24 Feb 2010 Colo. Sentencing Reform Bill Has Bipartisan Support
A bill that would cut sentences for drug offenses and put more money into addiction treatment programs has support from both sides of the aisle in the Colorado statehouse.

24 Feb 2010 Student Death Prompts Underage-Drinking Reporting Reform in Utah
Youths who call for help when underage drinkers get sick from drinking will get leniency -- but not a free pass -- from the courts under legislation approved by a Utah Senate panel.

23 Feb 2010 Brief Intervention for Hospitalized Patients with Problematic Prescription Drug Use: No Long-Lasting Effects
This randomized controlled trial tested whether a brief intervention (BI) involving two sessions of motivational interviewing could reduce problematic prescription drug (PD) misuse among inpatients at a university hospital.

23 Feb 2010 Efficacy of Brief Intervention for Heavy Drinking in Hospitalized Patients Questionable
Researchers performed a systematic review of controlled trials to determine whether brief intervention (BI) improves outcomes for addressing heavy alcohol use in general hospital patients.

23 Feb 2010 Diverted Methadone and Buprenorphine Primarily Used to Prevent Withdrawal or to Stop Using Heroin
Opioid agonist treatment (OAT) with methadone or buprenorphine is effective for reducing illicit drug use among opioid-dependent patients, but the diversion of these agents may be harmful.

23 Feb 2010 Methadone Contributes to Bone and Dental Disease: Fact or Fiction?
Patients receiving or considering methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) for opioid dependence often express concern that methadone causes bone disease and dental decay.

23 Feb 2010 Age 19 Drinking Bill Killed in South Dakota Legislature
The South Dakota House Commerce Committee rejected a bill that would have lowered the state's legal drinking age from 21 to 19.

23 Feb 2010 Study Hints at More Drunk Driving Among Young Women
The rate of alcohol-related fatal car crashes has risen among some populations of female drivers, a worrying trend that runs counter to the decline in such crashes among young men.

23 Feb 2010 Welfare Applicants, Lawmakers Face Drug Tests Under Mo. Bill
Individuals seeking public assistance or seeking to serve the public would be required to submit to drug tests under a measure approved by the Missouri House of Representatives.

22 Feb 2010 Binge Drinking Confounds Any Health Benefits of Drinking, Study Says
Alcohol consumption may improve coronary health, some studies say, but new research suggests that even the occasional binge-drinking episode can foil any such health benefits.

22 Feb 2010 Marijuana School Attracts Thousands of Students
California-based Oaksterdam University's classes on growing and marketing marijuana have attracted nearly 7,000 students and have a waiting list with hundreds of more potential enrollees.

19 Feb 2010 Olympics Puts Spotlight on Vancouver's Liberal Drug Policies
The Olympic host city of Vancouver has adopted a series of liberal drug policies that are on full display to any visitors who venture into the Downtown Eastside neighborhood, less than a mile from the waterfront epicenter of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

19 Feb 2010 Sweet-Loving Kids More Likely to Have Family History of Alcoholism
Children with a family history of alcoholism also tend to have an extreme sweet tooth, according to researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.

19 Feb 2010 Legislators Seek to Overturn Nebraska's Ban on Serving Beer Mixed with Liquor
A Prohibition-era law still on the books makes Nebraska the only U.S. state to ban bars from serving drinks that mix beer and liquor, and some lawmakers are trying to make the restriction history.

19 Feb 2010 Panel Recommends Amending Federal Privacy Law to Help Integrate Addiction Treatment Records
A new proposal to amend a landmark federal privacy law is butting up against resistance from recovery advocates and others, as the addiction treatment and recovery community struggles to strike a balance between the need for integration with mainstream medicine and privacy concerns about the use of electronic medical records.

18 Feb 2010 Miss. Now Requires Prescription for Drugs Containing Pseudoephedrine
In a move intended to hamper production of illicit methamphetamine, the governor of Mississippi has approved a law requiring a doctor's prescription to buy any drug containing pseudoephedrine.

18 Feb 2010 Study Casts Doubt on Using Marijuana to Treat Alzheimer's
A new animal study suggests that marijuana may not be useful in improving memory among individuals with Alzheimer's disease or affecting progression of the disease.

18 Feb 2010 WHO Advances Report Endorsing Tax Hikes on Alcohol
Alcohol prices should be increased via taxation and stricter controls clamped on advertising in order to control binge drinking and other harmful drinking, according to a draft global alcohol-control strategy recently endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) executive board.

18 Feb 2010 Smoked Marijuana Can Be Effective in Treating Pain, Calif. Report Says
There is "reasonable evidence" that smoked marijuana can provide relief for certain pain-related ailments, according to a new report prepared for the California legislature by researchers at the University of California at San Diego.

17 Feb 2010 DEA Raids Colo. Medical Marijuana Operation Shown on TV
A day after a Colorado resident appeared on local TV to talk about his medical-marijuana operation, his home was raided by federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents.

17 Feb 2010 Calif. University Wants Exemption from Social Host Law
Stanford University is seeking an exemption from a local county's social-host law, saying it should not be held legally responsible for underage drinking by students living in university housing.

17 Feb 2010 Study Details Stomach, Esophagus Cancer Risk of Smoking, Drinking
A large Dutch study finds that smoking can vastly increase the risk of two types of stomach cancer and two forms of esophageal cancer, while drinking alcohol can increase the risk of one type of the latter disease.

16 Feb 2010 Army Needs to Double Staff of Alcohol Counselors, General Says
More soldiers are experiencing problems with alcohol and the Army needs to double its staff of addiction counselors to meet the demand, according to Army vice chief of staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli.

16 Feb 2010 Parity Bill Approved by Wisconsin Senate
A bill that would require insurers to cover addiction and mental health services on par with other health conditions has been approved by the Wisconsin Senate.

12 Feb 2010 DSM-V Draft Includes Major Changes to Addictive Disease Classifications
The first draft of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) latest Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) eliminates the disease categories for substance abuse and dependence and replaces it with a new "addictions and related disorders" -- just one of several major changes to the "Bible" used almost universally to diagnose (and get insurance reimbursement for) behavioral-health problems.