What Addicts Need
Addiction isn't a weakness; it's an illness. Now vaccines and other new drugs may change the way we treat it.
By Jeneen Interlandi | NEWSWEEK
Date 03/08/2008
Wash. Health Dept. Issues New Medical Marijuana Rules
Medical-marijuana patients would be allowed to possess up to 24 ounces of harvested marijuana, six mature plants and 18 immature plants under draft rules announced by the state Department of Health.
Date: 07/03/2008
Decline in Traffic Deaths Credited to Drinking-Age Laws
Raising the legal drinking age to 21 resulted in an 11-percent decrease in the number of drunk teenagers involved in fatal car crashes, according to new research from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE).
Date: 07/03/2008
Mass. House Passes Parity Bill
The Massachusetts House of Representatives recently approved a measure that would require parity treatment for addictive disorders. The bill was approved on a voice vote.
Date: 07/03/2008
Miller Won't Drop Alcoholic Energy Drinks
Miller Brewing Company officials say they have no plans to pull the Sparks alcoholic energy drink from store shelves or even to review the marketing strategy for the product.
Date: 07/02/2008
Anheuser-Busch Will Stop Selling Alcoholic Energy Drinks
Leading U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch has agreed to stop selling energy drinks containing alcohol in response to an investigation by a group of state attorneys general and threatened litigation by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Date: 07/02/2008
McCain Praises Colombian Drug War
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) toured Colombia this week and praised the government of President Alvaro Uribe for its anti-drug efforts.
Date: 07/02/2008
Buprenorphine Beats Naltrexone in Heroin Treatment, Study Says
Opiate addicts given the anti-addiction medication buprenorphine -- an alternative to methadone maintenance -- were twice as likely to remain abstinent and half as likely to relapse as patients taking naltrexone, an opioid receptor antagonist, researchers say.
Date: 07/02/2008
More Marijuana in the Movies
It may not signal a return to the Cheech and Chong days, but marijuana use has definitely staged a comeback on the big screen, drawing laughs and establishing cultural credibility among young moviegoers.
Date: 07/01/2008
23 Vodka Shots Kills Fla. Man
A Florida man who drank at least 23 shots of vodka mixed with Red Bull energy drink in about 30 minutes quickly collapsed and later died.
Date: 07/01/2008
Magic Mushrooms Have Lasting Benefits, Researchers Say
Research subjects given the drug psilocybin had mixed emotions about the hallucinogenic "trip" produced by the drug, but most seemed to enjoy lasting benefits from the experience, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University.
Date: 07/01/2008
Drug Use Becoming More Common Worldwide
Use of various illicit drugs has become more common worldwide over the years, and the United States has some of the world's highest rates of lifetime alcohol and tobacco use, according to an international survey conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Date: 07/01/2008
Drug War Often a Shooting War, UN Says
Armed insurgents are frequently the adversaries when governments try to control the international drug trade, according to the United Nations' Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Date: 06/30/2008
Medication Key to Alcoholism Treatment Success, Study Suggests
Alcohol-dependent individuals who consistently took prescribed medications to prevent withdrawal symptoms and craving had better treatment outcomes than those who didn't take their medication, even among patients receiving behavioral counseling, researchers say.
Date: 06/30/2008
New Report on European Marijuana Use
The European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction estimates that about one in five adults in Europe use marijuana or hashish.
Date: 06/29/2008
Belgian Buyout Offer Rejected by Busch
Belgian brewer InBev's $46-billion bid to buy out Anheuser-Busch was rejected by the St. Louis based company's board, but InBev may be poised to up its offer to A-B shareholders and launch a hostile takeover.
Date: 06/27/2008
States Guide Treatment Services, Study Says
State rules and policies play an important role in determining the type of addiction treatment delivered to patients and could be key to getting more treatment programs to adopt proven interventions.
Date: 06/27/2008
SAMHSA Study Reveals Local Patterns of Addiction, Mental Illness
Thanks to its large Mormon population Utah has long been considered the nation's most sober state -- the church bars members from alcohol and tobacco use -- but a new study shows that the Salt Lake City area has one of the highest rates of prescription-drug abuse in the U.S.
Date: 06/26/2008
Supreme Court Slashes Damages Award in Exxon Valdez Case
The most catastrophic "drunk driving" case in U.S. history ended with a whimper this week as the U.S. Supreme Court slashed the punitive-damages award in the 1989 Exxon Valdez case from $2.5 billion to $507.5 million.
Date: 06/26/2008
Canadian Drivers Face Compulsory Drug Tests
Drivers suspected of being under the influence of drugs other than alcohol will soon be required to submit urine, blood or saliva samples on demand by police officers.
Date: 06/26/2008
Pa. Court Says 'Blunt' Sales Can Be Banned
The city of Philadelphia can prohibit retailers from selling hollowed-out cigars known as "blunts" and intended to be stuffed with marijuana, a state court has ruled.
Date: 06/25/2008
Oral Cannabis Extract Fails to Ease Pain
A small study on medical use of marijuana concluded that a cannabis extract delivered orally did not ease acute pain in a group of 18 women with induced sunburns.
Date: 06/25/2008
Delaware Considers Raising Alcohol Tax
Facing a $217-million budget shortfall, Delaware lawmakers are considering an increase in the state's alcohol tax among a series of proposed remedies for the state's fiscal crisis.
Date: 06/24/2008
House Passes Underage-Drinking Prevention Bill
A bill that's being called the first national legislation to focus exclusively on underage-drinking prevention has been overwhelmingly approved by the U.S. House of Representatives, and now heads to the Senate for consideration.
Date: 06/24/2008
U.S. Marijuana Capital Toughens Enforcement
Voters in Mendocino, Calif., have voted to tighten rules on the amount of marijuana a medical user may possess, a significant step in a community known to be a hotbed for both marijuana cultivation and support of medical marijuana.
Date: 06/23/2008
Opiate Replacement Therapy Rarely Available to Inmates
Recognizing a huge opiate-addiction problem among inmates, New Mexico is breaking new ground by extending methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) to local prisons. Across the country, however, few prisons provide MMT to patients.
Date: 06/19/2008
Resveratrol Fights Obesity, Researchers Say
The antioxidant resveratrol, found in red wine, appears to prevent pre-fat cells called preadipocytes from proliferating and turning into fat cells, German researchers say.
Date: 06/19/2008
This page was last modified on : 05/05/2008