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Showing posts with label drug abuse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drug abuse. Show all posts

Monday, December 22, 2014

NCADD's Weekly Addiction News & Policy Update - Week ending December 19, 2014


Please note!


NCADD's Weekly Addiction News & Policy Update will not publish for the holiday season beginning Friday, December 19 through Monday, January 5. We will resume sending our updates on Friday, January 9th. Thank you for your loyal support and Happy Holidays!  



To Stop Teen Drinking Parties, Fine The Parents

When it comes to teenage drinking, the typical venue is a party - where some teens play drinking games and binge. It may surprise you to learn that the majority of parents are aware that alcohol is flowing at these events. Please click here to continue reading.  


Why Colleges Haven't Stopped Binge Drinking

Despite decades of research, hundreds of campus task forces and millions invested in bold experiments, college drinking in the United States remains as much of a problem as ever.


'60 Minutes' Shows Insurers Deny Mental Health Treatment Despite ACA Rules

Despite more comprehensive health insurance under the Affordable Care Act that includes mandatory coverage for mental health services, the noted TV newsmagazine 60 Minutes Sunday shined a light on the issue of patients denied treatment by doctors who never even saw them.

Depression In Teens Looks Almost Nothing Like Depression In Adults

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, a depressed teen will experience the same symptoms of depression as adults (profound feelings of unhappiness, loss of interest in pleasurable activities, relentless fatigue, etc.), but those symptoms manifest themselves in ways that can be difficult to distinguish from normal teenage behavior.




Survey: Teen marijuana use declines even as states legalize

 Marijuana use among teens declined this year even as two states, Colorado and Washington, legalized the drug for recreational use, a national survey released Tuesday found.   Click here to read more.


Powdered Alcohol? Not So Fast, Lawmakers Say

Powdered alcohol hasn't even arrived in stores yet, but states already are moving to ban the product touted by its inventor as an easy way to mix a drink on the go.
  Click here to read more.


Congress Ends Medical Marijuana Prohibition With Spending Bill Provision

Congress passed a federal spending measure over the weekend that includes a provision that will end the federal government's medical marijuana ban. The measure precludes the Department of Justice and the DEA from preventing states from passing laws that authorize medical marijuana use, distribution, possession or cultivation. The L.A. Times reports that the prospective law would prohibit federal drug agents from raiding retail outlets in the 32 states and District of Columbia where the drug is legal for medicinal use. President Obama is expected to sign the spending bill this week, making it a law.Click here to read the rest of this story.


Nearly 50% Of Physicians Say They're Less Likely To Prescribe Opioids Compared To A Year Ago

New research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that 90% of primary care physicians consider prescription drug abuse a moderate or big problem in their respective communities. Nearly 50% of these physicians say they're less likely now to prescribe patients opioids to treat pain compared to a year ago.
 Please click here to read more.


5 things to know: Alcohol calorie labels on menus

Want to know how many calories are in that alcoholic drink you're about to order? You might be able to find out just by reading the menu.
Five things to know about the Food and Drug Administration's new menu labeling rules, which will require chain restaurants with 20 or more outlets to list the amount of calories in alcoholic drinks, along with other foods and beverages, on menus by next November.  


Health Officials Raise Concerns Over "Palcohol"

Though it is still not on store shelves, powdered alcohol continues to make headlines.
 Please click here to read the rest of this story.


Colorado Funds Medical Marijuana Research, a First

Colorado will spend more than $8 million researching marijuana's medical potential - a new frontier because government-funded marijuana research traditionally focuses on the drug's negative health effects. Click here to continue reading.


Federal Agency Efforts to Advance
Media Literacy in Substance Abuse Prevention

This article describes and reflects upon efforts to generate greater support for media literacy and critical thinking within the strategies
and programs of the Federal government in the early1990s to about 2005 primarily among agencies with an interest in youth substance
abuse prevention. Beginning with their personal reflections on discovering media literacy, the authors describe the wide range of
initiatives that occurred under their leadership in bringing media literacy into the 1996 National Drug Control Strategy. Additionally, some of the inherent challenges and obstacles that impacted the ability to expand these efforts are described. The authors each served as Associate Director of the White House Drug Policy Office and Director of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign.
Click here to DOWNLOAD a PDF of the article.


College Students Say 'Curiosity' Leads Them to Fake Pot

Curiosity is the main reason why college students try synthetic marijuana, a new survey finds.
Of more than 330 students in undergraduate and graduate health programs at a public university, 17 percent said they used fake pot at least once in their lifetime, and 3 percent reported recent use, University of Cincinnati researchers found. Click here to continue reading. 


Friday, November 14, 2014

Weekly ATOD & Advocacy Recap week ending November 14, 2014



The content of this email does not represent the official views or policies of NCADD of Middlesex County, Inc. The content has been collected from a variety of sources and is provided for informational purposes only. The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by NCADD of the linked web sites, or the information, products or services contained therein. 

Medicare’s Rising Costs for Drug Tests
A Wall Street Journal analysis of Medicare billing data shows payments for high-tech drug tests to some doctors and laboratories have soared in recent years. The surge is a reaction to fears that pain specialists have overprescribed “opioid” painkillers. It is also a lucrative side business for some doctors that costs Medicare millions—and some experts say not all the tests are necessary. Here’s what you need to know about urine drug testing. Please click here to continue.

Doctors Cash In on Drug Tests for Seniors, and Medicare Pays the Bill
Pain specialists order costly tests for illegal drugs such as cocaine and angel dust, which few seniors ever use. Please click here to continue.

Medicare to Cover Lung Cancer Screening for Long-Time Smokers
Annual lung cancer screenings for long-term smokers may soon be covered by Medicare, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Monday. The reimbursement proposal would cover annual CT scans for people aged 55 to 74 with a smoking history of 30 pack-years who still smoke or who quit within the last 15 years. Pack years are determined by multiplying the number of packs smoked daily by the number of years a person has smoked. Please click here to continue.

The Life of a Pot Critic: Clean, With Citrus Notes
Jake Browne was seated in a yellow suede chair, carefully rotating a marijuana bud between his fingers. “I’m looking for bugs, mildew, things I wouldn’t want to ingest,” he said, leaning forward to hold the nickel-size flower up to the light. He paused, then took a sip of water from a cup with a Miley Cyrus hologram down its side. “This looks clean,” he concluded. Please click here to continue.

Treating Depression in Primary Care: Are Biomarkers the Key?
Depression is one of the world's most common chronic illnesses, and it remains undertreated despite large-scale efforts to change physicians' practices. Part of the difficulty in treating depression is due to confusion over which antidepressant to prescribe to an individual patient. Please click here to continue.

Work to Join Public Health, Primary Care Moves Ahead: Breaking Down Silos
Public health workers and primary care physicians may work toward the same goal — healthier people — but bringing the two fields together is not a simple task. Just ask Catherine McLaughlin. Please click here to continue.

iPhone app empowers patients to independently manage alcohol addiction
One of the lesser areas covered by the digital health movement is mental health, yet mental health and substance use play important roles in physical health. Medical treatment costs for those with both chronic medical and comorbid mental health and substance use disorders can be two to three times as high as those without such comorbid conditions, according to the 2014 American Psychiatric Association’s Milliman Report. Alcoholism, in particular, afflicts 17 million adults, and is the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Please click here to continue.

How Will Legalization Affect the Language Around Marijuana?
With Alaska, Oregon, and the District of Columbia passing measures on Nov. 4 to legalize recreational marijuana, joining Colorado and Washington as U.S. regions where the sale of the drug is (or will be) legal, I thought it might be worth taking a look at the language surrounding the contested cannabis plant. Please click here to continue.

Bad News for People Who Think Alcohol Is 'Healthy'
We’ve all seen these headlines, pithily summing up research on why a modest amount of alcohol every day won’t harm, and in fact may help, our cardiac health. Please click here to continue.

Non-Addictive Narcotic Painkillers May Be Close
Opioid painkillers have long been the gold standard for severe pain but come with a terrible dark side: They are the main culprits in a prescription drug abuse crisis that has killed thousands and spawned a resurgence of heroin in Kentucky and across the nation. Please click here to continue.

NIDA's Role in Providing Marijuana for Research
NIDA supports a drug supply program, which provides controlled substances (including research-grade marijuana) to researchers for scientific purposes. The marijuana supply program operates pursuant to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs which requires each Nation to designate a single official source of marijuana for medicinal research. In the United States, NIDA has been designated the responsible agency. Please click here to continue.

Pot-Friendly States Teaming up on Capitol Hill
Members of Congress from states with legal pot are banding together to tell their colleagues on Capitol Hill not to interfere with state drug laws. Please click here to continue.

Marijuana Patient Sues after Firm Won't Hire Her
A graduate student has sued a textile company for refusing to hire her for a two-month internship because she uses medical marijuana to treat frequent and debilitating migraine headaches, a decision her lawyer calls discrimination. Please click here to continue.

Mental health: Depression needs large human-genetics studies
Five decades of work on antidepressant drugs have not made them more likely to lift people out of depression. Medications and psychotherapies help some people with the disease, but fail many others. In a study conducted in real clinical settings, a common antidepressant produced a response in just under half of the participants, and achieved full remission in only 28%. Please click here to continue.

Technology's Latest Quest: Tracking Mental Health
You can now count your steps, measure your glucose levels, monitor your blood pressure and track your caloric intake from your phone or high-tech wristband. But for those dealing with depression rather than diabetes, or trying to keep tabs on their bipolar disorder rather than their weight, the pickings are slimmer. Please click here to continue.