E-cigarette Ads Associated with Cigarette Smoking Initiation Among Youth
A scientific study finds that receptivity to e-cigarette advertising increases the likelihood of trying conventional cigarettes one year later. The study found that young people ages 12-21 who had never previously smoked, but were receptive to e-cigarette advertising, were 60 percent more likely to try smoking cigarettes one year later, compared to teens who were not receptive to the ads. Study participants were considered receptive to an advertisement if they reported liking or recognizing images from the ad. Click HERE for more information
Monitoring the Future 2017 Survey Results
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New Treatment Guidance for Pregnant Mothers with Opioid Use Disorder
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released new Clinical Guidance for Treating Pregnant and Parenting Women with Opioid Use Disorder and Their Infants. SAMHSA’s Clinical Guidance comes at a time of great need for effective opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment. In 2016, over 20,000 pregnant women reported using heroin or misusing pain relievers in the past month. Newborn babies of mothers who used opioids while pregnant are at risk of neonatal abstinence syndrome–a group of physical and neurobehavioral signs of withdrawal. The guidance, which consists of 16 fact sheets on prenatal, infant, and maternal postnatal care,…
Have You Registered for #PITA2017
Be sure to register and book your hotel by Thursday May 11th to guarantee your discounted room rate. Click HERE for more information
New Study Results on Opioid Use and Pain
A study of more than 100,000 surgical cases at University of Virginia (UVA) Health System found patients’ pain scores improved even as doctors gave fewer opioids. Two key factors were associated with this finding: Opioids make patients more sensitive to pain, though the reason why that occurs is unclear. So reducing the amount of opioids given to patients might by itself improve pain scores. UVA began implementing the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery program, which increased the use of non-opioid pain medications, such as lidocaine and acetaminophen, which is commonly used in over-the-counter pain medications. Click HERE for more on this…
Opiate Impact in 2015
The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the country is in fact dealing with multiple opioid epidemics right now — each with a distinct geographic footprint. Click HERE for more on this story
Teenage Behavior Influenced by Video Games?
Experts from the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies at The University of Nottingham have carried out the first ever analysis of best-selling video games to find out the extent to which the games include this content and to assess the link between playing the games and drinking and smoking behavior. They found that teenagers who play video games featuring alcohol and tobacco references appeared to be directly influenced because they were twice as likely to have tried smoking or drinking themselves. Click here for more in this research study
New Resource for Families
The Family Resource Center is a compilation of the best-known and recognized resources to help parents and caring loved ones prevent drug or alcohol use, intervene early, find treatment and support adolescents and young adults in addiction recovery. Included resources are backed by various degrees of scientific support and represent those that come from the most notable, national sources, including the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, Partnership for Drug-Free Kids and Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. By organizing and vetting these quality resources, the Treatment Research Institute hopes to relieve families of the burden of sorting and evaluating…
Have You Heard About Alcohol Vaping?
If you look online, you might come to the conclusion that people have given up drinking. Instead, everyone seems to be going crazy over vaping alcohol. Dr. Alfred Aleguas of the Florida Poison Information Center at Tampa General Hospital says smoking or vaping your booze is not great for you: “Absolutely as bad as drinking, maybe worse,” he says. That’s because the vapor or fumes go straight into your lungs—without taking a detour through your stomach, intestines, and liver. Avoiding those organs allows the alcohol to absorb more quickly without being metabolized. In other words, “You have really no clue…
North Carolina Medical Board Calls Attention to Prescription Drug Overdoses
Across Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Gaston, Cleveland, Union and Anson counties, 134 people died from opioid overdoses in 2015. The North Carolina Medical Board is trying to stop addiction and prevent overdoses by analyzing doctors’ prescribing records and the steps they take to prevent and identify patient misuse of painkillers. “It is critical that we look at it because even one overdose or narcotic opioid poisoning is too many,” said Dr. Mark Romanoff (the Charlotte physician on the committee that created the new investigative program). The medical board is investigating 12 doctors who are considered high-dose prescribers and 60 physicians who had…