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Are There Risks From Secondhand Marijuana Smoke? Early Science Says Yes

Kevin

Mar 19, 2018
2 min

Are There Risks From Secondhand Marijuana Smoke? Early Science Says Yes

Written by MARISSA ORTEGA-WELCH, March 19, 2018 - [MORNING ADDITION: NPR .org] The inspiration arrived in a haze at a Paul McCartney concert a few years ago in San Francisco. "People in front of me started lighting up and then other people started lighting up," says Matthew Springer, a biologist and professor in the division of cardiology at the University of California, San Francisco. "And for a few naive split seconds I was thinking to myself, 'Hey, they can't smoke in AT&T

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Senate bill seeks to increase number of opioid treatment professionals

Kevin

Mar 13, 2018
1 min

Senate bill seeks to increase number of opioid treatment professionals

By Dave Kovaleski, March 13, 2018 [Life Science Daily] New legislation recently introduced in the U.S. Senate seeks to bolster the number of health professionals to fight the opioid epidemic. The Substance Use Disorder Workforce Loan Repayment Act — sponsored by Sens. Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) — would address the current shortage of professionals to provide opioid treatment and recovery services in communities across the United State

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Is Marijuana Legalization Tied To An Increase In Pedestrian Deaths?

Kevin

Mar 6, 2018
1 min

Is Marijuana Legalization Tied To An Increase In Pedestrian Deaths?

By Kelly Burch, 03/02/18 [The Fix, thefix. com] States where the adult use of marijuana was legalized had an uptick in pedestrian traffic deaths last year, according to a new study. More pedestrians were killed in traffic accidents in 2017 than in any year since 1990, and researchers believe that the legalization of marijuana for adult use may have something to do with the rise in fatalities. According to a study released this week by the Governors Highway Safety Association,

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Learn to love your brain during Brain Awareness Month

Kevin

Mar 3, 2018
1 min

Learn to love your brain during Brain Awareness Month

March 2, 2018 [Southern Illinois University News - news.siu . edu] CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Your brain is essential to everything you do, and Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Cognitive Sciences Graduate Organization wants you to take better care of it. To help, the registered student organization has events lined up throughout March designed highlight the many facets of brain health. “The brain really is the powerhouse of everything you do,” said Jennica Young, a doctoral

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iTeam investigation prompts change in approach to purchasing gift cards for drug court

Kevin

Mar 3, 2018
2 min

iTeam investigation prompts change in approach to purchasing gift cards for drug court

Written by KALLIE CART, Thursday, March 1st 2018 [Charleston, WV - WVAH Eyewitness News Website: wvah .com] CHARLESTON, WV. (WCHS/WVAH) — Another iTeam exclusive investigation, as we continue to track your tax dollars, into thousands of dollars in gift cards purchased by the state's drug courts. In 2016 and 2017, West Virginia drug courts bought 529 gift cards, adding up to $105,094. The gift cards are used as incentives for participants in drug court, which offers those who

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Kevin

Mar 2, 2018
2 min

Americans Feel Good About Counseling

Written by David Kinnaman, February 27, 2018 BARNA Research Releases in Culture & Media Millions of Americans face mental illness each year, according to NAMI. Yet the stigma surrounding mental health is acutely felt—even in the Church, which has at times struggled in its messaging on the issue. This is despite the fact that, according to new Barna data, Americans by far have positive experiences with counseling—a practice that helps them heal from trauma, facilitate mental h

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F.D.A. to Expand Medication-Assisted Therapy for Opioid Addicts

Kevin

Feb 28, 2018
1 min

F.D.A. to Expand Medication-Assisted Therapy for Opioid Addicts

By SHEILA KAPLAN, FEBRUARY 25, 2018 The New York Times In an effort to encourage new treatments for opioid addiction, the Food and Drug Administration plans to begin permitting pharmaceutical companies to sell medications that help temper cravings, even if they don’t fully stop addiction. The change is part of a wider effort to expand access to so-called medication-assisted treatment, or MAT. The agency will issue draft guidelines in the next few weeks. A senior agency offici

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A Nasal Spray That Shoots Nanosized Opioids to the Brain May Help People Avoid Addiction

Kevin

Feb 27, 2018
2 min

A Nasal Spray That Shoots Nanosized Opioids to the Brain May Help People Avoid Addiction

Written by Ed Cara, February 02, 2018 [Gizmodo] As doctors and scientists struggle to turn the tide of the opioid crisis, which killed more than 63,000 Americans in 2016, there are others looking further ahead, trying to create a world where addiction can’t take hold in the first place. One such approach, created by a team of scientists in the U.K., is a nasal spray that shoots a naturally produced opioid straight to the brain—seemingly without causing the euphoric high and t

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Five major psychiatric disorders have overlapping patterns of genetic activity, new study shows

Kevin

Feb 26, 2018
1 min

Five major psychiatric disorders have overlapping patterns of genetic activity, new study shows

By Amy Ellis Nutt, February 8, 2018 [The Washington Post] Certain patterns of genetic activity appear to be common among five distinct psychiatric disorders — autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and alcoholism — according to a new study. The paper, appearing in the journal Science, was released Thursday. Scientists analyzed data from 700 human brains, all donated either from patients who suffered one of these major psychiatric disorders or from people who had

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Kevin

Feb 23, 2018
1 min

Is Vaping Addictive?

By Dr. Harold C. Urschel III, MD, MMA [Drug Addiction Blog] Yes, the nicotine found in vaping devices can be addictive. More here on the way e-cigarettes and vaping work, with additional information on how nicotine works in the body. Finally, we invite your questions at the end. Got a question? Please ask. We do our best to respond to real-life questions personally and promptly. Clearing The Air: Myths And Facts Surrounding Electronic Cigarettes The use of electronic cigarett

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Penn State hosts summit to combat the opioid epidemic

Kevin

Feb 22, 2018
2 min

Penn State hosts summit to combat the opioid epidemic

Kristie Auman-Bauer January 23, 2018 UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Opioid overdose deaths in Pennsylvania increased 37 percent in 2016, ranking the state fourth in the nation. Coming on the heels of Gov. Tom Wolf’s declaration of the opioid crisis as a disaster emergency, Penn State recently held its first University-wide summit on the opioid epidemic. The summit drew together almost 200 researchers, practitioners and educators from across the Penn State system with the goal of deve

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Marco Rubio Asks Feds To Investigate Florida Sober Homes, Rehabs

Kevin

Feb 20, 2018
1 min

Marco Rubio Asks Feds To Investigate Florida Sober Homes, Rehabs

By Kelly Burch, 02/12/18 [the fix .com] The senator wants to bring multiple federal agencies together to crack down on fraud and patient brokering occurring in the state's sober home industry. Florida Senator and former Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio has asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions to look into sober homes and rehabs in Florida that are "bad actors” with shady practices that have led to overdose deaths. Rubio urged Sessions, “to the fullest extent poss

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Kratom: Natural pain remedy or addictive killer?

Kevin

Feb 13, 2018
2 min

Kratom: Natural pain remedy or addictive killer?

By Laurie McGinley and Katie Zezima February 10, 2018 [Washington Post ] Andrew Turner’s years in the military left him suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, back pain and the effects of an injury that mangled his hand. “I was a broken toy,” he said. Tossed aside. Barely able to get off the couch. Then he started using an herbal supplement that he says saved his life: kratom. Nancy Knoebel’s 27-year-old son, Daniel Teichman, began using kratom after he stop

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Bronx Opioid Court Gives Participants a Chance at Recovery

Kevin

Feb 12, 2018
1 min

Bronx Opioid Court Gives Participants a Chance at Recovery

By Victoria Kim, 02/02/18 TheFix .com Once a participant completes their treatment program, their case is dismissed and sealed, according to the Law Journal. A new program run by the Bronx Criminal Court in New York City is hoping to prioritize recovery for people charged with low-level, non-violent offenses. The Bronx’s Overdose Avoidance and Recovery (OAR) program is just over two months old, but has so far helped 50 defendants access treatment in lieu of jail, according to

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Drugs, Alcohol and Suicide Are Causing Life Expectancy in America to Drop Dramatically

Kevin

Feb 9, 2018
2 min

Drugs, Alcohol and Suicide Are Causing Life Expectancy in America to Drop Dramatically

By Amanda Macmillan, February 8, 2018 TIME Health U.S. life expectancy has decreased for the second year in a row, and an editorial in theBMJ points to three contributing factors: drugs, alcohol and suicides, particularly among middle-age white Americans and those living in rural communities. The authors of the paper paint a bleak picture of the problems facing much of the United States today, but the authors say that policies that bolster the middle-class can help reverse th

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Iceland knows how to stop teen substance abuse but the rest of the world isn’t listening

Kevin

Feb 7, 2018
15 min

Iceland knows how to stop teen substance abuse but the rest of the world isn’t listening

In Iceland, teenage smoking, drinking and drug use have been radically cut in the past 20 years. Emma Young finds out how they did it, and why other countries won’t follow suit. ------------------- It’s a little before three on a sunny Friday afternoon and Laugardalur Park, near central Reykjavik, looks practically deserted. There’s an occasional adult with a pushchair, but the park’s surrounded by apartment blocks and houses, and school’s out – so where are all the kids? Wal

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