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By Join Together Staff
Using the U.S. Postal Service and commercial carriers to transport contraband is becoming an increasingly popular choice among South Florida drug smugglers.
The Miami Sun-Sentinel reports drug dealers see mailing drugs as a way of evading the Border Patrol along the U.S.-Mexican border. According to the...
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The rate of alcohol abuse among soldiers has doubled in the past five years, says Dr. Les McFarling, Director of the Army Substance Abuse Program. McFarling attributes the rise to the stress of serving in wars, readjusting to life at home and then repeating the cycle, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. He says about 13,000...
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Since Utah increased its tobacco tax last year from 69.5 cents per pack to $1.70, cigarette sales have dropped 15 percent. State Tax Commission data suggests that at the current rate, between 11 million and 12 million fewer cigarette packs will be sold this year compared with last year, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
Revenue from the tax...
read moreAims: While there is substantial evidence of an association between alcohol outlet density and assault, it is unlikely this association is constant across the urban environment. This study tested the moderating influence of land use on the outlet-violence association.
Design: Cross-sectional ecological study that controlled for spatial autocorrelation.
Setting, Participants and Measurements: Police-recorded data on simple and...
read moreBy Join Together
Staff The Marin Institute, which organizes campaigns to reduce alcohol-related harm, announced it has changed its name to "Alcohol Justice."
The San Francisco-based organization said its new name better reflects its national and global reach, and clarifies its mission.
The organization, founded in 1987, campaigns to raise prices on alcohol through taxes and fees; tries to remove dangerous...
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A new study suggests that people, who quit smoking after being hospitalized for signs of a heart attack, but start again after their release, may triple their risk of dying.
Reuters reports that the Italian study found people who started smoking again after they were hospitalized for signs of a heart attack had more than triple the risk of dying in the...
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Under the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) new definition of addiction, one-third of patients undergoing long-term pain therapy with opioids meet the criteria for addiction, a new study finds. Contrary to expectations, the new definition does not reduce the percentage of people considered addicted to opioids.
According to...
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Ohio, a state hit particularly hard by opioid abuse, is beginning to show early signs of success in fighting the problem, The Columbus Dispatch reports. But many problems remain.
Among the many signs of a turnaround is a new substance abuse center in Portsmouth, Ohio. The newspaper describes other successes, including the closing of eight of nine pain clinics that prescribed millions of doses of opioids in one Ohio county. A new state law gives the state...
read moreBy Join Together Staff
As R.J. Reynolds test-markets Camel Orbs - a dissolvable tobacco lozenge - a new smokeless tobacco product is tested in two U.S. cities, public health officials are expressing concerns about the safety of this and other similar products. They say the products are especially attractive to teens.
Camel Orbs are pellets of finely cured tobacco with added binders and flavoring which dissolves in the mouth and provides a hit of nicotine. An R.J. Reynolds...
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Almost one-quarter of Americans age 12 or older say they participated in binge drinking in the previous month, according to a government survey. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found binge drinking rates varied among states, ranging from 14.1 percent in Utah, to 29.8 percent in North Dakota.
The survey defines binge drinking as having five or more drinks on one occasion. The survey, released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services...
read moreBolstering your own community's successes with rigorous study data helps make the case for prevention more effectively. This week, we highlight several studies that provide concrete evidence for what we already know: community prevention works—and it's working right now.
The Studies
In the July issue of Preventing Chronic Disease, "Effect of School District Policy...
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Seattle's City Council voted this week to establish a system for licensing and regulating medical marijuana distribution under a new Washington state law. The city's ordinance differs from those of other Washington cities, which have established bans and restrictions on medical marijuana cultivation facilities and dispensaries, Reuters...
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Electronic cigarettes, or "e-cigarettes," are crude drug delivery systems for refined nicotine that pose unknown risks, two experts write in this week's New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers from the American Legacy Foundation's Steven A. Schroeder National Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies write that e-cigarettes have more in common with...
read moreswBy Join Together Staff
Health care providers in Ohio are reporting cases of people abusing a type of incense sold under the brand name "Mad Hatter."
This type of incense is not the same as the sticks that are burned to produce a fragrance, the Lancaster Eagle Gazette reports. Mad Hatter, a form of synthetic marijuana, is a green, leafy substance that can cause hallucinations and increased heart rate.
Last week, Ohio Governor John Kasich...
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Exposure to secondhand smoke can lead to hearing loss in teenagers, who often don't realize they have hearing difficulties, a new study suggests. Scientists conducting the study recommend that teens exposed to secondhand smoke be closely monitored for early hearing loss with periodic testing, HealthDay reports.
The researchers asked 1,533 nonsmoking teens about their...
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Washington State Health Care Authority
Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery
P.O. Box 45330 Olympia, WA 98504-5330
Email: DBHRAthenaTeam@hca.wa.gov
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