Tackling prescription drug abuse There are signs that strategies to address prescription drug abuse are starting to work but will an increase in illegal drug use be the payoff?…
The prescription opioid addiction and abuse epidemic: how it happened and what we can do about it Opioid painkillers are supposed to provide pain relief, but there is now a plethora of injuries and deaths because they have been heavily marketed and inappropriately prescribed.…
UK government plans to ban psychoactive drugs The UK government is introducing a bill that would bring a blanket ban on the production and supply of any drug that has a psychoactive effect. …
E-cigarettes are creating the next generation of addictsI note from The BMJ (2015;350:h2083) that e-cigarette use has tripled in middle and high school students in the United States from 2013 to 2014. This makes clear the intentions of the companies that market these products. More of the American school students now us…
Smokers who use e-cigarettes are less likely to quit Smokers who used e-cigarettes were less likely to have quit or reduced their cigarette consumption compared with those who had never used e-cigarettes, research suggests.…
Illicit drug overdose: managing emergency care With up to 253,000 deaths related to drug misuse globally, understanding how to identify and treat drug overdoses can save lives.…
FDA fights opioid abuse with industry guidance Measures to limit the abuse of opioid drugs have been issued by the US Food and Drug Administration in guidance for the pharmaceutical industry.…
The secret life of ketamine Ketamine is being used to treat depression in clinics that are springing up across the United States, but uncertainty remains over its long-term use.…
Reformulated OxyContin reduces abuse but many addicts have switched to heroin Reformulation of OxyContin into an abuse-deterrent formula has reduced its illicit use but has caused people to switch to other opioid drugs, a US study finds.…
Number of smokers using NHS services to quit halves, report finds The number of smokers who quit smoking through the NHS Stop Smoking Service will halve in England in 2014–2015, according to a UCL report.…