With relentless heat enveloping much of the nation, no one, it seems is spared. That includes a group at especially high risk of harm from high temperatures: drug users, both therapeutic and recreational, particularly those who …
Drugs
Drugged Driving: A Quarter of Fatal Car Crashes Involve Drugs
A new study finds that among 44,000 U.S. drivers involved in fatal single-vehicle car crashes between 1998 and 2009, 25% tested positive for drug use. The most common drugs were marijuana, cocaine and amphetamines.
Study: Most Addicts Get Painkillers from Friends or Family, Not Doctors
Only 1 in 5 people who misuse opioid painkillers like Vicodin get their drugs exclusively from doctors, and 69% never obtain any of these drugs from medical sources, according to a recent study published in the Archives of …
‘Magic Mushrooms’ Can Improve Psychological Health Long Term
The psychedelic drug in magic mushrooms may have lasting medical and spiritual benefits, according to new research from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Does Acting Like a Weiner Mean You’re An Addict?
As revelations about Rep. Anthony Weiner’s Twitter sexting continue to emerge — including private messages he sent to a 17-year-old girl — the announcement Saturday that he was entering “treatment” was almost inevitable. …
The Criminal Mind: How Drugs and Violence May Affect the Brain
Brain imaging studies of violent criminals are difficult to interpret because the most persistent among them — those who are responsible for a disproportionate amount of all crime — are not only violent but also …
Love and Addiction: Voles in Love Just Say No To Speed
While love doesn’t always conquer all, it can be a potent antidote to addiction, according to a growing body of research. The latest study on the matter examined male prairie vole behavior, finding that those that had bonded to a …
U.S. Aims to Reduce Overdose Deaths, But Will the New Plan Work?
The Obama administration announced on Tuesday a new initiative to reduce prescription painkiller misuse and overdose, a problem that has become the leading cause of accidental death in 17 states, surpassing car accidents — and …
A Silver Bullet for Weight Loss? Maybe
If there’s one certainty about weight loss, it’s that there is no magic pill that can melt off your excess pounds.
Increasingly, Internet Activism Helps Shutter Abusive ‘Troubled Teen’ Boot Camps
For the last 40 years, teens with drug problems, learning disabilities and other behavioral issues have been sent to residential facilities to endure “tough love” techniques that are widely known to include methods of outright …
Drug Courts: Martin Sheen Defends Them in Congress. But Do They Work?
(Updated) U.S. drug courts, which divert non-violent drug cases and assign offenders to treatment and supervision rather than jail, are championed by the left, right and center. The left likes them because they favor treatment …
How Do Unapproved Drugs Make it to Market?
It may come as a surprise that some of the drugs your doctor can prescribe have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). That means that they haven’t been evaluated for safety or efficacy, and there isn’t …
Is Dr. Drew More Like Charlie Sheen than He Thinks?
Could Dr. Drew Pinsky be following Charlie Sheen off the rails? Recently the “Celebrity Rehab” host claimed that Sheen was “in an acute manic state” — a public statement which teeters on the bounds of psychiatric ethics (more …