News and Political Issues

News articles concerning subtance abuse issues, illegal drug use, and its consequencies.

Less than one percent of the nation's health plan members are diagnosed with alcoholism or related disorders and the American Medical Association says that number should be four or five times higher except for a systemic failure to identify people with alcohol problems.

Parents need to be aware of research that shows that individuals who consume the high-potency drinks are significantly more likely to develop alcohol dependence or become heavy drinkers.

It has become a popular trend for those in the public spotlight, who find themselves in trouble, to check themselves into rehab. Although some of these efforts may be sincere attempts to get treatment for actual drug and alcohol problems, one has to wonder if some might be designed to manipulate the justice system and public opinion.

Federal, state and local governments together spend almost a half of a trillion dollars each year cleaning up crime, health care costs, child abuse, domestic violence, homelessness and other consequences of tobacco, alcohol and illegal and prescription drug abuse and addiction.

In order to curtail the enormous cost to society for alcohol abuse and related problems, workers in the regular healthcare system need to screen for alcohol problems in their patients before it takes a severe toll.

Because drug abuse is believed to affect pathways in the brain involved in an adult's capacity to invest in the care of their children, a pilot program aimed at mothers and toddlers hopes to put mothers with substance abuse problems more in sync emotionally with the needs of their children.

The top alcohol and drug-related stories of 2011 included efforts to address and prevent a growing list of problems.

The top alcohol and drug-related stories of 2009 include a warning about cocaine laces with a drug used deworm animals, an effort to get more hospitals to screen for substance abuse, a new dangerous way to manufacture methamphetamine and possible regulation of a new group of energy drinks.

These are the top stories of interest about alcohol and drug-related issues that were covered during the year at the About.com Alcoholism / Substance Abuse site.

Stories about the negative effects and consequences of substance abuse often make the biggest headlines. These stories highlight the year's good news -- the top stories of new efforts to treat and prevent alcoholism and drug abuse.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse provides the latest scientific research and strategic support on drug abuse and addiction to students and young adults, parents and teachers, researchers, and medical and health professionals.

For professionals working in the field of alcohol and drug treatment and prevention and advocates who want to develop more effective community policies, the Join Together website is a unique source of information, support and resources.

An alcohol-screening test that measures carbohydrate deficient transferrin in the blood can detect patients' drinking habits and potentially could lower the cost of care for those with chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

Treatment outcomes for alcoholism may have less to do with which kind of therapy is used and more to do with the participant's determination to quit drinking, according to an analysis of Project MATCH data.

Surveys that estimate illegal drug use may underestimate actual drug use because they do not take into account the lack of willingness of survey respondents to disclose their illegal use, according to new scientific research.

Emergency room practitioners can be successfully trained in two hours to counsel problem drinkers in a 10-minute intervention, according to a study by Yale researchers.

A UCLA study reports higher arrest rates among drug offenders diverted to treatment during the first six months of California's Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act, commonly known as Proposition 36.

News and information about addiction, substance abuse, recovery, treatment and much more from the Treatment4Addiction.com website.

The latest news, headlines and research information on substance abuse, alcohol, alcoholism, addiction, drug abuse, tobacco and more.