Welcome to the first segment of ‘This Week in Addiction News’, where every Friday I’ll give a quick summary of the past week’s developments in addiction treatment and pain management. Here’s important news for patients, physicians, and family members, and more!
The College of Problems of Drug Dependence is holding their annual meeting starting tomorrow. The College, the “oldest group in the United States dedicated to addressing problems of drug addiction”, will be discussing exercise as a treatment for addiction as well as the recent buzz about “bath salts“.
The DSM-V, slated for release in 2013, is proposing to combine the formerly separate categories of ‘abuse’ and ‘dependence’ into one disorder. It’s turning out to be a controversial choice.
A new study links cannabinoid use in adolescent rats to higher addiction rates among their offspring, but don’t be taken in the by the title. Rat studies are a long way from being able to make conclusive statements about humans, and while drug use of any kind at a young age probably has long-lasting consequences, there’s still a lot to find out about exactly what those consequences might be.
A recent CDC survey reports that more U.S. teenagers are smoking marijuana than cigarettes. This seems to be less about the rise of pot and more about the fall of cigarettes, but it’s still an interesting marker of social change.
.NBC gives a brief indication that a recent rise in heroin abuse could be due to increased federal crackdown on prescription opiates. This is a topic you’ll hear a lot about in the coming months, so keep checking back!