"Health & Medical News"

Rates of post-storm addiction and mental-health problems among Hurricane Katrina and Rita survivors can be directly correlated to how long they were displaced from their homes, according to new research from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

The study found that while most survivors displayed great resiliency after the storms, the rate of addiction and mental-health programs was much higher among those who had been forced from their homes for two weeks or more.

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More communities in the U.S. are distributing the opiate overdose antidote naloxone directly to addicts for emergency use, but the Bush administration continues to oppose such policies, the New York Times reported Dec. 11.

Naloxone works by blocking the opiate receptors in the brain; it has been used by emergency medical personnel since 1971 to prevent overdoses. In recent years, a number of communities have distributed the antidote directly to addicts and their friends and family members — a policy credited with reversing at least 1,000 overdoses.

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