"Health & Medical News"

Nearly one in ten first-year college students at a mid-Atlantic university have a cannabis use disorder (CUD), according to a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded study of drug use conducted by Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) investigators.

First-year students attending new student orientation were randomly selected to participate in a multiyear follow-up study. Overall, 9.4% of first-year students met the clinical definition for cannabis abuse (5.4%) and/or dependence (4.0%).

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Minnesota lawmakers are considering restrictions on cheap drink specials after the deaths of four college-age people from alcohol-related causes over the last few months, the Associated Press reported Jan. 17.

Ladies-drink-free and “bottomless cup” promotions could be on the way out if the state legislature approves a measure sponsored by Rep. Morris Lanning (R-Moorhead), who previously was successful in curbing so-called Power Hour celebrations by prohibiting students who turn 21 from drinking before 8 a.m. on the day of their birthday.

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Deaths from overdoses on methadone rose 390 percent between 1999 and 2004, and the trend is continuing, according to a new report from the National Drug Intelligence Center.

USA Today reported Dec. 6 that the report attributes the trend mostly to increased use of methadone as a painkiller; the drug is seen as a cheaper alternative to drugs like OxyContin, which also have more potential for abuse and diversion. Doctors prescribed 715 percent more methadone in 2006 than they had in 2001.

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The U.S. Justice Department reported that more than 2,000 people died in police custody between 2003 and 2005, and that 13 percent of the deaths were related to alcohol or other drug intoxication.

Reuters reported Oct. 11 that alcohol and other drug intoxication was the second-leading cause of deaths in policy custody, trailing only “homicides by state and local law-enforcement officers,” which accounted for 55 percent of deaths. Suicides accounted for 12 percent.

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A “substantially growing number of patients” are being injured or killed by the prescription drugs they are taking under doctors’ orders, according to a new report from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices.

Reuters reported Sept. 10 that researcher Thomas Moore and colleagues said that reports of such deaths and injuries have more than doubled between 1998 and 2005, largely due to problems with painkillers and immune-system boosters.

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