"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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The vast majority of U.S. taxpayers say that youth offenders can be rehabilitated and that failing to do so is tantamount to giving up on their future, according to a new survey and study.

A poll (PDF format, 246 KB) conducted by the Center for Children’s Law and Policy found that 70 percent of Americans view imprisoning young offenders without providing rehabilitation negatively, while 90 percent believe that nearly all young offenders have the potential for change.

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Salisbury, N.H., police chief David L’Esperance is working to improve drug-related law enforcement and education for personal and professional reasons: his son, Christopher, 20, died last year of a methadone overdose.

The Boston Globe reported Jan. 12. that L’Esperance has helped focus?  attention on the dangers of methadone, an effective treatment for opiate addiction that also is increasingly being prescribed as a pain medication — and being diverted for illicit use.

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The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced this week that U.S. pharmaceutical companies have voluntarily agreed to restrict access to larger-dose methadone tablets beginning on Jan. 1, 2008.

The 40-mg methadone hydrochloride tablets will only be distributed to hospitals and authorized opiate addiction and detoxification facilities, the DEA announced. The move was intended to curb the rising number of methadone overdoses and illegal diversion of the drug.

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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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By a 3-2 vote, the Utah Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission delegated its rulemaking authority to the state legislature on several key issues, the BYU NewsNet reported on Nov. 19.

These issues include whether alcoholic beverages should be sold only in state liquor stores, and labeling requirements for malt beverages and alcohol-infused energy drinks.

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