Addiction In The News

About seven million young adults in the past year were classified as needing treatment to overcome alcoholism or illegal drug usage, a new national study released Monday said. The report further showed that 93% of the young adults between ages 18 to 25 didn't receive the necessary treatment.

Screening and brief intervention programs can spot addiction and mental health problems among elderly patients that traditional healthcare interactions may miss, findings from a new Florida study indicate. The study authors found that 10 percent of those screened had problems with alcohol misuse, 26 percent had problems with prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medication, 64 percent suffered from depression, and 2 percent were at risk for suicide.

Three of every four people surveyed said that they personally knew someone who has been addicted to alcohol or drugs. More ominously, half of Americans "say they could not afford treatment if they or a family member needed it. They are also concerned that people addicted to alcohol or drugs may not be able to get treatment because of cost or lack of insurance coverage."

An article  in the June  issue of The American Journal of Medicine reveals that not only do few American adults follow healthy lifestyle choices, their numbers are declining. If you follow all five healthy habits -- moderate exercise, five fruits and vegetables a day, weight control, no smoking, moderate alcohol -- you're a rare breed: Only eight percent of U.S. adults ages 40-74 do so.

Four years ago, he was begging on the streets of Scotland and stealing to feed his drug habit. Today, however, Frank McFadden is a being hailed as a world-class painter with a coterie of beautiful superstar muses including Jessica Simpson and Debbie Harry.

Tom Sizemore, who was arrested on an outstanding warrant, checked into Dr. Drew's house on Friday to begin taping the third season of the "Celebrity Rehab" show. Making the addition of Sizemore particularly interesting is that one of his fellow castmates is Heidi Fleiss.

The idea that addiction is a disease is an article of faith in the study of drug and alcohol dependence, providing the foundation for much of the treatment and public policy related to addiction since the early 1900s. In a forthcoming book, psychologist Gene Heyman dismantles this time-honoured assumption, arguing that addiction is first and foremost governed by personal choice, and does not therefore fit clinical conceptions of behavioural illness.

Fewer Americans are choosing to live healthy say the authors of a new report from the Department of Family Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina.

"In 2001, Portugal became the only EU-member state to decriminalize drugs, a distinction which continues through to the present.  Last year, working with the Cato Institute, I went to that country in order to research the effects of the decriminalization law (which applies to all substances, including cocaine and heroin) and to interview both Portuguese and EU drug policy officials and analysts..." Glenn Greenwald

One well-known and often deadly consequence of alcohol intoxication is impaired driving. Yet still today, it is difficult for even trained observers to fully identify "intoxication," given that so many factors contribute to it. This review examines the very definition of intoxication, as well as methods designed to prevent impaired driving.