Is Internet Addiction a Real Condition? AddictionBy Promises Behavioral HealthAugust 21, 2015Although behavioral addictions have become increasingly accepted as genuine conditions—just like drug or alcohol addictions—in recent years, Internet addiction is still struggling to find widespread acceptance. Does the lack of recognition of the condition in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the DSM-V, commonly called the “bible” of mental…
17 Percent of College Students Abuse ADHD Drugs Addiction, News and ResearchBy Promises Behavioral HealthAugust 18, 2015New findings from a group of American researchers indicate that almost one-fifth of all U.S. college students misuse a prescription medication classified as a stimulant.
Illinois May Soon Put Overdose Antidote in Hands of School Nurses AddictionBy Promises Behavioral HealthAugust 18, 2015Illinois lawmakers are working on a bill that would let school nurses give students overdosing on opioid prescriptions or heroin the drug that could save their lives. Naloxone (brand name Narcan) is known as the overdose antidote because it can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose and prevent fatalities. This drug is most often…
Army Launches Probe Into Substance Abuse Treatment Scandal Addiction, News and ResearchBy Promises Behavioral HealthAugust 9, 2015In response to a recent story detailing serious quality-control problems at Army substance abuse treatment centers, U.S. Army leadership is taking decisive action. Secretary John McHugh and Chief of Staff Ray Odierno have ordered the Army Inspector General’s office to open an investigation into this developing scandal, giving it free and open access to records…
Federal Law Proposed to Protect Good Samaritans Using Naloxone AddictionBy Promises Behavioral HealthAugust 4, 2015After three overdose deaths in just two days in Lynn, Massachusetts, Sen. Edward J. Markey has proposed federal legislation to protect “good Samaritans” who use the overdose antidote Narcan. The move may have been taken in response to the recent deaths, but rising overdose deaths have long been a problem across the U.S., and many…
IRS Gives Thumbs Up to Pot Accountants, But Huge Tax Bite Will Continue AddictionBy Promises Behavioral HealthJuly 30, 2015Tax professionals who assist licensed pot growers, product manufacturers and retailers in Colorado and Washington “will not be considered unethical [and] will not be targeted for audit,” the IRS advisory council said in a November 2014 statement.
Is Harsh Drug Sentencing On Its Way Out? AddictionBy Promises Behavioral HealthJuly 17, 2015The “lock ’em up and throw away the key” mindset that took hold in the 1980s in response to rising crime and drug use is showing increasing signs of waning with new calls for judicial change and the commutation of 46 nonviolent drug offenders’ sentences.
Heroin Update: More People Using, More People Dying Addiction, News and ResearchBy Promises Behavioral HealthJuly 16, 2015The latest analysis of U.S. heroin trends can be summed up in one discouraging word: more. More heroin use, more populations using heroin, more use of other drugs alongside heroin, and more people — many more — dying.
Washington’s Mentally Ill Shine Light on Broken System AddictionBy Promises Behavioral HealthJuly 8, 2015Criminal defendants who may be mentally ill and stuck in Washington state jails may finally get some relief they are long overdue. A federal judge has ruled the state must buckle down and adhere to a law that was already on the books requiring jail inmates receive mental competency exams within seven days.
Rate of Heroin Overdose Deaths on the Rise AddictionBy Promises Behavioral HealthJune 25, 2015A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that even though abuse of prescription opioids seems to be leveling off in America, heroin use has risen dramatically, with increasingly fatal results.
