Heroin

A University of Maryland, College Park's Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) report revealed recently that unintentional drug overdose deaths now account for 24 percent of all unintentional deaths and surpass falls as the second leading cause of unintentional deaths.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse announced the Federal Drug Administration's approval of Vivitrol for opioid dependence as well as the results of a study that shows promising findings for an implantable form of buprenoprhine, another extended-release treatment.

While there were slight decreases in the use of cocaine and methamphetamine among youth, teen marijuana use showed no signs of slowing down. In fact, according to the 2009 Monitoring the Future Survey, marijuana use among adolescents has increased gradually over the past two years after years of declining use; and past year rates of Vicodin and OxyContin abuse increased during the last 5 years among 10th graders and remained unchanged among 8th and 12th graders. The MTF Survey, which surveys youth in 8th, 10th and 12th graders, was released Monday by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the University of Michigan.

In Park Ridge, Ill.—a suburban community just outside of Chicago—families rest assured knowing they live in a quiet, safe area away from the city. But last year, parents were jolted from their complacency after several young people died from using fentanyl-laced heroin. For coalition leaders at the Maine Community Youth Assistance Foundation in Park Ridge, the tragedies had a surprisingly positive result—helping to raise awareness of the dangers of drug and alcohol use and spur interest in prevention.

A potentially lethal combination of heroin and Tylenol PM known on the streets as "cheese" is on the rise among students in Dallas, Texas, causing heroin addiction among students as young as nine. Community leaders have joined forces to help curb this dangerous new trend through media outreach, parent and student education, public service announcements and outreach to faith-based institutions.

A new report by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy shows that Hispanic teen use of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine currently outpaces White and African-American teen use. Research also indicates that while illicit drugs continue to be a problem for Hispanic youth, prescription drugs are emerging as a threat.

According to the 2007 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), while there have been substantial improvements over time in many health risk behaviors among all high school students, Hispanic students remain at greater risk for certain health related behaviors, such as drug use and driving in a car with an impaired driver. The YRBS was released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The latest Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) report—drawn from a sample of hospital emergency departments across the Nation—indicates that more than 1.7 million visits to emergency departments (ED) were associated with some form of substance misuse or abuse. The 2006 DAWN report, developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), provides the latest estimates on how substance use affects this critical part of the Nation´s healthcare system.