Japanese tobacco companies are doing their part to encourage good manners on the part of smokers. This is apparently a real ad campaign and frequently place on trains. I don't remember seeing these ads, but I do remember a similar public service warning painted on a sidewalk. It was a graphic of a cigarette poking … Continue reading Smoking manners

PBS's series NOW had a segment on a housing first approach with a man named Footie who is chronically homeless and an alcoholic. He's clearly a late stage alcoholic, frequently has seizures and may have some cognitive impairment due to years of heavy drinking and seizures. (Streaming video of the entire episode is available at … Continue reading Home at Last

Homeless shelters are beginning to look at addressing nicotine addiction. The discussion sounds lot like those that have taken place among treatment centers for the last decade: Following successful anti-tobacco campaigns geared toward pregnant women, teenagers, African-Americans, Latinos and other groups, homeless people...may be the next target.Amid broad skepticism, nascent campaigns to get the homeless … Continue reading Stop-smoking efforts reaching out to homeless

A future drug delivery method?Now EU researchers are developing a better, more accurate and more convenient way – a dental prosthesis capable of releasing accurate dosages into the mucous membranes in the mouth....“The dental prosthesis consists of a drug-filled reservoir, a valve, two sensors and several electronic components,” explains Dr. Oliver Scholz of the Fraunhofer … Continue reading The Intellidrug tooth implant

Ethanol -based hand sanitizer will now be contraband in treatment programs, jails and prisons:Prison officials and poison control centers can add a new substance to their list of intoxicants -- hand sanitizer. A usually calm 49-year-old prisoner prompted a call to the Maryland Poison Control Center after guards found him red-eyed, combative and "lecturing everyone … Continue reading Hand sanitizer: a good buzz?

Current Psychiatry on marijuana and schizophrenia:Cannabis and psychosis: 4 clinical pearlsCannabis use increases the risk of developing psychosis and is estimated to double the risk for later schizophrenia (5 to 10 new cases per 10,000 person-years)The association is not an artifact of confounding factors such as prodromal symptoms or concurrent use of other substances (including … Continue reading Does marijuana contribute to psychotic illness?

The American Journal Psychiatry ran a recent study on the effectiveness of methylphenidate for speed addiction. Could this be a future evidence-based practice? Let's hope not.

The ONDCP is starting a new push for random drug testing of athletes in schools. A truly awful idea. This article includes Q & A with representatives from the Drug Policy Alliance and ONDCP. It's a shame that the fringes get the spotlight.The Michigan High School Athletic Association has weighed in against drug testing.

It looks like we now have a final count for drug deaths in Wayne County in 2006:The Wayne County Department of Health and Human Services reported that 542 people died from drugs from Jan. 1 through Dec. 10, 2006. That is up 19 percent from the 457 drug deaths reported for all of 2005.Of the … Continue reading Potent drug blamed for death rise