Prescription drug abuse a dangerous trend in Cavalier, police chief says
Prescription drug abuse is the fastest-growing drug problem in the nation, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The number of people in treatment at North Dakota Human Service Centers reporting prescription drug abuse is increasing … Read more on Grand Forks Herald

Local roundtable helped spur opioid legislation
CHILLICOTHE — A roundtable on opioid addiction and prescription drug abuse conducted in Chillicothe in October has played a significant role in the introduction of new legislation designed to help fight the problem all the way from initial addiction … Read more on Chillicothe Gazette

ASAP's Strutner named 2016 Advocate of Year by anti-drug coalition
Strutner, executive director of Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention of Anderson County, accepted the award on Thursday, February 4, during CADCA's 26th annual National Leadership Forum. The forum was at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention … Read more on Oak Ridge Today

Opioid Drug Screenings May Dissuade People from Treatment
In that same year, more than 2 million Americans were addicted to opioid pain relievers, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Doctors write 259 million prescriptions for opioids each year. The CDC recently published a number of guidelines … Read more on GoodTherapy.org (blog)

Whitehouse bill seeks millions to help states fight drug addiction
And only 2.5 million of the approximately 22.7 million Americans in need of substance abuse treatment in 2013 received it, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. “The bill represents a significant step forward in how we understand and … Read more on The Providence Journal

Billboard campaign calls attention to heroin problem
Other ways to address the issue are also being explored, Forchione said, including possibly using medical-assisted treatment for heroin and opiate addicts before they are released from the Stark Regional Community Correction Center. “The heroin problem … Read more on Canton Repository

Myanmar to Open Eight One-Stop Drug Rehab Clinics
Myanmar's health ministry plans to set up eight one-stop rehabilitation centers to provide treatment and counseling services to drug addicts. The new facilities offering a full range of services at one location would open soon, Hla Htay, program … Read more on Radio Free Asia

Researchers: Testosterone treatment to boost methadone therapy for drug …
Ontario, BC, Canada (4E) – The outcome of methadone treatment for drug dependents should improve if patients also undergo testosterone therapy and receive low dose of the addiction suppressing drug, according to a study by Canadian researchers. Dr … Read more on Gant Daily

Recovering Addicts, Alcoholics, News Junkies, Addiction Industry Has New …
Among the advocacy organizations referenced in the publication are Shatterpoof.org, Faces and Voices of Recovery, NCADD (National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence.) “Another cool thing about the eBulletin and website,” said Buschel, “is that we … Read more on PR Web (press release)

Connecticut drug addicts describe recovery, challenges
Michael Botticelli, acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said Thursday that 23 million Americans are in recovery from substance abuse. Botticelli, who is in recovery from alcohol addiction, encouraged people to speak out about … Read more on Norwich Bulletin

Drug, alcohol program office back downtown
STEUBENVILLE – The Jefferson Behavioral Health System has moved its drug and alcohol abuse services back downtown to an office at 525 N. Fourth St. The Community Outreach Recovery Environment, or C.O.R.E., replaces the former CARE Network after … Read more on Steubenville Herald Star

'Over 60000 drug addiction, 120000 depression cases in Valley'
Quoting the figures over the growing immorality and drug abuse in the society, the subject experts stated that there are more than 60,000 cases of drug addiction reported from valley and the number of people suffering from depression is 1,20,000. Read more on Rising Kashmir

Parents Academy debunks 'marijuana myths,' talks teen drug use
Bartwell, a former deputy director of Demand Reduction at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and past president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, was speaking to Barrington-area parents as part of her Parents Academy … Read more on Suburban Life Publications

More needed to halt spread of drug abuse
The subject was prescription drug abuse and heroin addiction among our youths. The meeting was a good one. Two messages emerged from parents who have been through hell with their own kids: 1) Don't bury your head in the sand. This stuff is just as … Read more on Toledo Blade

US drug war slowly shifts fire away from low-level users
The changes are both rhetorical and substantive, reflecting fiscal problems caused in part by prisons bulging with drug offenders and a shifting social ethos that views some drug use as less harmful than in the past. States are driving the trend. At … Read more on Washington Post

Drug-free coalition eyes goals
First she distributed a handout of seven strategies for community change formulated by the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America National Coalition Institute: provide information, enhance skills, provide support, reduce barriers, change … Read more on Batesville Herald Tribune

A Beatle amid the Quebecers: BC man recounts his days as a young …
All the while — like many others who had crowded into the Montreal Bed-In that week in 1969 — he spent the 1970s and 1980s struggling with cocaine and alcohol, ultimately nipping the problem 10 years ago. Mr. Kerwood's story is remarkably similar to … Read more on National Post

Number Of Teen Tobacco Users Declining
Tobacco use by youth in Chautauqua County is higher than that of national peers for lifetime use in grades 8, 10 and 12 according to a survey performed by Chautauqua Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Council. Overall, 5.1 percent of students reported … Read more on Jamestown Post Journal

Answered: Can America's drug czar tell the truth about marijuana?
We're not saying the the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, or Drug Czar (director) Gil Kerlikowske and his staff, will or has lied about marijuana, just that he can only tell you the bad parts of it. And we're not saying the … My … Read more on Seattle Post Intelligencer (blog)

Question by DLM: What is the current medical definition of “addiction?” (more)?
Also, does the definition differ from one substance to another, or in the case of gambling or other behaviors, where there is no chemical dependency, is there a separate definition for those as well?

I am just curious about the “umbrella” that the word addiction covers in the medical world, versus common everyday ‘people-talk’ use of the word. The more specifics you can provide, the better.

Best answer:

Answer by John de Witt
You’ll want a DSM-IV for all the definitions you’d ever care to look at.

What do you think? Answer below!

Drug use on the rise in Nigeria's biggest city
Kano has the country's highest drug abuse rate based on the number of seizures, arrests of addicts and convictions of arrested dealers, according to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). "It is a painful fact that Kano tops the drug abuse … Read more on News24

Spotlight on drug abuse will help prevention
Brown attended a roundtable discussion in Chicago this fall held by the Center for Health and Justice, in conjunction with the Office of National Drug Control Policy, to look at the larger picture of the U.S. drug problem. Brown said it was an honor to … Read more on Lancaster Eagle Gazette

TINA GUMMERSON: Drug prevention is working
The term “war on drugs” is a phrase seldom ever used because substance abuse is a public health problem, not a war. Addiction is a disease that can be treated. People who become addicted to drugs often start down that road by making a bad choice or two … Read more on Galesburg Register-Mail