In the News
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U.S. Senate Confirms Michael P. Botticelli as Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
Posted 2/10/2015
On Monday, February 9th, the Senate voted 92-0 to confirm the nomination of Michael P. Botticelli as Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Mr. Botticelli will be the first ONDCP Director who is in long term recovery from a substance use disorder, recently celebrating 26 years in recovery.
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PDFNJ Sponsors "Your Rx for Protection Event" for NJ Pharmacists
Posted 2/10/2015
Objectives: Discuss an overview of the Prescription Monitoring Program, an overview of the new prescription blank and its security features, and pharmacy best practices.
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nj1015: Heroin use continues to rise in NJ
Posted 2/9/2015
In part one of a five-part series on new Jersey’s heroin epidemic, we examine the growing problem of drug use in the Garden State and what is being done to combat the situation.
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Cannabis Use is Quantitatively Associated with Nucleus Accumbens and Amygdala Abnormalities in Young Adult Recreational Users
Posted 2/6/2015
A new study from medical researchers at Harvard and Northwestern shows that 18- to 25-year-olds who smoke marijuana—even just recreationally!—had marked abnormalities in areas of their brains that regulate emotion and motivation
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PDFNJ Ex. Dir. Angelo M. Valente appears on NJ Legislative Black Caucus: From Trenton to You
Posted 2/1/2015
Angelo M. Valente recently appeared with Senator Rice on NJ Legislative Black Caucus: From Trenton to you to discuss ways to address the problems of substance abuse in New Jersey. Show times and channels are after the jump.
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cnn.com: Heroin deaths up for 3rd year in a row
Posted 1/15/2015
(CNN)Many more people are dying from heroin overdoses than in previous years, according to the latest available statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An analysis of those numbers and what might be responsible for the uptick in heroin deaths appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday.
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njspotlight.com: OP-ED: PREVENT OPIATE ADDICTION AT THE SOURCE THROUGH EDUCATING PATIENTS
Posted 1/9/2015
Over the past two decades, the number of prescriptions for opiate-based painkillers has tripled, while dosages have grown stronger. The prime source for the national explosion of opiate addiction -- whether in the form of painkillers such as OxyContin or in the form of illegal street drugs such as heroin -- is the dramatic increase in the use of opiate-based prescription drugs.
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NJ.com: Tainted heroin kills 6, N.J. issues warning about 3 deadly brands
Posted 1/8/2015
State officials from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York have identified three highly lethal brands of drugs that have been responsible for at least six overdose deaths recently, the latest twist in the state's ongoing battle with heroin and opioid abuse.
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myfoxny.com: Kratom: potentially dangerous but legal herb
Posted 1/5/2015
You may not know what kratom is but chances are your kids do or will soon. Kratom comes from a plant native to Thailand, Malaysia, and elsewhere. It can mimic the effects of heroin. It is not new; people have used it since the 1900s. But the herb's popularity is growing rapidly on the Internet.
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Eurekalert.org: Skipping college makes young people more likely to abuse pain pills
Posted 12/31/2014
A study just released by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health compared the use of prescription opioids and stimulants among high school graduates, non-graduates, and their college-attending peers, and found that young adults who do not attend college are at particularly high risk for nonmedical prescription opioid use and disorder.