The second Controlled Substances Board report shows there was an 11.7 percent reduction in opioid prescriptions and a 13.3 percent reduction in drug doses dispensed in the final quarter of 2016 compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
As a safety manager, an HR director, or a company executive, remaining confused and silent toward the issue of legal marijuana may prove to be a very costly mistake for you and your company.
The program includes the creation of a statewide Opioid Operational Command Center and three new pieces of legislation: the Distribution of Opioids Resulting in Death Act, the Prescriber Limits Act, and the Overdose Prevention Act.
Mandatory drug and alcohol testing would still be required if the property damage meets the revised threshold for serious marine incidents of more than $200,000 that is proposed in the NPRM.
Selected trucking and bus companies must submit their 2016 drug and alcohol testing results by March 15.
Opioid-related legislation will focus mainly on mandated prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) use but also on physician education, substance-use disorder treatment, and guidelines or restrictions on prescribing controlled substances.
The Zika virus was a concern throughout 2016, and November voting showed a clear trend toward broad legalization of marijuana in the United States.
The agency announced it is maintaining that rate for regulated motor carriers during the 2017 calendar year.
The agency is urging the driving public to "drive sober or get pulled over."
The company reported it is taking steps to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future and is working with a leading cybersecurity firm to assist in investigating and further evaluating its systems.
Alaska's voters legalized commercial marijuana in November 2015; the Marijuana Control Board was created in the summer of 2015.
"Sadly, this report reconfirms that opioids such as heroin and fentanyl -- and diverted prescription pain pills -- are killing people in this country at a horrifying rate," DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg said this week. "We face a public health crisis of historic proportions."
"Open use of marijuana, through legalization, will reveal the wide range of marijuana's benefits and threats to human health. This study indicates troubling effects on the hippocampus that may be the harbingers of brain damage," said Dr. George Perry, editor in chief of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
The database will service as a repository for records of violations.
"Fewer Americans are dying young from preventable causes of death," said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden, M.D., MPH. "Tragically, deaths from overdose are increasing because of the opioid epidemic, and there are still large differences between states in all preventable causes of death, indicating that many more lives can be saved through use of prevention and treatment available today."
This represents a shift in how substance abuse is perceived.
California voters took the lead as they passed a measure legalizing recreational use of marijuana. Arizona voters defeated theirs, and results for Maine's legalization measure were too close to call on Nov. 9.
The drug testing industry and employers in the states are watching closely. Voters in five states are considering whether to legalize recreational marijuana, and those in four other states are weighing medical marijuana legalization.
National Prevention Week (#NPW2017) is an annual health observance dedicated to increasing public awareness of mental and/or substance use disorders. The 2017 theme is Making Each Day Count.
The low number of employers who offer training about workplace usage of prescription drugs must increase dramatically.