Psychemedics

A federal appeals court on Wednesday ordered a lower-court judge to reconsider her order blocking a program that would subject all state employees to random drug testing, but left little doubt that the plan would be found unconstitutional with regards to many state workers. The 61-page ruling, which left both sides declaring victory, essentially overturned … Read more

As states loosen policies toward the criminalization of marijuana, children may be more likely to accidentally ingest the drug, says a report published in JAMA Pediatrics. Researchers from the Children’s Hospital Colorado compared admissions from two periods, January 2005-September 2009 and October 2009-December 2011, which marks the state’s introduction of new legislation. In the first … Read more

Gov. Tom Corbett was right when he said Pennsylvania employers can’t find anybody who has passed a drug test, business leaders said Thursday. At least that’s the consensus among the PA Chamber of Business and Industry, the Pennsylvania Business Council, the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association, and the National Federation of Independent Business. The organizations held a … Read more

Protecting our kids is a parent’s primary responsibility. I’ve yet to meet an adult who would disagree that parents or other responsible adults are in the first position to protect, provide and care for our youth. So the question becomes, how far do we go to protect our kids — even when it may be … Read more

KANSAS CITY, MO. When students return for the fall semester at Rockhurst High School, they will be subject to random and mandatory school drug testing– not as a way to police the student body, Principal Greg Harkness says, but rather to promote holistic health. “It isn’t about testing our students to catch them, it’s about … Read more

HICKORY N.C. — Time was when you heard about someone overdosing it usually meant they had ingested or injected too much illicit narcotics. Now, when you hear someone has overdosed the likely culprit could just as easily be prescription drugs. Overdose deaths from prescription pain killers now exceed both heroine and cocaine overdose deaths, with … Read more

Molly, an old club drug with a new name, is catching on in a big way with teens and college students in the Bay Area and it’s getting plenty of free advertising from popular culture. The club drug, known simply as Molly, is supposed to be the latest way to really “feel” the music. Singer … Read more