In observance of Earth Day, Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, explains how Legacy is working to raise awareness about the negative impact cigarette filters and discarded cigarette butts have on our environment.

Psychedelic drugs including Ecstasy, LSD and “magic mushrooms” have potential for treating a variety of ailments including addiction and anxiety, according to scientists who met this past weekend to talk about the latest research.

Teens who complete a five-minute computer screening program that includes six questions about alcohol and drug use, and who talk with their pediatrician briefly about the results, reduce their risk of drinking up to one year later, according to a new study.

Alcohol use, depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder together account for 45 percent of disabilities among young people ages 10 to 24 worldwide, about four times as much as that caused by unintentional injuries, according to a study of data from the World Health Organization.

Government researchers report a dramatic jump in the number of hospitalizations for overdoses caused by drugs and alcohol among 18- to 24-year-olds.

A new survey of teens finds they are using less marijuana, alcohol and cigarettes. The Monitoring the Future study found marijuana use among teens declined from 26 percent last year to 24 percent this year, USA Today reports.

President Obama visited West Virginia on Wednesday, a state ravaged by one of the deadliest epidemics in the nation, to talk with leaders and listen to parents who have lost, or who have nearly lost, children to addiction, reported The New York Times.

Bars and restaurants in Washington, D.C. will be able to serve liquor until 4 a.m., and can stay open 24 hours continuously until the day after the presidential inauguration, NBC Washington reports.

R. Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, says singer Whitney Houston’s death is an opportunity to talk about the dangers of prescription drug abuse.

Almost one-quarter of parents do not think they can influence their teens’ use of alcohol, drugs or tobacco, according to a new government report. Nine percent of parents say they did not talk to their teens about the dangers of substance abuse in the past year.

A new "day in the life" report from SAMHSA says that every day 508,000 adolescents aged 12-17 in the United States drink alcohol; 641,000 use illicit drugs; and more than 1 million smoke cigarettes.

Also, 563,000 adolescents used marijuana, nearly 37,000 used inhalants, 24,000 used hallucinogens, 16,000 used cocaine and 2,800 used heroin, according to A Day in the Life of American Adolescents: Substance Use Facts Update, which is based on 2008 data.

SAMHSA administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D. calls the findings "a wake up call about the extent to which our nation’s youth engage in risky behavior by using illegal and potentially dangerous substances everyday."

I don’t know about that...

A bipartisan group of senators has introduced a bill that would strengthen the nation’s mental health care system, and improve access in communities, according to The Washington Post. The bill would require about 2,000 federally qualified community behavioral health centers to provide substance abuse treatment and 24-hour care.