The Latest News from Our Field

A new study raises doubts about the usefulness of e-cigarettes in helping cancer patients quit smoking.

People tend to drink more alcohol on days they exercise, suggests a new study. Beer is the most popular post-workout alcoholic beverage, Time reports.

People who overcome a substance use disorder have less than half the risk of those who do not overcome it of developing a new addiction, according to researchers at Columbia University.

Daily marijuana use is at the highest rate among college students since 1981, according to the national Monitoring The Future study. Last year, 5.1 percent of college students used marijuana daily or almost daily (20 or more times in the prior 30 days), up from 3.5 percent in 2007.

A bill soon to be introduced in Kentucky would make it illegal to sell cough syrup containing dextromethorphan to anyone under 18. Several states, including New York and California, already have such laws in place.

Coca plants are now being cultivated in Mexico, which could represent a shift in the cocaine cultivation business in Latin America, The Toronto Star reports.

Teens who feel their parents favor their siblings over them are more likely to use alcohol, drugs and tobacco, a new study finds.

Football players will be tested for human growth hormone under a new drug-testing plan agreed upon by the National Football League and the players union. The plan has been in the works for several years, The New York Times reports.

A new study suggests combining positive messages about quitting smoking with negative messages about the health effects of tobacco use may be more effective than using either strategy alone.

A marijuana advocacy group is planning to launch an ad campaign in Colorado to counter the state’s marijuana education effort, ABC News reports.

Legacy president Robin Koval advocates for social change via social media to drive down the smoking habits of teens and end the tobacco epidemic.

The rate of drug and alcohol use among American teens continues to decline, a new government study indicates. Teens’ use of tobacco also dropped.

An online initiative designed to reduce prescription drug abuse is beginning to gain steam after launching in 2010, according to The Washington Post.

Colleges are looking for new ways to reduce binge drinking, as part of initiatives to reduce campus sexual assaults, NPR reports.

Medication misuse is an increasing problem in seniors as Baby Boomers age, according to experts. Many older patients develop addictions to prescription drugs, says David Oslin, professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.

Deaths from prescription painkillers are rising at a slower pace than in years past, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.

Buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid addiction, is the prescription drug most commonly implicated in emergency hospitalizations of young children, according to a new study. The drug poses a danger to children who find and accidentally swallow relatives’ prescriptions, the Associated Press reports.

British researchers are developing a new method to detect synthetic drugs known as “bath salts,” PBS NewsHour reports. The researchers say the method is low-cost, disposable and quick. It could someday be used in a handheld sensor to detect bath salts, the researchers explain in the journal Analytical Chemistry.

For the first time in more than 10 years, the percentage of positive drug tests among American workers has increased, according to a company that conducts the tests. The increase is fueled by a rise in use of marijuana and amphetamines, Quest Diagnostics found.

Sales of recreational marijuana have surpassed sales of medical marijuana for the first time in Colorado, according to an analysis of state tax revenues. Whether recreational marijuana will become a profit center for the state remains in question, Time reports.

A study that followed the children of women who admitted to binge drinking in pregnancy found the children had an increased risk hyperactivity and inattention when they reached age 11. These children also were more likely to get lower marks on school exams.

Females may build up a tolerance to marijuana faster than males do, a new study of rodents suggests. People with an increased tolerance to drugs may be more likely to become addicted, The Huffington Post reports.

People over 65 who are current or former heavy smokers may benefit from low-dose CT scans of the lungs to detect cancer, according to researchers from the National Cancer Institute.