The Latest News from Our Field

A new study finds cigarette tax increases and smoke-free policies have reduced both smoking and alcohol use. The researchers found consumption of beer and hard liquor declined in states where strict anti-tobacco legislation has been passed in the past 30 years.

A year after health experts gathered in Kentucky to discuss how to deal with the problem of babies born to drug-dependent mothers, the state has seen a surge in babies born with neonatal abstinence syndrome.

It is easier for a young person in rural Pennsylvania to buy heroin than a bottle of wine, according to a new report on the heroin epidemic in the state.

New recommendations have been designed to help in understanding critical success factors and empower families to make life-saving decisions for addicted teens, says Doug Tieman of Caron Treatment Centers.

A group of activists says the Food and Drug Administration has worsened the opioid overdose epidemic. They are calling on the head of the agency, Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, to quit, The Washington Post reports.

At least eight U.S. college freshmen have died so far this semester, many of them in alcohol-related incidents, according to Times Higher Education. Colleges are encouraging freshmen and their parents to talk about alcohol and drugs even before they arrive on campus.

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.