Underage Substance Use

A growing number of teens are smoking marijuana, a new study shows. The increase is greatest among black teens. Use of alcohol and cigarettes among this age group is declining, HealthDay reports.

Child advocates in Massachusetts are calling for all public school students in the state to be screened for substance use, WBUR reports.

A new study finds while only about 1 percent of high school seniors say they have tried bath salts in the last year, almost one-fifth of those who tried it say they have taken the synthetic drug 40 times or more.

A new study finds marijuana use among young teens is on the decline, while disapproval of the drug among this age group is increasing. Marijuana use is also on the decline among teens ages 15 to 17.

Attorneys general in more than a dozen states are using state and local laws to pressure the e-cigarette industry to stop marketing to minors, according to Reuters.

A study of why teens use marijuana finds almost one-third say they use the drug to alleviate boredom, HealthDay reports. Teens who use marijuana because they are bored are more likely to also use cocaine, the study found.

Viewing ads for medical marijuana may influence middle school students to use the drug, a new study suggests.

Many children and teens who take antipsychotic drugs do not have a mental disorder diagnosis, according to a new study. Use of the drugs has been increasing among teens, the researchers found.

The rate of underage drinking dropped 6.1 percent from 2002 to 2013, according to a new government report. Binge drinking among U.S. residents ages 12 through 20 also declined, by 5.1 percent, USA Today reports.

The peak ages for starting to misuse prescription stimulants, such as drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, are between 16 and 19, a new study finds. The researchers say education programs should start in middle school to keep more young people from starting to misuse prescription stimulants.

Harmful drinking is increasing among young people in many nations, according to a new report. Alcohol is becoming more available, affordable and more effectively advertised, the report concludes.

Many teens who use e-cigarettes say they enjoy performing tricks with the vapor, such as blowing smoke rings or creating funnels of smoke that look like tornadoes. Performing tricks is one of the top two reasons teens say they enjoy using e-cigarettes, Reuters reports.

Using lessons learned from alcohol and tobacco regulation can help keep legalized marijuana out of children’s hands, according to experts at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

Parents are more concerned about their teens’ mental health than about their use of drugs or alcohol, a new survey finds.

E-cigarette use among teens tripled from 2013 to 2014, a new government report finds. An estimated 13 percent of high school students used e-cigarettes last year—compared with 9 percent who smoked traditional cigarettes.

Nearly 10 percent of American teens say they have tried hashish, according to a new study. A quarter of teens who have tried marijuana have also used hashish, which contains a greater concentration of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Teens who drink are more likely than nondrinkers to use e-cigarettes, a new study finds. Those most likely to use e-cigarettes are teens who drink frequently, binge drink, drink to get drunk, drink strong alcohol products, and show signs of unsupervised alcohol consumption, HealthDay reports.

If every state were to immediately ban tobacco sales to those under 21, the smoking rate would fall 12 percent, according to a new report by the Institute of Medicine. The decrease would prevent 249,000 premature deaths among the generation born between 2000 and 2019, the report concludes.

Teens who drink supersized flavored alcoholic drinks known as “alcopops” are at greatly increased risk of injury, according to a new study.

Long-term use of methamphetamine is more damaging to teen brains than to adult brains, according to a new study. The drug does its greatest damage in the area of the brain involved in a person’s ability to organize, reason and remember.

Top headlines of the week from Friday, January 30, 2015- Thursday, February 5, 2015.

A new study finds some children and teens are using more than one type of tobacco product, including cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, hookahs, smokeless tobacco and pipes.

The group representing the nation’s pediatricians issued a statement this week opposing the legalization of marijuana. The drug can be harmful to adolescent health and development, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Teenagers who don’t get enough sleep are at higher risk of developing problems with alcohol compared with their peers who don’t drink, a new study suggests.

Teens with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or conduct disorder are at increased risk of starting to smoke or drink, a new study suggests. The more symptoms of these disorders they have, the greater their risk.