The Latest News from Our Field

A new study finds children and teens who overeat are more likely to start using marijuana and other drugs, compared with their peers who don’t eat too much.

New government guidelines recommend primary care doctors counsel children and teens not to start smoking. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force concluded that prevention is more effective than trying to get youth to stop smoking once they’ve started.

A Kentucky law that requires anyone writing a prescription for a controlled substance to check the state drug monitoring database has led to the discovery that some people addicted to opioids are targeting dentists.

A panel of experts assembled by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted against recommending approval of the painkiller Zohydro ER on Friday. The panel cited concerns over the potential for addiction.

Lawmakers in Ohio, Virginia and Kansas say they will introduce legislation that would require welfare recipients to undergo drug tests before receiving benefits, according to MSNBC.

Scientists are testing the synthetic version of the active compound in “magic mushrooms,” psilocybin, for a variety of purposes, including treatment of alcoholism, according to Time.com. The compound is also being studied as a smoking cessation aid.

Teenage girls who experience dating violence are more likely to binge drink compared with their peers who aren’t in abusive relationships, a new study finds. Teen boys who report dating violence are more likely to use marijuana as young adults compared with boys with healthy dating relationships.

While many programs aimed at prescription drug abuse focus on how to stop diversion of medications, an often overlooked but critical issue is preventing and treating opioid overdoses, according to a Brown University researcher.

Men and women benefit in different ways from Alcoholics Anonymous, a new study suggests.

Drug companies have joined together to oppose a local California law requiring them to run and fund a program that allows consumers to dispose of unused prescription medications, The New York Times reports.

Federal officials are weighing their options for legal action against Washington and Colorado’s new marijuana laws. Such action could undermine the laws, which legalize the recreational use of the drug.

Dozens of people gathered near Seattle’s Space Needle on Thursday to smoke marijuana, as Washington became the first state to legalize recreational use of the drug.

State prescription drug monitoring programs should use advances in health information technology to make the systems easier to use, according to a new government report. The programs should incorporate prescription drug monitoring data into the workflow of doctors and pharmacists, recommends the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

Marketers of e-cigarettes are introducing ad campaigns that borrow ideas from older cigarette commercials, The New York Times reports. The commercials have been accepted by several cable channels, but no broadcast networks have yet agreed to carry them.

A new study concludes that parental involvement is more important than the school environment in preventing or limiting children’s use of alcohol or marijuana.

The federal government missed several important opportunities to improve access to smoking cessation medications and counseling this year, according to a new American Lung Association report. States’ records were more mixed, but many failed to ensure coverage, the group says.

Thousands of prisoners wait months to enter drug education or rehabilitation programs, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office. The delay is caused by staff shortages and limited resources.

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has alerted U.S. law enforcement to prepare for a potential influx of painkillers from Canada, which has given approval to six generic drug companies to manufacture oxycodone products.

A poll released Wednesday finds 51 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana. Men and younger voters are more likely to support legalization, Reuters reports.

An increase in cigarette taxes may lead heavy smokers to cut back more than people who smoke fewer cigarettes, a new study suggests.

Genes explain about 60 percent of the risk for alcoholism, while the environment accounts for the rest, according to an expert who has developed a pilot program to prevent high-risk drinking in college freshman.

More than 11,000 people ended up in emergency rooms after using synthetic marijuana in 2010, according to a new government report. Most were teenagers and young adults, USA Today reports.

A new study suggests policies that ban tobacco-product displays at the point of sale may help reduce teen smoking.

Scientists in London have found a genetic variation that may play a role in binge drinking in teenagers, Reuters reports. The two-phase study included mice and teenage boys.

Substance dependence or abuse is much more likely to occur in adults with a mental illness, compared with those without mental health problems, according to a new government report.