The Latest News from Our Field

Connecticut has become the 15th state to require ignition interlock devices for people convicted of drunk driving. The devices are required even for first-time offenders, according to MSNBC.

Middle- and high-school students are invited to participate in an informal national survey to help measure the impact of alcohol advertising that runs during the Super Bowl.

Hookahs, which many people perceive as a less dangerous way of using tobacco than smoking cigarettes, can cause carbon monoxide poisoning, health experts say.

Increasing the minimum price of alcohol may reduce drinking, a new Canadian study suggests.

Researchers at Cornell University are attempting to create a less harmful cigarette by using natural antioxidant extracts in cigarette filters.

The U.S. Supreme Court could decide this month whether to take up a case that would decide whether police officers can obtain a search warrant for illegal drugs based on a drug-sniffing dog that picks up a scent outside of a house.

A prenatal intervention program, for stopping substance use in pregnancy, could save almost $2 billion annually if it were implemented nationwide, a new study suggests.

Manufacturers of the synthetic version of marijuana known as “spice” are changing the recipe just enough to skirt state laws banning the substance, The Washington Post reports.

Programs that target multiple areas of young people’s lives, including family, peers, community and school, may help prevent drug use and risky sexual behavior, according to a new study.

The smoking cessation medication Chantix is being tested as a possible treatment for addiction to alcohol, cocaine and methamphetamine.

Clergy can, should, and must make a difference in the pain and confusion felt by so many of their congregants, but they must first understand the role that alcoholism and drug addiction play in the insidious social and spiritual erosion plaguing so many of their congregation’s families, says Sis Wegner of NACoA.

Four drug companies are developing a more powerful version of the painkiller hydrocodone. One group dedicated to fighting prescription drug abuse is concerned this new drug has a large potential for abuse.

Parents who allow their teens to have friends over to drink, thinking it’s a safe way to keep them off the roads, may be surprised to find they are subject to liability laws that make them vulnerable to lawsuits, fines and jail time.

People who inject methamphetamine are 80 percent more likely to attempt suicide compared with those who inject other drugs, a new study has found.

Men who are on methadone treatment are twice as likely as the general population to be involved in motor vehicle accidents, according to a new study from Norway.

Before voters cast their ballots to legalize marijuana, or their elected officials decide, think about what will happen to children if marijuana becomes accessible to adults, much like alcohol, advises National Families in Action's Sue Ruche.

A new study links smoking with a type of skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma in women. The more a woman smokes, the greater her risk of developing the cancer.

The two biggest tobacco companies in the United States have agreed to pay $6.25 million to support the country’s largest online collection of tobacco industry documents.

Young adults who sent and received weekly text messages that tracked their alcohol consumption drank less after 12 weeks, according to a new study.

Substance abuse often plays a role in cases of child abuse or neglect in Kentucky, according to an investigation by the Lexington Herald-Leader.

A new report concludes the Food and Drug Administration needs more information about the health effects of “modified risk” tobacco products such as e-cigarettes or tobacco lozenges, before it allows tobacco companies to sell or advertise these products as being able to reduce the health risks of tobacco use.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced it will tell Medicare prescription drug plans to withhold payment when they detect signs of suspicious activity related to narcotics and painkillers. The move is aimed at reducing Medicare fraud, Reuters reports.

Government experts are urging people to learn the facts about drinking and driving, to prevent the surge of alcohol-related car accidents that occur every holiday season.

Ecstasy may produce long-lasting changes in brain chemistry, a new study suggests. The drug can cause a drop in the levels of the brain chemical serotonin for up to two years.

Marijuana use is gaining in popularity among teens, according to Monitoring the Future, an annual survey of eighth, 10th, and 12th-graders, The New York Times reports. The survey found one of every 15 high school seniors smokes marijuana on an almost daily basis.