Featured Drug Articles

A new survey finds that 19% of teens drive under the influence of alcohol, 15% drive after using marijuana, and 7% report driving under the influence of other drugs.

People on probation because of drug convictions will be banned from Los Angeles' "skid row" area under a new policy unveiled by the city's district attorney, the Los Angeles Times reported Sept. 27.

A new survey predicts that the number of Americans age 50 or older who are addicted to alcohol or other drugs will double by 2020.

A new survey estimates that as many as three-fourths of American adults think they know enough about how drinking affects their blood alcohol levels, while in fact, most don't even know the legal limits in their own state. The Century Council, a group backed by major distillers, is campaigning to better educate the public about those limits and how much you have to drink to exceed them.

Viewing pictures of alcoholic beverages activates the prefrontal cortex and the anterior thalamus in alcoholics but not in moderate drinkers, report Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) researchers in the April Archives of General Psychiatry. The research team is the first to use fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to examine whether alcohol cues stimulate specific brain regions.

A proposal to raise Missouri's tobacco tax and dedicate the proceeds to antismoking and other health programs has been approved by a state judge who said it should appear on the statewide ballot in November, the Springfield News-Leader reported Sept. 12.

A little-known mental disorder marked by episodes of unwarranted anger is more common than previously thought. Evidence suggests that IED might predispose toward depression, anxiety, alcohol and drug abuse disorders by increasing stressful life experiences, such as financial difficulties and divorce.

Family and social pressure, not arrests, have been successful in fighting drug crime in one North Carolina community, the Wall Street Journal reported Sept. 27.

A bill that would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate tobacco is part of a legislative package that Democrats would like to see passed during their first weeks in charge of the new Congress, the Boston Globe reported Jan. 3.

As people age, they normally lose neurons in the hippocampus, which decreases their ability to remember events. Chronic THC exposure can significantly hasten the age-related loss of hippocampal neurons.

Children often believe that common household substances like glue, nail polish or gasoline are harmless. In fact, using inhalants can cause sudden sniffing death from heart or lung failure, asphyxiation, paralysis of breathing mechanisms or accidental from intoxication. Long-term effects include: brain, respiratory, liver, kidney and bone marrow damage; short-term memory loss; and hearing impairment.

Alcohol is "the No. 1 drug of choice" for teen-agers in the United States. By their senior year in high school, 80% of the nation's teen-agers have tried alcohol, compared with 47% who have experimented with marijuana and 29% who have tried another illegal drug. Just-released study suggests many adults' ambivalance about the danger of alcohol is a major contributing factor.

For most adults, moderate alcohol use--up to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women and older people--causes few if any problems. However, for a range of circumstances, certain people should not drink at all.

The medical and economic costs of secondhand smoke totaled about $6 billion in 2004, according to a study released by the American Academy of Actuaries.

A proposed 84-cent-per-pack increase in Oregon's cigarette tax would be used to pay for healthcare for uninsured children in the state, said Gov. Ted Kulongoski.

The first multi-center study of PTSD among individuals seeking treatment for an SUD has found a greater prevalence of PTSD among those who were drug- rather than alcohol-dependent, and that having PTSD was associated with a more severe course and worse outcome for an SUD.

Parents who use marijuana have a difficult time talking to their kids about drugs, even if they believe use of the drug should be legal, the San Francisco Chronicle reported April 22.

Just two of 44 federal scientists found to have violated ethics rules in their dealings with drug or biotech companies have been subject to criminal investigation, while the others were either allowed to quietly retire or kept their jobs, the Associated Press reported Sept. 12.

Nicotine crossing the placenta and affecting the brain of the unborn child may explain why children of women who smoke during pregnancy tend to become smokers themselves, Reuters reported Nov. 27.

Anheuser-Busch has donated $2.5 million to the University of Virginia to create a National Social Norms Institute, which will focus on communicating "normative" behavior models about alcohol use.

Even smokers who cut their cigarette consumption in half in a bid to improve their health tend to die early, according to researchers who say that only quitting completely will help smokers live longer.

Reynolds American Inc. and Philip Morris USA have spent at least $55 million in an attempt to defeat a California ballot proposal that would raise taxes on cigarettes by $2.60 per pack, the Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 10.

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer said that he plans to collect tobacco taxes from Native American tribes that sell cigarettes from reservations around the state, reversing the position of former Gov. George Pataki.

Both a tough indoor-smoking ban and a weaker proposal backed by the casino and hospitality industries won support from Nevada voters in a recent poll; if residents approve both measures in November, the one with the greatest majority would become law, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported Sept. 17.

The more alcohol an individual drinks, the more the risk of suicide grows, according to a researcher at Canada's Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).