Almost 20% of American adults smoke cigarettes. Those diagnosed as having a moderate mental health problem are approximately twice as likely to smoke, whereas for those diagnosed as severely ill the risks are roughly three times greater...
This article describes the easy access to carfentanil, a powerful synthetic opioid where a dose smaller than the size of a poppy seed can result in death. Chinese vendors are selling this drug online, making it easily accessible around the...
This article summarizes the work of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) in the area of counternarcotics. The CBP describes the challenges to addressing substance use when molecular...
The ‘second hand effects’ of alcohol use can be defined as the negative consequences of drinking experienced by people other than the drinker. They can include, for example, serious acts of sexual and physical violence as well as more...
A recent review of studies focusing on excessive drinkers identified and counselled in primary care settings has found that, when combined with screenings and assessments, brief, regular intervention sessions lead to greater reductions in...
The ‘self-medication hypothesis’ is commonly known to refer to a human behaviour which sees people with depression turn to alcohol as a way of coping. New research published in the journal Nature Communications has now discovered a...
Four US states currently allow r
ecreational marijuana use and twenty-four allow medical marijuana. However, little research has been carried out to uncover the drug’s effect on the development of human embryos if smoked or consumed in...
New research published in the journal Addictive Behaviors has found the likelihood of 18- to 34-year-old nonmedical prescription opioid users having a prescription opioid use disorder has increased between 2002 – 2014. More specifically...
A new substance abuse prevention programme called Preventure uses personality tests to identify children most at risk of indulging in harmful drug-taking behaviour. The traits it has identified amongst at-risk children include: sensation...
A new study carried out by researchers at Ohio State University and subsequently published in the Journal of Health and Social Behaviour shows how smoking bans in the United States have led to a decrease in social or light smoking amongst...
Smoking, and the desire to smoke, cigarettes amongst high school students in the United States is currently at an all-time low, according to a recent article published in Preventing Chronic Disease. The study found that between 2012 – 2014...
Prescription drug abuse has become a major public health and safety concern. Research has shown that legal drugs, such as OxyContin, now kill more people than illegal drugs, such as heroin and cocaine. Nowadays, people are constantly being...
Una audiencia histórica. Por primera vez, la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH), de la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA), en el marco del 157 Periodo de Sesiones, concedió una audiencia temática sobre tabaquismo ante...
According to new research smoking marijuana regularly distorts the brain’s natural risk and reward circuitry which, in turn, can affect people’s decision-making as well as their ability to maintain relationships. In this way, the study...
Marijuana use amongst adults in the United States is increasing. A study of over half-a-million people carried out between 2002 – 2014 and subsequently published in The Lancet suggests that this is because fewer perceive the drug to be...
Mass-media can be a great means for sharing knowledge and information. A study recently published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) aimed to determine whether such channels are successful in reducing the intention to use, and the...
Student life and excessive drinking often go hand-in-hand. New research has found that it is students with low self-esteem that are more likely to indulge in unhealthy drinking behaviours than those with higher confidence levels. The...
Some forms of substance use, such as adolescent (aged 12 to 17) underage drinking and alcohol use among young adults (aged 18 to 25), continued to drop according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA)...
The prevalence of binge drinking is highest amongst 18- to 24-year-olds. In the United States around 1,800 college students die from unintentional alcohol-related injuries each year. Given the growth of the Internet in the last twenty years...
The use of e-cigarettes, also known as vaping, has become more popular among teens in recent years and has caused concern over a rise in nicotine intake among young people. In order to learn more about the percentage of nicotine consumption...
