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...
Substance abuse entails a whole host of social, physical and mental health problems. A recent overview published in the Journal of Adolescent Health evaluates the effectiveness of interventions focused on smoking, alcohol or combined drug...
Around 88,000 Americans die from alcohol-related harm each year. The physical effects of alcohol abuse, including certain cancers, heart disease and liver disease, are well-known. There is also much evidence that suggests alcohol can have a...
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...
E-cigarettes are becoming more and more popular. As such, many in the field of drug prevention and treatment are eager to uncover how they affect our health. E-cigarettes do not contain tobacco. However, it has been found by researchers at...
To drink alcohol at sporting events has become the social norm. A new study conducted collaboratively by Eastern Health and Turning Point Alcohol and Drugs Centre has discovered that drunkenness and related harm in Australia tend to reach...
Levels of alcohol consumption have generally decreased in the West over the last ten years. A series of papers published in a recent special issue of Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy focuses on this topic of drinking cultures...
Are the poor smoking more? An article published recently in the journal Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy sets out to answer just that. It explores the link between teenage marijuana use and income inequality in the national contexts...
A new study carried out by researchers at the University of Stirling has discovered a link between self-control and lifelong smoking habits. It claims that children identified as having low levels of self-control by age eleven are more...
New research published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs supports evidence that alcohol adverts influence underage drinking. The authors suggest that the more exposure children receive to adverts for specific brands, the...
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...
A recent review carried out by researchers at the University of Nottingham's UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies suggests popular YouTube music videos that include aural and/or visual references to alcohol often glamourise consumption...
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...
Up to 50% of children who try tobacco cigarettes for the first time are likely to become regular smokers within three years. At the same time, experimentation with e-cigarettes is increasing. It is now more common for 11- to 15-year-olds in...
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...
