Substance Use

How many high school students report current alcohol use? Are boys more likely than girls to use marijuana? Answers and more in our 5-question quiz.

Substance use among teenagers decreased for some substances from 2011 to 2021, but there is still progress to be made, according to the latest CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

Food addiction researcher Ashley Gearhardt, PhD, links survey data on addictive behavior in older adults to the dawn of aggressive food marketing.

Food addiction researcher Ashley Gearhardt, PhD, highlights the criteria for substance addiction she has found apply equally to alcohol, cocaine, and highly processed foods.

Intense craving for highly processed foods was so strong at least once a week for 24% of poll respondents that they couldn’t think of anything else.

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The Agency's priority review of the prescription-OTC switch underscores the urgent need for broader access to the opioid overdose reversal agent.

Drug overdose deaths increased approximately 81% among pregnant and postpartum women in the US from 2017 to 2020, according to new research.

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New findings suggest that the elevated risk of overdose with benzodiazepine use for sleep disorders is a critical safety consideration when treating young people.

Your daily dose of clinical news you may have missed.

A vaccine against fentanyl could stop the intense euphoria the drug creates and also block dangerous physiologic responses like respiratory depression, a new study suggests.

Gabapentin-involved overdose deaths doubled in Q2 2020 compared to Q1 2019, the CDC reports. What do you know, and maybe not know, about the troubling trend?

An analysis of over 159 000 former smokers found that those who adhered to lifestyle recommendations lowered their risk of premature death by over 25%.

Drug overdose deaths increased approximately 30% between 2019 and 2020, likely driven by fentanyl and COVID-19 pandemic, according to new CDC report.

The FDA today denied Juul Labs' premarket tobacco product applications and ordered all products removed from shelves nationwide, ending a 2-year review.

Approximately one-third of survey respondents with AUD relapsed within 1 year of stopping. Find a profile here of the experience of recovery from those who are trying.

Study addresses the concern that state opioid prescription laws may lead to some chronic pain patients missing out on critical pain treatment.

More than one-third of survey respondents began drinking before age 15; the heaviest drinkers had double the risk for cirrhosis, CVD, pancreatitis, and neuropathy.

A nondescript, postage-paid envelope accompanying an opioid prescription, and patient education on discarding unused tablets are proposed.

Persons with ASCVD who quit smoking could gain 5 more years of life--similar to the outcome of intensive medical treatment while continuing to smoke.

A new study of more than 2 million US adults and adolescents who could benefit from medication for OUD reveals only 1 in 4 reported past-year use.

US adults smoked less cigarettes in 2020 than in 2019, but a diverse landscape of tobacco product use persists, according to latest findings released by the CDC.

In 2020, 19% of US adults used at least 1 tobacco product, a decline from 20.8% in 2019, according to new data released by the CDC.

Increasing alcohol intake from 1 to 2 drinks per day was associated with brain changes equivalent to aging 2 years, according to a study of more than 36 000.

Moderate consumption of alcohol with food was significantly associated with a 14% lower risk of type 2 diabetes in a preliminary analysis.

Family physicians and psychiatrists were the specialties with the greatest number of visits, according to study authors.

The perception of marijuana's risks and benefits may be changing within the US adult population. Are you up to date?