House lawmakers in December 2011 approved legislation that would prohibit the sale of synthetic marijuana and other drugs known as “bath salts” and “plant food,” which have been compared to dangerous hallucinogenic drugs when used illicitly. The measure, however, faces an indefinite delay in the Senate due to a lawmaker’s hold on the bill. Representatives [...]
Following fatal shootings in two New York pharmacy robberies, a U.S. senator is warning that a new batch of “super painkillers” now under review could force repeats of recent violent robberies that left six people dead. “It’s tremendously concerning that at the same time policymakers and law enforcement professionals are waging a war on the [...]
Teens are likely being exposed to a lot of alcohol advertising online, says the Director of the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. David Jernigan says alcohol companies’ voluntary limits on print, television and radio ads are often ignored on social media websites. Jernigan, who conducted [...]
Hookahs, which many people perceive as a less dangerous way of using tobacco than smoking cigarettes, can cause carbon monoxide poisoning, health experts say. The health effects of hookahs, or water pipes, have not been studied as rigorously as cigarettes, but the risks are becoming clearer as the pipes grow in popularity in the United [...]
Everyone wants to be a good parent, to give their children the best education, the best upbringing and all the support they need to grow and mature into productive and confident adults. That’s a lot of pressure for mom and dad, and not all of it comes from within. Who hasn’t worried about what the [...]
Just months after Virginia and dozens of other states banned synthetic marijuana, the chemists who make it have found a way to outfox lawmakers. Spice manufacturers, who spray herbs with compounds that mimic the active ingredient in marijuana, have altered their recipes just enough to skirt the bans and are again openly marketing spice in [...]
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. Successful programs often last for several years, according to Reuters. The study found programs that addressed just one area were generally less effective in preventing risky [...]
Parents of teens: If you think a drinking disaster at your kid’s party can’t happen at your house, not with your kid, because he’s a good kid, it’s time to wake up and smell the whiskey bottle tossed on your lawn. Because of the high risk of underage drinking and driving this time of year, [...]
Drug companies are working to develop a pure, more powerful version of the nation’s second most-abused medicine, which has addiction experts worried that it could spur a new wave of abuse. The new pills contain the highly addictive painkiller hydrocodone, packing up to 10 times the amount of the drug as existing medications such as [...]
