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College prevention programs used to dealing with alcohol and illicit drugs are devoting more attention to drugs like Ritalin and Adderral, but with limited success. Richard Clark, director of medical toxicology at the University of California at San Diego, said that the drugs are being used as mood-lifters and appetite suppressants as well as to improve concentration.

Moderate alcohol consumption prior to a traumatic event like a car crash or sexual assault has been linked to higher rates of flashbacks among victims. Researchers from University College London also found, however, that no increase in flashbacks was reported by those who drank heavily before their trauma.

Teens exposed to secondhand smoke have measurably thicker arteries than adolescents who are not exposed, suggesting that for children "even a little exposure to tobacco smoke may be harmful for blood vessels," according to researcher Katariina Kallio of the University of Turku in Finland.

More soldiers are experiencing problems with alcohol and the Army needs to double its staff of addiction counselors to meet the demand, according to Army vice chief of staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli.

Bar patrons who consumed energy drinks mixed with alcohol were three times more likely to leave drunk and four times more willing to drive drunk compared to patrons who drank alcohol alone, according to researchers who surveyed college-aged drinkers as they left bars. The University of Florida researchers surveyed more than 800 bar patrons at random between the hours of 10 p.m. and 3 a.m., and also collected breath samples to test blood-alcohol content (BAC).

As with underage drinking, social factors can help predict excessive drinking among older adults, according to new research from Rudolf H. Moos of the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care System in Palo Alto, Calif.

Fetal growth and development may be impaired when pregnant women smoke marijuana, according to new research from the Netherlands. Reuters reported Jan. 22 that researchers studied 7,000 pregnant women, including some who acknowledged smoking marijuana during pregnancy, and found that babies delivered by marijuana users weighed less at birth and had smaller heads.

Six percent of 8th-graders surveyed in Oregon said they had taken part in a dangerous game where kids choke each other to produce a sense of euphoria, and researchers said that adolescents with addiction or mental-health problems are among those most likely to play.

A survey of health professionals found that referring to people with addictions as "substance abusers" was more likely to evoke punitive responses to drug use than those who referred to individuals with "substance-use disorders," according to researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

Parents who allow their 15- and 16-year-old children to occasionally drink alcohol under supervision may ultimately be protecting their kids better than those who strictly enforce abstinence, according to researchers at the Center for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University in the U.K. The Guardian reported Oct. 9 that researchers who surveyed about 10,000 youths found that "parents who allow children aged 15-16 years to drink may limit harm by restricting consumption to lower frequencies.