The annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health found little change in past-month use of illicit drugs in 2007, although use of cocaine and methamphetamine did decline.

An epidemic of youth drinking and alcohol-related deaths has the Scottish legislature mulling a plan to raise the legal drinking age from 18 to 21.

The sale of medications containing dextromethorphan (DXM) -- commonly found in cough and cold medicines -- to individuals under age 18 would be prohibited in New Jersey if lawmakers approve a measure sponsored by a pair of state senators.

A George Washington University researcher estimates that GOP presidential candidate John McCain has about a 20 percent chance of dying in office if elected, based on his age and past use of tobacco.

To help community coalitions in their efforts, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) has developed a Support 21 Community Toolkit.

Washington, D.C., has the highest HIV infection rate in the U.S. -- one in 20 residents are HIV-positive -- but a needle-exchange program is helping to save lives by preventing drug users from spreading the disease.

The relative mortality risks of smoking are detailed in new charts published in a leading scientific journal.

Nonmedical use of prescription painkillers and stimulants is safer than taking cocaine but riskier than smoking marijuana or drinking alcohol, according to college freshmen interviewed by researchers.

Financier George Soros has provided $400,000 of the $429,000 in funding for a campaign to get the issue of marijuana decriminalization on the November ballot in Massachusetts.

The coca crop in the Andean region of South America has risen 18 percent over the past five years despite an influx of $4 billion in U.S. antidrug funding.

Venezuela says it is making good progress in fighting drugs and doesn't need a cooperation agreement with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

New guidelines from the California Attorney General's office aim to clear up some of the confusion that has long plagued the state's 1996 medical-marijuana law.

California spent $1.8 billion on statewide tobacco-control during the program's first 15 years but saved $86 billion in personal healthcare costs during the same timespan, according to a new study.

A study of death certificates recorded between 2001 and 2005 found that about 12 percent of all deaths among Native Americans were related to alcohol.

Drunk-driving fatalities declined 3.7 percent nationally last year, according to a new report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Researchers are emphasizing the importance of a new government report that they say demonstrates for the first time a causal link between tobacco use in movies and smoking behaviors in the population.

A study of Australian twins has found that women with alcohol dependence tended to have children later in life than other women, suggesting possibly damaging effects of alcohol on fertility.

Data from England's National Health Service are indicating that smokers seeking to quit in that nation are seeing comparatively good results with the medication Champix (known as Chantix in the United States).

A meeting between leaders of a New Hampshire youth group and a beer distributor whose employees reacted angrily to youths' placement of warning labels stuck on its products has led to amicable words about the groups working toward the same goal of preventing underage drinking.

Maine Gov. John Baldacci believes his state has the community-based program infrastructure needed to make the kind of progress in combating alcohol and drug abuse that it has seen in reducing tobacco use.

An undercover operation conducted as part of research sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Substance Abuse Prevention and Research Program found that operatives who appeared underage or obviously intoxicated had a relatively easy time purchasing alcohol at professional sports events.

With all the smoking cessation tools available to those trying to quit, an unexpected motivator is coming from the increasingly popular world of cosmetic surgery.

A project run by a charity in the Cornwall region of England has determined that alcohol prevention efforts can successfully reach youths through messages sent to their mobile phones.

An opinion survey in Canada indicates public uncertainty about a controversial safe-injection facility in Vancouver, with 39 percent of individuals saying they were undecided about whether to support it.

A study examining the treatment potential of the medication vigabatrin indicates some similarities between addiction and obesity.