10 articles to kick off National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week

Tomorrow marks the first day of National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week, a national health awareness week that offers teenagers and young people the facts about drugs, alcohol and addiction backed by clinical research.

To kick off the week, Healio Psychiatry has compiled a list of our top 10 related stories from 2018.

Conduct problems in adolescence increase likelihood of cannabis use

Teenagers with conduct problems or whose friends used cannabis were more likely to use cannabis, which may predict cannabis use disorder in emerging adulthood, according to data published in Addiction. Read more.

Adolescent cannabis use impacts cognitive development

Study findings revealed there were concurrent and lasting effects of teenage cannabis use on important cognitive functions — such as working memory, perceptual reasoning and inhibitory control. These effects appeared more noticeable for cannabis use than those seen for alcohol, according to the results, published in American Journal of Psychiatry. Read more.

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Prescription stimulant misuse common among college students

Using data from a multi-institutional survey of college students in the United States, researchers at Ohio State University found that nearly 16% of students reported misusing prescription stimulants. Read more.

Opioids more commonly prescribed to teens with mental health concerns

Although rates of opioid prescribing for adolescents are low, those with anxiety, mood and neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as those with other mental health conditions and treatments, are more likely to be prescribed any opioid. Read more.

Medical marijuana laws do not boost recreational use among teens

Study findings report that contrary to popular beliefs, legalizing medical cannabis has not increased recreational marijuana use among teenagers in the United States. Read more.

Link between academic achievement, drug abuse may be causal

Two different methodological approaches — instrumental variable and co-relative analysis — implemented in a large sample of Swedish participants followed for an average of 19 years, indicated a causal connection between academic achievement assessed at age 16 years and drug abuse. Read more.

WHO: Harmful alcohol use kills 3 million globally in 2016

Although there have been positive trends in prevalence of heavy episodic drinking and alcohol-related mortality since 2010, there have been no global reductions in total per capita consumption and the global burden of disease related to alcohol remains high, a report issued by WHO found. Read more.

Early intervention reduces likelihood of alcohol misuse, abuse in Latino teens

A family-focused, substance abuse prevention intervention conducted in middle school reduced the likelihood of alcohol use disorders among Mexican-American teenagers 5 years later, research published in JAMA Psychiatry showed. Read more.

Frequent cannabis use may increase psychosis risk among teens

Findings published in JAMA Psychiatry revealed a link between cannabis use frequency and increased psychosis symptoms at the individual level among Canadian adolescents. Read more.

Mental health service use, treatment up among college students

A study measuring population-level trends in a nationwide cohort of U.S. college students found that mental health service utilization and treatment increased substantially between 2007 and 2017 among college students in the United States. Read more.