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Binge drinking, vaping, marijuana use, and hallucinogen consumption reached an all-time high among U.S. adults in 2022, showing a significant upward trajectory in substance use in recent years, according to a study released Thursday. New research from the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future (MTF) panel revealed that middle-aged adults, between the ages of 35 and 50, in the United States are using marijuana and hallucinogens at record levels. Binge drinking had also spiked to the "highest prevalence... ever recorded for this age group," according to the panel study. (Nguyen, 8/18)

Seniors, and not the high-school kind, are the fastest-growing population of cannabis users, a trend that illustrates what a long, strange trip the legalization movement has been. The share of over-65 Americans who have used marijuana nearly tripled in a decade, from 11 percent in 2009 to 32 percent in 2019, according to a respected federal survey on drug use. More than half of the 60-64 demographic reported cannabis use, another sharp increase.  (De Vise, 8/18)

More than half of young adults in the U.S. see even moderate drinking — one or two drinks a day — as unhealthy, new Gallup polling found. Views on alcohol and drugs are shifting rapidly, especially among millennials and Gen Z. Americans overall now see booze as more harmful than marijuana. A record-high 39% of Americans believe moderate drinking is detrimental to health, up 11 points since 2018. (Rubin, 8/17)

Drug and alcohol use is often considered synonymous with the college experience, especially at large party schools like the University of Minnesota. Some are watching with concern now that recreational marijuana use is legal. As U of M students begin classes this fall, a faculty group is pushing to decrease stigma and increase visibility of substance use disorder on campus. They say drug and alcohol abuse looks different for each of the up to 12 percent of students nationwide who struggle, according to a national epidemiological psychiatry study. (Stevens, 8/17)

A smartphone app helped students reduce their heavy drinking habits, a study in Switzerland has shown, raising hopes that technology can help reduce harmful levels of alcohol consumption. Researchers from Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, working with colleagues in the UK, Canada and US, assessed the effectiveness of targeted intervention to encourage healthier drinking habits in students, with the results showing a 10 per cent decline in average consumption levels. The findings, which were published in the BMJ on Wednesday. (Scott, 8/16)