The New Cannabis Policy Taxonomy on APIS: Making Sense of the Cannabis Policy Universe.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's Alcohol Policy Information System (APIS) is, for the first time, adding legal data pertaining to recreational cannabis use to its current offerings on alcohol policy. Now that Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and the District of Columbia have legalized aspects of recreational cannabis, and more states are considering it, there is an urgency to provide high-quality, multi-dimensional legal data to the public health community. This article introduces the Cannabis Policy Taxonomy recently posted on APIS, and explores its theoretical and empirical contributions to the substance abuse literature and its potential for use in policy research.

Underage Drinking: A Review of Trends and Prevention Strategies.

Underage drinking and its associated problems have profound negative consequences for underage drinkers themselves, their families, their communities, and society as a whole, and contribute to a wide range of costly health and social problems. There is increased risk of negative consequences with heavy episodic or binge drinking. Alcohol is a factor related to approximately 4,300 deaths among underage youths in the U.

Efficacy and the strength of evidence of U.S. alcohol control policies.

Background: Public policy can limit alcohol consumption and its associated harm, but no direct comparison of the relative efficacy of alcohol control policies exists for the U.S.

Purpose: To identify alcohol control policies and develop quantitative ratings of their efficacy and strength of evidence.

Disseminating science-based prevention: lessons learned from CSAP's CAPTs.

A wide variety of prevention approaches that reduce substance use and associated problems have been developed and tested. But successes have been limited in promoting the use of these scientific advances by the policy makers, practitioners, and concerned citizens. The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention's six regional Centers for the Application of Prevention Technologies (CSAP's CAPTs) are a major mechanism by which CSAP brings research to practice.