Teens who use a lot of marijuana and alcohol are less likely to have a full time job when they grow up, or to get a college education or get married, according to a new study by University of Connecticut researchers.

The study of 1,165 young adults from across the U.S. also found that dependence on pot and booze may also have a "more severe effect on young men" than on young women.

"This study found that chronic marijuana use in adolescence was negatively associated with achieving important developmental milestones in young adulthood." - Elizabeth Harari, University of Connecticut researcher.

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Two men were killed in Hartford in a few-hour span Friday into Saturday.

Six people were shot, two fatally, in separate narcotics-related shootings in Hartford Friday night and Saturday morning, police said.

As of Sunday morning, victim identifications were being withheld, but Deputy Police Chief Brian Foley said at least one of the victims was from out of state.

Foley said the two shootings immediately appeared to be narcotics related, with heroin, cocaine and other drugs found at the scene. Police said they believed multiple guns were involved and at least one of the shootings was described as a "gunfight."

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"Hey, Mom. Have you ever smoked weed?"

The only question perhaps trickier than this would include either algebra or an unwanted marriage proposal.

I kind of thought I didn't have to worry anymore about getting asked this question. The teen questioner and I had just sat down to lunch at Plan B with his grandmother. It totally threw me off.

Years ago I remember seeing a public service advertisement by the Office of National Drug Control Policy showing a coffee mug that read "#1 Hypocrite." The organization's stance was that parents should not be honest about any past drug use with their children. If we are, it surmised, kids could look at our successful lives and think that using drugs won't negatively affect their future.

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There are good days for West Tarricone. Days when she can laugh and live like any other 9-year-old. Days when she can play with her brother, Blake, and watch "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on her iPad.

But there are also bad days. Days when her body weathers 100 seizures. Days when it has closer to 1,000 - some lasting more than 90 minutes.

Lately, she's been having more good days thanks to Connecticut's new experiment with medical marijuana.

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As clergy, we write in support of proposals to tax and regulate marijuana in Connecticut. It may seem counterintuitive for a rabbi and a minister to adopt this view. We believe, however, that people of faith have a special responsibility to speak about what policies serve our communities best.

Of course, we recognize that marijuana should not be used by youth and can become addictive for some individuals at any age. Given these realities, our focus must be not to prohibit all use, but to respond in the most effective way to the possibility of abuse. Regulation and education - not prohibition - are the best path. We learned this a long time ago concerning alcohol.

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[photo] This Feb. 19, 2013, file photo, shows OxyContin pills arranged for a photo at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vt. (Toby Talbot / AP)

Flanked by commissioners from a half-dozen state agencies, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced legislative pointed at prescription drugs, a dangerous pathway to opioid addiction.

"Every city and every town in the country has been touched in some way by substance abuse -- and in particular the growing prescription pain killer epidemic. Our local communities are no exception. This is a complex crisis that does not have one root cause, nor does it have a simple solution," Malloy said in a statement. "Addiction is a disease, and together we can treat and prevent it. Our work on this front will not be finished until our communities and our families are no longer struggling with the grave costs of this illness."

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[photo] In this Aug. 9, 2016, photo, a vial containing 2mg of fentanyl, which will kill a human if ingested into the body, is displayed at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Testing and Research Laboratory in Sterling, Va. A 2mg dose of fentanyl is fatal to 99 percent of humans. A novel class of deadly drugs is exploding across the country, with many manufactured in China for export around the world. The drugs, synthetic opioids, are fueling the deadliest addiction crisis the U.S. has ever seen. (Cliff Owen / AP)

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[graphic] This motion graphic shows how OxyContin flowed out of Los Angeles.

A Washington city devastated by black-market OxyContin filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against the painkiller's manufacturer Thursday, alleging that the company turned a blind eye to criminal trafficking of its pills to "reap large and obscene profits" and demanding it foot the bill for widespread opioid addiction in the community.

The suit by Everett, a city of 100,000 north of Seattle, was prompted by a Times investigation last year. The newspaper revealed that drugmaker Purdue Pharma had extensive evidence pointing to illegal trafficking across the nation but in many cases did not share it with law enforcement or cut off the flow of pills.

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At four in the morning, the hospital's emergency department lights fluoresce directly into your brain. Everyone, everything looks green, especially the midnight heroin users. They are always shivering. Partly the withdrawal, partly the cold, damp Connecticut weather. They tend not to have proper jackets.

On a stretcher in the hallway, a 25-year-old "opioid withdrawal" is curled up with three hospital blankets pulled over his head. I gently shake his leg, but nothing is really gentle here. I introduce myself and whisper a question about what brought him in. No response.

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Three Dead From Overdoses In Hartford

[photo] Hartford police discuss what's needed to address the opioid crisis after three die in a short time from suspected opioid overdoses.

Within a 16-hour span that ended Thursday afternoon, police said that three people died from suspected overdoses. Investigators believe opioids are to blame, possibly the powerful synthetic fentanyl.

"We suspect, only based on patterns of what we've seen lately, that fentanyl will be an issue with these," Deputy Chief Brian Foley said Thursday afternoon. He noted that it's too soon to know for sure, but the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will do autopsies on the victims.

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Fighting Epilepsy: Should Children Be Given Controversial Cannabis Oil?'

Kim Hearn believes marijuana plant oil can help her 10-year-old son, who has epilepsy.

Each morning, Kim Hearn attaches a feeding tube to her son before outfitting him in specialized clothes that lend support to his torso, ankles and legs. A seizure often disrupts the process. It's a rigorous routine for this Stratford mom but it's nothing, she says, compared to what the 10-year-old, who can't speak or sit on his own, endures: "Sean just accepts it."

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A New London man guilty of selling heroin that was believed to have caused a fatal overdose was sentenced Monday to 34 months in prison, federal officials said.

Rudy Hernandez, 43, pleaded guilty in July to distribution of heroin, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. He also faces three years of supervised release.

Authorities learned that a 25-year-old man in Groton, who had fatally overdosed, had arranged to buy heroin from someone who purchased the drug from Hernandez, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

In April, law enforcement searched his home and found heroin and cocaine, according to officials.

Hernandez has been in federal custody since April.

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