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Listen: California banks on a bold treatment: Pay drug users to stop using

When Billy Lemon was trying to kick his methamphetamine addiction, he went to a drug treatment program at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation three times a week and peed in a cup. If it tested negative for meth, he got paid about $7.

4 Oct 2021

Legal consumption of alcohol and tobacco may increase the use of illicit drugs

The use of legal drugs (tobacco and alcohol) may lead to the use of cannabis, a new study led by the University of Bristol and published in the journal Addiction has found. The study also found evidence that cannabis use may lead to smoking initiation, and opioid dependence could lead to increased alcohol consumption.

30 Sep 2021

Withdrawal from psychostimulants alters functional architecture and patterns in the brain

Addictive psychostimulants, from nicotine in cigarettes to illicit drugs like methamphetamine and cocaine, affect different regions of the brain. The same is believed true during withdrawal; finding a common brain pathway has proved elusive.

27 Sep 2021

Research demonstrates a clear link between nicotine withdrawal and poor eating habits

New data collected by University of Minnesota Medical School researchers demonstrate a clear connection between nicotine withdrawal and poor eating habits.

23 Sep 2021

Study finds rise in methamphetamine-involved overdose deaths from 2015 to 2019

Overdose deaths involving methamphetamine nearly tripled from 2015 to 2019 among people ages 18-64 in the United States, according to a study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

22 Sep 2021

Doubling excise duties could prevent alcohol-attributable cancers

In a recent modeling study, scientists at Technische Universität Dresden have examined the impact of increasing taxes on alcoholic beverages on alcohol-attributable cancers in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region.

22 Sep 2021

Researchers create a living bioengineered nerve circuit to tackle opioid overdose crisis

In 2019, nearly 50,000 people in the United States died from opioid overdoses, bringing the total of number of deaths from the opioid crisis to half a million over the past 10 years, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

21 Sep 2021

Study paves the way for development of novel delivery systems to suppress HIV

In a new study supported by the National Institutes of Health, researchers used exosomes, tiny nanoparticles capable of being taken up by cells, to deliver novel protein into the cells of mice infected with HIV. The protein attached to HIVs' genetic material and prevented it from replicating, resulting in reduced levels of HIV in the bone marrow, spleen, and brain.

21 Sep 2021

Study finds rising rates of smoking and vaping among teenagers in Ireland

For the first time in 25 years, rates of smoking among teenage boys in Ireland are increasing, according to a study published in ERJ Open Research.

20 Sep 2021

'Spice' users likely to experience more severe withdrawal symptoms, study finds

Research published today by psychologists at the University of Bath suggests that 'Spice' – which contains synthetic drugs originally designed to mimic the effects of cannabis – is more harmful than cannabis and that users are likely to experience more severe withdrawal symptoms when attempting to quit.

18 Sep 2021

Hospitalized patients with opioid use disorder die at a rate comparable to heart attack patients

Hospitalized patients with opioid use disorder died at a rate comparable to those who suffered heart attacks within a year of hospital discharge, according to a new study from Oregon Health & Science University.

15 Sep 2021

Pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorder is underutilized in Sweden, finds study

Only a minority of Swedes with alcohol use disorders are prescribed alcohol medication, a situation that has remained largely unchanged in the country since the mid-2000.

13 Sep 2021

Elevated levels of serotonin can curb cocaine addiction in mice

Elevated levels of serotonin can prevent the development of compulsive cocaine seeking and addiction in mice, researchers report.

13 Sep 2021

Neuroscientists reveal brain mechanism related to how serotonin controls cocaine addiction

Contrary to common thinking, cocaine triggers an addiction only in 20% of the consumers. But what happens in their brains when they lose control of their consumption? Thanks to a recent experimental method, neuroscientists at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, have revealed a brain mechanism specific to cocaine, which has the particularity of triggering a massive increase in serotonin in addition to the increase in dopamine common to all drugs.

12 Sep 2021

Study finds increasing disparities in opioid overdose deaths for Black people

Non-Hispanic Black individuals in four U.S. states experienced a 38% increase in the rate of opioid overdose deaths from 2018 to 2019, while the rates for other race and ethnicity groups held steady or decreased, according to a new study by the National Institutes of Health published in the American Journal of Public Health.

9 Sep 2021

Breakthrough discovery could pave the way for new non-opioid painkillers to treat neuropathic pain

Monash University researchers have made a breakthrough discovery that could pave the way for the development of novel non-opioid painkillers to safely and effectively treat neuropathic pain.

8 Sep 2021

Marijuana use among college-age adults remains at historically high levels in 2020

Marijuana use continued to rise among college students over the past five years and remained at historically high levels among same-aged peers who are not in college in 2020, according to survey results from the 2020 Monitoring the Future (MTF) panel study.

8 Sep 2021

Researchers find new reward circuitry beyond dopamine

The key to overcoming addictions and psychiatric disorders lives deep inside the netherworld of our brains and the circuitry that causes us to feel good.

1 Sep 2021

Collaborative program uses peer recovery coaches to guide people with substance use disorder

About 90% of Americans who need treatment for a substance use disorder don't get it. West Virginia University researchers have developed a program that allows people who have already walked the path of substance use disorder through recovery to be their guides to a healthier life.

31 Aug 2021

Mobile telemedicine unit found to be effective in treating opioid use disorder in rural areas

Rural regions in the U.S. have been disproportionately affected by the opioid epidemic, while also having the fewest number of programs to treat opioid use disorder.

28 Aug 2021