Feature Channels: Substance Abuse

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Alcohol misuse in adolescence affects physical health and life satisfaction over multiple decades, outcomes that are driven by ongoing alcohol problems, a new study has found. The link between teen drinking and poor health into the 30s held even after accounting for the effects of nature (genes) and nurture (early family environments). Problematic drinking in adolescence is known to be linked to ongoing health and life struggles. Better understanding this process could inform early targeted interventions that may prevent or ameliorate long-term negative consequences. The new study, in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, sought to clarify the pathways — direct or indirect — by which teen drinking has such far-reaching effects. Investigators explored participants’ alcohol misuse in adolescence and early adulthood, and physical health and life satisfaction in their mid-30s. The study sample was restricted to twins, allowing for consideration of shared genetic and environmental f

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Sanford Burnham Prebys Professor Nicholas Cosford, Ph.D., has been awarded $6.4M from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to test new potential drugs to treat opioid and methamphetamine use disorders. The three-year project will be completed with partners from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Camino Pharma, LLC.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The first year of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a 113% increase in the “Years of Life Lost” among adolescents and young people in the United States due to unintentional drug overdose, according to researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine.

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The latest research and expert commentary on pain management.

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With the support of a five-year, $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers will study how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted opioid use disorder and how the COVID-19 response and mitigation policies impact health outcomes, especially in vulnerable populations.

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Faculty members with the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy are issuing warnings about the rise of fentanyl in Mountain State communities and elsewhere following the recent seizure of a large amount of “rainbow fentanyl,” potent illegal pills resembling candy, by law enforcement officers in Monongalia County.

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During the pandemic, on days that adults felt particularly lonely or when lockdown restrictions were more limiting, they used more drugs (other than cannabis), a new study suggests.

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Johns Hopkins Carey Business School faculty, along with School of Medicine colleagues, will create a cutting-edge pathway for substance use disorder researchers to develop new treatment options thanks to a $1.6 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

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The latest research and expert commentary on the monkeypox outbreak.

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The gold standard of opioid addiction treatments, methadone is a lifeline for millions of people addicted to narcotics like heroin, oxycodone and fentanyl. But for many Georgians, accessing medication-assisted treatment is next to impossible. New research from the University of Georgia found four of the five Georgia counties with the highest opioid overdose death rates don’t have a methadone clinic accessible within a 15-minute drive.

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The typical rise and fall of alcohol and cannabis consumption from late adolescence into adulthood does not hold for people with certain personality traits, a new study suggests. Among individuals who used both alcohol and cannabis, those with high impulsivity as adolescents showed a different developmental trajectory from their peers, according to a study in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research — the first to assess co-use of the two substances well into adulthood. Alcohol and cannabis are the two most frequently used psychotropic drugs in the US. High use is associated with negative health outcomes, particularly when the two substances are used concurrently or simultaneously. Little is known about the developmental course of alcohol and cannabis co-use into adulthood and whether it is influenced by sensation seeking and reduced conscientiousness, markers of disinhibition associated with hazardous substance use. Researchers at Arizona State University explored whether those pe

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People who self-medicate pain with alcohol may be vulnerable to hazardous drinking, with their experience of pain relief a potentially powerful driver of alcohol consumption, a new study suggests. Both pain and dangerous alcohol use are major public health issues. Each affects millions of US adults and costs hundreds of billions of dollars annually in health care and lost productivity. Recent studies have demonstrated a strong correlation between pain and alcohol use; people with chronic pain are more likely than others to report heavy drinking, and those with alcohol use disorder (AUD) are more likely to report chronic pain. Alcohol has known analgesic effects. Evidence of shared neural mechanisms underlying chronic pain and substance misuse suggest alcohol’s pain-relieving capacity might be influenced by individuals’ experience of chronic pain. Better understanding the relationship between chronic pain and alcohol use could inform improved prevention and treatment approaches. For the

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New research from Tufts University School of Medicine suggests critical changes to the process of transitioning people out of jail while on substance use treatment can reduce opioid deaths among the highly susceptible population.

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High school seniors who play contact sports are roughly 50% more likely to misuse prescription stimulants in the next decade after graduation, compared to those who do not participate in these types of sports, a new University of Michigan study found.

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Ever since Corey Walker, MD, became a spine surgeon, the traditional measure of success focused on how well a patient was able to walk, bend or move after spine surgery. Now, with the help of artificial intelligence, Walker is measuring success differently.

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Fast data processing of overdose deaths, which have increased in recent years, is crucial to developing a rapid public health response. But the system now in place lacks precision and takes months. To correct that, UCLA researchers have developed an automated process that reduces data collection to a few weeks.

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Here are some of the latest articles that have been added to the Drug Resistance channel on Newswise, a free source for journalists.

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Phone-based and video-based telehealth visits both helped veterans with opioid addiction stay on buprenorphine medication to treat their opioid use disorder during the pandemic. The findings could inform telemedicine policy.

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In a new study, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers tested more than 100 topical cannabidiol (CBD) products available online and at retail stores, and found significant evidence of inaccurate and misleading labeling of CBD content.

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A study by Indiana University faculty found that despite COVID-19 pandemic challenges, those with substance use disorder were largely resilient and employed effective coping mechanisms.

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They may only be in 4th or 5th grade, but 1 in 10 pre-teen children already say they’re curious about using alcohol or tobacco products, and 1 in 50 say they’re curious about using marijuana, a new study shows. As many as 3% of the nearly 12,000 9- and 10-year-olds surveyed say they already have a friend who uses one of these substances. And those who said they did were also much more likely to be curious about trying alcohol or tobacco and other nicotine-containing products themselves.

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A small tweak to hospitals’ prescribing systems might make a big difference in reducing risk from leftover opioid pain medication, while still making sure surgery patients get relief from their post-operation pain, a new study suggests.

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The UCSF-JHU Opioid Industry Documents Archive released more than 114,000 documents related to McKinsey & Company's work showing how they advised opioid makers to help increase sales, despite the growing public outcry over the opioid epidemic.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on many people’s lives. Emerging adults may have been particular impacted, given their transition from adolescence to adulthood during such a time of upheaval, with their educational and career aspirations thrown into disarray. A new study has found that the risk for depression tripled among young people – particularly younger women – during the pandemic, and that this risk persisted into 2021.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, policy interventions designed to reduce the virus’ spread included shelter-in-place (SIP) orders and phased “reopenings” of public spaces. Knowing that adult alcohol and substance use generally rose during the pandemic due to factors such as stress, boredom, worsening mental health, and increased alcohol availability, a new study sought to understand the impact of SIPs and reopenings on adolescent alcohol use in California. Analysis shows SIP decreased frequency of alcohol use. Also, compliance with SIP orders was associated with decreased frequency and quantity of use.

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Older adults – those more than 50 years of age – who consume alcohol beyond healthy drinking guidelines are a growing public health concern. A new study has found that using text messaging can help reduce drinking among this population. These findings will be shared at the 45th annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) in Orlando, Florida.

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CHICAGO – “Despite the prevalence and societal costs of pain in the United States, investment in pain medication development is low, due in part to poor understanding of the probability of successful development of such medications,” said the authors of a study published Online First in Anesthesiology, the official peer-reviewed journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA).

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Scientists investigating substance use are making progress on eliminating stigmatizing language that can perpetuate negative biases and worsen outcomes, according to a new analysis of published research articles. Nevertheless, the field has further to go.

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Online resources for supporting recovery from Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) are promising but underused, a new study suggests. The expansion of digital recovery supports, such as video meetings, discussion forums, and social networking sites, could potentially help address a substantial unmet need for services. In 2020, fewer than one in ten Americans with current or recent substance use disorder received any form of treatment. Women are less likely to access treatment than men, research shows. Online services may make recovery support more accessible, eliminating certain barriers associated with traditional treatment (e.g., transportation and cost) and reducing others (e.g., stigma). Research is sparse, however, and the factors influencing the use and effects of digital services are not well understood. For the study in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, researchers explored how people in recovery from AUD use online supports and whether that use is linked to gender or outcome

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With stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, youth spent more time at home with family and were more isolated from in-person interaction with peers. Largely due to this social isolation from peers, substance use among youth declined, according to researchers at the WVU School of Public Health.

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A new UC Davis Health study suggests that the increased rates of overdose and mental health crisis observed during the first year after opioid dose tapering persist through the second year. The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

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As America sees a record number of overdose deaths, taking action to reduce harm and tragedy due to opioids is vital. Here, three providers with expertise in substance use disorder care share ways individuals, communities and health care providers can help save lives.

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A study from Arizona State University and Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands has shown that conversations between a pair of 17-year-old friends can predict future drug and alcohol abuse. If the teens talked positively about alcohol or cannabis, they were more likely to be diagnosed with an alcohol or cannabis use disorder, respectively, by the time they were 27 years old.

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CHLA researchers received the grant to study the long-term influence of opioids, a class of powerful painkillers, on hospitalized, critically ill infants. Extended opioid use may cause health and developmental issues and the $3 million grant will help identify the long-term effects of opioid pain relief for newborns.

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A video posted on the CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) does not accurately portray the risk of secondhand exposure to fentanyl, according to emergency medicine physician.

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Once a state legalizes recreational cannabis and increase in youth using it illegally occurs, report researchers at University of California San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science.