Drug Abuse News and Research

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Cocaine use on the rise in Australia

The number of cocaine abuse related arrests has risen in Sydney's CBD and an increasing number of users of the drug are being treated in hospitals. According to the latest NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research figures arrests for possession and use of the drug have risen by 76.6 per cent in the past two years.

8 Sep 2010

NIH announces $161.3 million for expansion of Pharmacogenomics Research Network

The National Institutes of Health plans to spend $161.3 million over the next five years to expand the Pharmacogenomics Research Network (PGRN), a nationwide collaborative of scientists focused on understanding how genes affect a person's response to medicines.

8 Sep 2010

NIH awards St. Jude $8.6M to focus on anticancer agent research in children

With its new expansion of the Pharmacogenomics Research Network (PGRN), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded St. Jude Children's Research Hospital a prestigious grant to focus on anticancer agent research in children.

8 Sep 2010

Penn receives $12M NIH grant to study pharmacogenetics of nicotine addiction treatment

A variety of smoking cessation treatments are currently available for the more than 18 million adult Americans try to quit smoking each year, but success rates vary widely. Despite the importance of quitting smoking, more personalized approaches to smoking cessation treatment are needed to help smokers pick the right method that will work best for them. A major new personalized medicine clinical trial, led by addiction researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, will study how a smokers' genetic make-up influences their quitting success.

8 Sep 2010

Methylphenidate facilitates recovery from drug addiction

A brain-scanning study at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, conducted with collaborators from Stony Brook University, reveals that an oral dose of methylphenidate, commonly known as Ritalin, improves impaired brain function and enhances cognitive performance in people who are addicted to cocaine.

7 Sep 2010

Young drug users develop brain abnormalities

According to a new study published in the Australian Medical Journal, 20 percent of users of the drugs ecstasy, ice and speed in the ER developed signs of brain damage. Two thirds had concentration and mood problems, and half said they had general health problems.

5 Sep 2010

Kavli Day 2010 at Norwegian University of Science and Technology

In celebration of Kavli Prize Week, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and the Kavli Foundation will hold a series of lectures and events on 9 September 2010 in Trondheim, Norway at the NTNU campus. The event features a number of 2010 Kavli Prize Laureates. The festivities continue after the official celebration, with two symposia sponsored by NTNU, one in neuroscience and one in nanoscience.

4 Sep 2010

'Gateway effect' of marijuana overblown

New research from the University of New Hampshire shows that the "gateway effect" of marijuana - that teenagers who use marijuana are more likely to move on to harder illicit drugs as young adults - is overblown.

3 Sep 2010

World becoming numb to HIV/AIDS: UNAIDS executive director

HIV infection is on the rise but there is potential to control the upsurge of infections with effective measures only if there are adequate funds. According to UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe the world has become numb to the fact that 7,400 people are being infected with AIDS every day and funds to combat it are not pouring in as they should. Since 2001, the number of newly infected people has fallen by 17 per cent a year - but there are still 2.7 million new cases each year.

1 Sep 2010

Study finds common risk factors linked with painkiller addiction

A new Geisinger study begins to unlock the puzzle of painkiller (opioid) addiction - why some people are more likely to become addicted than others. Geisinger investigators have found that patients with four common risk factors have a significantly higher risk of addiction. In addition, a history of severe drug dependence and drug abuse compounds the risk.

30 Aug 2010

New alchemy module allows healthcare providers to verify, comply with state and federal prescription drug regulations

Gold Standard/Elsevier, developer of drug databases and medication management solutions, announced today the availability of its new Alchemy.

27 Aug 2010

Today's Opinions: Sebelius on EMRs, primary care's role in reform and more

Health care providers may agree with the benefits of electronic health records. But they also believed that adopting them was too difficult and expensive. … [T]hat's changing - in large part due to an ambitious investment we made in the Recovery Act to reduce many of the obstacles that limited the spread of electronic health records in the past (HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, 8/26).

27 Aug 2010

Disulfiram drug effective in treating cocaine addiction: Research

Doctors have used the drug disulfiram to help patients stay sober for several decades. It interferes with the body's ability to metabolize alcohol, giving a fierce hangover to someone who consumes even a small amount of alcohol.More recently, disulfiram was shown to be effective in treating cocaine addiction as well, even though alcohol and cocaine affect the nervous system in different ways.

27 Aug 2010

Veterans Affairs partners with NIH to grant award for substance abuse research in military personnel

The Department of Veterans Affairs is partnering with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to award $6 million in grants for research examining the link between substance abuse and military deployments and combat-related trauma.

26 Aug 2010

Prescription drug abuse soars despite state monitoring programs

Stateline: Over the past 10 years, "prescription drug abuse has soared to new levels. A recent White House study found a 400 percent increase in abuse from 1998 to 2008.

26 Aug 2010

Pharmacies in Massachusetts to make available lock boxes for sale

On August 9, 2010 Massachusetts passed Chapter 283 of the Acts of 2010, adding Safeguards to the Prescription Monitoring Program and furthering Substance Abuse Education and Prevention. Section 11 of the act requires all pharmacies in Massachusetts that dispense schedule II, III, IV, or V prescription drugs to make available lock boxes for sale at each location.

18 Aug 2010

Ill effects of methamphetamine

On the street it's known as meth, speed, ice, chalk, crank, fire, glass or crystal. Methamphetamine is a highly addictive drug that wreaks havoc on the entire body, including the user's oral health. Approximately 10 million Americans have tried methamphetamine, while more than 1.4 million are habitual users.

17 Aug 2010

Titan Pharmaceuticals second-quarter net loss increases to $1.84 million

Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010.

16 Aug 2010

NIDA grants Selecta Biosciences $3M to develop nicotine vaccine for smoking cessation and relapse prevention

Selecta Biosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing synthetic nanoparticle vaccines and immunotherapies, today announced that it has been awarded a grant for $3 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), an institute within the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The grant is aimed at advancing the development of an enhanced therapeutic nicotine vaccine for the treatment of smoking cessation and relapse prevention.

16 Aug 2010

MeCP2 protein regulates properties of psychostimulant drugs: Research

When a certain protein is mutated or missing, symptoms of the neurodevelopmental disorder Rett syndrome arise, causing a gradual loss of brain function during early development.This fact led Duke University Medical Center researchers to test a theory that the protein might also contribute to nerve-cell connection (synapse) changes in a fully formed adult mouse brain when exposed to psychostimulant use.

16 Aug 2010