Substance Abuse News and Research

RSS

Rare sugars activate metabolic signaling to reduce alcohol consumption in mice

While investigating the FGF21-oxytocin-dopamine system, a mechanism that regulates sugar appetite, a team of researchers at Kyoto University noticed reports suggesting that the protein FGF21 may regulate alcohol ingestion.

12 Jan 2026

Varenicline helps young people quit nicotine vaping regardless of cannabis use

Adolescent and young adult nicotine vaping has become an urgent public health concern, as 2024 marked the first year that nicotine vaping was the most initiated drug.

12 Dec 2025

Medical cannabis evidence falls short for most conditions

Medical cannabis lacks adequate scientific backing for most of the conditions it is commonly used to treat, including chronic pain, anxiety and insomnia, according to a comprehensive review led by UCLA Health.

3 Dec 2025

11 genetic loci that shape impulsive decision-making

Researchers identify distinct genetic loci involved in delay discounting and how these variants are involved in physical and psychiatric health outcomes.

3 Dec 2025

Study finds early neural markers of addiction risk differ between boys and girls

The roots of addiction risk may lie in how young brains function long before substance use begins, according to a new study from Weill Cornell Medicine.

21 Nov 2025

Rising youth e-cigarette use threatens children’s health and human rights

Exposing children to e-cigarettes compromises their human rights. These products should be regulated in a way that puts children's best interests first and protects them from the harms associated with nicotine consumption in all its forms, argue experts in The BMJ today.

12 Nov 2025

ChatGPT can provide trustworthy information for pregnant women seeking advice on opioid use disorder

When trained correctly on medically accurate information, ChatGPT can provide trustworthy information for pregnant women seeking medical advice for treating opioid use disorder, according to new research in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, based at Rutgers University.

23 Oct 2025

FAU launches transformative community initiative to prevent substance use among youth

Florida Atlantic University has received a $3 million, five-year grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, to lead a transformative community initiative designed to prevent substance use among South Florida's youth.

13 Oct 2025

Depression and psychosis rise after childbirth while suicide risk declines

Depression and psychosis are more common in women after childbirth than before, but the risk of suicide attempts decreases. This is shown by two new studies from Karolinska Institutet.

25 Sep 2025

GLP-1RAs linked to lower risk of mortality and cardiovascular events in psoriasis patients

Psoriasis patients treated with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) face a 78% lower risk of death and a 44% lower risk of major cardiovascular events compared to those taking other diabetes or weight-loss medications, new research has shown.

17 Sep 2025

Global review links firearm access and ownership to mental health harms

Interventions to address firearm accessibility and related dangers should account not only for direct exposure to violence but also for complex psychosocial pathways through which firearms affect mental health across populations, according to a systematic scoping review published in the September/October issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry, part of the Lippincott portfolio from Wolters Kluwer.

13 Sep 2025

Alcohol assay from Carolina Liquid Chemistries receives CLIA moderate complexity categorization on Abbott ImmTox™ 270 chemistry analyzer

An ethyl alcohol (ETOH) assay from Carolina Liquid Chemistries Corp. (CLC) has been categorized as moderately complex under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) for use on the Abbott Laboratories ImmTox™ 270 clinical chemistry analyzer.

From Carolina Liquid Chemistries Corp. 19 Aug 2025

ADHD medication lowers risk of substance misuse and accidents

ADHD medications are linked to reduced risks of dangerous outcomes, including substance misuse and criminality, supporting their use in treatment strategies.

18 Aug 2025

New model links striosomal activity to impaired decision making in psychiatric disorders

Scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, working in collaboration with a team from the University of Texas at El Paso, have developed a novel computational framework for understanding how a region of the brain known as the striatum is involved in the everyday decisions we make and, importantly, how it might factor into impaired decision-making by individuals with psychiatric disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder.

14 Aug 2025

Long COVID linked to lasting financial hardship and work disruption

While the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be widely studied and debated, the financial toll of the COVID-19 pandemic for individual patients is less understood.

12 Aug 2025

Inside the CDC, shooting adds to trauma as workers describe projects, careers in limbo

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention workers whose jobs have been reinstated after dizzying Trump administration disruptions say they remain stuck in a budgetary, political, and professional limbo.

11 Aug 2025

Impulsivity shapes diet and gut bacteria in healthy adults, study finds

Impulsivity in healthy adults is linked to unhealthy dietary choices, such as higher intake of alcohol and sugary drinks and lower fiber consumption. These dietary behaviors, in turn, are associated with changes in specific gut bacterial genera, highlighting an indirect pathway between personality traits and the gut microbiome.

4 Aug 2025

Study explores the impact of COVID-19 pandemic among youth and parents across the U.S. Midwest

The COVID-19 pandemic upended life for individuals and communities worldwide. Social isolation, health mandates, illness, and economic hardships took a toll on the well-being of families and children, but there were also silver linings to people's experiences.

1 Aug 2025

In a nation growing hostile toward drugs and homelessness, Los Angeles tries leniency

Inside a bright new building in the heart of Skid Row, homeless people hung out in a canopy-covered courtyard — some waiting to take a shower, do laundry, or get medication for addiction treatment.

8 Jul 2025

Gender differences shape how alcohol affects decision making

Alcohol consumption is widely known to affect decision-making, but a recent study led by researchers from The University of Texas at El Paso found that the extent of that impact may have something to do with the drinker's gender.

3 Jul 2025