Substance Use Disorder News and Research

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‘Fourth wave’ of opioid epidemic crashes ashore, propelled by fentanyl and meth

The United States is knee-deep in what some experts call the opioid epidemic's "fourth wave," which is not only placing drug users at greater risk but is also complicating efforts to address the nation's drug problem.

21 Feb 2024

Restoring brain pathways to fight opioid addiction

Medical University of South Carolina scientists report in Neuron that they have uncovered a way to restore an opioid-weakened brain pathway in a preclinical model.

20 Feb 2024

California prison drug overdoses surge again after early treatment success

Drug overdose deaths in California state prisons rebounded to near record levels last year even as corrections officials touted the state's intervention methods as a model for prisons and jails across the United States.

14 Feb 2024

Stress driving substance use in American teens, study finds

A study in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report reveals stress and experimentation as primary motivators for substance use among American adolescents, with significant implications for developing targeted interventions and educational programs.

11 Feb 2024

Pilot study demonstrates feasibility of multimodal group treatment for veterans with PTSD

Retiring from the U.S. Army in 2016 left Lawrence resident Matt Hastings unmoored. Hastings, a former combat aviation brigade chief, had been someone with skills in demand: He was the only one who could fly certain missions, who had qualifications and experience other instructors needed.

25 Jan 2024

Study reveals disparities in emergency department restraint use by race and ethnicity

A new study that contributes additional data to a growing body of evidence demonstrating disparities in restraint use in the emergency department (ED) has been published in the January issue of Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM), the peer-reviewed journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM).

19 Jan 2024

Delays in state contracts leave Montana health providers strapped

Montana health organizations say a state government backlog in paying its contractors has hindered their ability to provide care, and they worry the bottleneck's ripple effects will be felt long after the money comes through.

11 Jan 2024

Access to residential addiction treatment centers for U. S. adolescents is limited and costly

Access to residential addiction treatment centers caring for U.S. adolescents under 18 years old in the United States is limited and costly, according to a new study supported by the National Institutes of Health.

9 Jan 2024

E-cigarettes more effective for smoking cessation than conventional nicotine-replacement therapy

Nicotine e-cigarettes are more effective in helping people quit smoking than conventional nicotine-replacement therapy (NRT), according to the latest Cochrane review co-led by a University of Massachusetts Amherst public health and health policy researcher.

8 Jan 2024

Widespread cannabis use linked to increase in psychiatric disorders, UMSOM review finds

The widespread use of cannabis (marijuana) and its increased potency are associated with a rise in cannabis-related psychiatric conditions, according to a new University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) review article that was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

19 Dec 2023

‘They see a cash cow’: Corporations could consume $50 billion of opioid settlements

The marketing pitches are bold and arriving fast: Invest opioid settlement dollars in a lasso-like device to help police detain people without Tasers or pepper spray.

18 Dec 2023

Addiction stigma discourages many people from seeking treatment

Addiction is one of society's most misunderstood and rebuked health conditions. That stigma discourages many people from seeking treatment for substance dependence, according to a new report published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

15 Dec 2023

Infective endocarditis deaths spike among young adults, research shows

Death rates related to infective endocarditis declined in most adults across the U.S. within the last two decades, yet accelerated among young adults ages 25 to 44 years old, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

13 Dec 2023

UMSOM receives $29 million research award to improve health outcomes in people who inject opioid drugs

University of Maryland School of Medicine Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, announced today that the school will receive a $29 million research award over four years from the National Institutes of Health to lead a multicenter trial that aims to improve health outcomes in people who inject opioid drugs and are hospitalized with infectious complications of their drug use.

11 Dec 2023

Significant genetic variations linked to cannabis use disorder identified in major global ancestries

Multi-ancestry genome-wide association study of cannabis use disorder.

22 Nov 2023

Evolving overdose crisis shakes previously effective treatments

"You can't inject a horse tranquilizer and think nothing bad is gonna happen" to you, said Ty Sears, 33, a longtime drug user now in recovery.

21 Nov 2023

Benzodiazepine prescribing practices for homeless veterans with mental illness

Despite elevated risk for substance use disorder and overdose death in the homeless population, benzodiazepine prescribing for this population has not been examined.

17 Nov 2023

Eating disorder claim lines increase significantly from 2018 to 2022

From 2018 to 2022, eating disorder claim lines increased 65 percent nationally as a percentage of all medical claim lines.

15 Nov 2023

Exploring the use of psychedelics as novel treatments for psychiatric disorders

Psychedelic compounds such as psilocybin, a substance found in various mushroom species, are garnering more research support as novel treatments for psychiatric disorders, but questions remain concerning who they may help the most.

13 Nov 2023

Minnesota data-sharing model tracks drug overdose hospital and ED trends

In a recently released study, researchers at Hennepin Healthcare and other Minnesota health systems describe how a COVID-19 collaboration across Minnesota health systems was adapted to monitor near-real-time trends in substance use–related hospital and emergency department (ED) visits.

10 Nov 2023