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High cognitive impairment rates among homeless people demand radical policy change

Cognitive impairment is a prevalent but often unaddressed factor in chronic homelessness, and it must be addressed to help reduce homelessness, argues the author of a commentary published in CMAJ

21 Sep 2026

Gambling disorder emergency visits increase following sports betting legalization

Emergency department (ED) visits for gambling disorders doubled following the legalization of single-event sports betting and expansion of Ontario's online gambling market, according to a new study from ICES. The increase was observed predominantly among young men.

16 Sep 2026

Scientists discover brain spot that drives risk-taking decisions

Every day, your brain runs the same calculation: take a risk or play it safe? Your gas tank might be low, but there's just enough to make it to work on time.

15 Sep 2026

Adolescent cannabis use disorder diagnoses rise after legalization

New diagnoses of cannabis use disorder (CUD) among adolescents in Northern California began climbing after recreational cannabis was legalized in California in 2016, reversing a steady decline in the three years prior, according to a new study published in the journal Addiction.

15 Sep 2026

Vaping rises among youth despite declining smoking rates

Three large studies together show that, although the number of people who smoke is declining, people are taking up smoking at a younger age and vaping has increased, particularly among children and younger people.

7 Sep 2026

Alcohol-free beer looks cheaper on the shelf, but the checkout tells a different story

A Great Britain analysis found that no/low-alcohol drinks were generally cheaper than regular-strength products on supermarket shelves and when equivalent products were compared directly. However, consumers paid more per serving for no/lo beer and about the same for cider, partly because these products were often sold in smaller, less cost-efficient packs.

6 Sep 2026

Psilocybin study explores new treatment for cocaine use disorder

Albert Arias, MD, chief of addiction psychiatry at Carilion Clinic, has received an award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to research how psilocybin, a psychedelic compound being studied for several psychiatric and substance use disorders, can offer a new approach for people with cocaine use disorder.

4 Sep 2026

Mental health warning labels prompt young people to limit screens

Pop-up messages that warn of the harms of social media - such as mental health consequences - have potential to reduce young people's social media use, a new Stanford Medicine study has found.

4 Sep 2026

School-based behavioral therapy cuts gaming disorder risk among vulnerable adolescents

School-based prevention programs are designed to help protect adolescents from gaming disorder and problematic online habits.

4 Sep 2026

Why addiction researchers are paying closer attention to GLP-1 drugs

A Journal of Clinical Investigation Viewpoint highlights growing evidence that GLP-1 receptor agonists, particularly semaglutide, may reduce alcohol consumption and some other substance-related outcomes by acting on brain systems involved in reward, motivation, stress, and emotion. However, the authors caution that efficacy for substance use disorders is not yet firmly established and call for further research into optimal dosing, treatment duration, patient selection, mechanisms, and effects across different addictions.

2 Sep 2026

New brain atlas reveals insights into Huntington's, addiction, and other disorders

A region of the brain called the striatum is critical for many cognitive and motor functions, including decision-making, control of movement, habit formation, and processing of reward.

1 Sep 2026

Social media messages could empower parents to prevent teen vaping

Parents are an important line of defense against teen vaping, yet many lack the knowledge and tools needed to recognize vaping products, understand their risks and prevent their children from using them.

31 Aug 2026

Mimicking behaviors between smokers doubles daily tobacco consumption

Going out for a smoke together and mimicking behaviors associated with smoking can double tobacco consumption and make quitting more difficult.

28 Aug 2026

Internet-controlled brain implant enables remote neural stimulation and drug delivery

A researcher in Chicago remotely controls a miniaturized brain implant in Daejeon, Korea - over the internet. Korean researchers have developed a wireless device that can deliver drugs and light to precisely modulate targeted neurons from anywhere in the world.

27 Aug 2026

Loneliness can reprogram the brain to increase alcohol use

Loneliness can reprogram the brain in ways that push alcohol consumption, reports a new preclinical study led by Northwestern University and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

25 Aug 2026

Understanding opioid risks can help prevent accidental overdoses

According to numbers calculated from the CDC, approximately 80,000 people died last year from a drug overdose, which represents about 21 deaths per 100,000 residents in the U.S. alone. Overdose deaths are preventable, and in most of the cases we see, they are completely accidental.

24 Aug 2026

Survey provides a comprehensive snapshot of youth mental health and drug use in Ontario

Findings from the 2025 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS) released today by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) suggest that Ontario middle and high school students have rebounded from the heightened mental health challenges seen during and immediately following the COVID-19 pandemic.

24 Aug 2026

Psilocybin may make the brain more organized than scientists expected

In 62 adults, researchers combined fMRI, EEG and machine learning to examine how psilocybin reshapes brain activity during rest, meditation, music and movie viewing. They found that context-sensitive neural organization tracked the intensity and quality of psychedelic experiences and was associated with next-day mindset change.

20 Aug 2026

Review reveals how nicotine damages blood vessels and heart health

A review published today in Nature Reviews Cardiology provides the most detailed picture yet of how nicotine damages the cardiovascular system – tracing the biological chain of events from the moment nicotine binds to receptors in blood vessel walls through to the atherosclerotic plaque rupture that triggers heart attacks and strokes.

19 Aug 2026

Semaglutide trial targets people with liver disease, obesity and alcohol addiction

A new study -- co-led by the University of Plymouth, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Nottingham -- is being launched into a treatment for people impacted by liver disease, obesity and alcohol addiction.

19 Aug 2026

Addiction News and Research

High cognitive impairment rates among homeless people demand radical policy change

Gambling disorder emergency visits increase following sports betting legalization

Scientists discover brain spot that drives risk-taking decisions

Adolescent cannabis use disorder diagnoses rise after legalization

Vaping rises among youth despite declining smoking rates

Alcohol-free beer looks cheaper on the shelf, but the checkout tells a different story

Psilocybin study explores new treatment for cocaine use disorder

Mental health warning labels prompt young people to limit screens

School-based behavioral therapy cuts gaming disorder risk among vulnerable adolescents

Why addiction researchers are paying closer attention to GLP-1 drugs

New brain atlas reveals insights into Huntington's, addiction, and other disorders

Social media messages could empower parents to prevent teen vaping

Mimicking behaviors between smokers doubles daily tobacco consumption

Internet-controlled brain implant enables remote neural stimulation and drug delivery

Loneliness can reprogram the brain to increase alcohol use

Understanding opioid risks can help prevent accidental overdoses

Survey provides a comprehensive snapshot of youth mental health and drug use in Ontario

Psilocybin may make the brain more organized than scientists expected

Review reveals how nicotine damages blood vessels and heart health

Semaglutide trial targets people with liver disease, obesity and alcohol addiction

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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