Drug Abuse News and Research

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Ondansetron shown to be a viable treatment option for opioid addiction

Scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered that a commonly available non-addictive drug can prevent symptoms of withdrawal from opioids with little likelihood of serious side effects.

18 Feb 2009

New guidelines for prescribing opioid pain drugs

A prestigious panel of pain-management experts representing the American Pain Society (APS) www.ampainsoc.org and the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) has published the first comprehensive clinical practice guideline to assist clinicians in prescribing potent opioid pain medications for patients with chronic non-cancer pain.

10 Feb 2009

Marijuana use may increase risk of testicular cancer

Frequent and/or long-term marijuana use may significantly increase a man's risk of developing the most aggressive type of testicular cancer, according to a study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

9 Feb 2009

The economic cost of methamphetamine use in the United States

The economic cost of methamphetamine use in the United States reached $23.4 billion in 2005, including the burden of addiction, premature death, drug treatment and many other aspects of the drug, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

5 Feb 2009

The end of sex as we once knew it

Women are not from Venus any more than men are from Mars. But even though both sexes are perfectly terrestrial beings, they are not lacking in other differences. And not only in their reproductive organs and behavior, either, but in such unsexy characteristics as the propensity for drug abuse, fine motor control, reaction to stress, moods and many brain structures.

2 Feb 2009

Discovery of brain's memory 'buffer' in single cells

Individual nerve cells in the front part of the brain can hold traces of memories on their own for as long as a minute and possibly longer, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

27 Jan 2009

The impact of substance use disorders on medical expenditures for Medicaid beneficiaries with behavioral health disorders

People with substance abuse disorders cost Medicaid hundreds of millions of dollars annually in medical care, suggesting that early interventions for substance abuse could not only improve outcomes but also save substantial amounts of money, according to a comprehensive study that examined records of nearly 150,000 people in six states.

5 Jan 2009

Risk takers do so because their brains are less able to process dopamine

According to scientists risk takers and drug abusers behave the way they do because their brains are less able to process dopamine.

30 Dec 2008

Researchers find brain's reward and stress signaling circuits are intertwined in complex ways

Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators have now discovered a functional link between reward and stress. They found that dopamine - the brain's chief reward signal - works through corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) - the brain's main stress signal - to increase the activity of a brain region involved in addiction relapse.

16 Dec 2008

Decline in teen marijuana use stalls - trends in cigarette and alcohol use continues to fall

There are signs that the ongoing decline in teen marijuana use in recent years has stalled; however the downward trend in cigarette and alcohol use continues, according to the 2008 Monitoring the Future (MTF) Survey. Results were announced today at a news conference.

11 Dec 2008

Routine testing with angiography following endovascular treatment of brain aneurysms found to carry very low risk of complication

A very low risk of complication is associated with a routine test that determines whether a brain aneurysm treated with endovascular coiling has started to recur, a study led by the University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Institute has shown.

18 Nov 2008

Crystal meth abuse linked to underage sex, smoking and drinking

Teens who have never done drugs, but engage in other risky behaviours such as drinking, smoking and being sexually active, are more likely to use crystal meth, medical researchers at the University of Alberta have concluded.

18 Nov 2008

LegitScript shuts down 500 no-prescription-required online pharmacies

LegitScript, an online pharmacy certification program, announced today that it has succeeded in getting nearly 500 "rogue" Internet pharmacy websites shut down.

18 Nov 2008

A link found between nicotine addiction and autism

Scientists have identified a relationship between two proteins in the brain that has links to both nicotine addiction and autism.

17 Nov 2008

Vigabatrin offers hope for treating relapse to methamphetamine abuse

A new study at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory suggests that vigabatrin (a.k.a. gamma vinyl-GABA, or GVG) blocks drug-seeking behavior in animals previously trained to associate methamphetamine with a particular environment.

16 Nov 2008

TheraQuest's IND for abuse deterrent strong opioid (TQ-1015) accepted by FDA

TheraQuest Biosciences, Inc. a development stage pain management company today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted its Investigational New Drug ("IND") application for TQ-1015, its abuse deterrent extended release strong opioid. TQ-1015 is being developed using Securel, TheraQuest's proprietary abuse deterrent technology.

13 Nov 2008

Hope for treating relapse to methamphetamine abuse

"Reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior after an extended period of abstinence is the number-one cause of drug-addiction relapse," said Brookhaven neuroanatomist Stephen Dewey, who led the research team. "This animal study suggests that vigabatrin could potentially prevent human methamphetamine addicts from relapsing."

13 Nov 2008

Protein can nurture or devastate brain cells, depending on its 'friends,' UT Southwestern researchers find

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have uncovered new insights into the "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" nature of a protein that stimulates stem-cell maturation in the brain but, paradoxically, can also lead to nerve-cell damage.

11 Nov 2008

Extended suboxone treatment substantially improves outcomes for opioid-addicted young adults

In the first clinical trial of a medication that was used for an extended time to treat opioid addiction in young adults, participants who received counseling and Suboxone (buprenorphine-naloxone) for 12 weeks had substantially better outcomes than those who received the standard treatment of short-term detoxification and counseling.

4 Nov 2008

Female American veterans suffer sexual trauma after Iraq and Afghanistan

According to preliminary research results from a new study, almost 15% of female American veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have experienced sexual trauma during their military service.

29 Oct 2008