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Heroin is a very addictive chemical called diacetylmorphine. Heroin is a modified form of morphine, a highly abundant opium derived from the seedpods of the poppy plant.

Methamphetamine use is pervasive and drives overdoses in rural communities across the U.S.

Methamphetamine remains a stubbornly prevalent illicit substance in large swaths of rural America, according to a new study by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and other institutions.

15 Aug 2022

‘Still a lot of pain’: Four years after mass shooting, Texas community grapples with fallout

In May 2018, after a high school shooting killed 10 people, the Santa Fe Resiliency Center opened in a church. Any resident could see a counselor, attend a support group, and take part in a healing mandala coloring class, music therapy, or a workshop on emotional first aid — all free of charge.

15 Aug 2022

They call it ‘tranq’ — and it’s making street drugs even more dangerous

Approaching a van that distributes supplies for safer drug use in Greenfield, Massachusetts, a man named Kyle noticed an alert about xylazine.

11 Aug 2022

Experts use tools from artificial intelligence to rapidly identify substances that cause overdose deaths

An automated process based on computer algorithms that can read text from medical examiners' death certificates can substantially speed up data collection of overdose deaths – which in turn can ensure a more rapid public health response time than the system currently used, new UCLA research finds.

9 Aug 2022

Study highlights the urgency of removing barriers to accessing medications for opioid use disorder

The opioid overdose and death epidemic continues to worsen across the United States, but medications such as methadone, buprenorphine, and extended-release naltrexone are proven to reduce opioid overdoses by more than 50 percent.

4 Aug 2022

Future wave of opioid-involved overdose deaths will spike in rural and urban areas

Over the past 21 years of opioid overdose deaths-;from prescription drugs to heroin to synthetic and semisynthetic opioids such as fentanyl-;geography has played a role in where opioid-involved overdose deaths have occurred, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study.

28 Jul 2022

Study uncovers a new, specific target for developing treatments for cocaine addiction

Researchers have found that blocking certain acetylcholine receptors in the lateral habenula (LHb), an area of the brain that balances reward and aversion, made it harder to resist seeking cocaine in a rat model of impulsive behavior.

28 Jun 2022

Data-driven simulation model projects three key strategies that could save many lives from opioid crisis

A significant challenge in addressing the country's opioid crisis is that policies based on past patterns of behavior may have unintended consequences because those patterns change over time.

24 Jun 2022

Sobering lessons in untying the knot of a homeless crisis

Michelle Farris never expected to become homeless, but here she was, sifting through garbage and towering piles of debris accumulated along a roadway on the outskirts of Northeast Portland.

21 Jun 2022

As Biden fights overdoses, harm reduction groups face local opposition

Casey Malish had just pulled into an intersection in the 2nd Ward when a woman with tattoos and pinkish hair unexpectedly hopped into the back seat of his gray Mazda. He handles outreach for the Houston Harm Reduction Alliance, a nonprofit that helps drug users like her stay alive.

14 Jun 2022

Aromatherapy can help control pain and reduce opioid consumption, preliminary study suggests

Aromatherapy reduces post-surgical opioid use by half in hip replacement patients anxious before their operation, according to a new preliminary study being presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (ESAIC) in Milan, Italy (4-6 June).

2 Jun 2022

MGH scientists develop a data-driven simulation model to address the rampant opioid crisis

A data-driven simulation model designed to help policymakers to better understand and address the nation's rampant opioid crisis has been developed by a team of scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital.

31 May 2022

The new MADD movement: Parents rise up against drug deaths

Life as he knew it ended for Matt Capelouto two days before Christmas in 2019, when he found his 20-year-old daughter, Alexandra, dead in her childhood bedroom in Temecula, California. Rage overtook grief when authorities ruled her death an accident.

23 May 2022

Quality of drug supply declined in Vancouver during the COVID-19 pandemic, study finds

More than a third of people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada reported a decline in the quality of drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

11 May 2022

Lifesaving drug for opioid use disorder underutilized

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Saint Louis University found that less than half of Americans who received treatment for opioid use disorder over a five-year period were offered a potentially lifesaving medication.

10 May 2022

Study shows how a non-opioid approach successfully manages women's pain after C-section

For years, women recovering from cesarean section (C-section) deliveries have been given devices that let them, with a button, control the flow of opioid painkillers into their IV line. But as researchers and policymakers push to curb the use of opioids, clinicians are developing new strategies for treating pain after C-sections.

3 May 2022

UK experts share their work in the field of opioid use disorder research at 2022 Rx Summit

University of Kentucky experts on the front lines of the nation's opioid and addiction crises will share their work in the field of opioid use disorder research, treatment and prevention this week at the 2022 Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit in Atlanta April 18-22.

19 Apr 2022

Outpatient antibiotic treatment for infective endocarditis improves outcomes, reduces costs

A new modeling study suggests that when patients who inject opioids continue an antibiotic treatment for infective endocarditis outside of the hospital, they experienced better long-term health outcomes than patients who receive the standard four to six weeks of inpatient, intravenous antibiotic therapy.

28 Feb 2022

Scientific statement highlights the uncertainty about health effects of marijuana

Despite the perception that marijuana is harmless, there is some scientific evidence challenging that belief, and there are many unanswered questions about its impact on brain health, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement published today in the Association's journal Stroke.

10 Feb 2022

Rapid, highly accurate drug detection vital to reducing the adverse impacts of addiction

Rapid, accessible and highly accurate detection of addictive substances such as opiates and cocaine is vital to reducing the adverse personal and societal impacts of addiction, something current drug detection systems can take too long to provide.

22 Jan 2022