The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first nonprescription, "over-the-counter" (OTC) naloxone nasal spray, Narcan. Naloxone -- a medicine that can reverse an opioid-related overdose -- has been shown to be a critical tool to prevent fatal overdoses, connect more people to treatment for substance use disorder, and save lives.
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The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is launching an Office of Recovery, within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, to advance the agency's commitment to, and support of, recovery for all Americans. SAMHSA will now have a dedicated team with a deep understanding of recovery to promote policies, programs and services to those in or seeking recovery.
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People who drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes may have stronger cravings and greater drug-seeking responses, which could explain why those who use multiple substances find it more difficult to quit. Researchers at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York have explored the motivational impact of cigarette and alcohol "cues", with important implications for understanding and treating addiction and relapse. Over time, individuals who drink heavily and smoke cigarettes frequently begin to associate simple stimuli in their environment – such as the sight or smell of a lit cigarette or their favorite drink – with the rewarding effects of the substance.
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Half of adults aged 20-39 diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have had a substance use disorder (SUD) in their lifetime according to new research. This is markedly higher than the 23.6 percent of young adults without ADHD who have had a substance use disorder in their lifetime. Even after considering factors such as age, race, income, education, childhood adversities and other mental illness, young adults with ADHD were still 69 percent more likely to have had a substance use disorder when compared to their peers without ADHD.
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Drug-related deaths have grown to be a major US public health problem over the past two decades. Between 2006 and 2015 there were more than 515,000 deaths from drug overdoses and other drug-related causes. The economic, social, and emotional tolls of these deaths are substantial, but some parts of the US are bearing heavier burdens than others. Evidence from the first national study of county-level differences suggests that addressing economic and social conditions will be key to reversing the rising tide of drug deaths, reports the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
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A researcher from James Cook University in Queensland has been investigating why Australians are among the top users of illegal drugs in the world - and has uncovered some revealing new facts about the motivations of recreational drug users.
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A new model of collaborative care - combining substance abuse treatment with regular medical care - has been found to be more accessible, more effective and at a lower cost than traditional specialty care methods, according to a RAND Corporation study.
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People who have trouble controlling their anger are more likely to abuse alcohol and other substances. Those who display frequent aggressive behavior are at five times greater risk for abusing alcohol, tobacco and marijuana.
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Regular cocaine and methamphetamine users can have difficulty choosing between right and wrong, perhaps because the specific parts of their brains used for moral processing and evaluating emotions are damaged by their prolonged drug habits. This is according to a study among prison inmates by Samantha Fede and Dr. Kent Kiehl's laboratory at the University of New Mexico and the nonprofit Mind Research Network. The findings of the study, which was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, are published in Springer's journal Psychopharmacology.
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Children who exhibit oppositional behavior run the risk of becoming addicted to nicotine, cannabis and cocaine while inattention symptoms represent a specific additional risk of nicotine addiction. Nevertheless, hyperactivity in itself does not seem to be associated with any specific risk of substance abuse or dependence.
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Although various kinds of substance use are associated with reduced educational attainment, these associations have been mixed and may also be partially due to risk factors such as socioeconomic disadvantages. A study of substance use and education among male twins from a veteran population has found a strong relationship among early alcohol use, alcohol dependence, daily nicotine use, and fewer years of educational attainment.
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People with an opioid addiction had the highest risk of death when compared with rates for alcohol and other drugs, according to a new study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). For those dependent on opioids, the risk of death was 5.71 times higher than healthy individuals in the population of the same age, gender and race.
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Research by scientists at the University of Cambridge suggests that chronic cocaine abuse accelerates the process of brain ageing. The study, published in Molecular Psychiatry, found that age-related loss of grey matter in the brain is greater in people who are dependent on cocaine than in the healthy population.
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Child abuse is a serious problem that affects nearly one million children a year in the United States alone. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the US Department of Health and Human Services classify child abuse into four categories including neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse. None of these categories, however, clearly includes the abusive use of drugs on children. A study published in the Journal of Pediatrics investigates the malicious use of pharmaceuticals and attempts to shed light on this under-recognized problem.
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Why is it that only some drug users become addicts? This is the question that has been addressed by the teams of Pier Vincenzo Piazza and Olivier Manzoni, at the Neurocentre Magendie in Bordeaux (Inserm unit 862). These researchers have discovered that the transition to addiction could result from a persistent impairment of synaptic plasticity in a key structure of the brain. This is the first demonstration that a correlation exists between synaptic plasticity and the transition to addiction.
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Recovering addicts who avoid coping with stress succumb easily to substance use cravings, making them more likely to relapse during recovery, according to behavioral researchers. "Cravings are a strong predictor of relapse," said H. Harrington Cleveland, associate professor of human development, Penn State. "The goal of this study is to predict the variation in substance craving in a person on a within-day basis. Because recovery must be maintained 'one day at a time,' researchers have to understand it on the same daily level."
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The nature-nurture debate is usually about how much of something is due to our genes and how much is caused by our environment. New research just published in the academic journal Addiction shows that the case is more interesting for young women who smoke, drink, or use drugs, for two related reasons.
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Teens with a history of crack or cocaine use are significantly more likely to engage in unprotected sex than youth who have never used these drugs, putting themselves at increased risk for HIV, according to a study in the <i>Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse</i>.
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