Drug Facts in Media

A study finds a surprising response to cocaine in a novel strain of mutant mice -- they failed to show hyperactivity seen in normal mice when given cocaine and didn't run around. In other tests, they still found cocaine appealing, but displayed an inability to shake the memory of cocaine's actions when the drug was no longer administered. The key change that blocks cocaine's stimulant effects in these mice is serotonin, not dopamine, which is responsible for producing a high.

At a time when several states are moving to legalize recreational use of marijuana, new research shows that concerns about the drug's impact on teens may be warranted. The study shows that even a small amount of cannabis use by teenagers is linked to differences in their brains.

Pain and substance use interact in a vicious cycle that can ultimately worsen and maintain both chronic pain and addiction, according to new research.

Researchers have revealed significant insight into cocaine addiction, a phenomenon which has grown significantly in the United States since 2015.

More than half of people who take medical cannabis for chronic pain say they've driven under the influence of cannabis within two hours of using it, at least once in the last six months, according to a new survey. One in five of them said they'd driven while 'very high' in the past six months.

A significant new study shows that cannabis potency has doubled across Europe in the past 11 years.

A new study shows that urine drug testing can be a useful tool to treat patients with opioid use disorder in a primary care setting.

New research suggests men in their child-bearing years should consider how THC could impact their sperm and possibly the children they conceive during periods when they've been using the drug. Much like previous research that has shown tobacco smoke, pesticides, flame retardants and even obesity can alter sperm, the new research shows THC also affects epigenetics, triggering structural and regulatory changes in the DNA of users' sperm.

A study has found that CBD -- a major chemical component in marijuana -- appears to increase pressure inside the eye of mice, suggesting the use of the substance in the treatment of glaucoma may actually worsen the condition.

In a study of adolescent mice with a version of a gene linked to serious human mental illnesses, researchers say they have uncovered a possible explanation for how marijuana may damage the brains of some human teens.

Oral spray containing two compounds derived from the cannabis plant reduced spasticity compared with placebo in patients already taking anti-spasticity drugs.

Synthetic psychoactive drugs have become a serious public health threat in recent years. This is particularly true of the fentanyls, a large family of synthetic opioids, which can be up to 10,000 times more potent than morphine. Synthetic opioids are highly addictive and, because of their potency, often prove fatal: among the roughly 72,000 drug overdose deaths in the US in 2017, some 30,000 were related to synthetic opioids.

Researchers are developing a drug -- now in its earliest stages -- that can treat certain types of chronic pain without the addictive consequences of opioids.

Researchers have found many dermatologists are interested in learning more about and recommending therapeutic cannabinoids to their patients.

A recent analysis of published studies indicates that the use of cannabinoids for the treatment of epilepsy in children looks promising.

In a small study of infrequent cannabis users, researchers have shown that, compared with smoking cannabis, vaping it increased the rate of short-term anxiety, paranoia, memory loss and distraction when doses were the same.

Though opioid use in Mexico has been low, national and international factors are converging and a threat of increased drug and addiction rates exists. Many of these factors may have originated in the US, making this a potential joint US-Mexico epidemic. The authors of this analytic essay came to this conclusion based on a study of published academic literature, Mexican federal documents and guidelines, and news reports pertaining to opioid use in Mexico.

New research finds that cannabis use among teens doesn't appear to lead to greater conduct problems or greater affiliation with other teens who smoke cannabis. Instead, it's adolescents with conduct problems or whose friends use cannabis who are more likely to gravitate toward cannabis use.

Men who use androgenic anabolic steroids -- such as testosterone -- may face a higher risk of early death and of experiencing more hospital admissions, according to a new study.

New research has found that MDMA, the main ingredient in ecstasy, causes people to cooperate better -- but only with trustworthy people. In the first study to look in detail at how MDMA impacts cooperative behavior the researchers also identified changes to activity in brain regions linked to social processing.