Drug Facts in Media

Adolescents are over three times more vulnerable to developing a cannabis addiction than adults, but may not be at increased risk of other mental health problems related to the drug, according to a new study.

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. These findings identify a new role for these receptors that may represent a future target for the development of treatments for cocaine use disorder. There are currently no approved medications to treat cocaine use disorder.

A new study found visits to the emergency department and hospitalizations are 22 per cent higher among individuals who use cannabis compared with those who do not. The findings also show serious physical injury and respiratory-reasons were the two leading causes of ED visits and hospitalizations among cannabis users.

With stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, youth spent more time at home with family and were more isolated from in-person interaction with peers. Largely due to this social isolation from peers, substance use among youth declined, according to researchers.

Evidence behind the effectiveness of cannabis-related products to treat chronic pain is surprisingly thin, according to a new systematic evidence review. Voters in a number of states have legalized medical and recreational marijuana; however, the researchers found many of the products now available at U.S. dispensaries have not been well studied.

Scientists have long known that cocaine works by latching on to molecular connectors on the surface of brain cells, allowing dopamine, a chemical that promotes feelings of pleasure and reward, to accumulate in the space between brain cells. Now scientists say they have found a molecular connector, known as the BASP1 receptor, that binds cocaine, even when the drug is present in very low doses.

Dopamine is an important signalling molecule for nerve cells. Its concentration could not be precisely determined with both high spatial or temporal resolution until now. A new method has now made this possible: A research team used modified carbon nanotubes that glow brighter in the presence of the messenger substance dopamine. These sensors visualize the release of dopamine from nerve cells with unprecedented resolution.

Once a state legalizes recreational cannabis and increase in youth using it illegally occurs, report researchers.

Cannabis vaping is increasing as the most popular method of cannabis delivery among all adolescents in the U.S., as is the frequency of cannabis vaping, according to researchers.

Students at four-year colleges and universities drink nearly twice as much alcohol as their peers in two-year colleges, according to a survey of college students in the Seattle area. On the other hand, students in community colleges and other two-year institutions use marijuana nearly twice as often as four-year students.

Researchers 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. The numbers were even lower for those with what's known as polysubstance use disorder -- when opioid users also misuse other substances.

New research finds that drug withdrawal-induced anxiety and reinstatement of drug seeking behaviors are controlled by a single pathway in the brain and centered around dopamine cells.