Drug Facts in Media

Problematic use of marijuana among adolescents and adults increased after legalization of recreational marijuana use, according to a new study from NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

People exposed to a lifetime of psychosocial adversity may have an impaired ability to produce the dopamine levels needed for coping with acutely stressful situations.

A team has examined the effects of kratom and the potential impacts on people with alcohol use disorder.

A new analysis of US data finds an unexpectedly high prevalence of prescription opioid use among youth. As recently as 2015-2016, 21% of adolescents and 32% of young adults said they had used these drugs in the past year. Nearly 4 percent and 8 percent, respectively, reported misusing opioids.

A small study concludes that caution is warranted for users of 'high CBD, low THC' cannabis products.

The prevalence of cannabis use disorder decreased in 2002 to 2016 among frequent users. Changes in social attitudes and the traits of frequent users may explain the decline, according to researchers. This is one of the first studies to examine the general health profile of people using cannabis daily or almost daily and the trends in the prevalence of cannabis use disorder in this population.

Researchers have investigated the actions of the drug in rats. Using dopamine cell recordings, electrochemical monitoring and computer modeling, they discovered a type of feedback loop that modulates dopamine levels in the rats' brains in response to the drug. This regulatory process may shed light on methylphenidate's therapeutic properties in ADHD.

Construction workers are more likely to use drugs than workers in other professions, finds a new study.

Opioid overdose deaths in Connecticut doubled in the past 6 years, largely driven by use of multiple drugs together, according to a team of researchers.

The most comprehensive analysis of medicinal cannabinoids and their impact on six mental health disorders -- combining 83 studies including 3,000 people -- suggests that the use of cannabinoids for mental health conditions cannot be justified based on the current evidence. This is due to a lack of evidence for their effectiveness, and because of the known risks of cannabinoids.

A new study shows how a parent's use of marijuana, past or present, can influence their child's substance use and well-being.

A seven-year project monitoring illicit drug use in 37 countries via wastewater samples shows that cocaine use was skyrocketing in Europe in 2017 and Australia had a serious problem with methamphetamine.

Does yo-yo dieting drive compulsive eating? There may be a connection. According to researchers the chronic cyclic pattern of overeating followed by undereating, reduces the brain's ability to feel reward and may drive compulsive eating. This finding suggests that future research into treatment of compulsive eating behavior should focus on rebalancing the mesolimbic dopamine system -- the part of the brain responsible for feeling reward or pleasure.

Drug addiction is a vicious cycle of reward and withdrawal. Chronic users often relapse because of the unpleasant physical and psychological symptoms they experience when they stop taking the drug. Now, researchers report metabolic changes in the brains of rats during methamphetamine self-administration and withdrawal that could help identify biomarkers and treatments for addiction.

A new study using a preclinical animal model suggests that prenatal exposure to THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, makes the brain's dopamine neurons (an integral component of the reward system) hyperactive and increases sensitivity to the behavioral effects of THC during pre-adolescence.

Concerns over the opioid epidemic have sparked a strong scientific interest in why some people become addicted while others don't. Now, researchers are proposing novel treatment strategies that could help prevent abuse of opioids and other substances.

Research into the pathology of vaping-associated lung injury is in its early stages, but a study finds that lung injuries from vaping most likely are caused by direct toxicity or tissue damage from noxious chemical fumes.

A third of patients with severe asthma are taking harmful doses of oral steroids, according to a study of several thousand people in The Netherlands.

Researchers have shown for the first time the molecular mechanisms at work that cause cannabidiol, or CBD, to block the psychiatric side-effects caused by tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive chemical in cannabis.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive lung disease that's often associated with a variety of health problems, including chronic muscle pain and insomnia. Psychoactive drug classes, like cannabinoids, are often prescribed to help reduce pain, promote sleep and decrease breathlessness. A study has found that older adults with COPD were twice as likely to use prescription synthetic oral cannabinoids compared to older adults without COPD, raising safety concerns.