Drug Facts in Media

A common variation in a human gene that affects the brain's reward processing circuit increases vulnerability to the rewarding effects of the main psychoactive ingredient of cannabis in adolescent females, but not males, according to preclinical research. As adolescence represents a highly sensitive period of brain development with the highest risk for initiating cannabis use, these findings in mice have important implications for understanding the influence of genetics on cannabis dependence in humans.

Few cannabis consumers understand what the THC numbers on packages of cannabis edibles really mean, according to a new study. The study, which surveyed nearly 1,000 Canadians aged 16 to 30, found that most consumers could not identify whether a cannabis edible contained 'low' or 'high' levels of THC based on the label.

Steroids should be avoided in the treatment of the current novel coronavirus, experts have advised. A commentary article published in The Lancet concludes that, based on evidence from previous outbreaks of similar types of infection such as SARS, steroids provide little benefit to patients and could do more harm than good. They say that clinicians should still administer the treatment for conditions such as asthma and other inflammatory diseases.

An experimental fingerprint detection approach can identify traces of cocaine on human skin, even after someone has washed their hands -- and the test is also smart enough to tell whether an individual has actually consumed the class A drug, or simply handled it.

As marijuana is increasingly being legalized in US states, daily marijuana use among pregnant women is rising, despite evidence that this could harm their babies. Researchers have published findings from a study that delves deeper into pregnant women's use of marijuana, providing key insights that will help inform patient education efforts.

Approximately one-quarter of patients who are prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them, with five to 10 percent developing an opioid use disorder or addiction. In a new study, researchers found that opioid dependence produced permanent changes in the brains of rats.

Individuals with a history of early life adversity (ELA) are disproportionately prone to opioid addiction. A new study reveals why. The study examines how early adversities interact with factors such as increased access to opioids to directly influence brain development and function, causing a higher potential for opioid addiction.

A new study estimates that more than 2 million Americans with heart disease have used marijuana, but the cardiovascular effects of the drug are not fully understood.

Medicinal cannabis might not ease sleep problems in people with chronic pain over the long term, because frequent users might build up tolerance to its sleep-inducing effects, suggests preliminary research.

A new study has definitively shown that regular exposure to THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, during pregnancy has significant impact on placental and fetal development.

New Zealand media reports on chronic pain are focusing on treatments involving opioids and cannabis at the expense of best practice non-drug treatments, researchers have found.

New research discovers a novel potential target for treating drug addiction through 'the hidden stars of the brain.'

Researchers have discovered gender-based differences in response to therapeutic oxytocin treatment in cocaine-addicted individuals with a history of childhood trauma. Oxytocin has been shown previously to function as a potential therapeutic in cases of addiction by reducing cravings. This study found that only men with past trauma had a reduction in cravings after oxytocin. Surprisingly, women with past trauma had a greater response to visual drug cues following oxytocin.

Researchers have discovered that recreational marijuana use affects driving ability even when users are not intoxicated. Cannabis users had more accidents, drove at higher speeds, and drove through more red lights than non-users.

Researchers assessed the time trends in alcohol and marijuana detected in homicide victims and found that the prevalence of marijuana almost doubled, increasing from 22 percent in 2004 to 42 percent in 2016. Alternately, the prevalence of alcohol declined slightly from 40 percent in 2004 to 35 percent in 2016.

A drug that provides the benefits obtained from medicinal cannabis without the 'high' or other side effects may help to unlock a new treatment for Parkinson's disease.

Regular cannabis use could affect the structure and function of the heart.

The United States in the grip of several simultaneously occurring opioid epidemics, rather than just a single crisis. The epidemics came to light after the researchers analyzed county-level data on drug overdose deaths. The study highlights the importance of different policy responses to the epidemics rather than a single set of policies.

New findings reveal the prevalence of cannabis, or marijuana, use in the United States increased from 2005 to 2017 among persons with and without depression and was approximately twice as common among those with depression in 2017.

The composition of suspicious powders that may contain illicit drugs can be analyzed using a quick and simple method called magneto-Archimedes levitation (MagLev), according to a new study. A team of scientists has developed the MagLev method to differentiate common street drugs in dilute mixtures. The method could complement or even replace other portable drug identification techniques, the scientists suggest.