Drug Addictions

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the harmful health effects of prescription pain reliever abuse have dramatically increased over recent years. Unintentional poisoning deaths caused by these opioids quadrupled from 1999 to 2010. This growing trend is especially troubling considering the large number more...

A substantial number of U.S. teenagers abuse a restricted opioid medication normally prescribed for the treatment of pain or certain other medical issues. Some of these teens initially receive such a medication from their doctors, while others obtain access through non-legitimate means. In a study published in 2014 in more...

In the U.S., significant numbers of young adults enrolled in college (and college-age young adults not enrolled in school) abuse some sort of prescription medication. This form of drug abuse poses a number of risks, including clearly increased odds of developing diagnosable symptoms of drug addiction. In a study publis more...

A team of Canadian researchers has uncovered a strong link between substance abuse and traumatic brain injury (TBI) among adolescents, specifically that students in grades 9 through 12 who had suffered such an injury were two to four times more likely to abuse drugs than peers with no history of TBI, according to a new more...

As we move toward widespread legal sanction of marijuana use, there is a scarcity of good information available about the drug’s true effects on the human mind and body. Unfortunately, the scientific study of marijuana has been complicated by political considerations: advocates of marijuana refuse to accept evidence more...

Brief, legitimate oxycodone consumption can trigger brain changes that increase long-term susceptibility for opioid addiction, a new study finds. (more…) more...

People in detox treatment for opioid abuse are more than twice as likely to misuse other types of medication such as prescription stimulants, prescription sedatives and tranquilizers than alcoholics undergoing detox, a new study finds. (more…) more...

Cigarettes with low nicotine levels may help reduce addiction without causing smokers to puff more cigarettes, a new study finds. (more…) more...

It’s well understood that various neurochemicals, particularly dopamine, play crucial roles in drug addiction, but a new study finds that serotonin may also be involved in the development of addiction. The finding has the potential to change how we view and treat addiction. However, the study isn’t perfect, focusin more...

Excessive alcohol consumption and illicit/illegal drug use are both linked to increased risks for exposure to violent behavior and perpetration of violent behavior. Several factors help explain this connection in various population groups. In a study published in September 2014 in the journal Addictive Behaviors, a tea more...