| Working Together to Defeat the Opioid Epidemic (Opinion) |
| THE HILL (09/13) – As partisan battles rage in Washington at the onset of the new administration, a struggle in our own communities quietly, and lethally, continues. You might not see it on CNN or in your Twitter feed, but I am reminded every time I drive past the Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad in my hometown, where a grim tally shows the number of drug-related overdoses and deaths just in that community. Read more |
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| Gene That Influences Nicotine Dependence Identified |
| SCIENCE DAILY (10/10) – A DNA variant -- located in the DNMT3B gene and commonly found in people of European and African descent -- increases the likelihood of developing nicotine dependence, smoking heavily, and developing lung cancer, according to a new study led by RTI International. Read more |
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| Testimony on the Federal Response to the Opioid Crisis |
| NIH (10/05) – ..."Right now we're spending $116 million a year on opioid use disorder research; we need to ramp that up by a factor of four or five if we're going to fully put our foot on the accelerator for this, [although] I am not quite sure where that funding would come from." Read more |
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 | Adolescent Research: Invitation to Counselors: |
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| The SASSI Institute is conducting a validation study to develop an updated version of our adolescent screening questionnaire. Our aim is to provide practitioners with an effective tool to address the public health epidemic of adolescent prescription opioid, other prescription drug abuse, and SUD more generally. Register to participate online. |
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| All Massachusetts Social Work Students Will Learn About Drug Addiction Under New Agreement |
| MASSLIVE (10/10) – Beginning this fall, all students are learning about drug addiction as part of their core curriculum. "What you want to be assured is that your students will graduate understanding that this is a serious problem” said Francine Vecchiolla, dean of the School of Social Work at Springfield College. Read more |
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| Behavioral Treatments Increase Brain Activity Related to Cognitive Control |
| NIH (10/05) – Behavioral treatments for substance use disorders (SUD) affect brain function in ways that may help patients stay the course in recovery despite relapse triggers and impulses. In a recent study supported by the NIDA, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and contingency management (CM) increased brain efficiency in regions that coordinate cognitive control. Read more |
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| Some Experts See Opioid Addiction Stemming from Prescriptions as a Medical Error |
| 90.9 WBUR (10/10) – On April 17, Katie Herzog checked into a Boston teaching hospital for what turned out to be a nine-hour-long back surgery. The 68-year-old consulting firm president left the hospital with a prescription for Dilaudid, an opioid used to treat severe pain, and instructions to take two pills every four hours, as needed. Herzog took close to the full dose for about two weeks. Then, worried about addiction, she began asking questions. Read more |
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| Marijuana Use Is Associated With an Increased Risk of Prescription Opioid Misuse and Use Disorders |
| NIH (09/26) – New research suggests that marijuana users may be more likely than nonusers to misuse prescription opioids and develop prescription opioid use disorder. The study was conducted by researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, and Columbia University. Read more |
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| The Science of K2 |
| ARKANSAS TIMES (10/05) – …When Paul Prather, who is leading UAMS' K2 study, first attempted to get funding to study synthetic cannabinoid toxicity, even some scientists reviewing the proposal were confused. Everyone thought of synthetic cannabinoids and K2 as squarely in the realm of "fake marijuana," Prather said. Read more |
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| To Save Opioid Addicts, This Experimental Court is Ditching The Delays |
| NPR (10/05) – …The necessity for a special opiate court underscores the crippling severity of the nation's drug overdose and addiction crisis, which killed some 64,000 Americans from February 2016 to February 2017, according to preliminary data from the CDC. The big difference here is speed. Read more |
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| One in 12 Doctors Accepts Opioid-Related Payments from Drug Companies |
| ADDICTION NOW (10/10) – One in 12 doctors and approximately 1 in every 5 family medicine physicians have accepted payments related to opioids from pharmaceutical companies, according to the first national study on industry payments involving opioids. Read more |
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| EEG Indicates That Cocaine Relapse Vulnerability Peaks 1 to 6 Months Into Abstinence |
| NIDA NEWS (09/28) – This research: Suggests that electroencephalography (EEG) may provide an objective measure of cocaine-addicted participants’ vulnerability to cue-induced relapse. Indicates that the period from 1 to 6 months of abstinence is a time of increased vulnerability to cue-induced relapse to cocaine. Read more |
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| California Governor Signs Law to Make Drug Pricing More Transparent |
| NPR (10/10) – California Gov. Jerry Brown defied the drug industry Monday, signing the most comprehensive drug price transparency bill in the nation that will force drug makers to publicly justify big price hikes. Read more |
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| Opioids On Trial: Can Lawsuits Help Fix The Addiction Crisis? |
| 89.3 WFPL (10/02) – …Beshear doubled down on a commitment to sue other opioid manufacturers and distributors. He claims they owe the people affected by the addiction crisis. “I’m not looking for punishment, I’m looking for responsibility,” he said. “And if those companies won’t take responsibility, then I’m going to see them in court.” Read more |
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| Cannabis Consumption Increases Violent Behavior in Young People in Psychiatric Care |
| SCIENCE DAILY (10/06) – A new study on cannabis use that involved 1,136 patients (from 18 to 40 years of age) with mental illnesses who had been seen five times during the year after discharge from a psychiatric hospital demonstrates that sustained used of cannabis is associated with an increase in violent behavior in young people. Read more |
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