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Results for search "Drug Abuse".

Health News Results - 183

07 Oct
Marijuana Use Tied to Worse School Outcomes for Teens

Marijuana Use Tied to Worse School Outcomes for Teens

Generations of parental warnings may not be wrong: A massive study of available data finds teens who use marijuana have significantly worse outcomes at school.

Data from 63 studies involving almost 440,000 youths found "cannabis use during adolescence is probably associa...

07 Oct
Diverting Low-Level Criminals to Drug-Treatment Programs Instead of  Jail Reaps Rewards

Diverting Low-Level Criminals to Drug-Treatment Programs Instead of Jail Reaps Rewards

A Wisconsin program that sends suspects in minor drug-related crimes to treatment instead of jail is paying off, a new study shows.

Researchers who evaluated the Madison Area Recovery Initiative (MARI) found that non-violent offenders who were given a clinical assessment...

04 Oct
Hospital Drug Tests Far More Likely for Minority Teens

Hospital Drug Tests Far More Likely for Minority Teens

Teens from minority groups seeking treatment at pediatric trauma centers are more likely than their white counterparts to be tested for drugs and alcohol.

That's the takeaway from a new study led by researchers at UCLA and Children's Hospital Los Angeles. 

"Wh...

03 Oct
CDC Warns of Fake Drug Dangers From Online Pharmacies

CDC Warns of Fake Drug Dangers From Online Pharmacies

Americans who turn to online pharmacies to find cheaper versions of expensive prescription medications, especially opioids, may instead be buying themselves dangerous drugs that could trigger an overdose, U.S. health officials warned Wednesday.

The warning, issued by the...

27 Sep
Upping Dose of Anti-Opioid Drug Might Work Better to Curb Addiction

Upping Dose of Anti-Opioid Drug Might Work Better to Curb Addiction

Patients with opioid use disorder who receive higher doses of a drug to treat their addiction are more likely to have positive results, a new study finds. 

Daily doses of the drug buprenorphine is a standard treatment for opioid use disorder, and the findings sugges...

27 Sep
Know What 'Chroming' Is? TikTok Fad Could Harm Your Kids

Know What 'Chroming' Is? TikTok Fad Could Harm Your Kids

Chroming, where toxic fumes from common household items are inhaled for a quick high, is on the rise among youth and TikTok may be to blame, new research suggests.

In findings that are to be presented Saturday at the American Academy of Pediatrics annual meeting in Orlan...

12 Sep
High Doses of ADHD Meds Could Trigger Psychosis

High Doses of ADHD Meds Could Trigger Psychosis

Prescriptions for amphetamine stimulants to treat ADHD have increased significantly in recent years, particularly during the pandemic.

Unfortunately, high doses of stimulants like Adderal...

28 Aug
Recreational Drug Use Triples Odds for Repeat Heart Crises

Recreational Drug Use Triples Odds for Repeat Heart Crises

Recreational drug users are three times more likely to have repeated heart health emergencies than people who don’t use, a new study has found.

About 11% of patients admitted to intensive cardiac care units have been using recreational drugs, said researcher

26 Aug
Most Americans Unsure How to Help Someone in Opioid Overdose

Most Americans Unsure How to Help Someone in Opioid Overdose

The U.S. opioid epidemic has caused a startling number of overdose deaths, but a new survey shows that most Americans still have no idea how to help an OD victim.

More than 3 in 4 people (77%) said they would not know how to respond if they saw someone having an overdose...

15 Aug
Kids' Bedtimes Might Influence Odds for Drug, Alcohol Use as Teens

Kids' Bedtimes Might Influence Odds for Drug, Alcohol Use as Teens

Regular bedtimes won't just help your child be alert for a busy school day; they might also help keep them from abusing drugs or alcohol as a teen, new research suggests.

Youth who'd had early bedtimes in childhood and adolescence were significantly less likely to be dri...

12 Aug
FDA Says No to MDMA as Therapy for PTSD

FDA Says No to MDMA as Therapy for PTSD

Advocates for the use of the psychedelic drug MDMA (midomafetamine) to treat mental health conditions were delivered a setback on Friday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve it as treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

There is in...

08 Aug
Painkiller Misuse Common Among People Battling Chronic Pain

Painkiller Misuse Common Among People Battling Chronic Pain

Nearly 1 in every 10 chronic pain patients treated with prescription opioids winds up addicted to the painkillers at some point, a new review finds.

Further, nearly 1 in 3 will show symptoms of

05 Aug
Brand of Kratom Tied to One Death, Many Severe Illnesses, FDA Warns

Brand of Kratom Tied to One Death, Many Severe Illnesses, FDA Warns

Millions of Americans use the opioid-like herbal supplement known as kratom, but evidence of its dangers continue to mount.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued

26 Jul
Fake Oxycontin Pills Widespread and Potentially Deadly: Report

Fake Oxycontin Pills Widespread and Potentially Deadly: Report

The rate at which young Americans are ending up in hospital ICUs after using fake Oxycontin pills spiked with fentanyl is soaring, especially in the U.S. West, a new report warns.

Medical toxicology data from one unnamed hospital in the western U.S. found the number of c...

24 Jul
Big Drop in U.S. Kids, Teens Misusing Prescription Meds

Big Drop in U.S. Kids, Teens Misusing Prescription Meds

Misuse of illicit prescription drugs is falling dramatically among U.S. high school students, a new study says.

The percentage of seniors who say they’ve misused prescri...

19 Jul
Mushroom Gummies That Sickened Users Contained Illicit Psilocybin

Mushroom Gummies That Sickened Users Contained Illicit Psilocybin

Mushroom gummies being sold to promote brain function might instead contain harmful ingredients not listed on the label, including illicit psilocybin, the hallucinogen found in “magic” mushrooms, experts warn in new report.

Five people in Virginia, including ...

17 Jul
Feds Issue Warnings on 'Copycat' Delta-8 Products That Mimic Popular Foods

Feds Issue Warnings on 'Copycat' Delta-8 Products That Mimic Popular Foods

In a joint effort to curb the illegal sales of food products containing delta-8 THC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday they have warned five companies to stop marketing such products.

Because the packaging for these THC e...

27 Jun
Magic Mushroom's Psilocybin Is America's Most Popular Hallucinogen

Magic Mushroom's Psilocybin Is America's Most Popular Hallucinogen

As psilocybin mushrooms become the most popular psychedelic in the United States, some states have started to ease regulations on its recreational use.

Now, a new report warns that the federal government will have to decide whether to follow suit.

RAND, a nonprofi...

12 Jun
There's Another 'Magic' Mushroom Being Sold in Gummies -- But It Can Kill

There's Another 'Magic' Mushroom Being Sold in Gummies -- But It Can Kill

Growing public fascination with "magic"psilocybin mushrooms as a trendy treatment for depression had led to increased interest in another type of psychedelic mushroom, a new study reports.

Unfortunately, this second sort of shroom -- known as Amanita muscaria --...

06 Jun
Calls to U.S. Poison Control Centers Are Becoming More Severe

Calls to U.S. Poison Control Centers Are Becoming More Severe

America's poison control centers are increasingly fielding calls on cases of deliberate or accidental poisonings that end in disability or death, a new report finds.

Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System reviewed more than 33.7 million poison exposures ...

13 May
Police Seizures of Pills With Fentanyl Have Skyrocketed

Police Seizures of Pills With Fentanyl Have Skyrocketed

Police seizures of illicit fentanyl pills have soared in recent years, a new study has found.

The number of pills containin...

10 May
Getting Help for Alcohol, Drug Abuse Tougher for Rural Americans

Getting Help for Alcohol, Drug Abuse Tougher for Rural Americans

When folks in rural America need treatment for a substance use disorder, significant obstacles stand in their way, researchers say.

They are more likely to have to look outside their insurance network for care, resulting in higher out-of-pocket costs, according to a rece...

09 May
How Long Does Marijuana THC Linger in Breast Milk?

How Long Does Marijuana THC Linger in Breast Milk?

New mothers who like to smoke marijuana might wind up exposing their babies to THC through their own breast milk, a new study says.

THC, the intoxicating compound in cannabis, dissolves in the fats contained in human milk, researchers found.

Mother's milk produced ...

08 May
More Than 321,000 U.S. Kids Lost a Parent to Drug ODs in a Decade

More Than 321,000 U.S. Kids Lost a Parent to Drug ODs in a Decade

More than 320,000 U.S. children lost a parent to drug overdose during the past decade, according to a new study reported May 8 in JAMA Psychiatry.

What's more, the death rate accelerated during the pe...

08 May
Big Rise in Emergencies Involving Synthetic Weed Among Kids, Adults

Big Rise in Emergencies Involving Synthetic Weed Among Kids, Adults

Calls to U.S. poison centers regarding so-called synthetic cannabis jumped 88% between 2021 and 2022, as use of these legally sold products rose, research shows.

Synthetic cannabis contain varying forms of the active ingredient in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC): d...

07 May
Almost All Counterfeit Oxycontin Pills Contain Fentanyl

Almost All Counterfeit Oxycontin Pills Contain Fentanyl

Lab tests of counterfeit oxycodone (Oxycontin) pills seized by police in Rhode Island in 2022 found 99.3% also contained dangerous fentanyl. 

It was typically mixed with another potentially deadly drug, xylazine.

Both drugs make overdose more likely and more f...

07 May
A Parent's Watchful Eye Does Keep Kids From Drugs, Alcohol: Study

A Parent's Watchful Eye Does Keep Kids From Drugs, Alcohol: Study

Parents can be very effective buzzkills for their teens, just by letting kids know they're being closely watched, a new study reports.

Teenagers are less likely to drink,

06 May
Parental Deaths to Guns, Drugs Harmed Nearly 100,000 U.S. Kids in 2020

Parental Deaths to Guns, Drugs Harmed Nearly 100,000 U.S. Kids in 2020

Nearly 100,000 U.S. children lost a parent in 2020 to gun violence or drug overdose, a three-fold rise since 1999, according to a new study.

Overall, these two causes made up nearly a quarter (23%) of parental losses in 2020, almost double the level cited in 1999, accord...

26 Apr
'Drug Take Back Day' is Saturday: Check for Leftover Opioids in Your Home

'Drug Take Back Day' is Saturday: Check for Leftover Opioids in Your Home

Each year, thousands of Americans head home after a surgery clutching prescription opioids to help ease post-surgical pain.

Trouble is, most won't use all those pills, and that could lead to a lot of misuse and addiction, one study found.

And with

22 Apr
Few Young Adults Could Administer Naloxone to Reverse Fentanyl Overdose

Few Young Adults Could Administer Naloxone to Reverse Fentanyl Overdose

Even though fentanyl-linked fatal overdoses are soaring among young adults, a new survey of American college students found that just 1 in 7 knew how to administer the overdose antidote drug naloxone.

Many who took the survey "reported high willingness to intervene durin...

17 Apr
Most Homeless Americans Are Battling Mental Illness

Most Homeless Americans Are Battling Mental Illness

Two-thirds of homeless people are experiencing some form of mental health disorder, a large, new review of data on the subject.

The analysis found that men who are homeless are more likely to be battling mental illness than women, although rates were high for both gender...

10 Apr
Black and Native Americans Hit Hardest by 'Deaths of Despair'

Black and Native Americans Hit Hardest by 'Deaths of Despair'

More middle-aged Black and Native Americans are now falling prey to "deaths of despair"than whites, a new study finds.

These deaths -- from suicide, drug overdose and alcoholic liver disease -- initially had been more common among whites.

But a new analysis has det...

14 Mar
Taking 'Study Drugs' Like Adderall Could Be Gateway to More Drug Abuse

Taking 'Study Drugs' Like Adderall Could Be Gateway to More Drug Abuse

College students who use drugs like Adderall to help them focus on their studies may be setting themselves up for trouble.

Researchers asked 700 undergraduates across the United States about drugs commonly used by students -- including ADHD medications like Adderall, can...

12 Mar
Use of Legal 'Delta-8-THC' Is Rising Among Teens - Is it Safe?

Use of Legal 'Delta-8-THC' Is Rising Among Teens - Is it Safe?

They're cheap, easy to buy and now new research shows they have become the buzz of choice for American teens.

Delta-8-THC products, which include gummies and vapes, are legal in 22 states and Washington, D.C. There is no federal minimum age requirement for buying them, a...

12 Mar
ADHD Meds Cut Odds for Early Death, Especially by Overdose

ADHD Meds Cut Odds for Early Death, Especially by Overdose

People diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show a marked decline in their two-year risk for death once they start taking medication, new research shows.

That w...

08 Mar
You Can Safely Avoid Addictive Long-Acting Opioids After Knee Replacement

You Can Safely Avoid Addictive Long-Acting Opioids After Knee Replacement

It's well known that long-acting opioid meds raise the odds for addiction in users -- including folks dealing with pain after an orthopedic surgery.

Now, new research suggests that patients fare just as well if doctors prescribe less risky immediate-release opioids follo...

26 Feb
Emergency Calls by Youth Rose After States Decriminalized 'Magic Mushroom' Drug

Emergency Calls by Youth Rose After States Decriminalized 'Magic Mushroom' Drug

U.S. poison center calls related to psilocybin "magic mushrooms"among youth skyrocketed after U.S. cities and states began decriminalizing the hallucinogen, a new study shows.

Psilocybin-related calls among teens ages 13 to 19 more than tripled between 2018 and 2022, ris...

23 Feb
Young Workers' Injuries Rise After Recreational Marijuana Sales Made Legal

Young Workers' Injuries Rise After Recreational Marijuana Sales Made Legal

After states legalize the sale of weed for recreational use, on-the-job injuries rise among younger workers, new research shows.

U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics for 2006 through 2020 show that legal "recreational marijuana sales were associated with a 10% increase in wor...

09 Feb
Stress Main Factor Driving Teens to Abuse Drugs, Alcohol

Stress Main Factor Driving Teens to Abuse Drugs, Alcohol

American teenagers cite stress as the leading reason they might get drunk or high, a new report reveals.

That only underscores the need for better adolescent mental health care, according to the research team behind the study.

Better "access to treatment and suppor...

08 Feb
Cutting U.S. Homelessness by 25% Could Prevent 2,000 Opioid Deaths Each Year

Cutting U.S. Homelessness by 25% Could Prevent 2,000 Opioid Deaths Each Year

Reducing homelessness by 25% could save nearly 2,000 lives lost each year to opioid overdoses, a new study estimates.

It also could save 850 lives from alcohol poisoning and 540 from cocaine overdoses, researchers from the University of Georgia estimate.

This is th...

06 Feb
Surge in Police Seizures of 'Magic Mushrooms' Mirrors Rise in Psilocybin Use

Surge in Police Seizures of 'Magic Mushrooms' Mirrors Rise in Psilocybin Use

Police seizures of "magic"mushrooms have more than tripled within the past five years, the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse reports.

The total weight of psilocybin mushrooms seized by law enforcement increased from 498 pounds in 2017 to 1,861 pounds in 2022, accordi...

02 Feb
CDC Warns That 'Gas Station Heroin' May Contain Synthetic Pot

CDC Warns That 'Gas Station Heroin' May Contain Synthetic Pot

It's known by the street name "gas station heroin," but a new government report finds the highly addictive supplement Neptune's Fix may also contain synthetic pot.

The product has already been linked to seizures, brain swelling and hallucinations, researchers reported Th...

31 Jan
What Works Best to Help Pregnant Women Ease Off Opioids?

What Works Best to Help Pregnant Women Ease Off Opioids?

There's one treatment for pregnant women addicted to opioids that's safer for their unborn child, a new study reports.

Buprenorphine is associated with a slightly lower risk of birth defects overall compared to methadone, according to findings published recently in the j...

25 Jan
FDA Issues Another Warning on Tianeptine Products, Which Can Cause Seizures and Death

FDA Issues Another Warning on Tianeptine Products, Which Can Cause Seizures and Death

Reiterating a warning first issued in November, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is urging Americans to stay away from supplements containing tianeptine, known on the street as "gas station heroin."

The supplements, sold under the brand name Neptune's Fix online and...

18 Jan
Mom's Opioid Use in Pregnancy Raises Child's Asthma, Eczema Risk

Mom's Opioid Use in Pregnancy Raises Child's Asthma, Eczema Risk

Fetal exposure to opioids may change a baby's immune system, triggering a rise in risks for eczema and asthma through early childhood, new research shows.

Children born to women who used opioids during pregnancy had much higher rates of eczema, as well as conditions such...

16 Jan
Marijuana Has No Role in Taking Up or Quitting Opioids: Study

Marijuana Has No Role in Taking Up or Quitting Opioids: Study

There's no link at all between weed use and a person's use of illicit opioids, one way or the other, a new review concludes.

Cannabis isn't a gateway drug that can spark a person's desire to try narcotics, results show.

On the other hand, weed also isn't effective ...

09 Jan
Latest Data Show 22 U.S. Teens Die of Overdoses Each Week

Latest Data Show 22 U.S. Teens Die of Overdoses Each Week

An average of 22 U.S. teens die each week from drug overdoses, a death toll driven by the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, a new study reports.

Researchers also have identified 19 "hotspot"counties where fatal ODs are occurring as much as double the national average.<...

05 Jan
Nicotine Study Shows Mind's Power When It Comes to Drugs

Nicotine Study Shows Mind's Power When It Comes to Drugs

How much a person believes in the strength of a drug might influence how powerfully that drug influences brain activity, a new study has found.

Smokers told to expect a low, medium or high dose of nicotine from an e-cigarette showed a brain response that tracked with the...

04 Jan
Deaths Tied to 'Fake Xanax' Street Drug Are Soaring

Deaths Tied to 'Fake Xanax' Street Drug Are Soaring

Three twenty-somethings in Chicago took a street drug they thought was a harmless form of Xanax.

All three were found collapsed and unresponsive eight hours later by one of their mothers, who had them rushed to the hospital.

After multiple seizures, fever and heart...

21 Dec
FDA Approves First Test to Spot Folks at High Risk of Opioid Use Disorder

FDA Approves First Test to Spot Folks at High Risk of Opioid Use Disorder

A newly approved test can determine whether a person has a genetically driven risk of becoming addicted to opioids.

The AvertD test, the first of its kind, uses a DNA sample swabbed from a patient's cheek to determine if they have a combination of genetic variants associ...